The first book of the New Testament links most intimately with the Old Testament prophecies which gave birth and shape to Israel's national hope. Of the four gospels, Matthew is the one which peculiarly emphasizes the Kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ, and gives special prominence to the Kingdom. The word Kingdom occurs about 50 times in this book.^a Matthew employs frequently a phrase, used nowhere else "the Kingdom of heaven." Some have drawn a distinction between this term and "the Kingdom of God." But the parallel passages in Mark and Luke convince us that for the purpose of the present study at least, those terms are equivalent.

      It is important to an understanding of the New Testament Kingdom teaching that we keep in mind the vital and organic connection between the Old Testament and the New. The idea of the "Kingdom" is not originated in the New Testament: it is taken over from the Old. The Old Testament prophecies and promises of the Kingdom were the theme of our preceding studies; and by reference to them the [59] reader may see of what sort they were. By those predictions was the Kingdom-hope of Israel created; and that most justly and naturally. When John the Baptist lifted up his voice in the wilderness of Judea and announced "the Kingdom of heaven" is at hand he used a term which was already common and current among the Jews, and which was perfectly understood by all. John took for granted that it was understood: never a word of explanation was given, so far as the record shows; and never a question or dispute arose between John and his countrymen as to the nature of the Kingdom. To the Jews the announcement meant but one thing. The promise of the Messianic Kingdom, with all it involved--the appearance of the Great King of David's line; the destruction of the Gentile world power; the deliverance and national restoration of Israel, and her exaltation to earthly sovereignty; the promises God made to the fathers, and the prophets' visions of the future glory of the People, the land, the City, and the Kingdom; "in that day"--had imbedded itself in the very hearts of the people. They did not indeed understand everything the Scriptures had foretold concerning the kingdom; and it will be seen that in certain particulars they had erred in their conception. But they were not ignorant of the nature of the Kingdom promises.

      That such was the Jewish expectation in John's day is well known, and universally admitted. "There is reason to believe," says McClintock and Strong,^b [60] "not only that the expression 'kingdom of heaven' as used in the New Testament was employed as synonymous with 'Kingdom of God,' as referred to in the Old Testament, but that the former expression had become common among the Jews of our Lord's time for denoting the state of things expected to be brought in by the Messiah. The mere use of the expression as it first occurs in Matthew, uttered apparently by John the Baptist and our Lord Himself without a note of explanation, as if all perfectly understood what was meant by it, seems alone conclusive evidence of this." Meyer, in his commentary on Matthew 3:2, declares that the phrase "kingdom of heaven" was often used by the Rabbis to designate the kingdom of David's Son, and cites instances from the Talmud. It is generally held among the scholars that this phrase had its origin in Daniel 2:44 and 7:13, 14.

      All this we mention merely to show what expectation was existing in Israel at the time of John's announcement, and how the very words John used had their common and current meaning among the people. The burden of proof would certainly lie wholly and heavily with any man who would maintain that this kingdom of John's announcement was a thing entirely different from that which Israel was expecting. The very suggestion that God would so trifle with the hope of the people, and by adopting their own language without explanation would leave them under so fundamental a mistake; yea, and would [61] base His call to repentance upon this mistake, and would so confirm them in it, is quite repugnant and unworthy of God, the more so when it is remembered that their kingdom expectations were legitimately derived from the language of their scriptures. But if the Jewish expectations had been utterly wrong (which, as we have seen in our former articles, was not the case), even then a sense of justice would suggest that God would not have left the people under such a misapprehension without a clear protest and correction. It is not God's manner to deal thus with men, at least not until after they have so rejected His light as to have forfeited all claim to further guidance.

      We have put this much stress upon this matter because of its weight and importance. We trust, however, that the reader would even without this discussion have perceived that the kingdom announced by John (and afterward by the Lord Jesus Himself, Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:14, 15) could have been none other than that of Old Testament prophecy and of Jewish expectation in so far as that expectation accorded with the prophecies. And this is borne out by what we find in the following chapters of Matthew. If it be felt a difficulty that that kingdom, though announced as "at hand" has never yet appeared, we shall find an explanation unforced and natural, and one which will cast no reflection on the truth and goodness of God. [62]

      John's preaching (Matthew 3:1-12) however bought out the notable fact that a thoroughgoing repentance must be the necessary preparation for the announced kingdom. Since the kingdom-promise was national, the preparatory repentance must of course also be national: the rulers and the rank and file of the people to all of whom the kingdom was dear, must now sincerely turn and return to God. A terrible test must precede the realization of the promise: the axe is laid at the root of the trees: every tree whose fruit does not declare it worthy, is cut down and cast into the fire. Their great Messiah standing even then among them, would sift and test them most searchingly. He would not only baptize them with the Holy Spirit (a well known promise connected with the Messianic kingdom: Isaiah 32:14, 15; 44:3; 59:20, 21; Ezekiel 39:25-29; Joel 2:28) but also with fire, which would consume the unworthy from among the nation, and purge out the dross of the remnant. (Isaiah 33:14-16; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:1, 2; Ezekiel 20:37, 38.) The announcement of the kingdom thus became the basis of the call to repentance. In it also is found the first covered intimation that God would reject the fleshly seed of Abraham if they failed to repent and would raise Him up another people. (Matthew 3:9.)

      In the Lord's first recorded discourse, addressed to His disciples, in the hearing of the multitude, the [63] Sermon on the Mount--the very first sentence promises the kingdom as a possession to the poor in spirit: "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3.) In verse 5, we read, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth;" and again in verse 10, of the persecuted for righteousness' sake, the Savior says, "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The kingdom thus promised is evidently not the church. It would not be possible to say "theirs is the church." But such language falls in perfectly with the Old Testament kingdom-promise; "the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom;" and the "kingdom and the dominion, . . . shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High." (Daniel 7:21, 27.) The inheritance of the earth is the Abrahamic promise (Romans 4:13) which involves the inheritance of the kingdom (James 2:5) and supremacy over all the earth, as we have seen in a preceding study.

      The Sermon on the Mount was spoken to a people who were under the Law, and before the Old Dispensation had ended. While already infused with the grace of the gospel (which is freely offered in the "Beatitudes") it insists upon a strict and faithful observance of the whole Law. The Lord not only taught that the measure of their faithfulness in keeping all the Law's precepts would determine their relative place in the kingdom, but that they would not even be admitted into the kingdom unless their [64] righteousness should surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees. (Matthew 5:17-20.)¹ Now the scribes and Pharisees were looked upon as very models of irreproachable law-keeping. But the Lord Jesus declared that the standards of righteousness held by them were false and insufficient. In the rest of the Sermon the true, spiritual obedience to the Law--that superior kind of righteousness as contrasted with the inferior, outward legalism of the Pharisees is set forth. Matthew 5:21-7:27 describes that true righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees; and without which no one should in any wise be permitted to enter into the kingdom.

      This "righteousness" is not that "gift of righteousness," which we receive in Christ, freely "reckoned" to the believer (Romans 4:22-24; 5:17) though of course we understand fully that this latter is to us the basis of all our acceptance and of our righteous life and work in the Lord. But the context of Matthew 5:20 shows that Christ is speaking of that superior obedience to the Law, upon which, as a preliminary condition and requirement, their admission into the kingdom would depend.

      In 7:21-23 the king is seen judging "in that day" [65] and excluding from the entrance into the kingdom those who have not so obeyed.

      Again it must be evident that the kingdom spoken of here cannot be the church. For into the church any man may freely obtain entrance, not after a testing period of righteous living, but at once upon his confession of faith in the Lord Jesus, and by repentance and baptism.

      That the Kingdom in Matthew 8:11, 12 is not the church, needs not to be pointed out; while 11:11 is indeed applicable to the members of the church, the connection still and all along has the kingdom of Israel's promise in view. In 12:28, the power of the kingdom is manifested in the works of their present King. We regret that the limit of our space does not allow of the quoting of all these references: the reader must look them up for himself. We come now to a highly important crisis and turning point in the Savior's ministry, and one which greatly affects the kingdom question.

      In Matthew, the kingdom-gospel, we have the fullest and most methodical teaching concerning the King and Kingdom. Matthew's arrangement of the words of the Lord Jesus and of the incidents of His life is with especial reference to this theme. In Matthew's gospel we have thus far found the announcement of the kingdom to Israel--the kingdom foretold in the prophets and expected by the people. [66] Now we arrive at an important crisis, which indeed had been brewing from chapter 4 on, but comes to an issue in chapter 12. Because of its great bearing on the question before us we must give it our particular attention.

      Four times Matthew tells us with peculiar emphasis that Jesus "withdrew." The first time was when John was imprisoned. Then He went into Galilee; and there follows in Matthew's record a significant quotation from the prophets, the purport of which is that the Lord, rejected by His people would go to the borders of the nations ("Galilee of the Gentiles") so that the people who there sat in the darkness might see His Light. It was an acted warning and prophecy to faithless Israel. Yet the announcement still was, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:12-17.)

      The second time He "withdrew" was on even more serious grounds. The attentive reader of Matthew will perceive a process of deepening, hardening unbelief among the Jews. After chapter 10 the opposition develops rapidly. How sad the Savior's sum-up of their attitude toward John and Himself in 11:16-19; sadder still His awful condemnation of even the cities of Galilee (whither He had withdrawn) because they repented not. (11:20-24.) In Chapter 12 the antagonism of the Pharisees, stirred to its height by His Sabbath-healing, came to a terrible climax: they "went out and plotted how they might destroy him." (12:14.) This was a great [67] turning point; "aware of this, Jesus WITHDREW from thence." Again the statement is followed by a significant quotation from the prophets in which is brought out (1) the gentle unobstrusiveness of the Christ; (2) the certainty of His ultimate triumph and authority; and (3) that the Gentiles shall put their hope in Him. It is again the same ominous warning that the Gentiles should be profited by Israel's rejection of Him! (Matthew 12:15-21.)

      The wicked hatred of the Pharisees had now reached the point where they were ready to attribute the gracious works of the Lord Jesus--the very testimonials and credentials the Father had given Him (John 5:36)--to the devil. Beyond that they could not go in blindness and hardness of heart. And as the leaders went, so would the nation as a whole go. The end toward which they were drifting was pictured to them in 12:43-45; and now the Lord Jesus begins to teach new truth and in a new and unusual fashion.

      He now begins to speak in PARABLES--a method so different from His manner heretofore that the disciples seek Him privately to get His explanation of it: "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?" Stranger even is His answer to His disciples: "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and [68] hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." (Matthew 13:10-13.)

      These then are mysteries of the kingdom. Now a "mystery" in the Bible sense is simply a secret, hitherto unrevealed; a new thing, therefore, never before made known to the sons of men. That is the meaning of the word here; for in the midst of this discourse of seven parables in Matthew 13, we are told that this was predicted of Him: "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world." (Verse 35.) Never before then were these facts concerning the kingdom, which are set forth in these parables, divulged: they were absolutely new. That is why at the close of this remarkable discourse He said to His disciples, "Have ye understood all these things?" They said unto him, "Yea." And he said unto them, "Therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a householder who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old"--the old things being what the prophets had declared of old; but the new consisting of the revelation of these mysteries of the kingdom of heaven which the Lord had now given for the first time in these parables.

      What then are these secrets, never before revealed? Briefly and chiefly as follows:

      1. A world-wide proclamation of the good tidings, the "word of the kingdom."

      2. Its very limited success.² [69]

      3. The intermingling in the same plot of the sons of the Evil one with the "sons of the kingdom"--this to go on throughout the whole age, unto the time of the harvest.

      4. The kingdom's insignificant beginning, and vast issues.

      5. The working of a secret, hidden influence.

      6. The Kingdom concealed and hidden in the world.

      7. Its exceeding preciousness to the Lord.

      8. Its action, as a net drawing in all sorts of fish out of the sea of humanity, which are to be assorted and dealt with no sooner than the end of the age.

      Let the reader attentively consider the parables of Matthew 13 and satisfy himself on these points.

      But one thing must have dawned upon us: the correspondence of these secrets with the present conditions in this church-age! These parables are really an announcement of the new and unexpected aspect the kingdom would assume during an anticipated age of the king's rejection and absence from the world. We have here the Savior's prediction of the circumstances as we find them unto this day.

      Like the waters of a stream that rush on with ever-increasing swiftness to the edge of the cataract, so was Israel's downward course. The third "withdrew" [70] follows upon the execution of John (Matthew 14:1-13) and the fourth very soon thereafter on the occasion of a bitter clash with the Pharisees (Matthew 15:1-21). When the Lord heard of John's death He withdrew into the desert, and the multitudes who sought him there were healed and fed by Him--the same ominous foreshadowing again. But when He withdrew the fourth time it was to go clear outside the then boundaries of the Land, "into parts of Tyre and Sidon"; and again we see how grave was the significance to the Jews when we are told that a Canaanitish woman, an outsider, a stranger from Israel's covenant, comes in for the blessing of the King whom His own people have rejected! Truly because of their fall this salvation came to the Gentiles! (Romans 11:11.)

      We are more and more emerging now from the Old Testament atmosphere that wrapped the earlier chapters of Matthew into the new and wondrous light of the church dispensation. And now the King begins to make known His great purpose regarding the Church.

      It was at Cesarea Philippi--at the utmost distance from Judea and Jerusalem--in the farthest northeastern bounds of the land on the frontier of the Gentiles--that our great Lord turned to His disciples with a solemn and momentous question: "Who do men say that I the Son of Man am?" This to draw them out. The answer showed that He was indeed [71] held in high estimation among the populace, but that they had not known who He was. "But who say ye that I am?" And it was Peter, quick and ready, whose bold and impetuous faith found words before all others: "Thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God."

      It has been previously pointed out that this was the name given Him in the Old Testament prophecy; specifically in Psalm 2. There we read of Jehovah and His Anointed One--that is to say His Christ; and the Christ is there heard saying, "Jehovah said unto me, Thou art My son, this day have I begotten thee: Ask of Me, and I will give thee the nations for thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession: Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." It is the Old Testament picture of the glorious and victorious Messiah who shall execute judgment and vengeance upon the nations, and under whose iron sceptre all kindreds of the earth shall bow. Thou Jesus our Lord art the prophesied Christ, this Son of the living God to whom belongs the place of universal sovereignty by right of inheritance. That was Peter's confession, and the Lord formally accepted it. In turn He confesses Peter who stands as the first representative and exponent of this great confession: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt [72] bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:13-19.)

      Of the church they knew as yet nothing. The word was familiar enough: it meant an assembly, with the suggestion in the original word that it was an assembly called out and called together. The Lord spoke of this Assembly--whatever it was, they did not know as yet--as of a building which He would erect upon the rock, not upon Peter the man, personally, but as a representative of this great confession; which fact finds its fuller explanation in I Corinthians 3:11 and Ephesians 2:20.

      But of the kingdom of heaven we learn now a new fact: that entrance into it can be had only upon the conditions which Peter would be commissioned to lay down, and which would be fully ratified and validated in heaven.

      The great climax of Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God; and Christ's formal acknowledgment, with the announcement of His purpose "on this rock" to build His church, and to commit to Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, was immediately succeeded by another note, which fell like a deadly chill upon the enthusiasm of the disciples. No one, unless he understood what glorious expectations lay in the name "Messiah," the "Christ," could appreciate the disciples' utter astonishment and dismay when Jesus "from that time began--to show [73] his disciples, that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and the third day be raised up." (Matthew 16:21.) As great as was their faith in Him as the Messiah so was their perplexity. This thing seemed utterly impossible. Nothing would have been more unreasonable to their minds than that any human being should be able to inflict harm upon "the great King," least of all to kill Him. They never did grasp this fully, despite all later repeated and insistent declarations of the Lord. Nevertheless so it was to be. It was not even new truth, like those "mysteries" of Matthew 13; but this had been plainly predicted in their prophets. We do not know by what methods of interpretation the Jews had managed to nullify and ignore the prophecies of Christ's sufferings--but, just as people today--they had accomplished the feat of expunging from the testimony of God's word whatsoever did not fit in with their preconceptions. It was not so much that what they did believe about the Messiah was false, but that they were slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken. (Luke 24:25, 26.) Thus it came to pass that "because they knew him not, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, they fulfilled them in condemning Him." (Acts 13:27.) How important in its time is a true and comprehensive knowledge of the prophetic word!

      The first explicit announcement of His Second [74] Coming was made now, in answer to Peter's attempt to dissuade the Lord Jesus from "the way of the cross." He told all His disciples there and then that for them, as for Him, the present time must be a time of suffering and self-denial. The glory--when His power and authority would be manifest and exercised in the earth--would come in due season. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds." (Matthew 16:22-27.)³ [75]

      In the teachings that follow in Matthew 18, 19 and 20, the references to the kingdom bear variously upon the one or the other of these features--the present spiritual aspect, as the kingdom shares the characteristics of the King (I John 3:2) in unworldly walk, humiliation, rejection, and suffering, and all the stringent spiritual requirements in order for final acceptance on the one hand; and the glory to come on the other. The teaching on humility and forgiveness in Matthew 18, in chapter 19 the reference to the [76] severe self-renunciation of some (verse 12); the difficulty of entrance to the rich; and the apostles' destined enthronement to rule over the twelve Tribes of Israel "in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory" (verse 28; compare Matthew 25:31); the giving out of the rewards in that day, as shown in the parable of the Laborers in the vineyard in Matthew 20; and His answer to the ambitious request of the sons of Zebedee, in the same chapter, all belong here. In regard to the latter it should be pointed out that these men had in no wise relinquished the Old Testament hope of the Messianic Kingdom; and the Lord, far from denying their view of it, confirms them in their idea that just such and like honors as they were aspiring to, would in due time be bestowed of the Father, but only upon such as now drink His bitter cup with Him, and share with Him in His baptism of suffering. But this declaration He follows again with emphatic teaching on the necessity of present self-abasement and self-sacrifice. (Matthew 20:20-28.)

      The "Triumphal Entry" as it is called (alas, it was not that!) is one of the great landmarks and corner-posts of the New Testament kingdom teaching.

      The Lord Jesus had arrived near Jerusalem on what was to be His last journey thitherward, which fact He had divulged to His disciples along the way. Though He had repeatedly and emphatically informed them at the same time that He was going to Jerusalem to suffer and to die and to rise again from [77] the dead, they had not understood it. Even as we, when a truth that is contrary to all our cherished views looms up to us from the inspired page, are inclined to discount it, to explain it away, or simply to shake our heads over it and pass straight on as though it were not there, drawing consolation the while from any other portions of God's word which may seem to favor our views--so the disciples would not receive a truth which ran so absolutely counter to all belief in Jesus, and the expectations of His royal glory they held so dear. They did not understand His speech and for some cause they were afraid to ask Him. Meanwhile their hearts were filled with visions of earthly glory that they hoped presently to behold in the City. It was then that the Lord spake a parable to them which is recorded in Luke and which is of the highest importance in our present inquiry. The reasons for the parable are stated as two: (a) "because he was nigh to Jerusalem"; and (b) "because they supposed that the kingdom of God was immediately to appear." (Luke 19:11.) The parable in brief was to the effect that a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. His servants were charged to administrate the goods he left with them until his return. His fellow-citizens sent an ambassage after him, refusing to accept his sovereignty. By and by the nobleman having received the kingdom, returned; called first his servants to account, rewarding those who had administrated their pounds faithfully in [78] proportion by giving them rule over cities; and then sentencing his enemies who had opposed his authority, to death. The parable is self-interpreting and its meaning obvious. The Nobleman is Christ; the far country heaven; the servants are His own who administrate His interests during His absence; the enemies are the disobedient and rebellious who will not accept the authority of the Christ. At His coming He will exercise the governmental authority of the kingdom, appointing His faithful servants to rulership and executing vengeance upon the adversaries. In this latter phase, which is here seen to be deferred until the Lord's return from heaven, we recognize again the features of the Old Testament hope and promise, the very hope the disciples cherished, and which however was not to be realized just yet.

      Certain features in this "Triumphal Entry" claim our special notice and attention. First of these is the fact that they placed their garments upon the colt that He might sit thereon, and spread their garments in the way before Him. It was an act of royal homage, a formal recognition of His kingship. This appears from the account of Jehu's anointing in II Kings 9:13--As soon as Jehu's companions learned that he had been anointed king over Israel, "they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, Jehu is king."

      The second feature was the ovation given the Lord [79] by His disciples and the multitude. Gathering up the four records (Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 19; John 12) we see that their cry was nothing less than an open acclamation of Him as the long promised and expected Messiah of David's line, the King of Israel. And since the King had come, so the kingdom also had come nigh to them; even "the kingdom of our father David" (Mark 11:10).

      The third feature was the Lord's lament over Jerusalem. Among the hallelujahs and hosannas, and the cries of wild rejoicing, a wail was heard of infinite sadness. It came from the lips of the King Himself who was weeping aloud over Jerusalem: "If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee when thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." (Luke 19:41-44.)

      If thou hadst known! But now--! Jerusalem had missed her chance. What would have happened had she understood and seized upon her opportunity? Who would doubt what? He certainly would have gathered them "as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings" (Matthew 23:37) and bestowed on them all the riches of His grace and His salvation. And nothing could then have hindered the fulfillment [80] of the promises God had made to their fathers. To be sure a host of questions would arise in view of such a possibility. If Jerusalem had received her King and humbly bowed to His righteous will--how could He have died? how then could the church have come into existence? how could the Scriptures have been fulfilled that thus it must be? A thousand such hypothetical questions could be asked along any line; and we are entirely unable to guess how things would have worked out if the case had been other than it was. God would have known in any case what to do. But it is sufficient for us to know that Jerusalem did reject her King and failed of her opportunity; and though the offer was made to her in good faith, her rejection of the invitation was foreseen, and made a factor in God's larger plan. Undoubtedly she might have realized her ancient promises then; but God knowing that she would in no wise hear, had laid His plans accordingly from of old; yet not presuming upon His foreknowledge, but all along and earnestly, lovingly, giving them the full opportunity to make their own choice and to decide their own destiny.

      A fourth feature of the "triumphal entry" was that it was specifically foretold in scripture. The prophecy is found in Zechariah 9:9; the next verse predicting in the closest conjunction the deliverance of harassed Ephraim and Jerusalem (the whole nation of Israel therefore) and the world-wide reign following. Verse 9, with certain significant omissions, is [81] quoted by Matthew as fulfilled (Matthew 21:5) but Zechariah 9:10 yet awaits fulfillment; for "the daughter of Zion" knew not the time of her visitation. (The "daughter of Zion" is Zion, Jerusalem, herself. This is a common idiom as anyone can easily determine by means of a concordance). But when He comes again--not then meekly riding upon an ass but in glory and power upon "a white horse" (Revelation 19:11) they will hail Him with sincere hearts and cry more truly, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." (Matthew 23:37-39.)

      The "triumphal entry" served only to stir up the more the hatred and envy and bitter opposition of the Pharisees. (Matthew 21-23.) Their fate was now rapidly becoming fixed. In connection with the parable of the householder, the Lord Jesus announced to them that the kingdom of God would be taken away from them and given to a nation that would bring forth the fruits thereof. (Matthew 21:43.) This "nation" is of course none other than the new spiritual people whom the Lord is until yet gathering from all kindreds and tribes and peoples and tongues; who constitute the church, the Body of Christ, "where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all." (Colossians 3:11; I Peter 2:9, 10.) The next parable again (the Wedding-feast) shows Israel's rejection of her invitation; and also of a second invitation which God graciously extended [82] to her on and after Pentecost; and the ensuing destruction of Jerusalem and the wide and promiscuous ingathering of Gentiles. (Matthew 22:1-14.)

      Our interest next centers upon the Lord's great prophetic discourse. (Matthew 24, 25.) We have no space for a detailed exposition of this sermon. Israel's great final and unparalleled tribulation--the well-known Old Testament crisis, Daniel 12:1, 2--immediately to be followed by the Coming of the Son of man, is foretold. But the weight of the discourse lies in its solemn, practical teaching (fully applicable to the church) of watchfulness, readiness, and faithfulness in view of the Lord's ever-imminent coming. In the judgment-scene in Matthew 25, the Son of man returned in glory is seen seated upon the throne of His glory, calling the nations of the earth to account on the basis of their treatment of His brethren, and rendering sentence and decision as to who should inherit His kingdom, and who should be cast out into everlasting punishment.

      Finally the story of His passion. First the preparation--the eating of the Passover, and the institution of the Lord's Supper, in which He made some reference to the kingdom. Then the "trial," at which Caiaphas the high priest put the question to the Lord point-blank, in the form of an adjuration (Leviticus 5:1)--"I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell [83] us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God." To this Jesus answered, "Thou hast said: Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." (Matthew 26:63, 64.) It was the confession that He was the Messiah, the Anointed one of God, according to the prophecy of Psalm 2, and all the Messianic prophecies; and the Son of God, not only in the general sense in which all the kings of David's line were sons of God (II Samuel 7:14) but in the unique sense in which (as the Jews had rightly perceived, John 5:18) the Lord Jesus claimed that name. Moreover by His reference to Daniel 7:13, 14, the one only, and well-known prophecy in which a Son of man is seen "coming on the clouds of heaven," He identified Himself with God's promised World-ruler, whereas the "sitting at the right hand of power" was an unmistakable reference to Psalm 110:1, "Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Thus our Lord uttered a complete confession of His Messiahship in the ears of His enemies. It was no wonder that the high priest flew into a rage at this outspoken avowal, and that at once the sentence of death was pronounced upon Him. Such was the Satanic hatred that had taken possession of those men, that they would rather have died themselves than to concede this claim to Jesus of Nazareth. The confession that He was King of the Jews He made again to Pilate (with certain explanations which will be noticed in their place); and this was also the [84] accusation that was written and set up over His head.

      In the concluding words of the Gospel of Matthew, the risen Lord announces His world-wide and universal authority, upon which, when He had ascended and taken His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, he entered; and on the strength of which He, before ascension, commissioned His apostles to go into all the world and teach all nations, baptizing them; and promised that He would be with them in the execution of this commission always unto the consummation of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20, mg.)

      We have now briefly traced the kingdom-teaching of Matthew, the kingdom-gospel, from beginning to the end. We have seen how the Old Testament hope of the Messianic kingdom of Israel and its world-wide sway was at first entirely in the foreground; how the crisis came when the opposition of Israel culminated in plans of murder; how then the Lord Jesus Christ began to announce an entirely new and different aspect which His kingdom was to assume; and how thenceforth, not leaving out of view the Old Testament promise of the kingdom, the present, spiritual, veiled suffering form of the kingdom of Heaven, until He should come again, occupied the foreground of His teaching. [85]

[KOG3 59-86]