The Kingdom of God Means Peace

For the blog I’ve broken the New Testament section into several parts, but the entire New Testament section is also available to listen to at The Fourth Way Podcast

Throughout the gospels, in particular the synoptics, the Kingdom of God is a prominent theme. The Kingdom of God, with all its complexity and differences between difference authors, ultimately comes to the same thing: God’s domain; that is, the place where God’s will is done. Where God’s will is done and only where God’s will is done is there shalom.

The Lord’s prayer is probably the most well-known example of this as well as one of the most applicable for our purposes. In the Lord’s prayer we have, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” So His Kingdom comes as His will is done, and we already saw how that was perceived in the Old Testament. When His statutes are followed, everything works together, the land, the people, the nations, with God. Jesus here is teaching us how to pray a prayer which has as its first petition the coming of the Kingdom, God’s rule, shalom.

This is made especially interesting in Matthew because the prayer is placed in the middle of the sermon on the mount (chapters 5-7). The sermon on the mount is basically an entire sermon describing how all will behave within the Kingdom of God/Heaven. Especially the first half of the sermon has normally been viewed as impossible to follow and thus, in some way or another, is pushed aside. Sometimes it is relegated to some future date, or perhaps it is to be followed only by a select few people. The problem is, we get no indication of this within the sermon itself nor anywhere else that I can find. Not in the New Testament nor anywhere until hundreds of years after Jesus’ death.

The sermon has been recognized as being organized within a chiastic structure with the Lord’s prayer being the center and focal point of the entire sermon. This, with its pleading for God’s kingdom to come down to Earth, only strengthens the idea that this is something that should be happening in the present rather than mostly brushed off and relegated to the far distant future. 

To fully understand the implications of this we need to look at it a bit closer. Some of you may be wondering, what is a chiasm? Put simply, a chiasm is a way of rhyming ideas rather than sounds. In our poetry, certain lines end often with certain sounds and other lines will end with the same sounds. A chiasm is the same basic idea, except that instead of the same sounds being present in different lines, the ideas within the lines will parallel in some way the ideas within another line. In the case of the sermon on the mount, certain sections ‘rhyme’ with certain other sections. 

For our purposes it is important to see that 5:21-48 (the impossible super-ethic of not returning blows, not making oaths etc) is parallel with 6:19-7:11 (following God instead of mammon, not praying for public esteem etc). One of the powerful things about chiasms is discovering how the author links together two sometimes seemingly unrelated ideas or images. Let’s look at how these two passages relate to one another. 6:19-7:11 is all about single minded focus. Don’t split between treasures on earth with those of heaven, don’t be split between God and money, don’t be split about the Kingdom of God and the things of this world, don’t be split on judging others rather than yourself. This is difficult, but something we can reasonably strive for even if we know we will never perfectly arrive.

a 5:1-2
b 5:3-16
c 5:17-20
d 5:21-48
e 6:1-6
the Lord’s Prayer 6:7-15
e’ 6:16-18
d’ 6:19-18
c’ 7:12
b’ 7:13-27
a’ 7:28-8:1a

That this is linked with 5:21-48 sheds important insight. This passage is largely seen as being far too high a bar to ever reach, especially with its peak in v. 48 with the call to love one’s enemies. But if we see these two passages as related, we notice that the single-mindedness of 6:19ff which trusts in God rather than ourselves (especially the ‘birds of the field’ and ‘ask and you shall receive’ parts) shapes our lives in a way which allows us to bear the fruit in 5:21-48. Not only that, but the Lord’s prayer sits between these two passages as the peak and central focus. This is very common in passages structured around chiasms. The main argument is not at the end but the center. So the prayer is both the culmination of everything before and after it, and the thing that glues it all together.

What this implies is that as we maintain a prayerful attitude which desires the coming of God’s kingdom, we are empowered to hold a more single-minded focus on God and His will. Through this prayerful focus we will begin to see the fruit of non-retaliation and enemy love. What once seemed impossible can begin to take place through the Spirit of the one of whom nothing is impossible. In short, this nonviolent, peacemaking sermon is not to be viewed as idealistic, but as the manifestation of the kingdom of God, shalom, in our lives. Viewed in this way, the entire sermon can be seen as a call for us to become peacemakers.

As for Mark, he has Jesus begin his ministry at the very start of the book by proclaiming the gospel of God by saying that the kingdom of God is at hand. Here he has set the tone of the gospel as a whole and we are expected to see everything else within this framework. This recognition has helped me to make sense of some of the aspects of Mark that I used to be at a loss at what to do with, in particular the exorcisms and even the healings. This has helped me to reframe certain things. Exorcisms and healings are not simply improving someone’s life, they are an ushering in of the Kingdom of God. Jesus is confronting that which is against his Kingdom, that which is isolating, hurting and tormenting others, and bringing wholeness in its stead. The exorcisms and healings shown in 1:21-3:6 “free people from social ostracism and challenge religious laws that fettered freedom. Jesus’ pithy sayings, as in 2:10, 17, 28, his enigmatic riddles (2:19-22), and his parables (4:1-34) tantalize standard social expectations, threaten existing social order, and even harbinger revolution.”¹ In fact, all of his exorcisms, healings and acts of forgiveness are the kingdom bursting through to become a reality on the Earth. Through all of this though, Jesus never uses his power to destroy his enemies. Instead it is used for healing and defeating demonic spiritual power. This defeat does not just result in the individuals’ inner peace, but results in very tangible and physical changes.

This is most clearly seen when Jesus sends his disciples out to heal and cast out demons. In light of the start of the Gospel, it is implied here that they are widening the boundaries of the Kingdom of God. In Mark’s characteristic fashion, he does not mention it outright because he does not like to blurt out anything that should be known or could be deduced. Luke on the other hand when narrating this same scene, plainly tells us that their healing of the sick was the Kingdom of God coming near to the people. In Luke, the disciples are also to enter each household with a declaration of peace. Strikingly similar to the beatitude in Matthew that peace makers are the sons of God, here Jesus says that peace will rest upon the sons of peace.

In fact, in Luke 10:5-6 the word peace appears three times: “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.” It is clear from Luke’s narrative that peace is a distinguishing feature of the gospel news. It is also evident that Jesus is looking to gather children of peace. Additionally, the peace is not just some quiet rest, but results in the expulsion and defeat of evil. This is even more evident when Jesus says that he saw ‘Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’ Swartley is correct when he notes that, the kingdom of God, despite its characterization of peace and lack of force, is still one of “ultimate power which dispels of evil wherever it reaches.”²

This narrative represents Jesus’ missionary imperative extending to all nations and it is significant that it is most strongly associated with peace. Continuing into Acts, Luke’s purpose is to show us that this gospel eventually found its way to Rome and took root there.

This is where Paul picks up. To Paul, Christ’s victory on the cross meant the defeat of the might of the principalities and powers (the NT equivalent of governments, rulers, ologies, and isms) (Col. 2:10,15). Paul knew first hand what Pax Romana, the peace of Rome, meant. Any disruption of Rome’s rule, any lack of admiration towards their power, was met with force. Seeing the inside of many a Roman prison, Paul knew the farce behind the propaganda of such peace. The peace of Jesus, however, did what pax Romana was never able to do. It united formerly hostile peoples into one faith body, living under the lordship of Christ. Even in Romans 13 we do not have Paul calling for a single obedience to the state. The first seven verses of Romans 13 must be read as growing out of chapter twelve as well as blossoming into verses after. Romans 12 clearly puts the obedience and lordship on Jesus. Following the state only works if we have devoted ourselves first to following Jesus, our actual King.

All of this is to show that passages which discuss the topics of the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven are actually shalom texts. This includes passages which discuss spiritual warfare, victory over Satan and death, and all other Jesus is Lord type of texts. When this is recognized it becomes clear just how much more prevalent peace is to the New Testament than we credit it. As mentioned last post, I find it beneficial when reading over such texts to give a quick review of some of the quintessential shalom passages to remind me just what the Kingdom of God looks like³. All too often we pass it off nothing more than a spiritual thing unrelated to this physical world. In fact, despite the obvious societal implications of the term kingdom, we westerners, even the aggressive individualists, usually don’t see much beyond a personal kingdom unrelated not only to the current world around us to even to fellow Christians. How far away this is from Jesus’ teachings!

If Jesus brings about the peace we discussed in the previous post then God’s Kingdom is far from individualistic and dismissive of the world and its politics. Additionally, a close look at these passages resists the attempts to use the pacifistic and patient-suffering passages to advocate for a sort of quietism. Jesus comes blasting through the promised land transforming it into the Kingdom of God. All those in the grips of the powers which oppose this kingdom are freed and shown the path of humble service. Here they can finally live in peace among each other rather than serving as puppets for these satanic forces under the guise of “unfortunate necessity.”

I hope that someday the church as a whole can read these passages for the peace passage which they are.

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Notes

1 Covenant of Peace, p.93

2 Ibd. p.125

3. Some examples are Isaiah 2:2-5 (Micah 4:1-5), Ezekiel 34:25-29, Leviticus 26:4-5