By Jim Mettenbrink
The Kingdom of Heaven (32 times) is a major focus found only in the gospel according to Matthew. John the baptizer and Jesus said it would come into existence soon (Mat 3:2; 4:17; 10:7). Jesus emphasized this Kingdom in His well known Sermon on the Mount (8 times; Mat 5-7) and also mentioned in the beatitudes (Mat 5:3, 10). He referred to it as a mystery (Mat 13:11). In chapter 13, He presented six “Kingdom of Heaven parables (known as the kingdom parables) revealing unusual characteristics of this kingdom. In the declaration to His disciples, Jesus revealed that the kingdom was His, that it would come during their generation, and that it was synonymous with His church (Mat 16:16-19). He also told Peter that He would give him the keys to His kingdom. In other words, Peter would open the kingdom of heaven to everyone. When did that happen? When was Jesus’ church-kingdom opened to mankind?
Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven at the annual feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles in the temple area, visibly and audibly to everyone (Acts 2:1-12). Everyone heard Peter, but each heard in his own language. His sermon revealed Jesus as Lord and Savior sitting on His throne in Heaven (Ac 2:30, 36). When the people learned this, they asked what they should do (Ac 2:37).
Peter’s response was, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Ac 2:38-39). There is a lot to unpack in that passage. What does it mean to repent? What is baptism? What is its significance? What does the name of Jesus mean? What is the gift of the Holy Spirit? What is this promise? Who are those “afar off?” How does God call people? This is the way a kingdom is established?
All of this is very unusual if not radical.
To be sure, Jesus, not man, controls who is in His Church-kingdom “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). Later the apostle Paul recognized God’s control of citizenship in Jesus’ kingdom, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). We begin unpacking these radical passages. Next!