A Surprising Mystery

Several months ago we were eating dinner at a Cracker Barrel when to our complete surprise our daughter Chrysta walk in. She decided she wanted to come home from college for the weekend and had secretly arranged to pop-in out of the blue with her aunt. I sometimes wonder if she had just come in and had a seat at a table like anyone else having dinner that night rather than seeking us out if we would have even recognized her. Could we have even walked right past her and not noticed if she had wanted to keep her presence there a secret?

I wonder if the way in which Jesus announced the coming of the Kingdom of God came as a surprise to people too. What did people expect “the Day of the Lord” and the Kingdom to look like? Jews at the time of Christ were expecting a Messiah who would establish an earthly kingdom, to overthrow the Romans and take his place as king over Israel. Jesus didn’t do bring in the Kingdom the way people expected.

• Jesus asked, "How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it?
  Mark 4:30 (NLT)

Jesus uses two very interesting parables to specifically describe the Kingdom of God. In the first it is likened to a man who sows seed. This man has no idea how the seed grows, but when the grain is ripe he puts a sickle to it and brings in the harvest. The second pictures the Kingdom to be like a mustard seed that is only a small seed, but then grows into a large tree in which birds can make their home.

Is that really what the Kingdom of God is like? Shouldn’t the Kingdom come with a great victory over its enemies and be announced with fanfare and celebration? Does Jesus really understand the Kingdom? I think if anyone understands the Kingdom of God it is Jesus; we are the ones who are still struggling to understand it.

Jesus announced the coming of a Kingdom that people did not recognize, but that does not mean the Kingdom had not come. In the same way Chrysta could have hidden her presence in the restaurant from us, God’s Kingdom is among us today just as it was with the disciples then, but the Kingdom is concealed. God’s Kingdom is not present as we would expect it to be, thus the reality of the reign of God can be misunderstood or even missed all together.

Jesus told his disciples, “I’m letting you in on the secret of God’s Kingdom” (Mark 4:11 my paraphrase). Maybe we need to ask Jesus to show us the mystery of God’s Kingdom instead of trying to make it what we think it is supposed to be. I don’t want to be like the religious leaders who completely missed the coming of the Kingdom because it didn’t match their expectations. I want to be ready when the sickle is put to the wheat. What do you think?