The Kingdom of God was a strange idea to Jesus' followers, but we have some
perspective on it now. They asked him what it was and he said it is:
A mustard seed that grows to a great tree such that birds come to perch in its
branches
A small piece of yeast that spreads through a large mass of dough
An extremely valuable pearl that a merchant buys with all his resources
A treasure found in a field that the finder buys with all his resources
Wheat sown on poor soil where it failed but when on good soil it brought a
good harvest
A net full of fish which are sorted - the good retained, the bad discarded
A royal wedding to which the invitees would not come, so the king invited
everyone.
And other similar items.
Put together, this is Jesus' vision of Humankind’s future. There is a process of
growth or expansion, it is supremely valuable, some succeed and some fail in
achieving it but its benefits are open to everyone. There is nothing about angels or
going to heaven here. This is the physical world. He is speaking of a process - the
transformation or evolution of society and humanity toward, it seems, perfection.
“Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect,” he urges his disciples. He has a
conception of Humanity’s potential that he explains in memorable images that
have greater force and permanence than words.
Jesus gives us the route to the ethical and psychological evolution of Humanity,
of its culture and conceivably Humanity’s physical evolution. It’s all about love
and forgiveness. He says, “You have heard it said ‘Love your neighbour and hate
your enemy’ but I say to you, ‘love your enemies’...”
His objective is to shape the individual, culture and society. The emergent effects
of its ethics on European culture, unforseeable when Jesus preached them, have
been:
In general, cohesive, cooperative and inclusive national societies
Founding the first public schools, universities and hospitals
Egalitarian political and social democracy (Greek city-state democracy did not
include women or slaves. Equality before God is the basis of Jesus'
egalitarianism)
Abolition of the death penalty, slavery, cannibalism
Equality of women with men in owning property, divorce, voting, employment etc
Universal education, medical and social support as an aspiration at least
Freedom of worship
Equality before the law
Organizations such as the United Nations, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders,
many non-governmental aid and development organizations
The on-going elimination of various harmful customs, eg the cast system and
suttee in India, female genital mutilation (Africa), the practice of honour
killings
(Pakistan/India/Middle East), feuding in various countries and belief in magic,
superstitions and witchcraft, some of which give rise to murder and rape and
impede education and medicine.
Changes in our conception of God, whether God requires sacrifices - human in
the
case of Aztecs and Vikings or animals as for Hebrews and Romans. Polytheism,
nature worship and shamanism are disappearing.
It is probable that modern science developed from Jesus' concept of monotheism
and that its structuring of our minds fostered science, technology and medicine,
now approaching ‘miraculous’ achievement.
Organizations led by Jesus' followers pioneered educational, development and
emergency aid to undeveloped countries irrespective of their belief systems.
European arts generally - music, painting, sculpture, performing arts, architecture,
design etc.
This is the growth of Jesus’ mustard seed or his piece of yeast. They are the
emergent effects of adopting his way of thinking. They are not the Kingdom itself
but they are developments toward it and indications of what it might be. They are
the development of Human potential to make us better Humans. It is evident why
Jesus could not explain what the Kingdom would be in precise terms although he
envisaged humanity’s destination and explained clearly how to get there.
Christianity’s strong civilizing influence has brought European culture from
despotic Roman militarism and polytheism, Norse human sacrifice and varieties
of nature worship to the present. At the present time, clever men get the credit.
The context of a supporting Christian culture is unrecognised as if once having
developed our ethics and culture we can retain them with ease. That is not the
case.
Torture by government has re-emerged in the American Guantanamo Bay prison
specifically constructed for the purpose, as well as in Abu Graib and other
prisons. European governments colluded with this. That the Guantanamo Bay
torture facility was intentionally located outside USA law means that the United
States government does not believe in universal ethics. It is using law as a device
to evade Christian ethics that are only tenuously held for domestic purposes.
Jesus said to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of this
world.” Jesus' kingdom was a psychological construct, existing only in his mind
at that time, with the seeds in the minds of his followers. Pilate pressed him on
whether he was a king. It was the wrong question. Jesus said, “I came into the
world to testify to the truth.” The truth that he emphasised was that we should
love each other. Thus, Christian governments cannot tell the truth about their
shameful, unethical secrets. His Kingdom is the kingdom of the mind, not a
material place but a culture that expresses itself in Human behaviour.
The emergent effects of following Jesus’ teaching are always positive. We are at
a critical point of development however and need to take another ethical step.
This will not be easy due to vested interests not only in the business of warfare but
in Christianity itself, its institutions and its traditions. Jesus was confronted by
similar problems when he confronted the vested interests of his time.
In creating the threat of our imminent extinction science and technology have
outrun our ethics. Past experience of Christianity shows that positive changes in
society require great effort and considerable time. We do not have such time
available. There is a number of major known threats but the most urgent is that of
nuclear warfare.
Devastating as they were, WW1 and WW2 killed only a small proportion of the
populations of the countries involved. The damage could be repaired and
recovery was possible. There will be no recovery from a nuclear war. We, our
children and grandchildren will die or never exist.
That this threat has been created and is perpetuated shows not only the limits of
our ethics but also of logic. An unstable extinction risk has been created logically
within a flawed ethical culture, that is, a Christian culture that has been only
partially developed. Its benefits and potentials are being misused. Jesus’ words
originate outside the limitations of logic and are directly relevant. Those who do
not accept Jesus’ teaching should consider how far he has changed the world for
the good and how, unthinkingly, they benefit from this.
Cultural change is always resisted by vested interests. Jesus’ message was of love
and peace. The way to peace is simply to be peaceful. Who could object? Those
who claim to bring peace through warfare and violence object.