My violable rule for myself, which I disregard at will just as I disregard ungodly church canons and absurd condo rules, is that Wednesday mornings I write something of a Bible study or commentary as my +Time blogpost. It doesn't always work out, but maybe this time.
Our gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday is printed below. In the essential part of it, which I've printed in larger type, Jesus is telling his parables illustrating that the kingdom of God - -
[Matthew is Jewish and reluctant to say G_d, so Matthew says heaven, which unfortunately we misunderstand as having to do with afterlife in the sky],
- - that the kingdom of God, which we can't see, is infinitely worth stepping into, claiming, and uniting with, becoming a member of, placing oneself under God's rule such that one is a member of the kingdom. We do this symbolically and covenantally at Baptism when we commit to a certain way of life (i.e., the "kingdom life"), especially striving for justice and peace among all people and respecting the dignity of every human being.
To the foolish who have lost sight of Jesus' message and turned it into a mad panic to save oneself from Hell, it's something about life after death and being "as sure for heaven as if you were already there". But Jesus is talking about life here and now, he's talking about "living under the Lord".
He's not talking about starting small with a few people and growing a huge church either, in fact, he's not talking about any sort of project or undertaking that you begin with little or nothing and, with God's help, grow it into something spectacular; he's only talking about what a treasure life is when you put yourself under the Lord and live life as he, Jesus lived it: "a new commandment I give you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you love one another".
The Gospel
Matthew 13:31-33,44-52
Jesus put before the crowds another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
++++++++++
The kingdom is not some place above and hereafter; the kingdom is a state of Being, now, here on earth where God's people are.
T+
