The Kingdom Rejected

Authentication of His authority would be difficult to establish.
Just like He was rejected two thousand years ago, He would be
rejected today. When I tell people the return of Christ is imminent,
they get disappointed because they have made all these plans for their
life that do not include Him. The only condition then was the same
condition as now, repentance.1 Jesus went throughout Galilee
preaching in the synagogues the good news of the kingdom of God.
He went about healing the sick, blind, and lame, attracting a great
multitude of followers. Christ made it clear to all that only the
righteous would be accepted, and apart from confession of their sins
and a turn toward God, they would not be allowed to enter.
Unfortunately for the many that only knew the kind of righteousness
that the Pharisees had to offer, they too would fall short of the
requirements to enter the kingdom.

The healing that Christ offered the multitudes was a symbolic
reference to the spiritual realm that He was about to introduce to those
who would listen. He healed the blind to demonstrate their spiritual
blindness. He healed the lame to demonstrate how to spiritually walk
with God. He raised the dead to demonstrate that He had come to give
eternal life to all those who would follow Him. In the Sermon on the
Mount, Christ turned to the law to demonstrate the demands that God
requires for holiness and the type of lifestyle that is required for those
who wish to walk in fellowship with Him.

The majority of the sermon reflects how Christ perfectly fulfills
every jot and tittle of the law, and then He rejects the notions of the
Pharisees that their traditional interpretations of murder, adultery,
divorce, oaths, and retaliation fall short of the law. They taught that
God was only interested in the outside appearance, whereas it is the
internal attitude of a believer that counts. Then Christ rejected the
way they gave alms and their arrogance in prayer and fasting. He
rejected their attitude toward wealth and faith, and the way they
judged others. Many of these things can still be found in the church
today. After the crucifixion of Christ, the church consisted of the
poor, the lonely, and the rejected. It stayed that way until Constantine
proclaimed himself a Christian so the wealthy and well-to-do felt it
compelling to join the church. Now we are right back where we were
during the times of Christ. His instructions went well for some three
hundred twenty-five years, but Satan came creeping back in again.
Christ, in rejecting the wealthy class’s interpretation of the law,
showed the multitude how narrow the way to the kingdom is, and that
not only what is done externally will be judged but also what we
think. We now, of course, realize that the Sermon on the Mount was
Christ’s instructions in which He would offer Himself up as their
Savior. No one on earth has ever accomplished this rigid
interpretation of the law. Most scholars recognize that this can only be
achieved after Satan has been imprisoned during the millennial
kingdom. Even during this time there are those who turn against
Christ. So, it can never be said that a child’s environment dictates the
outcome of his adulthood. In no sense is this Sermon a means of
obtaining righteousness; instead, it reveals that the demands of God’s
holiness are beyond the fallen ability of mankind.

Later in Matthew, Jesus is confronted by a demon-possessed man
who was both blind and dumb. Christ delivered this man from the
chains of Satan, recovering his sight and his speech. The Pharisees
condemned the miracle and convinced the multitude that Christ had
removed the demons by the power of Beelzebub. In a ridicule of
God’s kingdom, the religious leaders attributed the works of Christ to
the ruler of darkness. It was an explanation that not only showed their
unrepentant heart, but it also sealed the fate of Israel. Jesus rebuked
them harshly, proclaiming a sin against the Holy Spirit will not be
forgiven.

Christ says how is it possible for Satan to cast out Satan because a
kingdom divided against itself will fall. Satan would never allow his
own power to be used against him. There were some Israelites who
could cast out demons and the Pharisees should not claim that Jesus
was a demon for doing so. They admitted it was possible to cast them
out by the Spirit of God, but their hatred and blindness refused to
admit that the kingdom of God was among them. Christ said for a
robber to enter a guarded citadel, he must first have sufficient power
to overthrow the guard—so if Christ could enter Satan’s stronghold
and deliver people out of his control, then it is obvious that Christ is
stronger than Satan.

Rejection of the kingdom would bring judgment to Israel and
dismissing the testimony of God’s person and His work will result in
judgment. No further evidence of the kingdom of God would be
given, and in 70 AD the Roman general Titus destroyed Jerusalem,
demolishing the temple. However, even this rejection did not nullify
God’s promises to Israel, but it did condemn this generation of the
nation to its temporary destruction. This incident marked the turning
point in the ministry of Christ. From then until His crucifixion the
nation would be viewed as having rejected their King, and this
rejection would become finalized on the cross.

Jesus raised this simple question, “Who is my mother and who are
my brothers?” The simple answer would have been those who had a
blood relationship with Him, but instead of recognizing His blood
ties, He pointed to His disciples and those who had accepted Him by
faith. Jesus said, “For whosoever does the will of my Father is my
mother and my brothers,” so here we have the institution of the
supernatural birth, and the automatic relationship that Israel had to the
coming Messiah through Abraham has now been rejected. Now the
only ones that He would accept as being related to Him came to Him
by faith. The kingdom must be entered by faith, not in physical birth.
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as
many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither
male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if
you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to
the promise.

But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was
glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the
face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance,
which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not
be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the
ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what
was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory
that excels.

For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much
more glorious. Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great
boldness of speech— unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so
that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what
was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the
same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament,
because the veil is taken away in Christ.

But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same
image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.2

1.) 2 Chronicles 7:14
2.) 2 Corinthians 3:7-18