I have begun reading again the story of Jesus. Matthew records
significant details of His background, birth, baptism and the battle with the
devil. Then He began to preach.
His first word is “repent for the kingdom of heaven is near” -
Turn to God
He was qualified to preach ‘repent’, as He was truly one with
God and preaching for God. His eyes saw two things:
1.
A people astray from God
2.
A people ignorant of their own condition as
sinners condemned by God.
So from the standpoint of God, and with the compassion of
understanding, He preaches “Repent!”
Repent, means a change of mind. It is implied , as John the
Baptist preached, that repentance would evidence itself by a change of
behaviour. But now that the King had
arrived, the emphasis changes from better behaviour, to a change of mind
regarding Jesus the Christ, Jesus
the Messiah, Jesus the King, Jesus
the Saviour. Over and over, the message
of the Kingdom drawing near is a direct reference to the presence of the king
Himself. This is the real meaning of the
expression “The kingdom of God is within you” being better translated “among you”.
It is true the
Kingdom of God is not what we eat and drink, rather it is righteousness, love
and joy in the Holy Spirit, but primarily the Kingdom is connected to the
King. This is why Peter looks into the
future for his entrance into the eternal kingdom, when the King returns.
And so the King
calls people to become His subjects in His Kingdom - He
can heal their diseases (Matthew 4.2-25) , He gives a superior law (Matthew
5-7), . At the end of Matthews gospel we
hear the most important question “What should I do with Jesus who is called the
Christ?” (Matthew 27.22)
Turn around from straying ways, look closely on Jesus and be not
faithless but believing. He is the true
King who saves us from our sins to forgiveness, from being lost to being
accepted, from hell to heaven. “ Repent and believe the Good News" today.
John McKee
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