The Kingdom of God
Stephen Terry
Commentary for the June 13, 2015
Sabbath School Lesson
“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.” Matthew 11:11, NIV
Per this
week’s lesson in the quarterly, the Kingdom of God is mentioned over one
hundred times in the gospels. One would think that with so many mentions it
would be one of the best understood ideas in the Bible. That is perhaps far
from true. The passage above is one enigmatic example.
If we
express this passage mathematically by assigning variable x to the value least in the
kingdom then the kingdom would be made up of x and x + any positive value.
Anything less than x would by
definition have to be outside of that mathematical set. Therefore John would
not be in the kingdom. But if we assign variable y to the value everyone born
of a woman, then y>x, because x apparently is a subset that excludes
some of those born of women. We know this if John was born of Elizabeth[i]
and is outside of the kingdom, John ≠ x
and John is not greater than x because
otherwise, he would be in the kingdom. If
y>x then x must be a subset of y. Therefore
we can maybe safely say that y≥x.
John would
appear to be in y but not in x. But if the kingdom consists of x+any positive value, and y includes all values both positive and
negative, anything that is equal to the greatest value of y should be found in the kingdom, since that value should be
positive and the kingdom is a subset of y.
How then can John be outside the kingdom unless his value is less than x, which would not make him greatest of
those born of women? Perhaps this illustrates how illusive an understanding of
the Kingdom of God is. But this is not the end of the difficulties.
If we look
at the definition of that person who is “least in the kingdom,” we find it is
someone who not only sets aside the Law, but teaches others to do the same.[ii]
Now some might wish to exclude those who do so from God’s Kingdom, but to be
least in the kingdom means one is still on the inside, still at least equal to x. Therefore, disobedience to the Law
does not seem to keep one out of the Kingdom. It only seems to affect their
status within it. But when it comes to John, even though he is greatest among
those born of women, he is less than someone who sets aside the Law, and therefore
out of the Kingdom. This becomes even more complicated still when we consider
that John, who was outside the kingdom, and Peter, whom we might consider to be
in the kingdom, since he was given the keys to the kingdom,[iii]
both preached a message of repentance.[iv]
Since repentance means turning from a life of sin, and sin is breaking the Law,[v]
then whether one is in or out of the kingdom appears to have no relation to
breaking the Law. What then makes the difference?
We might be tempted
to say that accepting Jesus is the key. However, John recognized Jesus as the
Lamb of God and proclaimed Him as such to the crowds.[vi]
That means that there must be another identifying factor for citizenship in the
Kingdom of God. Perhaps it is found in Peter’s call to repentance at Pentecost.
Like John, he urged the people to repentance. Also, like John, he preached
baptism. However, he presented one additional necessity, the ministry of the
Holy Spirit. Maybe the manner of Jesus’ baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended
on Him, prefigured
or even inaugurated the Kingdom.[vii]
This seems to be the case when we consider texts like Acts 19:1-7, where Paul
encounters a dozen believers who have not received the Holy Spirit because they
were baptized by John and not in the name of Jesus. After baptizing them in
that latter form, they are all said to receive the Spirit. But if this is the
case why was John said to be filled with the Holy Spirit?[viii]
This is extremely perplexing if, as Jesus said, John was not equal to even the
least in the kingdom.
Do our Pentecostal
brethren have something here with their insistence that everyone must receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit? The outpouring of the Spirit as “tongues of fire”
at Pentecost[ix]
seems to confirm a transitional point. This seems especially true in light of
Peter’s statement that same day that the gift of the Holy Spirit would follow
on repentance and baptism. The Pentecostals may have erred in insisting that
the receipt of that gift meant that everyone must talk in tongues as evidence
of their conversion, but they may have hit the mark regarding the vital nature
of the Holy Spirit’s ministry to those in the kingdom.
Since those
who teach others to set aside the Law will still be in the kingdom, we might be
justified in understanding that this relationship to the Holy Spirit is more
important than one’s relationship to the Law. However, one may follow upon
another, for it would seem unlikely that the Spirit would lead us into
disobedience. This may not mean that we would always understand it as obedience
to the Law. For example, the Pharisees apparently felt that Jesus was
conducting His ministry in opposition to the Law. The Bible cites many
instances where they challenged Him on that very point, especially when He
healed people on the Sabbath. This may beg the question of how much of what we
require in regards to Sabbath observance today is from the Holy Spirit, and how
much is from our desire to have a standard to test one another’s obedience? In
doing so, like the Pharisees, we may be trying to determine who is, and who is
not, in the kingdom. This is in spite of Jesus’ statement that law breakers
would be in the kingdom, albeit in a low status.
How do we receive
this outpouring of the Holy Spirit? It would seem from the account in Acts,
chapter two, that unity is an important factor.[x]
When we look at the Christian church now, we see anything but unity. While
everyone calls for it, few are willing to budge on distinctive points of
doctrine that the many splintered factions hold dear. While our Pentecostal friends
may not be likely to compromise on the point of speaking in tongues, Baptists
are not likely to compromise on immersive baptism. Episcopalians would probably
be unwilling to alter their cyclical liturgy, and Catholics would have
difficulty leaving behind the primacy of the Pope. As Seventh-day Adventists,
we are not unlike the rest, for we have certain doctrines that are not salvific
that we have shown little willingness to compromise on for the sake of unity
with other believers. A good example might be our relationship to the
inspiration of Ellen White. A Christian might be following literally everything
in the Bible, but if he or she does not accept the inspiration of Ellen White,
some within Adventism would brand them an apostate. This very point has long
kept us apart from other seventh-day observing denominations. Could it be that
we do not emphasize the baptism of the Holy Spirit because we prefer factionalism
to unity and therefore know that receiving the blessing of the Holy Spirit is
not realistic?
Some might
say that we do not act in such a manner that it would prevent the Holy Spirit’s
work. However, we need only look at the flame war raging over the issue of
women’s ordination. As we approach the
upcoming General Conference session in San Antonio, many seem to prefer a good
fight to a unified pleading for the will of God to be revealed and for the Holy
Spirit to be poured out in enabling power. Some are even calling for further
splintering of the faith over the issue. Those who might pray for God to “fix”
their brother and make them see light over an issue are not praying for unity.
They are simply praying to win the argument, and assuming there can be no
viewpoint other than their own, which they believe happens to be the same as
God’s
It is not wrong
to have differences of opinion over these issues, but it may be wrong to
denigrate our opponent and claim they do not believe the Bible or follow Christ
because they see a different interpretation than we might see. If we can stop
crying, “Heresy!” over every difference of opinion and focus on being unified
(not uniform) in our desire to follow Jesus, then perhaps we may achieve unity
in the faith. If we can achieve this, we may then be prepared to experience
that latter-rain outpouring of the Holy Spirit on everyone, young and old, male
and female when there will be no doubt of who is in the kingdom because they
will be proclaiming it everywhere.
