The principal theme, especially in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) within Jesus’ message was and is “The Kingdom of God”. The Gospel of John refers only once to the kingdom expressly, although it is repeated. And in this instance (John 3:3-5), the kingdom is presented as something that even the Pharisee Nicodemus is assumed to understand. The point in the Gospel of John is not the nature of the kingdom, but the way in which it is entered. This kingdom constitutes a primary focus of Jesus’ theology.
First, I should mention that while I can find no instance of “the kingdom of God” or “the Kingdom of heaven” in the Old Testament (Only one in the Apocryphal book, Wisdom of Solomon), the thought that God is King and rules, or wishes to rule His people is evident throughout the Old Testament Scriptures.
Before we look at the details of Christ’ teaching, let’s look at the locations in the Scriptures of His teachings: Depending on the translation you use or prefer, the following are the number of times and the Scriptural locations of the phrases “the kingdom of God” and “the kingdom of heaven” in the Bible:
“THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN”: 30-32 times, all in the new Testament, ALL in the Gospel of Mathew.
Matthew 3:2 Matthew 4:17 Matthew 5:3 Matthew 5:10 Matthew 5:19 Matthew 5:20 Matthew 7:21 Matthew 8:11 Matthew 10:7 Matthew 11:11 Matthew 11:12 Matthew 13:11 Matthew 13:24 Matthew 13:31 Matthew 13:33 Matthew 13:44 |
Matthew 13:45 Matthew 13:47 Matthew 13:52 Matthew 16:19 Matthew 18:1 Matthew 18:3 Matthew 18:4 Matthew 18:23 Matthew 19:12 (some versions) Matthew 19:14 Matthew 19:23 Matthew 20:1 Matthew 22:2 Matthew 23:13 Matthew 25:1 Matthew 25:14 (some versions) |
“THE KINGDOM OF GOD”: 65-69 times, all in the new Testament: (4-5 times in the Gospel of Matthew, 14-15 times in the Gospel of Mark, 31-32 times in the Gospel of Luke, 6-7 times in the Acts of the Apostles, once in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, 4 times in his epistle to the Corinthians, once each in his epistle of Galatians, Colossians and the Thessalonians.
Matthew 6:33 (some versions) Matthew 12:28 Matthew 19:24 Matthew 21:31 Matthew 21:43 Mark 1:14 (some versions) Mark 1:15 Mark 4:11 Mark 4:26 Mark 4:30 Mark 9:1 Mark 9:47 Mark 10:14 Mark 10:15 Mark 10:23 Mark 10:24 Mark 10:25 Mark 12:34 Mark 14:25 Mark 15:43 Luke 4:43 Luke 6:20 Luke 7:28 |
Luke 8:1 Luke 8:10 Luke 9:2 Luke 9:11 Luke 9:27 Luke 9:60 Luke 9:62 Luke 10:9 Luke 10:11 Luke 11:20 Luke 12:31 (some versions) Luke 13:18 Luke 13:20 Luke 13:28 Luke 13:29 Luke 14:15 Luke 16:16 Luke 17:20 Luke 17:21 Luke 18:16 Luke 18:17 Luke 18:24 Luke 18:25 |
Luke 18:29 Luke 19:11 Luke 21:31 Luke 22:16 Luke 22:18 Luke 23:51 John 3:3 John 3:5 Acts 1:3 Acts 8:12 Acts 14:22 Acts 19:8 Acts 20:25 (some versions) Acts 28:23 Acts 28:31 Romans 14:17 1 Corinthians 4:20 1 Corinthians 6:9 1 Corinthians 6:10 1 Corinthians 15:50 Galatians 5:21 Colossians 4:11 2 Thessalonians 1:5 |
The questions I seek to discover the answer to are:
1. What is the character of the people who belong to God’s Kingdom?
2. What does entrance into this kingdom require of us?
3. What is the nature of God’s Kingdom?
4. WHAT is the Kingdom of God/The Kingdom of Heaven?
Hey. Nice stuff! 🙂
Thanks Sean 🙂 I will be posting one by the whole series in this subject (over 34 post) 🙂 Stay warm up there my friend ! God bless 🙂