He told them another parable. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like … Matthew 13:33
Jesus repeatedly points to the Kingdom of Heaven but there is some debate about what exactly it is. The term doesn’t appear in the Hebrew Bible yet the Jewish sages refer to it in their writings. Jesus spoke of it as something yet to come but also in the present.
Some scholars believe it refers more specifically to followers of God – those who do His will. When Jesus uses the term then, it becomes a way of identifying those in His church. He is the King and we make up the kingdom.
In contrast, Jewish theologian David H. Stern, writes that it indicates a state where things are being returned to their proper order as created by God and under His authority.
“It refers neither to a place nor to a time, but to a condition in which the rulership of God is acknowledged by humankind, a condition in which God’s promise of a restored universe free from sin and death are, or begin to be, fulfilled.”[1]
All things are under God’s authority, but the Kingdom is anywhere that God is exerting that authority, either by His will or our submission. We have the privilege of helping to bring the Kingdom. And in that Kingdom we will see chaos reversed – lives in rebellion brought back to relationship with God and with each other, diseases healed, poverty erased, the land restored. As subjects of the King, His Kingdom expands wherever we proclaim His name and do His work. The Spirit works in and through us, accomplishing His will and conquering enemy strongholds. When the final trumpet sounds, the Kingdom will be complete. And He will rule over all things; indeed, He will make all things new. I eagerly await the completion of the Kingdom, but rejoice that even now I call it home.
And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me. Matthew 11:4-6
[1] Jewish New Testament Commentary
