Friday, May 14, 2010

Mark 4:30-34 Long Live the Emperor!

And He said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE." With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.


Jesus again emphasizes how the kingdom of God begins as something small and insignificant—the teaching of God’s word to a few people that seem to have no political significance at all. And yet the kingdom of God becomes so politically significant that the great nations of the world are in submission to the kingdom—this is the meaning of Jesus’ quote of Ezekiel 17:22-24 (See also Ezekiel 31:1-13). This is to speak to those who understand Jesus’ purpose to be political, but his methodology doesn’t seem to increase his political significance. He is saying that his actions are political, and that the entire political world will one day rest under his small school.

A comment is made at the end of the parables section to say that Jesus always used parables when he taught and yet most people didn’t understand them. As seen above, this is what Jesus wanted—most people were not worthy to understand the parables. But if they listened carefully then they could hear the explanations that Jesus gave to his disciples and then the truth would be known. Daniel 12

Justice will not be accomplished until all of the world is under God's rule. We can make compromises through this or that government, but nothing will be finally accomplished until the world is under God's law of love and under God's direct supervision through the person of Jesus.

Maybe that's not the kind of Jesus you believe in. Maybe you believe in a meek Jesus, who will gently lead the world to His ways. That the Jesus we have now, certainly. But in the end, if we want to see the whole world acting in love, we have to have them led by strong leadership. And Jesus saw himself as that strong leader.

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