Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven
Matthew 6:10
Kingdom come
‘’Kingdom come’’ is a phrase rarely heard now, but it used to refer to the distant future, or to destruction, as in ‘blown to kingdom come’ by wartime bombing. If you Google ‘kingdom come’, you will be put in touch with a game; if you look it up in Macquarie Dictionary, you will find it means ‘the kingdom of Christ to come, the next world’.
When Jesus says ‘kingdom come’’ in the Lord’s Prayer, He is referring to a specific, unique kingdom – the kingdom of ‘’Our Father’. In other texts His words are sometimes translated ‘Kingdom of God’, sometimes ‘Kingdom of Heaven’.
The disciples know about kings and kingdoms. They know the tramp of foreign feet on their streets, and the need to get out of the way. They know what it was like to be pushed aside, or forced to carry heavy loads. They know that the despised Jewish tax collectors are protected by Roman soldiers. They know about paranoid puppet kings. They also know about revolts and retribution. They look forward to a time when the Messiah will establish a ‘golden age’ like that of the reigns of David and Solomon (conveniently forgetting that David’s reign was a time of almost continuous war, and Solomon’s a time of extortionate taxation. Subsequent kings rarely thought of the welfare of their citizens.)
From the teaching of Jesus, they should have learned that God’s kingdom is not like this. He says ‘My kingdom is not of this world’. It is multilayered – concerned with the present (‘the kingdom of God is at hand’) and future; it is internal (‘the kingdom of God is within you”) and external. It is a way of living and the focus of hope.
Jesus compares it to a fishing net, a sower of seeds, a pearl-seeking merchant, a mustard seed, hidden treasure, a king who forgives his debtor, the owner of a vineyard, and a king who gives a wedding feast.
In Romans 14:17, Paul says ‘… the kingdom of heaven is … a matter of… righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’. The Message puts it this way: God’s kingdom "...is what God does with your life as He sets it right, puts it together and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ.’’
‘’Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed by your name,
Your kingdom come…’’
Pray to our Father, that His kingdom will be made known in your life and be seen by those around you.
Today's contributor: Gwen Pascoe
