Healing

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THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN HISTORY
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The wolf will romp with the lamb; the leopard will sleep with the kid; the calf and lion will eat from the same trough, and a little child will tend them. The cow and bear will graze the same pasture, their calves and cubs will grow up together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will crawl over the Cobra’s den; the toddler will stick his hand down into the hole of a serpent and not be harmed. Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill on my holy mountain. The whole earth will be brimming with the knowledge of God, a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide. These are vivid word pictures by Isaiah the prophet as he describes the Kingdom of God in glorious detail in his book. All the prophets pointed to a time when every Jew would have his forty acres and a mule. It would be a time of plenty, peace, prosperity, restoration, and rejoicing. The King would rule and reign from Jerusalem and all the pagan nations will be under his feet never to trouble the Jews and the nation of Israel anymore. This was what the Jews were looking for in the time of Christ and not the cross of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. So what in the world happened on the road to the Kingdom? What derailed the Kingdom express?

The Baptist who came dressed in a camel’s suit with long hair and rugged good looks was the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, “Repent, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He was quoting from Isaiah the prophet saying, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the mountains will be made low and the valleys will be filled and all creation shall see the salvation of the Lord .” Later on this same John the Baptist was singing a different tune as he was languishing in a smelly rat infested dank and dark prison. After being placed in chains by Herod, he began to doubt and wonder if the Messiah had really come and if the Kingdom was at hand.

So John sent his disciples to Jesus to ask for some kind of affirmation and confirmation! When the disciples came into the camp of Jesus they followed him around for a few days and afterwards rushed back to give their report. They said, “John we saw with our very own eyes, the lame walking, the blind receiving their sight, and the dead being raised. Surely this one is the Messiah and the Kingdom has come.” When the Baptist heard this, his heart was quieted because he knew that this was exactly what Isaiah had prophesied.

The tax collector Matthew describes two blind men sitting by the roadside begging…when they heard the rumble of a distant crowd heading their direction. Someone told them who it was and they quickly put two and two together and it equaled five as in Isaiah 35:5… where the blind are healed by the Son of David. Realizing this was their only chance to receive their sight they began shouting to the top of their voice, “SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON US.”” They continued to shout as they scratched and clawed their way inside of the house to find Jesus the Messiah. When they got to him he touched their eyes and said, “Be it done unto you according to your faith.”” That day they received their sight. They knew that the Kingdom had arrived in the person of Jesus Christ.”

Before Jesus came their way he had calmed the sea, cast out demons, raised the dead; so knowing the blind men seized their chance. They pictured the “greater Son of David” as reigning in his throne in Jerusalem as he was suppose to in the KINGDOM (Isa 9:6-9). They knew that the “GREATER SON OF DAVID”” had miraculous powers to heal and to set things right in his kingdom (Isa 35:5-7 ). They were well aware of the blessings that were in store for them and all who believed. This is why Jesus could say to them, “”be it done unto you according to your faith.”” Sometimes there are great benefits and blessings to being a blind man because those who had eyes to see the miracles did not necessarily believe Christ, thus derailing the coming of the Kingdom of God. Jesus chastised the scribes and Pharisees who had seen the miracles and denied them saying, “for judgment I came into this world to give sight to those who can’t see and to take away the sight of those who can see.” Well the scribes and Pharisees jumped bad on Jesus and was not about to let him get away with that saying to him, “Are we suppose to be blind also?”” they snarled. He replied, “If you were blind you would have no sin; but since you say we see your sin remains.”” At this point the gloves came off.

So what does all of this have to do with the price of tea in China you might ask. Since the scribes and Pharisees derailed the coming of the physical Kingdom the Kingdom as we know it today has taken on a different form, but it has still come in history. Jesus describes it as a mustard seed that will one day grow into a tree where the birds will find rest. He again describes it as leaven hidden in flour. He also describes it as hidden treasure that a man found one day in his field and lastly like a great dragnet that is being pulled to shore with all types of fish in it. The 40 acres and the mule will have to come later and so will the lion that is lying down with the lamb but make no mistake about that day will come.

Christian this is not a theory; it is a present day reality that is evidenced all throughout the book of Acts which is the only book left open ended in the New Testament. The Kingdom of God has entered history. The redemptive rule of God has now invaded the realm of Satan to deliver men from the power of evil. In the exorcism of demons Jesus asserted the presence and power of the kingdom (Matt. 12:28). In Acts chapter 12, Peter is thrown into prison by King Herod and his cronies but the activities of God working in his kingdom overruled Herod the king and his government. Throughout the book of Acts and human history you see the Kingdom at God working out the will of God through his people for it is God who is at work in you to do his good will. His kingdom is coming and his will is being done even today. Therefore in our own personal lives let us express our faith in God and in the working of his Kingdom in us so that we too may hear him say, “Let it be done unto you according to your faith.” Selah!

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