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Scripture Reading: Matt. 2:1-2; 4:17; 5:3, 20; 7:21-23; 9:35; 13:3; 15:26-27; 16:18-19; 18:17-18; 21:4-5; 27:37; 28:18-19
The Gospel of Matthew is a book of mystery. Bible teachers hardly have any debates concerning the Gospel of John. But for centuries there have been many debates among Bible teachers regarding the Gospel of Matthew. This is because this book is a book of mystery. In Matthew there is something so mysterious.
Many Christians know that Matthew speaks of Jesus as the King. In Matthew 2:2 the magi asked, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” When He was crucified, there was a sign placed over Him that said, “THE KING OF THE JEWS” (27:37). But what does it mean that Jesus is the King? The kingdom of Jesus is revealed in this book, but it is really difficult for anyone to understand it properly. Many Bible teachers have held different concepts concerning the kingdom in Matthew. The Brethren teachers say that Jesus came as a king to present the kingdom of God to the Jewish people, but since they rejected Him, the kingdom was suspended. Then they say that Jesus began to build the church while the kingdom was suspended, and one day, when the church age is over, the suspended kingdom will be brought back. Some of the dispensational teachers say that the book of Matthew is for the Jews, not for us. Hence, we see that there are different concepts concerning the Gospel of Matthew. It is because this book is a book of mystery. We need heavenly, spiritual insight in order to read this book.
In this book Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom. What is this? It is not the gospel of grace or the gospel of forgiveness but the gospel of the kingdom. It is easy to understand the gospel of grace, but it is not so easy to understand the gospel of the kingdom. The Gospel of Matthew speaks of the gospel of the kingdom. Jesus preached and also predicted that this gospel of the kingdom would be preached to the uttermost part of the earth, and then the end would come. The gospel of grace has been preached to every part of the earth, but not the gospel of the kingdom. If you were to go to Africa today, you would find many Christians who know and accept the gospel of grace. But if you were to ask them concerning the gospel of the kingdom, they would say that they have never heard of such a thing. There is the need of a further preaching of the kingdom, not only in Africa but also in America. Do you believe that Christians in the United States know what the gospel of the kingdom is? The Gospel of Matthew as a book of mystery speaks something hidden and mysterious.
Let me tell you something else about this Gospel. Jesus is the King, but He is also the kingdom. In the entire world there is not a book that tells us of a certain king being the seed of His kingdom. This is really a foreign, heavenly language. It says further that when this seed grows, the kingdom comes forth. No wonder it is difficult to understand this book. Matthew tells us that the King Jesus came as a sower. “He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow” (13:3). Yes, Jesus came as a King but not as a King in our natural concept, in our definition, or in our understanding. He is a wonderful and mysterious King.
Have you ever heard of a king coming into office riding on a baby donkey? “Now this took place in order that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, meek and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, a foal of a beast of burden’” (21:4-5). Suppose the president of the U.S.A. came into office in this way. I do not believe that he would be accepted. Jesus is a king in a completely different way than we would think according to our natural concept. According to the above verse, He came as a meek king. Our concept is that a king is one who exercises authority to rule over everyone in an outward way. But we must put down this concept. Jesus was never such a king.
What kind of king then is Jesus? To understand this, we must first of all comprehend God’s eternal purpose. In eternity past God made a plan to express Himself. So He created the heavens and the earth. Then God created man in His own image with the intention that this corporate man would be His expression and would exercise His authority over all the earth. But through the fall, mankind became rebellious toward God. Man today is altogether in rebellion. Even his loving of others is rebellion to God. It is because he does it by himself and with himself. Even our kindness and patience are a kind of rebellion. Not only are the bank robbers rebels to God; even the most moral people are also rebels. Whatever man is after the fall is a rebellion.
Then God became a man by the name of Jesus. God Himself came to the earth in the form of a little man to preach the gospel of the kingdom. “From that time Jesus began to proclaim and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (4:17). He did not say that man should repent to enter the heavens, but that man should repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near. The word repent means to have a change of mind. The rebellious people need a turn in their concepts. Jesus came as a king but not in their concept. He came as a king according to God’s purpose. He came not to rule over us in an outward way but as a king to enter into us in order to consume all our rebellious element. Jesus came as a king to impart Himself into us so that He might discharge all our rebellious element and replace it with Himself. Regardless of how good we think we are, God would say that we are rebellious. Our good nature is altogether a rebellion to God. We may be good in many things, but we are not good in obeying God. Therefore, He came into us as a king to replace all our rebellious element. Now we will have His ruling element within us as a seed. When this seed grows to a certain extent, it becomes the kingdom. This is the way Jesus is the King.
Many Christians today hold a pitiful concept concerning Jesus’ kingdom. According to their concept, it seems that Jesus today is not the King. This is not true! There are some on earth today to whom Jesus is the King. Then is His kingdom here now? If you were to ask me, I would say, “Yes, His kingdom is here!” Let me prove it to you.
Perhaps you were saved two years ago. I do believe that at least several times before you were saved you stole some things. Perhaps it was just a small amount of change from your mother or father, but it was still stealing. Since you have been saved, Jesus the King has come into you. Now it would be really difficult for you to steal anything. Jesus has come into us to rule over us. He is not only troubling us but reigning over us. Therefore, we are now in His present kingdom. This kingdom is a living person living with us. No lexicon or dictionary would ever give us such a definition. Our King Jesus is not a king in an ordinary category. He is something extra. I can testify that hour after hour Jesus is my King, and I am in His kingdom. This reigning One rules in life right within me. He is a king ruling over me. It is not that He will be a king or that He should be a king but that right now He is a king. He is here and now the King in His kingdom.
The Brethren teachers say that the kingdom was suspended, and that Jesus brought in the church to replace it until the time of the kingdom. But Romans 14:17 proves that the church life today is the kingdom. By reading Romans 14 carefully, we see that it deals with the proper church life. While Paul is speaking about receiving the saints in the church life, he says, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14 deals with the church, but it speaks of the kingdom. The kingdom has never been suspended. The kingdom is here and now.
The Gospel of Matthew itself also proves this. In chapter 16 we have two verses that are linked together: “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens” (vv. 18-19). In Matthew 16:18 the Lord said that He will build His church. Then in the following verse He said that He will give the keys of the kingdom. Here we see that the kingdom and the church are used interchangeably. The church mentioned in verse 18 surely is the kingdom in verse 19. This proves that the church today is the kingdom. This is also confirmed in Matthew 18:17-18: “If he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you just like the Gentile and the tax collector. Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” In these verses the Lord gave the same authority to bind and loose to the church as He did to Peter when He spoke of giving him the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.
In the world there certainly is no kingdom of the heavens. The world is full of robbers. But in the church all the robbers are converted into good citizens of the kingdom of the heavens. The church today is the kingdom, and Jesus is the King. When Peter on the day of Pentecost brought people into the church, that was the time he used one of the keys of the kingdom for opening the way for the Jews to enter. This kingdom into which they came was the church. Then in the house of Cornelius he used another key of the kingdom to open the way for the Gentiles to enter. How can anyone say that the kingdom has been suspended!
After resurrection we are told in Acts 1:3 that Jesus spent forty days speaking to the disciples about the kingdom: “To whom also He presented Himself alive after His suffering by many irrefutable proofs, appearing to them through a period of forty days and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God.” Jesus never suspended the kingdom. This verse tells us clearly that after resurrection Jesus returned to His disciples to speak to them about the kingdom. So whatsoever the early disciples were doing, it was the opening and establishing of the kingdom. At the same time we are clear that what they did was to establish the church. The church life today is the kingdom.
What is the way to open the kingdom and establish the church? It is by imparting King Jesus as the seed of the kingdom into others. Jesus is the King, and He is the seed of the kingdom. When we were saved, this kingly seed was sown into us. None of the kings in the world could rule over our family and home life. The president of the U.S.A. would never come into our kitchen. But King Jesus not only comes into our kitchen; He comes into every corner of our house. He cares about every little detail. He is such a king in detail. Hallelujah, Jesus is our King! And as our King He is, on one hand, the Sower and, on the other hand, the seed. The King came as the Sower to sow Himself as the seed of the kingdom into our very being. This is the King, and this is also the kingdom. The King, the kingdom, and the seed of the kingdom all are Jesus. This is wonderful.
How can we take this kingdom into us? The answer is in a verse fully missed by today’s Christians: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens” (Matt. 5:3). Most Christians do not know what it means to be poor in spirit; therefore, the kingdom is not theirs. The spirit mentioned here in Matthew 5:3 is not the Holy Spirit but our human spirit. “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit” (John 4:24). If we would touch Him, we must exercise our spirit.
Most people are filled with worthless things. They are full of religious concepts, human concepts, and dead knowledge of the Bible. This was the case with the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They were full of religious refuse and had no room in their spirit for Jesus. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means we are clear that religion, science, culture, philosophy, and dead Bible doctrines are all refuse, and we should not be preoccupied with any of these things. To be poor in spirit we need to pray in this way: “O Lord Jesus, all the doctrines mean nothing to me. Regardless of what I have learned in the past years, I am still poor; I am still hungry. I need You, Lord Jesus. I don’t need anything but You.” When we begin to pray like this, something deep within is flowing, living, working, watering, enlightening, strengthening, and reigning. This is Jesus as the seed of the kingdom. Once we call on Him in this way, we can never be the same. Then we realize that all the things which we have held on to in the past are refuse. Religion, doctrine, dead Bible knowledge, philosophy, and science all are refuse! Only Jesus is worth anything.
When Jesus came to preach the kingdom, He did not preach to the Gentiles but to those who knew the Scriptures. They had the scriptural knowledge, but they did not have the King Jesus, and they did not have the kingdom. So Jesus came to sow Himself as the seed of the kingdom into the people. The growing up of this seed becomes the kingdom. This kingdom is altogether a matter of righteousness. Jesus said that if our righteousness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, we are finished as far as the kingdom is concerned (Matt. 5:20). But, praise the Lord, we have Jesus within us growing as our righteousness, so we are in the kingdom.
The kingdom is also something that absolutely fulfills God’s will. There is no more rebellion, because there is no discrepancy between God’s will and the kingdom. In fact, the kingdom is just God’s will: “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens” (7:21). Many Christians have done things in the name of the Lord, but the Lord will never own or approve that kind of thing. “Then I will declare to them: I never knew you. Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness” (v. 23). In the Lord’s eyes, even prophesying and casting out demons in the name of the Lord not according to God’s will is lawlessness. The kingdom is absolutely a matter of righteousness, a matter of God’s will.
How can we do God’s will in the kingdom? There is no other way but to take Jesus in. We should not try to do the will of God ourselves. We will only fail. The way to fulfill God’s will is to take in the One who obeys God all the time. Jesus is the kingdom of obedience. We simply need to take Him in, to eat Him as the children’s bread. We may be the Gentile dogs, but we all have our portion under the table (15:22-28). We all can eat King Jesus and take Him into us. All the kingly elements are in this bread. The more we eat Jesus, the more the royal ingredients will get into us. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord for such a ruling element within. This is the mysterious kingdom that is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew.
Now we are clear why Jesus told the disciples at the end of this book, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (28:18-19). We are to disciple the nations and baptize them into the Triune God. When we baptize people into the Triune God, we baptize them into Christ, into the kingdom seed, and into the kingdom! Hallelujah! When we baptize people, we must exercise our faith to put them into the King and into the kingdom. This is why all the people in the churches are the kingdom people.
