Political Expectations

In Jesus' day there was a lot of expectation / hope for the coming of the Messiah. Most religious people had some sort of belief that there would be somebody coming who would rule God's people and bring about some type of revival of the Law of Moses. The expected ruler would help promote Israel to unparalleled success, power and prestige.

The expected Messiah would deliver the nation from the Roman oppression and bring freedom to Israel. He would rule as King David and King Solomon did in their days. He would conquer the nations like David and build like Solomon. He would rule a kingdom that would never fall. As a ruler he would bring justice to the nations through a renewed commitment to God's Law. Indeed, how could one rule justly without the Law of God that was so admired by the religious.

This is only a snapshot of the expectations people had about the Messiah. And this snapshot helps us to understand that when Jesus spoke of a kingdom, people heard him speak to their idea of a kingdom mentioned above. It was political, spiritual and judicial - all at the same time.

Even the apostles held onto this type of world view. James and John sought to sit at the right and left of Jesus in his kingdom - a kingdom they expected here and now in this world. When Jesus first mentioned that he had to suffer, Peter rebuked him because in his mind there was nothing of the sort for a world ruler. And when Jesus rose from the dead, the apostles still believed that Jesus was going to set up a worldly kingdom... "Lord are you going to restore Israel's kingdom now?" If the apostles who lived with Jesus for so long believed that Jesus was bringing an earthly kingdom, how much more the common people. And how much more still those who were in authority believed Jesus to be a political threat.

As we listen to Jesus' message about the kingdom throughout the Gospels it is imperative to keep this in mind. People did not expect a "spiritual kingdom," they expected a worldly kingdom that would serve their social, spiritual and political needs... needs that were human centered and not God centered, and for that reason Satan's playground (Mark 8:33).