Walt BadRoad-Mount February 18, 2015

Religion 2 Fr. Albert/Br. Tom

The Kingdom of God

When looking back on The Kingdom of God, one may realize that there are certain ideas that apply to it. When it comes to Jesus’ ideas of the kingdom, he has the idea that it is not a place and that it has no political boundaries. Another idea of the kingdom through Jesus is that it is a new way of relating and that it consists of conditional love. Lastly, he has the idea of the messiah as a spiritual figure. Jesus had a strong vision of an ideal future, which was his “dream,” and he called it “The Kingdom of God.”

Though Jesus had his ideas of the kingdom of God, there were other ideas out there. One of these ideas was the Jewish idea of the kingdom of God. This was/is a popular idea. The Jews portray the kingdom of God as a nation-state that is ruled by a military messiah, or a king. Also that it is free from pagan influence. Along with their ideas, the Jews accepted the idea of God as “King of Creation,” both in the wonders of creation and in the Law. Along with these ideas, comes feudalism and disagreement. Contrasting the Jewish idea and Jesus’ idea, one can begin to notice the major differences and minor differences. An example of a major difference would be how Jesus sees the kingdom as not a place, whereas the Jews see the kingdom as a nation-state with political boundaries. A minor example would be the way both of the parties state that this kingdom consists of conditional love.

Along with their views of the kingdom, the Jews and Jesus also share different ideas on the notion of “Love thy Neighbor.” The Jews carry the ideas that loving thy neighbor comes in the form of having concern for one another; especially the poor, widows, and lowly. They also see a way of not loving gentiles, outcasts, and sinners. They have conditional love. Totally different, Jesus’ idea of love thy neighbor consists of loving everyone, unconditionally. These ideas are totally different.