God's Reigning Order
Christopher B. Harbin
John 18:33-37
I have met numerous people caught up in concerns of power. Looking into my history books, it's the same story. Cortez did not enter Mexico on a mission of peace. Columbus did not make his voyage to engage in open, fair, and honest trade with India. The Crusades were never about wresting the Holy Land from infidels. Constantine's use of the cross and phrase In Hoc Segno had nothing to do with trusting Jesus. They were all about power, wealth, domination, ambition, and control. Even a surface glance at Jesus shows a wholly different focus. Why do we so easily tie God's Reign to our concepts of political dominance and love for violent power?
You're familiar with my use of the term God's Reign, rather than the more traditional God's Kingdom or the Kingdom of God. Another alternative is to speak of God's Kindom. Both recognize that when Jesus speaks of God's Reign or Kindom, it is not after the manner in which we think of a kingdom. First of all, the Greek term is active, just like the term trust in contrast to faith. Second, it makes no geographic reference, delimited by borders where others begin to hold way in opposition to God. Jesus was not concerned with geographical borders, as his ministry roves back and forth through Samaria, into Phoenicia, Syria, the Decapolis, and throughout Galilee and Judea. He goes out of his way to encounter people beyond Israel and displays the message and actions of God's Reign among them.
Throughout Jesus' meandering ministry, we see no reference akin to "subjects of God's Reign." He calls the disciples servants, then he also calls them friends. He makes no distinction among those he heals, feeds, teaches, or rescues from some oppression. The gospel take pains to point out occasions in which Jesus interacts with non-Jews who should not have had any worth to God given standard perspectives on outsiders. John shows him going through Samaria, a short cut used only ou ...
Christopher B. Harbin
John 18:33-37
I have met numerous people caught up in concerns of power. Looking into my history books, it's the same story. Cortez did not enter Mexico on a mission of peace. Columbus did not make his voyage to engage in open, fair, and honest trade with India. The Crusades were never about wresting the Holy Land from infidels. Constantine's use of the cross and phrase In Hoc Segno had nothing to do with trusting Jesus. They were all about power, wealth, domination, ambition, and control. Even a surface glance at Jesus shows a wholly different focus. Why do we so easily tie God's Reign to our concepts of political dominance and love for violent power?
You're familiar with my use of the term God's Reign, rather than the more traditional God's Kingdom or the Kingdom of God. Another alternative is to speak of God's Kindom. Both recognize that when Jesus speaks of God's Reign or Kindom, it is not after the manner in which we think of a kingdom. First of all, the Greek term is active, just like the term trust in contrast to faith. Second, it makes no geographic reference, delimited by borders where others begin to hold way in opposition to God. Jesus was not concerned with geographical borders, as his ministry roves back and forth through Samaria, into Phoenicia, Syria, the Decapolis, and throughout Galilee and Judea. He goes out of his way to encounter people beyond Israel and displays the message and actions of God's Reign among them.
Throughout Jesus' meandering ministry, we see no reference akin to "subjects of God's Reign." He calls the disciples servants, then he also calls them friends. He makes no distinction among those he heals, feeds, teaches, or rescues from some oppression. The gospel take pains to point out occasions in which Jesus interacts with non-Jews who should not have had any worth to God given standard perspectives on outsiders. John shows him going through Samaria, a short cut used only ou ...
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