(Isa. 11:1–9). The people of God would be triumphant over all their foes, including that last enemy, death itself (Isa. 25:6–12; Ezek. 36:24–38; Jer. 31:31–36). Jesus’ kingdom preaching continued this expectation. When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God, he told his disciples, not just that they would go to heaven, but they would share with him in the ruling authority granted to him by his Father. They would “sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:30). When the mother of James and John asked Jesus to grant that her sons would sit one on his right and one on his left, her
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