I often wonder what would it be like if Jesus stepped out of eternity and into our world today. Looking around we live in a world ruled by military power and threat. As I write this there are people in the US determining the course of action with North Korea. There are people in Israel determining a course of action with their surrounding nations. It seems that every "kingdom" is driven by power and might. When I stop and think about it this is not all that different than the world Jesus did in fact step into.
In his day, Jesus was expected to become the ruler of Israel in the same way as the rulers of the Romans and other nations did. There was an expectation that the kingdom of God would be run like the rest of the earthly kingdom. This section of scripture in Luke and several others show that Jesus is not interested in the same kind of kingdom.
The kingdom of Jesus is not based on violence, power and might. Not the kingdom of God is all about transforming the world in other ways. Through love and justice. Through submitting to a power greater than the earthly leaders can understand. From this understanding of kingdom we see Jesus submit to the will of God and head to the cross.
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