More on this book
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
December 30, 2023 - January 2, 2024
Just as he draws out and drives out hidden demonic invaders, Jesus must draw out, expose, name, reject, and banish this systemic, transpersonal evil—incognito beneath robes and crowns, hiding in temples and palaces, camouflaged behind political slogans and images on coins, covert in policies and traditions, seeming to “possess” groups so they think and move in an awful choreography. Jesus’ signs and wonders of demonic deliverance seem to signify that very real and dangerous forces of evil lurk and work in our world—as common in groups as the demonic torments of disease and insanity are in
...more
The new kingdom—unlike its evil counterparts—doesn’t force itself where it is not wanted and welcomed. For all its power and reality, it comes subtly, gently, and secretly.
These forces of evil, in Paul’s mind, are not simply invisible, individual devils hiding in between neurons in individuals. Instead, they are very real and powerful forces that enter groups of people and guide or even control their internal functioning and external behavior. Under their influence, people move together as with one will, like a school of tuna or a flock of crows or a herd of wildebeest, paralyzed or convulsed or twisted or massaged so as to conform to values and dictates that they may never have imagined on their own.
Jesus’ message of the kingdom of God scandalizes by showing the weakness of the apparently powerful and the power of the apparently weak.
It is one thing to show the weakness of the apparently powerful; it is another to show the evil of the apparently righteous.
When Pilate presents Jesus to the crowds, beaten and bloody, they shout, “Crucify him!” And even more scandalous, they declare, “We have no king but Caesar!” Faced with the kingdom of God, they choose the kingdom of Caesar.
These religious leaders (like so many today) have pretended to be about religious piety and national fidelity. They seemed to want liberation from Caesar. But now they manifest their true desire: to affiliate with the powers that be, to maintain sovereignty in their little turf and the continuation of their little religious regime, as if to say, “May our will be done!” If Jesus’ secret message threatens their domain, they will scream for Caesar to bolster their leverage. Their true colors—pale, bilious, gangrenous— have shown through.
Perhaps at this moment, we are getting a brief and fragmentary glimpse into one of the deepest mysteries of the kingdom of God. In this light, perhaps the death and resurrection of Jesus shimmer as the most profound sign and wonder of all, showing the scandalous truth that no human system can be trusted, that all -isms are potentially demonic and idolatrous “graven ideologies.” Perhaps this understanding of the kingdom reveals the horrible truth that even church and state with their sacred theologies and ideologies, like all other structures of this world, will—given the chance—execute God so
...more
Too subversive to be overt
Can you see why such a message is too subversive to be overt? Can you see why it must be kept—no, not kept but rather told —as a secret? Can you see why the people on top (the powerful go-getters, hee-hawing in the thrill of success and power) would have no interest in such a secret, subversive, scandalous message, and why those who are underprivileged (the poor, mourning, excluded, and meek) would in a sense occupy
Looking back on Jesus and his message, Paul spoke of the Cross as the weakness and foolishness of God (1 Corinthians 1:18–25). But that weakness and foolishness, he said, were more powerful than the wisdom and power of humanity with all its ideology, methodology, religiosity, ingenuity, and violence. When Paul looked at the Cross, he saw that “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19 TNIV). Somehow, for him, the defeat of Christ on that Roman cross—the moment when God appears weak and foolish, outsmarted as it were by
...more
Instead, in keeping with the kingdom of God’s secret, paradoxical, and apparently weak power, the first in on the secret are a few women—unacceptable in their day as legitimate witnesses in court—vunerable people who can easily be ignored and dismissed by those who prefer the status quo, the powers that be, the systems and regimes that function as “kingdoms of this world.” These humble women will be believed only by those who want to believe, those who freely choose to believe.
But the ancient Jews, like their more recent monotheistic colleagues, often devolved into being preoccupied with being blessed themselves, forgetting or suppressing their calling to be a blessing to others.
Jesus seems to say, “The kingdom of God doesn’t need to wait until something else happens. No, it is available and among you now. So start spreading the blessing spoken of by Abraham now. Invite people of all nations, races, classes, and religions to participate in this network of dynamic, interactive relationships with God and all God’s creation! I’ve taught you how to live in the kingdom way; now it’s time for you to teach others. Go on! Get going now!”
They watched him play, watched him live and interact, and imitated his example until they began to have the spirit of his style, the power of his performance. Then, after his resurrection, he said, “This was your master recital—living through the agony of my rejection, humiliation, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Now you are ready to be sent out as masters yourselves— masters of my secret message, masters in living life in the kingdom.”
Often, after an especially bad season of disappointing performance when the art of the kingdom is nearly lost, a new master musician will arise and reinfuse the tradition with vitality and passion—a St. Patrick, a St. Francis, a Teresa of Avila, a Hildegard of Bingen, a John Wesley, a C. S. Lewis, a Desmond Tutu, a Mother Teresa.
Sadly, for centuries at a time in too many places to count, the Christian religion has downplayed, misconstrued, or forgotten the secret message of Jesus entirely. Instead of being about the kingdom of God coming to earth, the Christian religion has too often become preoccupied with abandoning or escaping the earth and going to heaven. Too often its members have forgotten the teachings of Jesus about making peace and turning the other cheek and crossing boundaries to serve people formerly considered “outsiders.”
When this quiet transformation is happening, when things are going right, people often hardly notice; after all, as Jesus said, the kingdom advances as subtly as a seed growing or as yeast rising in a loaf of bread. But when they do notice, there’s the unmistakable sense that God is present, and people can’t help but breathe out prayers of thanksgiving to God. In spite of our many failures, the secret is getting out!
There’s a beautiful glimpse of this outworking of the kingdom of God in one of the New Testament documents, Paul’s letter to Titus. There, he tells slaves—who made up a large percentage of Roman society—that they have a role to play in the kingdom of God. Beautify the message about God our Savior, he tells them, by your way of life, by your integrity as you do your daily work (Titus 2:10). Now this subtle outworking of the kingdom of God works in at least two ways. First, it gives slaves an unheard-of dignity in their current status. Second, over time, that dignity will begin to undo the very
...more
When Christianity sees itself more as a belief system or set of rituals for the select few and less as a way of daily life available to all, it loses the “magic” of the kingdom.
Carter is a taxi driver in Washington, D.C. He’s also a secret agent in the kingdom of God. There are thousands of Carters out there, millions. They aren’t on TV. They aren’t on the radio. Nobody has ever heard of them. They don’t write books. They don’t need to, because their days are pages in the most important book of all.
Similarly, if Jesus does his job successfully, if Jesus effectively proclaims and introduces and inducts people into the kingdom of God, he bequeaths to his successors not the same situation he inherited but rather a radically new situation—with new problems, new questions, new opportunities, and new requirements. If we find Paul doing more than repeating the words and imagery of Jesus, we shouldn’t automatically conclude that Paul is preaching another message. Instead, we should consider that Paul may be dealing faithfully with the new situation Jesus has created. In this light, we can read
...more
they can no longer label people with old labels like male/female, Jew/Gentile, slave/free, rich/poor, Barbarian/Scythian, and so on. They must see people in a new light.3 When they see people as God’s creations, beloved by the King and welcome in the kingdom, they must open their hearts, homes, tables, and fellowships to everyone, without regard for old distinctions. That’s radical for everyone, but especially for Jesus’ fellow Jews, whose unique identity and devotion made them very suspicious of mixing with non-Jews.
The great African theologian Lamin Sanneh points out that Christianity is unique among world religions for its amazing translatability. For example, it doesn’t require that people of all cultures refer to God in the language of its founder or that they quote their founder in his original language. In fact, most of them don’t even know what the language of the founder actually was!1 The religion, Sanneh says, takes on new languages and fresh imagery each time it enters a new culture. As we began to see in the preceding chapter, Paul—himself a boundary crosser— does much to translate Jesus’
...more
For example, the empire of Rome was frequently depicted as the body politic , and Caesar was head of the body. Paul picks up the image and speaks of the body of Christ, with Christ as head.
Even Paul’s oft-repeated language of Jesus being Lord resonates with kingdom language: the “pledge of allegiance” in the Roman Empire was (in Greek) Caesar ho Kurios —Caesar is Lord. To say Jesus is Lord is to declare one’s allegiance to a different empire or kingdom, which is one reason that the early Christians were persecuted: not for their religious beliefs but for their lack ...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
[Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; For in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, Things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers— All things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, So that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, And through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself
...more
In the Roman Empire and, in a sense, in Caesar himself, diverse nations are brought together; his rule reconciles former enemies in the Pax Romana . But for Paul, it’s not in Caesar but in Christ that all things are truly reconciled. And how is the Pax Romana enforced? By the threat of swift, horrible, lethal torture on a cross if anyone questions Roman supremacy—a threat graphically dramatized on many a roadside entering major cities throughout the empire. In other words, the Roman peace might be precious, but its cost is high—a lot of brutality, fear, violence, and blood are required to keep
...more
And here, perhaps, is the most astounding contrast of all: the peace of God’s kingdom comes not through the violent torture and merciless extermination of the king’s enemies, but rather through the suffering and death of the king himself. The pax Christi is not the peace of conquest but rather the peace of true reconciliation.
And what is the goal of this suffering sacrifice, this self-giving to the point of blood to achieve the pax Christi ? It is a new and lasting reconciliation between humanity and God, and among all the at-odds individuals and groups that comprise humanity. In another letter, Paul said it like this: “Old distinctions like Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female no longer exist, for you are all one in Christ” (see Galatians 3:28). Today, he might speak of reconciliation of the war veteran with the pacifist protester. The tattooed and pierced granddaughter with her prim and proper
...more
Perhaps you noticed Paul’s term for his message in the previous quote: mystery . In the writings attributed to him, Paul uses mystery as shorthand for his message fifteen times, including this instance in Colossians 1:27: “God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery , which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (ESV; emphasis added). Like Jesus, then, Paul has a secret message—a message that is both concealed and revealed. It is a message of reconciliation and unification, just as a kingdom brings people together under one king. It is, I
...more
that is the case, then we should be able to “untranslate” Paul’s mystery (borrowing a bit from the preceding verses) and integrate it with Jesus’ message of the kingdom like this: God has chosen to make known this great message, which had for long ages been a complete secret. It is an unprecedented, radically inclusive message. It is not just for the Jewish people but for people of all cultures. The secret is unspeakably rich and glorious, and here it is—the secret message, the mystery of the kingdom of God: that Christ the King indwells you, which means that his kingdom is within and among
...more
But consider this: perhaps Paul doesn’t need to use parables to illustrate and “hide” his message. Perhaps Paul himself is in fact a walking, talking parable traveling among other walking, talking communities of parables. Perhaps Paul’s own story of transformation—from a hateful religious bigot to a bridge-building messenger of love and reconciliation—embodies and exemplifies the transforming and reconciling power of the good news of the kingdom. And perhaps the people he is gathering and networking are themselves—individually and as communities— a medium that contains the secret message of
...more
Let’s think back to Paul’s letter to the Colossians once more. Tucked away at the end of the letter hides this seemingly insignificant detail: someone named Onesimus accompanies the man who carries this letter. Onesimus is identified simply and warmly as “our faithful and dear brother” and “one of you” (4:9). But here’s the secret. That simple name telescopes into another whole story—a story that takes shape in another of Paul’s letters, a short note to Philemon. There we learn that Onesimus was the slave of Philemon and that he ran away and ended up in jail with Paul. There, Paul introduced
...more
Yes, Jesus hid his message in parables: “The kingdom of God is like a man who planted a seed . . . It’s like a man who had two sons . . . It’s like a woman who put some yeast in some dough.” But his message took root (like that seed), precipitated reconciliation (like that father and his younger son), and began infiltrating and transforming humanity (like yeast). And as a result, if you asked Paul, “What is the kingdom of God like?” he didn’t need to repeat Jesus’ parables. Instead, I have a hunch about what he would have said. “Let me tell you a story about my dear friend Onesimus . . .” Or
...more
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
Jesus constantly dealt with this concern. It only takes a tiny bit of faith, he said—faith the size of a mustard seed (which is really small!). But how does one measure faith? Jesus answered this as well: if you say you believe in his message, but you don’t seek to practice it, your faith is a matter of words only; it’s not substantial, not real. Faith that counts, then, is not the absence of doubt; it’s the presence of action. It puts you into motion, propels you to action. As Jesus’ early disciple Paul put it, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians
...more
If you repent and believe, you must stay open to receive. Receptivity is hard to define. It’s not exactly active, and neither is it passive. I suppose it’s a lot like a woman who wants to get pregnant. There’s only so much she can do, and it all boils down to receptivity.
This receptivity, by the way, is the best reason Christians have for revering Mary, Jesus’ mother.
As you’ll recall from the Christmas story, Mary was confronted with the hard-to-believe news that she would become pregnant. This required a kind of repentance (rethinking what was possible and impossible for a virgin like herself). It required faith. And then it required receptivity, an open...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
As a parent gladly showers a beloved child with good gifts, God somehow wants to give the best possible gift to us—God’s own self.
Without this third move—this cultivation of receptivity— we always run the risk of thinking the kingdom is something we achieve by earning, rather than a gift we receive by grace alone.
Jesus put it like this: as a new disciple, you learn to practice everything he has taught (Matthew 28:18–20).
Rethinking, believing, receiving, going public, and practicing a new way of life—these seem to be the basic elements of what it means to get in on the secret and let it get into you.
Almost cried just reading this analogy
But what does it mean to fulfill? Jesus makes it clear with a series of examples that follow. Each example begins, “You have heard that it was said,” which introduces what the Law and Prophets and Jewish tradition have taught. Then Jesus says, “But I say to you,” and what follows is an invitation not to lower standards but to raise them, deepen them, fulfill them—to take them above the level of the religious scholars and Pharisees, from the level of external conformity to internal change of mind and heart:
“You have heard that it was said . . . but I say to you”—this is no abolishment of the Sacred Writings. No, Jesus is calling people to a higher way of life that both fulfills the intent of the Law and exceeds the rigor of the religious scholars and Pharisees, who focus on a merely external conformity and technical perfection. As the manifesto continues, Jesus applies the same “You have heard . . . but I say” pattern to deeply important issues for individuals and societies—sexuality, marriage, oaths, and revenge.
The kingdom of God calls you to desire and seek a genuinely pure heart.
But the kingdom of God goes further and says, “No. You can be legal, but your legal divorce causes trouble for your ex-wife, so that doesn’t fly in the kingdom of God. That ‘righteousness’ isn’t righteous enough.”
But now he seems to reverse himself, conjuring the most grossly superficial and external image possible: of avoiding doing wrong by amputating body parts! Philosopher Dallas Willard, I think, rightly captures Jesus’ actual strategy: If not doing anything wrong is the goal, that could be achieved by dismembering yourself and making actions impossible. What you cannot do you certainly will not do. Remove your eye, your hand, etc., therefore, and you will roll into heaven a mutilated stump. The price of dismemberment would be small compared to the reward of heaven. That is the logical conclusion
...more
Spend time unpacking
Conventional morality argues for appropriate revenge (an eye for an eye), but Jesus calls for something beyond revenge entirely: reconciliation.
If someone strikes you on the right cheek, they have given you a backhand slap—the kind of thing a person in power (like a Roman soldier) does to a person he considers inferior (like a Jew). You could strike back, but that would reduce you to the same violent level as your oppressor. Or you could simply skulk away in humiliation, but that would mean letting the oppressor win. The kingdom manifesto invites you to pursue a third alternative: courageously turn the other cheek. Think of it: now to strike you on the left cheek, your presumably right-handed oppressor must treat you not as an
...more
Similarly, if someone takes you to court—as rich landowners would often do to poor peasants who had gotten in debt—and they want your outer garment, Jesus says to strip down naked and give them your underwear as well! Your “generosity” leaves you defenseless and exposed—but in a sense, your exposure exposes the naked greed and cruelty of your oppressors. Again, you have transcended oppression without violence. (No doubt, this would have gotten a good laugh as people pictured it.)
