“I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!” (Luke 7:28, NLT).
Jesus praised John the Baptist as one of the greatest people who have ever lived. Then, Jesus contrasted the eminence of John with that of people who are just “average” citizens of God’s Kingdom.
“Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants” (Deuteronomy 1:8, NLT).
To prepare the Israelites for the conquest of Canaan, Moses reminded them of life in Egypt, of the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, and of their past fearfulness that resulted in disobedience to God and rebellion against His promises.
“Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand everything” (Proverbs 28:5, HCSB).
Those who seek and know God bear the unique responsibility of assimilating God’s spiritual kingdom, the Kingdom of God, into the reality in which they live because they are residents of both realms—the present created order and the future spiritual order.
But we live, think, and experience the world in which we live through our five senses. Unfortunately, according to the order of this world, if you cannot see it, hear it, touch it, feel it, or smell it, then it does not exist.
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36, ESV).
Jesus told His disciples to love their enemies, do good and pray for those who hate and mistreat them, and give without expecting anything in return, even if someone is stealing from them.
Seems pretty radical doesn’t it?
“And Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?'” (Luke 6:9, ESV).
Luke 6:1-5 describes how once when Jesus and His disciples were walking through grain fields on a Sabbath, some of His disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain.
Some Pharisees considered plucking grain on the Sabbath as forbidden work and challenged Jesus on the matter. The penalty for profaning the Sabbath was death (Exodus 31:14), so this was a pretty serious charge made against Jesus’ disciples by the Pharisees.
“For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people! And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus” (Luke 5:9-11, NLT).
In this story that is the first call of disciples recorded in Luke’s gospel, Peter, James and John had just fished all night with no results.
“I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.”
Christ’s coming inaugurated His Kingdom on Earth.
Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is a spiritual nation that is active in this world now to prepare its citizens for an eternal, heavenly Kingdom that is to come.
The gospel of Jesus is a message of an everlasting Kingdom that extends its reign from the creation of the universe to this present age and into the ages to come.
“Amazement came over them all, and they kept saying to one another, ‘What is this message? For He commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!’ And news about Him began to go out to every place in the vicinity” (Luke 4:36-37, HCSB).
After Jesus was baptized by John and then tempted by the devil for forty days, He officially began His ministry. Jesus started out by teaching in synagogues in Galilee near His hometown of Nazareth..
“As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, ‘I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire’” (Luke 3:15-17, ESV).
The good news about Jesus is always accompanied by what some might consider “bad news.”
“If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you” (Proverbs 25:21-22, ESV).
This advice from Solomon goes way beyond the Golden Rule of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.
It’s more like the Golden Rule on steroids!
Steve's Bible Meditations 