Reflection
The Kingdom of Heaven/God
Matthew 13:24-33, Romans 8:26-27, John 15:15-17, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Romans 12:17-21.
Let us begin reflecting on the text...from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 13:24-30):
“The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man
who sowed good seed in his field.
While everyone was asleep
his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat,
and then went off.
When the crop grew and bore fruit,
the weeds appeared as well.
The slaves of the householder came to him and said,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where have the weeds come from?’
He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’
His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
“First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
The text begins with the famous and popular words, “the Kingdom of Heaven”.
Do we know what the Kingdom of Heaven/God is?
I was preparing for my theology comprehensive exam (final exam) after studying theology for three years.
As I was studying and preparing for the comprehensive exam, the question that often-kept recurring in my mind was: what is the Kingdom of Heaven/God?
I went about not only reflecting on the question that raised within me but also seeking the answer for the same from my theology professors.
None of the answers that were given by my theology professors, satisfied me or gave me the conviction that this is the Kingdom of Heaven/God.
It made me to reflect on the question with more intent.
I studied during my school days that there were so many kingdoms in the history of the world.
Nevertheless, there is none that exist with same power, authority and territory at present like it was in the past.
Every kingdom in the history, had the beginning and the end.
At the same time, we preach the Kingdom of Heaven/God, every day in our life as a disciple of Jesus Christ, which was begun by Jesus Himself during His Mission on the earth.
How can the Kingdom of Heaven/God be distinguished from the kingdom of the earth/human?
As a Christian, we possess two distinguished qualities.
They are: 1. Love, and 2. Forgiveness.
God loves us and forgives us.
For God, it does not matter who we are.
God continues His Kingdom by loving and forgiving us in spite of our brokenness and weakness.
God established the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth when He said, “I love you” as we read in the Gospel of John (John 3:16):
“For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone
who believes in him
might not perish
but might have eternal life.”
To express love, we need two persons.
One person to give and the other person to receive.
Love is not one sided.
Love gives and receives.
Love respects.
Love cares.
Love treats the other equally.
God loves us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ.
And love was the beginning of the Kingdom of Heaven/God.
St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13:1-13), explains what love really means.
Secondly, the Kingdom of Heaven, which was begun by our God in and through Jesus Christ, is ‘eternal’.
There is no end.
It continues...
Jesus continued the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth on behalf of His Father and urged each of His disciples to continue loving and forgiving in their lives.
By dying on the Cross for us all, when we were still sinners, He has shown by His very life what love and forgiveness mean.
That is the reason, we continue His Kingdom in our everyday life, loving Him back and loving & forgiving our neighbours by our words and deeds in our lives.
So, I would like to put it in straightforward words, what I understand the Kingdom of Heaven is:
“God loves us in and through Jesus Christ and we love Him back in and through our neighbours.”
This act of love continued more than two thousand years and will continue eternally.
There is no end for love.
Love is eternal and so the Kingdom of Heaven/God is eternal.
In addition, I would say that the Kingdom of Heaven/God, is ‘the Kingdom of Love’.
Now, we know what distinguishes the Kingdom of Heaven/God and the kingdom of earth/human.
Moreover, we come to know for sure why kingdom of earth/human ended with authority and power, and why the Kingdom of Heaven/God continues...till now with love and forgiveness.
Having said what the Kingdom of Heaven/God is for me, let me reflect with you on the text from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 13:24-33).
1. The wheat and the weed:
Jesus explains in this parable that the field is the world. It is not like the parable of the Sower, where Jesus speaks about four types of field.
There is no second field here.
There is only one field.
That field is the world.
Having understood what the Kingdom of Heaven is, we can say that the Kingdom of Heaven/God belongs to this field.
Or
In other words, we can say that the Kingdom of Heaven/God belongs to this world.
There are two kinds of people in the world.
One those who are good, loving, forgiving, etc.
The other who are evil, hateful, revengeful, etc.
God gives all good.
Satan gives all evil.
In this parable, we read that the master himself goes for sowing the seed.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.
God, the Master, sows the seed of love in and through Jesus Christ in this world.
But, there is also evil.
Good and evil, love and hate, and forgiveness and revenge, exist in this world together.
It is difficult to distinguish the differences sometimes.
They look similar.
At the same time, they are different.
The symbol of love is ‘heart’.
But, Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 15:19):
“For from the heart
come evil thoughts, murder,
adultery, unchastity, theft,
false witness, blasphemy.”
How come the symbol of love becomes the origin of evil.
It is because of our slave attitude.
It is the “slave” who asks the master, “Shall I go and remove the weed.”
How would a slave know the weed?
How could he distinguish the wheat and the weed?
It is an over enthusiasm attitude.
I think the use of word ‘slave’ here in this text is more important.
Slave feels that he/she is under the influence of someone or something.
It may be a master/mistress or it may be position, money, ego, pride, jealousy etc.
Slave fulfils the order from the master/mistress.
It may be good.
It may be evil.
A good master/mistress guides a slave in right attitude or in right direction (Romans 12:9):
“Let love be sincere;
hate what is evil,
hold on to what is good.”
Further, a good master/mistress does not keep anyone as his/her slave.
We read in the Gospel of John (15:15-17):
“I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know
what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything
I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me,
but I who chose you
and appointed you to go
and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father
in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”
The good Master, Jesus Christ responds with love, “Let them grow together.”
Yes dear friends, God has no partiality (Romans 12:17-21):
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil;
be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all.
If possible, on your part,
live at peace with all.
Beloved, do not look for revenge
but leave room for the wrath;
for it is written, “Vengeance is mine,
I will repay, says the Lord.”
Rather, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink;
for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.”
Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.“
God just loves like a father (Luke 15:11-32).
God waits eagerly for His lost son and daughter.
God celebrates together with all (Luke 15:7).
Our Master, God cares for all.
Our Master, God does not condemn us but forgives us.
By these acts of kindness, care, forgiveness, He shows us how to love all.
2. Mustard Seed:
What do we need to be like our Master in our life?
We need to sow the seed of love as we read in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 13:31-32):
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that a person took and sowed in a field.
It is the smallest of all the seeds,
yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.
It becomes a large bush,
and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”
Our love may be a small word.
Our love may be a small action.
Our small word and deed of love, grow to accommodate many unloved in the Mission of building the Kingdom of Heaven/God.
We may sometimes feel that I do not have resources, talents, etc., to be like a mustard plant.
3. Yeast:
But, Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 13:33):
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened.”
We may be like the ‘yeast’.
We feel that we are insignificant.
We may think that we are insignificant in resources.
We may think that we are insignificant in talents.
We may not be recognised for our insignificant love.
We may not be appreciated for our insignificant love.
But,
Love can influence many.
Love may be a small mustard seed.
Love may be insignificant like leaven.
Love and forgiveness are like a chain-reaction.
Love can be listening to someone who is lonely.
Love can be telling someone I forgive you.
Love can be giving your shoulder to someone who wants to dry their tears.
Love can be just being with someone.
Love can be a pat on the shoulder of someone who needs the most.
Love can be giving a glass of water to someone who is thirsty.
Love can be treating everyone equally without any discrimination.
Love can be calling someone and asking them how they are during the pandemic.
Love can be a smile to someone whom we may not know.
Once, we begin our small and insignificant acts of love in our lives, our love unknowingly becomes an influencer in this world proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven/God.
Love becomes our way of life like our Master, Jesus Christ.
I would like to conclude this reflection by reading from the Letter of St. Paul to Romans (Romans 8:26-27):
“In the same way,
the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
And the one who searches hearts knows
what is the intention of the Spirit,
because it intercedes for the holy ones
according to God’s will.”
Let us together pray to the Spirit of Jesus Christ that we may discern between the good and evil and do according to God’s will in this world. We may sow the seed of love to accommodate the poor, the migrant, and we may mix the yeast of love to reach out to insignificant and needy people, building the Kingdom of Heaven/God wherever we are and whatever we do.
May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen...
