Whatever did St. Paul do with the Kingdom of God – Part 4

We continue our way through N.T. Wright’s sermon Whatever did St. Paul do with the Kingdom of God, dealing in this post with the kingdom of God in the preaching of Jesus.Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom was not about how an individual might escape earth and get to heaven, but a declaration that the life of heaven was now to be lived on earth.  This is clearly expressed in the Lord’s Prayer “your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

Jesus does not just talk about the kingdom he enacts it through his ministry, showing what it looks like when God become king.  This ministry generates push back from people wanting to know what Jesus thinks he is up to.  Through his parables Jesus seeks to answer those questions and explode the worldviews that lie behind them.

Western believers have had a hard time viewing the Gospels holistically; either the focus is on Jesus’ death and resurrection and thoughts about personal atonement or on his public ministry and thoughts about social justice.

It is better however, to see Jesus’ preaching and ministry in light of the Old Testament expectation of God’s kingdom.  Jesus public ministry is not opposing one expression of evil here or there, but opposing evil as a whole and anticipating the in-bursting of God’s new creation.  What was begun and anticipated in Jesus’ ministry was achieved through his death and resurrection by which he defeated the powers that enslave this world and ultimately the power of death itself.  This then provides the adequate foundation from which to launch God’s project of new creation in this world and the proper context in which to understand personal atonement.

Do you accept Wright’s take on the Lord’s Prayer?  What is your understanding of “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’”?