The phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” within the Gospel of Matthew has been a major concern for early Christians and even New Testament scholars today. “It has been observed that the phrases “the Kingdom,” “the Kingdom of God,” and “the Kingdom of Heaven” are used interchangeably throughout the Gospels. The specific phrase “the Kingdom of Heaven” is confined to only the Gospel of Matthew” (Orr 1805). Matthew preferred a usage that would communicate better in the Pharisaic-type circles in which he was engaging” (Keener 68). “The phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” is found 32 times in the Gospel of Matthew. The phrase “the Kingdom of God” is only found 5 times in Matthew’s Gospel. Out of reverence for the Holy name of the Lord, the Jews would not mention “God,” but would substitute the word “Heaven.” The prodigal son confessed that he had sinned “against Heaven,” meaning, God. In many places where Matthew uses the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven,” the parallel passages in Mark and Luke use “Kingdom of God” (Wiersbe 30). This study will explore the different views of Matthew’s theology of the phrase “the Kingdom of Heaven.”
In earliest Christianity, the Jewish culture was persistent with mixing up the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Pharisees and the scribes, which were the religious leaders, had the tendency to pervert God’s message. They of all people knew the prophesies foretold in the Old Testament about the Messiah’s coming, but rejected Him to His face. “In the New Testament, the word kingdom means “rule, reign, or authority” rather than a place or specific realm. The phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” refers to the rule of God. The Jewish leaders wanted a political leader who would deliver them from Rome, but Jesus came to bring spiritual rule to the hearts of people” (Wiersbe 30). Wiersbe shows us that this Kingdom that is mentioned is Christ’s reign over our lives as believers. The Jews were seeking for earthly deliverance, but Jesus came to offer the ultimate deliverance. This is a deliverance from sin. Their idea of the Messiah was so distorted that they didn’t even realize he’d come. “Jews were continually thinking of earthly kingdom, and on this account rejected our Lord’s spiritual teaching of new sovereignty from Heaven” (Thomas 57). The difference can not better be expressed than by saying, “as is done by B. Weiss, “that He and they laid the accent on different halves of the phrase, they emphasizing “the Kingdom” and He “of Heaven.” They were thinking of the expulsion of the Romans and of a Jewish king and court. He was thinking of righteousness, holiness, and peace, of the doing of the will of God on earth as it is done in Heaven” (Orr 1806). In essence, the will of God is being done on earth through believers as they continue to help people see their desperate need for a Saviour whose name is Jesus Christ. The moment they receive the gift of faith, they enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. “Citizens of the Kingdom had to enter it one by one, not in a body, as the Jews were expecting. Straight was the gate; it was the narrow gate of repentance” (Orr 1807). Jesus wasn’t looking for good behavior, He wanted total surrender and repentance of the heart.
There are some critics today who “maintain that Jesus’ future Kingdom is an unrealistic hope for modern people, label the Kingdom a myth, and translate it into existential language more appropriate for their own academic circles of thought. There position presupposes modern contempt for apocalyptic thought rather than a detailed historical argument” (Keener 70). Craig Keener throws a direct blow at the critics with this statement. Before criticizing something it is best to have a good understanding first. He goes on to argue that “the future Kingdom is hardly irrelevant to the persecuted and the oppressed, who nurture hope that God’s justice will ultimately triumph and vindicate them” (Keener 70). In fact, believers enjoy the Holy Spirit as the “down payment” (1 Cor. 1:22, 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14) of their future hope. “In short, the present significance of the future Kingdom in early Christian teaching was thus that God’s people in the present age were citizens of the coming age, people whose identity by what Jesus had done and what they would be, not by what they had been or by their status in the world” (Keener 69). Within this view there are two aspects of the “Kingdom of Heaven.” Some scholars agree that it is referring to a promise in the far future. In other words, they are looking to the millennial Kingdom. Others hold to the view that the “Kingdom of Heaven” is within your life as soon as you become a believer. Thus, the Kingdom of Heaven is within you. The Bible makes it clear in the Gospel of Luke that this could be the case, “And being asked by the Pharisees, when the Kingdom of God cometh, He answered them and said, The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo, here! Or, There! For there, the Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20). The follower of Christ is to live in Joy now, for they are already in the Kingdom. Christ is the Kingdom and He tells us to abide in Him and Him in us. “If one examines the total picture of the Gospels, the Kingdom is both present and future, as is widely recognized today” (Keener 69). “The Lord does not want those who receive Him as Saviour and Lord to think that He relegates all blessing to the distant future. There is blessing for us here and now. The kingdom of Heaven or God will be fulfilled in its literal sense in the future, / but it is also in us and among us now. The moment you humble yourself, recognize your unworthiness, and go to the Lord Jesus Christ, He makes you blessed and establishes His eternal rule in you. He becomes your King” (Zodhiates 72, 73). Don’t let the idea of “the Kingdom within you” not look forward to the day when we will see the Father face to face. We are to live in rest and joy now on earth, but God will give us surpassing rest and joy when we are taken up into the sky for our divine meeting. “The King’s throne is no longer in earthly Jerusalem, but in heavenly Mount Zion, from which the King of kings and Lord f lords administers His Kingdom through the Holy Spirit. May God hasten the day when at the name of Jesus Christ every knee will bow and confess that He is Lord and so submit to His rule” (Waltke 11)
The Lord promises His blessedness as the first result in the beatitudes. Every beatitude begins with “Blessed are.” Critics ask, “Why would he add another promise, “for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” at the end? “He wants to further explain the nature of this blessedness. Your blessedness means the kingdom of Heaven within you. “You are blessed because God dwells in you through me,” the Lord said, “and when that happens I am there as King and Lord of your life. I am there, not as a guest, but as a permanent Ruler. And, since I come from Heaven, My coming into you has brought Heaven to you.” That is exactly what happens when a person humbles themselves before God and goes to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. God comes into their heart and takes over His rule within them. This is what it means to be saved, to be born again of the kingdom of Heaven, to have the Christ of Heaven come to you, and consequently Heaven itself, even while you live on this earth” (Zodhiates 75). It is important to look past the English translation when exhorting scripture. When you look to the original Greek text, “more must be said in reference to the “kingdom of Heaven” within you. “The verb here is in the present and not the future tense, as in every other beatitude in Matthew 5 that does not refer to the kingdom of Heaven or God. In Matthew only the first and the eighth beatitudes, which refer to the kingdom of Heaven as the promise, use the present tense. All three beatitudes whose promise is in the present tense speak of the kingdom of Heaven or God. When a beatitude promises something other than the kingdom, the promise is always in the future tense” (Zodhiates 72).
All throughout Christian history, church fathers have fumbled around with this phrase as well. “St. Augustine’s great work bears a title, “De Civitate Dei,” which is a translation of our phrase; and to him the kingdom of Heaven or God was the church, while the world outside of the church was the kingdom of Satan” (Orr 1807). Today there are many church attendees who utilize the “Kingdom of God” in that way. Close to the end of the reformation period, “the phrase as it was then understood, spoke of themselves working for the kingdom of Heaven. They found this more to their taste than working for the church” (Orr 1807). This just goes to show that “the term “Kingdom of Heaven” or “Kingdom of God” must be sought each time in the cultural background of the speaker and the hearers, plus a consideration of the intension revealed in the total message. Sometimes these terms do refer to the millennial Kingdom and some times they do not” (Zodhiates 73). Russel Moore describes the Kingdom as warfare,
“With a Christocentric hermeneutic of the Kingdom, evangelical theology increasingly sees the narrative of Scripture not simply as a blueprint to rescue, but as warfare to reclaim the cosmos from its enemy occupation by sin, death, and demonic powers” (Moore 5).
There are several elements to the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven,” that are considered “living power which can never pass away. One, it expresses the social side of Christianity. A kingdom implies a multitude and variety. Second, it keeps alive the truth, suggested by Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer, that the doing of the will of God on earth is the one thing needful. This is the true end of all authority in both church and state, and behind all efforts thus directed there is at work the potency of Heaven. Last, it reminds all generations of men that their true home and destiny is Heaven. While His aim was that the kingdom should be established on earth, He always promised to those aiding in its establishment in this world that their efforts would be rewarded in the world to come. The constant recognition of a spiritual and eternal world is one of he unfailing marks of genuine Christianity” (Orr 1808).
Bibliography
Keener, Craig S. A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.
King James Reference Bible. Luke 17:20. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.
Moore, Russel D. "Leftward to Scofield: the Eclipse of the Kingdom in Post Conservative Evangeical Theology." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 47.3 (2004): 423-440.
Orr, James, ed. "Kingdom of Heaven." The National Standard Bible Encyclodaedia. 3rd ed. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1939.
Thomas, W. H. Griffith. Outline Studies in Matthew. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1985.
Waltke, Bruce K. "The Irruption of the Kingdom of God." Criswell Theological Review 2.1 (2004): 3-13.
Wiersbe, Warren W. Meet Your King: Discover the Excitment of Knowing the King of Glory. Wheaton: SP Publications, 1980.
Zodhiates, Spiros. The Pursuit of Happiness. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.
