Theology 1 - Topic 2

Theology I – Chapter II: Topic 2.4 Kingdom of God [1]

Code Number: TH111E

Course Title: "SEARCHING FOR GOD IN THE WORLD TODAY"

CHAPTER II: JESUS OF NAZARETH, GOD’S DEFINITIVE AND UNIQUE OFFER OF LIFE AND LOVE

2.4 Kingdom or Reign of God: The Core of Jesus’ Story in Words and Deed

(3 hours)

Introduction

In this lesson, we shall explain a key word that keeps coming up in our previous lessons, and which was central to the life and mission of Jesus:

2.4 Kingdom or Reign of God: The Core of Jesus’ Story in Word and Deed

Objective: After this lesson, the student is able to explain the mission of Jesus of “kingdom or reign of God” and to relate this to our mission today as followers of Jesus.

Before we do this, let us have a review of what we’ve taken up so far about Jesus of Nazareth.

In our previous lessons, we gave answers to the question of Jesus, “Who do you say I am?” From childhood to our present stage of life, we met different faces of Jesus through our parents and teachers, as well as through our various personal experiences. Generally, our images of Jesus are focused on two aspects of his life: his birth and his death. Our religious festivities also concentrate on two moments: Christmas and the Holy Week.


But is that all who Jesus is – the cute little baby and the suffering person

on the cross? We seem to jump too easily and quickly – from beginning to end. There is a big gap between the two moments, which remains unknown, obscure, or forgotten. And when we are asked about the reason for Jesus coming to our world and the meaning of his death, we find comfort in the familiar, simple one-line answer: to save us from our sins.

Our search for Jesus is not contented with such an approach of a

“birth-and-death Jesus.” We want to know more about his man from Nazareth, who God has sent forth with a mission to our world.

We want to fill in the gap: who was Jesus between his birth and death, what did he say and do, who is this man from Nazareth who lived and died for us, and why do we claim that he is the bearer of God’s salvation? We tried to answer these questions in the previous lessons.

First, we sketched the social world within which Jesus of Nazareth was born, grew up, and did his work. His world looks peaceful, but in fact many people were suffering from poverty, injustice, and marginalization. Amidst and despite the negative situation, people were hopeful for changes in personal lives and in their society that were ruled by Jewish elites and the Roman Empire conquerors. People longed that the promise of God for fullness of life will be realized, especially for the poor, the sick, the outcasts, and other people who were set aside or pushed to the margins. That promise


of God was highly anticipated with the coming of Spirit-filled persons, who in their past and tradition, stood in the name of the God of justice and peace.

It is in this social context that Jesus was born to a poor rural woman and a tekton. He grew up in Nazareth, a small, insignificant barrio. We have no information what happened to him from the time he was born and when he was baptized by John at the Jordan river. The Gospel writers might not have heard about his boyhood and adolescent years, or they found it not important as much as what Jesus did when he was an adult. This absence of information has led many people through the centuries to speculate about the “hidden years” of Jesus. But that is what it is – speculations.

However, we may also imagine that Jesus grew up as any rural boy, for any young person for that matter: inquisitive, experimenting, sometimes with dull and sometimes exciting everyday moments, and probably he went through crises of identity as many of us do. In the end, whether we know or do not know what happened to him, all those years are counted in the eyes of God, for as the Gospel of Luke puts it again, “he grew in stature and wisdom” before God and people.

Hence, by the time Jesus was baptized by John, he walked the land “filled with Spirit” and he understood his role: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the good news of liberation to the poor!” We have described Jesus as a

“Spirit-filled person” in broad strokes:

1) Jesus is a Spirit-person with vision and mission from God, who he called Abba.

2) Jesus is a healer and the bringer of God’s salvation from God.

3) Jesus is a teacher of alternative wisdom, who subverts the conventional way of thinking of people

towards a radically new world.4) Jesus is a prophet of social justice based on the compassion of

God.


Let us now study the concept of “Kingdom of God,” which is at the core or center of the words and deeds of Jesus. In fact, it is what defines the figure and meaning of Jesus.

The “Kingdom of God” in the Old Testament

in Hebrew language (in the Old Testament) – malkuth Yahweh

in Greek language (New Testament) – baseleia tou theo in English language – “kingdom” or “reign” or “rule” of

God Pilipino:

pamamathalaan ng Diyos pamamayani ng kagandahang-loob ni Bathala

It may be natural for us to ask where the kingdom of God is. We suspect that if people are asked for answers, they would say that it is in heaven, above us; it is not of this world. We think that God’s kingdom is the dwelling place of our God, to which we will go when we die. To better understand what Jesus said and did about the kingdom of God, let us first have a look at how it is described in the Old Testament, or how the Jews of his time understood it within their Jewish tradition.

The “Kingdom of God” in the Old Testament:

1) as God’s saving power in the history of Israel2) God as creator and ruler of the universe

3) the experience of the monarchy4) the hope for God’s rule to end of evil

There are four strands or streams of understanding of the “kingdom of God” in the Old Testament. Although the term, “kingdom of God” does not explicitly appear in the Hebrew Bible, the reality that it refers to is integral to the Jewish faith.


1) As God’s saving power in the history of Israel – For the Jews, God is not an abstract philosophical idea but a God who is experienced in the ordinariness of life and in the social events of their history as a people. It is a God who hears their cries of pain and never abandons them. The “kingdom of God” is a reality of life when God shows His/Her acts of saving power on behalf of Israel. Examples of events which they see as manifestations of God’s

kingdom are: deliverance from slavery in Egypt; protection and guidance during the wilderness wandering; the forging of the covenant; the gift of the land; protection surrounding enemies; establishment and continuation of the monarchy; the return from exile, and so forth. Some of the metaphors used to express such God’s saving deeds are: for example: God as Shepherd (Psalm 23), God as Go’el or Redeemer (Isa.

44:6), God as Father (Jer. 3:19), God as Mother (Isa. 49:15), God as Warrior (Ex. 15:3), and God as King.

2) God as creator and ruler of the universe - Acclamations or praises of God as reigning in Israel, as well as over all nations and the entire creation are abundant in the Jewish tradition. The “kingdom of God” in this sense is the entire creation that God made and He/She continues to govern, guide, nourish, and continue creating. The Book of Psalms has many songs and prayers to the God who is the creator and ruler of the universe. Open your bibles and compare these psalms: Ps. 93: 1-2; Ps. 96: 1, 10; Ps. 97: 1-5, and Ps. 98 and 99: 1.

3) The experience of the monarchy - “King” and “kingship” are traceable to the establishment of the monarchy, particularly in Israel’s experience of centralized government, and under the leadership of Saul and David. The experience of the monarchy provided the existential referent for a theology of God’s reign: like the ideal king, God was the cohesive and identifying force of the people, protecting them from destruction, sanctioning justice and befriending the weak and defenseless.


4) Hope for God’s rule to end evil - In the Old Testament (and for the New Testament as well), the “end” is not about the end of the world at a particular time in history. It is about the end of evil, suffering, misery, and the transformation of earthly realities into the God’s kingdom, where righteousness, justice, love, and peace reign. Disappointment with the failure of monarchy after David shaped the consciousness of the Jews of a renewed expectation of God’s definitive reign over Israel. For example, the prophet Jeremiah foresees a new Davidic ruler, the messiah who will restore the fortunes of Judah (Jer. 23:5-6; also see, Isa. 43:14-21). Frustrated hopes for freedom and peace gave further impetus to a dimension whereby what human failed to achieve, God’s own intervention will accomplish.

These are the four traditions of the “kingdom of God” among the Jews. Jesus lived in an environment where there was great expectation that God will transform the earth into a reign of social justice; in the words of Amos, land, sovereignty, food, jobs, shelter, education, and other necessities that make life more humane and the world a hospitable place to live. In all these, God will rule. But as the Jews expected God’s kingdom to come, there was a super-power that claimed itself as God’s kingdom – the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire and the “Kingdom of God”


The history of the Jewish people was largely one of foreign rule (Egyptian, Syrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek), with only brief periods of independence. The Palestine where Jesus lived in the first century was a territory of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was one of the greatest civilizations in history. But as one Jewish philosopher points out: “There is no history of civilization which is not a history of barbarianism” (Walter Benjamin). While the Roman imperial rule sought to build an empire that was economically prosperous and politically stable and controlled, it was at the expense of the blood, sweat and tears of conquered people. Hunger, disease, slavery, and marginalization marked the lives of ordinary people. The Palestine of Jesus was no different, as we have seen in the previous topics of our course.

The imperial rule used the strategy of accommodation through the patronage system. Patrons, usually of positions of influence, like politicians or people in big businesses, would take “clients” under their influence. The client is usually at the receiving end of a favor that he or she needed to acquire. The patron provides the clients with advice, money, business opportunities, or representation in court. In turn, clients would help to enhance their patron’s status by providing certain services, such as working on his patron’s political campaigns, appearing with his patron in public as part of a group of faithful retainers, or using their specialized skills or training to enhance their patron’s status. This way, the relationship is one of a “brokered relationship” that fostered dependency and subservience on the part of the clients.

Caesar Augustus was the Roman emperor until his death in 14 CE. According to the imperial cult, at his decease Augustus became “god,” while


his stepson and successor, Tiberius (14-37 CE), became the “son of god.” Earlier, Herod the Great (37 BCE – 4 BCE), Rome’s chosen leader in Palestine, not only had rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem on behalf of the Jews but, in honor of the imperial cult, he erected three “Augusteums” or monuments in honor of Augustus. These temples surrounded Galilee: one in Samaria; another in Caesarea Maritima, on the Mediterranean coast; and in Omrit, near Iturea in Northern Galilee. These monuments represent what a historian calls, “Roman Imperial Theology” (John Dominic Crossan).

The dominance of the Roman Empire was advertised with poems and inscriptions, coins and images, statues, altars, and structures. (If you will look around today, you see billboards, tarpaulins, t-shirts, bags, stickers, barangay halls, schools and basketball courts that bear the name of influential persons or politicians.) The building campaigns were not possible without taxing the peoples of Galilee, Samaria, and Judea greatly; leaving the majority in poverty. Not only were they required to pay taxes to the Empire, but they continued to function as a “temple-state” and were also required to pay the tithes and sacrifices of the Jewish religion.

At the left side is a picture of a coin. It bears the face of Emperor Augustus and the title “Son of God”. Celebrated as a hero after the strife of civil war, Augustus was considered the great source of peace for Rome. Themes that would permeate his reign were: “freedom,” “justice,” “peace,” and “salvation.” Whenever these great accomplishments were proclaimed, the language used to describe the success of the emperor was that of: “good news” or “gospel;” which is the Greek word euangelion. Augustus, after defeating the enemies of Rome, was celebrated as a great “savior” to the people who would have likely been hopeless had victory not been achieved.

Through this propaganda, the Empire justified its power and might throughout Rome and the conquered territories. Imprints of the Roman imperial dominance were all around the place; they conveyed the subtle but powerful message of an empire-subject relationship, characterized by superiority and

inferiority, aggression and subservience, supremacy and acquiescence. The monuments, other imperial propaganda, and through the heavy tax-system, probably were deeply disturbing to the devout Jewish inhabitants of Galilee.

As we have seen also in past lessons, the reactions of the Jews towards Roman conquest were varied. The tension of the

Jews under the dominion of Rome was intensified not only by the brutality of Roman and Herodian rule but by the Jewish conviction that the “end time” was about to occur. While the Sadducees focused on the Temple and its services to


please the Romans, the Pharisees focused on the Torah and veered away from the “pollutant” Roman foreigners, the Essenes withdrew into monastic communities to await the coming of God’s salvation, and the Zealots continued their underground opposition.

Jesus, our man from Galilee, probably was not unaware of these realities as he was growing up. By the year 27 or 28 CE, a monumental event occurred. Jesus of Nazareth, having been baptized by John at Jordan river, boldly asserted using the familiar Roman imperial language: “The right time has come and the Kingdom of God is near! Repent and believe the Good News.” (Mark 1:15) Let us now see what Jesus meant in this biblical passage.

Jesus and the “Kingdom of God”

Do you remember one of our activities last time about the “best teacher” who had in your life? Maybe, you also remember one or two of the person’s favorite expressions whenever he or she teaches. Was it - “Well…” “You know…” “Are you sure?...” “Ah…” or any other expression? And when you with your classmates talk about this teacher outside the class, perhaps you would copy or mimic his or her favorite phrases. Imagine years later when you have a reunion; you would talk among yourselves about a particular teacher and remember his or her favorite words. When these happen, it is highly probable that those words or phrases belong to your teacher. In short, you identify your teacher with what he or she said.

The same can be said of the words “kingdom or reign of God.” There is

no word that is so recurrent or repetitive in the New Testament other than the “kingdom of God”. In most likelihood, it is a word-concept that Jesus himself used, like our teacher’s favorite expression.


Let us now go back to what Jesus said:

“The right time has come and the Kingdom of God is near! Repent and believe the Good News.” (Mark 1:15)

First of all, Jesus did not clearly define the meaning of “kingdom or reign of God”; not even the later New Testament writers gave a definition. The best we can say is, it is less a “concept” than a “symbol” where its meaning is rich and not capable of being exhausted by this or that definition or formulation. Yet, the meaning of the “kingdom or reign of God” for Jesus can be drawn must from the overall character of the person of Jesus, with his words and deeds. Although the word-concept was familiar to any Jews, Jesus gave it a twist that made him distinct from his own tradition.

In the passage we quoted, we can see immediately that Jesus used the phrase “kingdom of God”. We have learned that this is very Jewish, but it seems Jesus was saying something unique to his own understanding which was distinct from his Jewish culture. Moreover, at a time when the Roman Empire


saw itself as the kingdom of God, Jesus’ words seem a direct confrontation against the empire by using the same slogan. We also take notice that Jesus used another phrase, “Good News” or euangelion. We recall also that the Roman emperors and their propagandists used this idea of euangelion to promote their achievements and successes. But here, Jesus might have something different in mind when he called people “to repent and believe in the Good News.”

Taking into consideration of his social context – the Jewish culture and social situation, and the Roman imperial rule – we shall say a few words about the basic frame of the message of Jesus, after which, we shall elaborate the values that are inherent in Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom of God.

Basic Frame of Jesus’ Message of the Kingdom of God

1) It is an event or experience, not a place.2) It is a present and future reality.3) It is dynamically active in the person of Jesus.4) It calls for a change of life.

1) An Event or Experience, not a Place – When Jesus speaks through the parables and sayings about the kingdom of God, he is not talking about a territorial place. Rather, it is about an event or an experience of God’s power and love breaking in through the lives of people and in creation. That’s why the better English translation of the Hebrew malkuth or malkuta and the Greek baseleia is “reign” or “rule”. The concept is dynamic or active; it says that God’s presence is saving, transformative, or effective. People experience the reign of God whenever they feel God’s compassion, forgiveness, mercy, justice, creativeness, grace, solidarity, and so forth. For example, the parable of the Prodigal Son speaks of God, whose love is unconditional, forgiving, accepting, and such love is to be celebrated.

2. It is a present and future reality - The loving and saving presence of God can and is experienced in here and now. The reign of God is taking place in the realities of our everyday life and of our collective life as a people or community, as well as with other beings in creation. For example, in Chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel, we read Jesus speaking in parables about God’s power and love like a seed (verses 3-8), a wheat (verses 24-30), a tiny mustard seed (verses 31-32), a yeast (verse 33), a pearl (verses 45-46), or a net (verses 47-50). The reign of God takes effect upon us, around us, infront and behind us, above and below us – here-and-now in our present life. Jesus manifests this present reality of God’s reign in his healings (Lk 13:10-16; Jn 9:1-3; Mk. 1:23-


28; 3:23-27; Lk. 11:20; Mt. 10:17), forgiveness (Mt. 18:23-25;Lk. 15:11-32; Mk. 2:7), and table-fellowship with the poor, sick and outcasts (Mt. 11:18-19; Mk 7:15; Mk 2:18-22; Lk 7:34; 15:2).

The statement of Jesus in Lk. 17:21 is often mistranslated in English bibles and misinterpreted by Christians today. The popular translation is, “The kingdom of God is within in you.” The Greek word entos may mean “within” or “among”, but in the context of the passage whereby Jesus was confronting the Pharisees, the correct translation is, “The kingdom of God is among you or in your midst.” This means that for Jesus, God’s presence is found among or in the midst of the Pharisees; he is referring to the poor, the sick, outcasts, and marginalized people “among” or “in the midst” of the Pharisees; they have neglected these people, but for Jesus, the reign of God is found among “the least, the last, and the lost.”

Moreover, when Jesus says in his prayer, “Your kingdom come” (Mt. 6:10; Lk. 11:2), it has the same meaning as ‘Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The good news of the kingdom of God is about the future state of affairs on earth and not in some outer other-world. For Jesus, the kingdom of God is both a here-and-now and future reality. God’s power is still coming to fullness or completion, transforming the earthly realities into realities of God, where love, justice, and peace will blossom or flourish.

John, the author of the fourth gospel, uses the phrase “eternal life” for the “kingdom of God” of the synoptic gospels. It speaks of living a life in the eternal, a life in and with God now. For John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels, God will change our world; its completion is still to come, in the future, but it will surely come and it is starting now as a present reality. The word “completion” or “fullness” connoted an action that is already happening in the present. While God’s reign of love can be experienced personally by each one of us, Jesus is also talking about in a social manner, in which the structures of our societies and our relationship with one another, animals, and the natural world will experience fully God’s compassion and justice.

Remember the world within which Jesus lived – he was not naïve to the hardships that people were experiencing under the Jewish elites and the Roman imperial rule. The message of Jesus is a political message – he was, as a “subversive teacher” and offering an alternative world or society (we shall discuss this in the next section).


3) The reign of God is dynamically present and active in the person of Jesus - All we have saying so far points to Jesus the embodiment of God’s reign. Jesus was not referring to God’s power as if it is outside him. As a Spirit-filled person, Jesus understands that his whole being, his entire life, is God’s unique presence in the world. God is not only acting through him, God is in him and with him. This is why Jesus can say, “The right time has come, the Kingdom of God is near!” While the fullness of God’s mercy, love, forgiveness, compassion, and justice are still to come, Jesus inaugurates, launches, unveils, reveals, and unleashes it in and through his person, words and action.

Unlike the Gospel of John which presents Jesus as “the truth, the way, the life”, the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) do not represent Jesus as saying much about himself. The object of the sayings and parables of Jesus is God. He is like saying, “Here is a story about the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan… what would God say or do if He/She were here?” This was his declaration in the synagogue infront of the Pharisees who questioned his authority: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” God now has a face, body and flesh, a true human being – Jesus of Nazareth. God is acting in and through Jesus. For Jesus, he was not at the center of his words and deeds; he was inviting people to experience a deeper reality: God.

While the Roman Kingdom boasted to have brought peace to all peoples (pax Romana), Jesus challenged it with the claim that the true reign of God is near to people, in their midst or among them: He is the personification of the God who truly cares for people, especially the weak and the downtrodden. The “Good News of salvation” that the Roman emperors bragged was being disputed by Jesus through his works of healing, forgiveness, and table-fellowship. The good news was especially addressed to people who bore the brunt of Roman exploitation in the passages of the gospel which we call the “beatitudes”: “Blessed are the poor, because yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, because you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, because you shall laugh” (Lk. 6:20-21).

Jesus addressed his contemporaries – the poor, hungry, miserable – as the ones who will be the principal beneficiaries of the reign of God. This is a strong message to the Roman and Jewish authorities who thought that they are the creators of God’s kingdom. Jesus turned the world upside down by taking the sides of the poor, hungry and miserable. It is they who will be at the center of God’s reign of mercy and justice.


4) The reign of God calls for a change of life – “Repent and believe in the Good News,” Jesus says. The original Greek version of the gospels used the word metanoia, which is translated in English as “repent.” Metanoia is related to being sorry for one’s sin. But the demand of Jesus is not simply to ask forgiveness, but to change one’s whole way of thinking, valuing, and acting. Metanoia or repent therefore, is to undergo a radical turn-around from sinful ways towards the ways of God. To repent is to assume a new standpoint, a new way of looking and relating, a new way of life.

To follow Jesus is to take up one’s cross and follow him. What does it mean? Today, we tend to interpret those words of Jesus as “carrying our problems”. The better and correct understanding should be: to follow Jesus is to face the risks and dangers of living out a new way of life for the sake of God’s reign. What Jesus requires from his followers is to have a cause or reason larger than our preoccupations and self-interests. Jesus is demanding his followers to “seek the kingdom of God first,” to find and act out compassion, mercy, justice, and love, especially with and on behalf of the poor and those afflicted in any way. Care for them and “all things shall follow.”

In which ways do we follow Jesus? This is now our next point and last section in this lesson.

The Values of the Reign-of-God Movement

Let us recall our broad strokes of Jesus of Nazareth. To these four descriptions, we will add a fifth one: Jesus as “inaugurator of the Reign-of-God movement”:

Profile of Jesus as a Spirit-filled Person:1) Jesus is a Spirit-person with vision and mission from God,

who he called Abba.2) Jesus is a healer and the bringer of God’s salvation from

God.3) Jesus is a teacher of alternative wisdom, who subverts

the conventional way of thinking of people towards a radically new world.

4) Jesus is a prophet of social justice based on the compassion of God.


5) Jesus is an inaugurator of the Reign-of-God movement.

You might ask, why “reign-of-God” movement. Historically, at the center of the life of Jesus is the proclamation of the kingdom or reign of God. We said that this is what defines his person and mission. He did his proclamation in words and deeds as a Jew and within the Jewish-Roman society. He did not organize a sect within Judaism (like the Essenes) and he did not establish a separate religion from Judaism. There was no Christianity yet and no Roman Catholic Church; we must understand the works of Jesus within his Jewish world. What he initiated was a renewal movement or a movement of social transformation within the Jewish religious-cultural world. We can call this movement “Jesus movement,” but because it was not the intention of Jesus to attract people to himself but to God and His/Her reign, the best description is a “reign-of-God movement.” This is also a good name to highlight the contrast to the Roman imperial rule.

A. The Movement

There were several layers of people in Jesus’ reign-of-God movement. Think of a circle with several layers of circles inside. At the outer layer, and biggest circle, are what the bible refers to as “multitudes” and “crowds.” Let’s call this “Circle A”. For instance, at the event where people shared food in a barren place (we call this now “multiplication of the loaves”), there were more than 5,000 people. This is the “multitude”. And there some sizeable number of people who gathered around him when he visited villages; this is a “crowd.” Among the multitude and crowd, many were poor and sick, as well as sinners and outcasts.


Inside the big circle is a layer of another circle or “Circle B.” This included the relatives, friends and associates of Jesus who offered him hospitality. They were not able to join Jesus in his travels, but would always offer their houses whenever Jesus wanted to rest or to dine. Some of these people are named in the Gospels, like his mother, Mary, and his siblings; the siblings Mary, Martha, and Lazarus; we may also include Zaccheus, the tax collector; the anonymous host for the last supper; and probably a few Pharisees who believed him though they were silent (we know that after the death of Jesus, there were Pharisees who were explicitly part of the movement; see Acts 15). They did not leave home, but they supported Jesus and his group in whatever they can.

Then there is “Circle C”; the inner circle of friends who joined Jesus from the time of his baptism at Jordan or who met Jesus on the road. This group was rather small, the band of “rain-and-shine” followers. It included the “Twelve.” For the Jews, the “Twelve” recalled the twelve tribes of Israel who became one people of God (Israel). When Jesus called “Twelve” among the larger group of followers, he was conveying the message that his mission entailed restoring the covenant relationship of Israel with God. Every Jew in his time knew what the “Twelve” symbolized. The “Twelve” stands for people or community of God. Yet it is also probable that Jesus called a few individuals to be part of his small group of friends. Among them were men, as well as women. Mary of Magdala and other women, who were the first witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus, would be part of the small group of the itinerant teacher and healer.


In showing how God works in the world, Jesus acted out God’s mercy among the poor, sick and sinner, in pure gratuity, without any conditions or requirements, except that they have faith in themselves to face life’s challenges again. This is “Circle A.” But with his followers in “Circles B and C”, he demanded them to change their lives (metanoia) and live according to the values of the reign of God. These people in “Circles B and C” are referred to as mathetai in the Gospels.

Mathetes (singular form of mathetai) means “one who follows another,”

“one who learns from another,” or “one who is bound to another to learn.” The verb form of mathetes is akoloutheon: “to follow after”. The English equivalent of mathetes is “disciple”. The word disciple or mathetes appears more than 250 times in the New Testament writings, mostly in the Gospels and Acts. This suggests that the Gospels are a “manual of discipleship” for anyone who wants to follow Jesus.

B. The Values of the Discipleship for the Reign of God

What are the costs of discipleship? It won’t be easy; it’s like entering the needle’s eye. Yet, it can be done. Jesus was able to do it and he shared the values of the reign of God to his disciples. To enter into God’s kingdom, Jesus required his disciples to examine their lives, especially those ways of thinking, valuing, and relating that harm people, particularly the poor and the defenseless. He instructed them on “God’s kalakaran” (God’s business) by taking responsibility for the poor, the hungry, the miserable, and granting them the privilege of love and compassion.

It is not that there were no individuals who were taking care of the disadvantaged people. There were many charitable individuals who gave food to the hungry, jobs to the jobless, shelter to the homeless. But in those times, these “lowly people” were considered “unclean” or “unholy”; other people thought that their sufferings were due to their “unfaithfulness” to God by not

following the Laws or the Torah. For Jesus however, the problem of the sufferer was not because they failed God but because society failed them. If the poverty, sickness, and marginalization of people were brought about by the unjust structures of society, the response should one of radical change that would transform the whole social system. (Later in our course, you shall be introduced to the notion of “systemic change.”)


What greatly lacked in Jesus’ time was a change of society that was divisive into a “family of God” where love and justice reigns. Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, a theologian today, prefers to call it the “kin-dom” of God, whereby all are siblings or brethren who care for one another, in the spirit of “discipleship of equals.” What are the values that Jesus wanted his disciples to follow?

1) The Kingdom of Sharing

The sayings of Jesus about money and possessions are frequently regarded as the hardest to follow. Everywhere in the Gospels, Jesus shows preference for the materially or economically poor, not because Jesus loves their poverty. Jesus did not idealize poverty. He took the sides of the poor because they are victims of oppression and exploitation. Two stories are remarkable examples of sharing.

The first example is in Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 19. We read about Zacchaeus, a tax collector known for his misdeeds (bribe and corruption). Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus to his home, prepared a banquet for him, and thanked Jesus for entering into his home even if he was a corrupt person. When he thought that everything was okay, Jesus challenged him to give a way half of what he owns and to pay back four times the amount to those whom he has cheated. This is what sharing means in the context of “forgiving” the rich Zacchaeus. Forgiveness takes effect when justice is done: Give back the wealth that belongs to the people, and possibly more than what one can give.

The other example is the story of the “multiplication of loaves and fishes” (Mk. 6: 35-44). Many in the multitude were poor and hungry; some of them

brought food but many did not have anything, because precisely they were poor and had nothing to bring. We read that Jesus instructed his disciples to “share out” the few bread and fishes they brought. But what was amazing in the event was when people on their accord began to bring out their baon (food provision) and shared it with one another, especially to those with no food. People ceased to be possessive about their own food, and to their good surprise there was more than enough to go


around. Isn’t that food tend to “multiply” when people share it to others? This story shows how poverty is not a hindrance to helping others; even among the poor, they can show their care to those who are poorer.

2) The Kingdom of Empowerment

Against the conventional social norms where power is wielded “over” people, Jesus teaches and displays God’s power “with” people. In fact, the reign of God can be translated as a “companionship of empowerment” (Diarmuid O’Murchu). The alternative of Jesus to the Jewish elite and Roman imperial domination was a community where all are companions; it was to be “circular, mutual, interactive, mobilizing diverse gifts, interpersonal, and lateral.”

This vision of Jesus is clearly seen his attitude and relationship with women. In his society, women were considered second-class, kept silent, disqualified from leadership roles, and whose role was sex and motherhood. Jesus opted for a different relationship with women. Not only were there women among his companions, he also allowed himself to be challenged by and learn from women, like the mother from Syro-Phoenicia whose daughter was sick, the woman suffering from hemorrhage who touched his garment, the teenage girl with whom he held hands, and the woman from Samaria who was

fetching water at the well. Jesus had no scruples about mixing with prostitutes, or with unchaperoned women.

In the reign of God, people were treated as persons. Biases, fixed stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination have no room in God’s companionship of empowerment. God’s kingdom is “unbrokered kingdom”; there are no patrons and clients, but true life in the Spirit is one of unbrokered relationship to God, without influential brokers. In an oppressive and hierarchical society of the Jews and the Roman imperial rule, Jesus initiated a movement of alternative communities that were radically egalitarian and inclusive.

3) The Kingdom of Solidarity

In the time of Jesus, “the basic unit that lived together as one corporate unit was the family, including the extended family of relatives. Ties of blood


and of marriage were taken very seriously. Not only were all members of the family regarded as brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers to one another but they identified themselves with one another” (Nolan). “Family” was extended also to one’s friends, one’s co-workers, and one’s social group. Group loyalty, and its reverse side of group prejudice, governed the relationships of people.

Jesus seemed to have radically altered the exclusive and selfish “social-group individualism.” It is individualism to the extent that one’s social group was the center and the basis of all other relationships. Jesus revised the boundaries and broadened the “family” to include those with whom people are not related by blood, marriage, occupation, or social status. He offered an experience of solidarity with humankind, an experience that is non-exclusive, an experience that is not dependent on reciprocity, because it includes even those who are “different” by virtue of their status, age, gender, culture and religion. God’s family, for Jesus, also includes one’s “enemies” (Mt. 5: 43-44). This does not mean that we allow ourselves to be hurt by our enemies, but because he or she is our “sibling” in God’s family, we can correct or change the person from the wrong or evil ways.

What Jesus is asking for is that the group solidarity of the family be replaced by a more basic solidarity with all humankind. Jesus is altering the basis of love; people are loved not because they happen to be one’s family or group, but because they are persons. Jesus expanded his own solidarity by treating “those around him” as his “brothers, sisters and mothers” (Mk. 3:31-35), so that whoever welcomed one of them, welcomed him (Mt. 10: 40; Mk. 9: 37 and following).

4) The Kingdom of Service

In Jesus’ time, prestige was the dominant value. Both in the Jewish and Roman social orders, there was hierarchy of beings. On top of the social

pyramid were people with honor and prestige based on ancestry, wealth, authority, education, and political position. At the bottommost rung of social stratification were the lame, “lepers,” blind, deaf, lunatics, neurotics, maimed and children. They were “expendables”


(unessential or dispensable) and thus, they were excluded from social gatherings.

Jesus contracted this arrangement. He showed the example of children (in Mt. 18:1-4) as having the privilege in God’s kingdom. Here is the conversation between Jesus and his disciples who were tempted to use domination and force, which were the ways of the world: “The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child us the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” (Mt. 18:1-4).

Greatness is not to be measured by wealth and power, but like the little ones, the greatest is one who takes the last place in society to be one with the excluded, and more than that, one must be willing to be their servant. Albert Nolan writes: “The kingdom of God, then, will be a society in which there will no prestige, no status, no division of people into inferior and superior. Everyone will be loved and respected, not because of his education or wealth or ancestry or rank or virtue or other achievements, but because he like everybody else is a person.”

T he gospel text we quoted above might also speak of service with the disposition of a “little child.” The image of the little child is an image of innocence, but it can also suggest immaturity or irresponsibility. This is not what Jesus intended in his teaching. To serve others, especially the lowly ones, entails indeed an attitude of

being open to God’s presence and action. In the face of the poor and dishonored in society, we might meet the face of God. Service to others is a great responsibility, because we are meeting God in the lives of the poor.

Service to others is also an act of humility, like the “little child.” Indeed, it takes a lot of courage to learn from the poor, because they too can tell us who God is and what God’s kingdom is all about. Hence, Jesus said to his disciples, “Those who humble themselves will be exalted.” God is glorified when we serve in humility rather than prestige, in an act of solidarity with humankind, beyond our comfort zones. Because we have “much” or “just enough”, it takes a process of emptying ourselves of pride and self-pleasures to be in service with those who have “less” or “lesser” in life.


(To be continued: The death and resurrection of Jesus)

Theology 1 - Topic 2

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