When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear.“
Matthew 11:1-15, NIV
I was reflecting this morning (we are on holiday in the far north of New Zealand, overlooking beautiful Doubtless Bay; as good a place for reflection as I can think of). Specifically I was trying to reconcile what appears to be our widespread and (frankly) deficient perception of the ministry of Jesus with what is actually there in the Gospels. I was reading in Isaiah, and a penny of sorts dropped: we read the gospels through the lens of certain Old Testament scriptures, specifically those which emphasise the Suffering Servant aspect of Jesus’ ministry. So for example, we may think of Isaiah 52 and 53 – but fail to include, say, Isaiah 35 and 55. The result is that we seem to understand all the good promises of the Gospels as referencing a future state (heaven) instead of the Kingdom, available now. And there is proof of this bias in the gospels themselves.
In Matthew 11 (and Luke 17) we read of John, hearing from prison of all that Jesus is doing, sending his disciples to ask Jesus straight out: “are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
In other words, the person who, out of anyone alive in Judaea at that time, could be most expected to recognise the Messiah from all the prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures, is essentially saying: “I don’t get it; this isn’t what we were led to expect.”
So, first, let’s think about prophecy: what is its purpose? If you think it is so that we can know exactly what will happen, or even when it will happen, think again. God is not in the business of tipping His hand to the Enemy. As you will have found (but may not have yet noticed), when you tell your ten best friends what you are planning on doing, or the business deals you are landing, or whatever, it is amazing how often they fall apart – at least if they were based on something God has said to you. I am not sure the Enemy bothers interfering with things which are purely your ideas and plans; he is probably saying “be my guest…”
So prophecy is deliberately in a form where it will only make sense in hindsight. So what is its purpose then? A very profound one: it tells you that “God has a plan, one that will be wonderful beyond your ability to imagine. Hang on in there.” But details that would allow the enemy to intercept the pass? I don’t think so.
So even John is at a loss. Jesus answers him in a way which should encourage him: “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Most of that is a near quotation from Isaiah 35:5-6, and Isaiah 61. The final statement is a reassurance that John isn’t alone in finding this “not quite what we expected”; but He is none the less still operating in fulfilment of promise.
But Jesus still doesn’t give him all the detail which would allow Him to understand the fulfilment of what God has promised. So much of Jesus ministry can be seen and understood from prophecy in hindsight, with scripture after scripture we can put together – just as Jesus demonstrated for John. But the Kingdom is the closely guarded secret; so much so that that there is one only clear reference to it in the whole of the Old Testament. It may well be that it is not ‘legal’ (under His own system of justice established for the earth realm) for God to do what He has not first spoken; (actually more likely, the act of speaking what shall be is the setting in motion of that action, even with a ‘delayed action fuse’); but He was careful to speak this one far from the Land of Israel, and in the context of the interpretation of a pagan King’s dream. Who would ever put this interpretation by Daniel for Nebuchadnezzar alongside Isaiah and other key Messianic texts?
In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands —a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
Daniel 2:44-45
(There are other, slightly more ambiguous, references to the Kingdom in Daniel 7. But the point remains; this information is kept at a distance from, say, the prophecies of Isaiah)
So when Paul says in 1 Corinthians that “none of the rulers of this present age understood this, or they would not have crucified the Lord off glory”, it is easy to think he is simply referencing the crucifixion. But read the whole passage in context:
“No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:
‘What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived’—
the things God has prepared for those who love him— these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.“
I Corinthians 2:7-10, NIV, my emphasis
In other words, Paul is saying “if the rulers had understood the whole payload of God’s purpose – to open the Kingdom of God to all mankind if they would simply call on the name of the Lord – they never would have initiated it by crucifying the Lord of Glory – ie lit the fuse that would set the whole plan into operation.”
So, to return to John’s question and our passage, and the question of understanding the gospels through the lens of Old Testament prophecy: that is all fine…
Except why would you do that, if it is at the expense of failing to see what Jesus actually does and says? Surely we should begin with Jesus’ very intentional teaching and modelling of the Kingdom; the “secret of the Kingdom” which He says has been given to His disciples? And from that place, by all means go back into the Old Testament to see just how perfectly all God’s promises have been fulfilled.
If we want a demonstration of why this matters, let me bring out the glaring issue with our translations of the Matthew passage; this verse:
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.
Matt 11:12, NIV
Where on earth is this coming from? What has the Kingdom been suffering? Where are these monstrous people who are attacking it. The Pharisees? Really? They couldn’t throw Jesus off a cliff with a mob, or stone an adulteress, even with half of Jerusalem assembled to do it. Poor old Kingdom? More like poor us for entertaining this thinking (or lack of it).
“ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ἕως ἄρτι ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν βιάζεται, καὶ βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν αὐτήν.”
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of the Heavens is breaking out, and mighty (or forceful, or potent) men get it (literally “grasp it”, “lay hold of it” including very much in the mental sense of “understand it”).
And in case you can’t see how this fits the context: “among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he…”
This Kingdom both attracts the forceful – perhaps those who are orientated towards action… like fishermen and tax collectors, for example – and confers genuine greatness upon them, which is at a level above the very best this world can produce. It isn’t the greatness of a puffed up ego, or of self-serving titles. It involves learning from what is modelled for you as much as understanding why it works (all the evidence being that the understanding tended to lag but the obedience didn’t).
It is the long hidden secret, in fact, of the Kingdom: namely that the Word of God becomes flesh and blood in us, too.
Seeing the Kingdom 