The “Kingdom of Heaven”

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5:3)

Such a familiar passage! ~ But, what does it mean? Let us begin with the last phrase ~ the Promise ~ for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The preaching about “the kingdom” and its immanence was the theme of the message of both John the Baptist and of Jesus. After Jesus baptized Himself in the Jordan, He was compelled by The Spirit (of God) to go into the wilderness of Judea where he fasted and prayed and engaged in spiritual combat with Satan for 40 days and nights. (So much to say about all of that, but we must stay “on track” here and keep a laser focus!)

Matthew 4:17, and parallel passages in Mark and Luke, tell us that after vanquishing Satan with the now-famous tri-fold, “It is written!” ~ quotes by Jesus from Deuteronomy (8:3; 6:16; 6:13), “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

In the parallel sections of the gospel of Luke, the writer quotes Jesus as saying “the kingdom of God is at hand.” Matthew was the gospel written with a distinct audience in mind – the Jews of the 1st Century. Committed and righteous followers of the Torah would never speak the holy name YHWH, because they were afraid that if they spoke His Name without the proper degree of awe and reverence they would violate the fourth Commandment that forbids one to use the Holy Name “in vain” (literally, empty of said awe and reverence). Therefore, “substitute” titles were spoken instead. When one meant to say the Name of The Holy One, Blessed be He, one would say either “Ha Shem” (The Name) or Adonai (Lord).

The phrase “at hand” translated in modern translations as “near” would, for the modern ear, better be translated as “very, very near!” I demonstrate this with my students physically. I first tell them that I would never, ever touch one of them in an inappropriate way, but if they could imagine that I was about to violently punch one of them right in the nose . . . and as I am speaking I am drawing my fist back in position to deliver a completely devastating blow . . . I begin to move my hand forward and repeatedly stop the motion of my arm and ask, “Is my fist ‘at hand’, yet?”, and then I say slowly and softly, “No!” Finally, when I was a “hair’s breadth” away I would declare, “Now, my fist is “at hand!”
(to be continued . . . .)