A Lenten Bible Study: Genesis to Jesus Lesson Twelve: The Kingdom Transformed [Easter Monday Edition]

Here is the twelfth and final lesson in the Saint Paul Center for Catholic Biblical Theology's Lenten Scripture study, Genesis to Jesus. In this Easter Monday instalment we will learn how every one of us is standing in the stream of salvation history right now, and how each of us has an opportunity to become a member of the covenant family of God for all eternity. _____________________________________________

In our study thus far, we have seen how God’s loving plan of salvation has unfolded over the course of human events and across time – finally culminating with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. We can now begin to understand just how deeply God loves us. This is the very essence of salvation history. The story of our salvation is really a love story between God and humanity.

Over the past eleven lessons, we’ve seen how that story has shown God’s covenant with humanity progressing from a marriage, to a household, to a tribe, to the nation of Israel, and to a kingdom. In our last lesson, we began to tie it all together. We began looking at the final stage of salvation history, the fulfillment of God’s covenant plan in Christ through the Church. We saw how Christ fulfills God’s covenants with Adam, Abraham and Moses, coming as the New Adam, the true son of Abraham, and the New Moses. Now we are going to conclude by unpacking God’s covenant with Israel in the Old Testament through David. And we will learn what the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom has to do with each one of us today.

Just as Christ fulfills all of the earlier covenants we have discussed, so too does he fulfill God’s covenant with David, coming as the true son of David. This is how the apostles, after Christ’s death, came to see him. And Scripture, particularly Matthew’s gospel, underscores Jesus’ role as the true son of David who has come to restore the kingdom. This is clear right at the opening of the New Testament, when Matthew calls Jesus not only the “son of Abraham,” but also the “son of David.” We also learn at the beginning of Matthew’s gospel that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of David’s birth [Matthew 2:5-6, 1 Samuel 16:4].

Remember that the word “Christ” means “anointed son.” All the kings of Israel were anointed by holy men. Their anointing symbolized the Spirit of God descending upon them. But only Jesus is the anointed one, the Christ, because he is the true Davidic King. He is the one through whom all the promises of the Davidic Covenant are ultimately fulfilled. The anointing of Christ takes place in the Jordan River, and is carried out by John the Baptist, a Levite. This is fitting because the Davidic Kings of Israel were typically anointed by Levites as well [1 Kings 1:34, 2 Kings 11:12, 23:30, 2 Chronicles 23:11].

Once appointed, the king was declared a son of God [Psalm 2:7]. Likewise, after Christ’s anointing, John the Baptist hears the Father’s declaration, “This is my beloved son” [Matthew 3:17]. Now anointed, Jesus immediately begins preaching about the kingdom of God. Scripture makes it clear that this is the primary theme of his ministry. Matthew 4:23 tells us:

23 “He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.”

This theme of the kingdom resounds throughout Jesus’ most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. The eight beatitudes in Matthew 5, which summarize the law of the kingdom, are bookended with the phrase, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Then in Matthew 6, Jesus teaches us how to pray the “Our Father,” which includes the petition, “Thy kingdom come.” In his proclamation of the kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus references the first heir to the Davidic Kingdom – Solomon – several times, including Matthew 6:29, and 6:33, when he urges people to seek the kingdom above all else and trust that in this kingdom, God will provide for their needs even more than he provided for Solomon’s. Later, he compares himself directly to Solomon, saying in Matthew 12:42:

42 At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.

Jesus’ wisdom was greater than Solomon’s, but he still used many of the same methods of passing on that wisdom; Both taught through parables. In Matthew 13, Jesus teaches about the kingdom through seven parables, including: The Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the Parable of the Leaven, the Parable of the Hidden Treasure, the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds, the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price, and the Parable of the Dragnet. Through these parables, Jesus teaches that while there is nothing more valuable or important than the kingdom, this kingdom is not always immediately seen; it is hidden in the midst of the world.

In our last lesson, we saw that under David and Solomon, God sought to include the Gentiles as well as the Israelites in his covenant family. Likewise, Matthew records Jesus ministering to the Gentiles as well as the Israelites. We see this, for example, in the healing of the centurion’s servant in Matthew 8:5-13. Later, Jesus proclaims the kingdom in the regions of Tyre and Sidon, which are outside the land of Israel. We also know Gentiles were present when Jesus fed the 4,000, because Matthew 5:31 tells us that some of those there “glorified the God of Israel.” Something else to note: When ascended to the Father he didn’t simply take the kingdom with him. The kingdom is present today as it has been for the past 2,000 years, through the successors of Peter and the apostles.

When Solomon built his Temple, he constructed it upon a rock. Ancient Israel believed that the Temple’s foundation stone was where Abraham offered Isaac in Genesis 22. In a similar way, Jesus builds his Church upon Peter, whose name, given to him by Jesus, literally means “rock.” Matthew 16:18-19 states:

18 “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

When Jesus says he’s giving Peter the keys to the kingdom, he’s referring back to a tradition from the Davidic Kingdom. It was customary back then for the king to give the keys to the kingdom to his prime minister as a symbol of the minister’s authority. One such passing of the keys is described in Isaiah 22:20-22 [note the similarities between this passage and Matthew 12:18-19 referenced above]:

20 “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

The prime minister in the Davidic Kingdom was given the authority to “open” and “shut,” and was called to be a “father” to the people. Peter too has the authority to “open” and “shut,” or, to “bind” and loose.” And he too is called to be a father. The word “Pope” is actually derived from the word “papa.” And like the Davidic prime ministers, the authority of the Pope resides in the office, not the person. That is why the authority entrusted by Christ to Peter has passed on to his successors through the centuries.

Through all these examples and stories, we can see that throughout his public ministry Jesus has been proclaiming the kingdom. Which is why, by the time Palm Sunday is celebrated there is excitement and expectation. The Church celebrates the son of David entering the city of David to restore the kingdom of David.

In Matthew 21:19, the crowds hail Jesus as the “son of David.” Mark 11:10 tells us that the crowds also call out, “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming.” They even go so far in Luke 19:38 to shout out, “Blessed is the King,” as Jesus enters Jerusalem. Jesus’ actions certainly evoke the entrance of the first heir to the Davidic throne; he comes into the city riding on a donkey, just as Solomon once did. 1 Kings 1:38-40 tells us:

38 “So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon mount King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon. 39 Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” 40 And all the people went up after him, playing pipes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.”

But unlike Solomon, Jesus’ kingdom is not purely of this world. It is a transcendent, heavenly kingdom. Christ tells us this in Luke’s account of the Last Supper. There, Jesus connects the theme of the kingdom with the meal he is celebrating. In Luke 22:16, Jesus tells the apostles, “I shall not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then, in 22:18 he says, “I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” A few verses later, in 22:30, he connects eating and drinking with the time when the apostles will be seated on thrones in the kingdom. Then, at the central point of Luke’s Last Supper account, the disciples begin to argue amongst themselves about who will be the greatest in this coming kingdom. Jesus sets them straight about exactly what kind of kingdom this will be. Luke 22:24-27 states:

24 “A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.“

The Disciple’s Role in the Kingdom of God

Jesus then tells the disciples, in Luke 22:28-30, that he is appointing, covenanting, his kingdom to them. In this kingdom, they are to live in imitation of him, the King. They are to exercise royal authority in his name. They are to extend the kingdom. And they are to do this primarily by celebrating the Eucharist. During the Last Supper, Jesus instructs the disciples to offer the Eucharistic sacrifice “in remembrance” of him. But realize those instruction were more than a mere command. “Remembrance,” anamnesis in Greek, is a liturgical word. The Last Supper was just that – a liturgy.

At the Last Supper, Jesus ordains the twelve for the royal and priestly function they will have as the administrators of his kingdom. It is also important to note the language Jesus uses when he says he is “appointing” or covenanting a kingdom to the apostles. That too is a connection he’s making between his kingdom and the Davidic kingdom. Why? Because the only other kingdom that is ever covenanted in Scripture is the kingdom of David [Palm 89:19-37].

And what about the todah, the thank offering that became central to Israel’s worship during the reign of David? Does that have a place in the kingdom of the New Covenant? As outlined in Psalm 50:14-15, the todah was a three-step process. Step 1: During a time of suffering, a person calls out to God for deliverance and vows to offer a toda. Step 2: Following his deliverance, the person brings a sacrifice to the Temple, as well as bread to be consecrated. Step 3: He eats the consecrated bread with friends and family and proclaims God’s deliverance over a cup of wine.

Again, todah is the Hebrew word for “thank offering,” and the Greek word for “thanksgiving” is eucharistia. Sure enough, Christ himself makes the connection between the two. First, he celebrates the Last Supper, which was a todah meal – consecrated bread was eaten with family and friends, and the coming deliverance was proclaimed over a cup of wine. Then, on the cross, in the midst of the sacrifice that is one and the same with the Eucharistic sacrifice, Christ prayed one of the great todah psalms – Psalm 22. “My God, my God. Why hast thou forsaken me?

Why did Jesus do this? Because quoting the first line of a Scripture passage was kind of like quoting a title or singing the first line of a song. Everybody knows what comes next. The Jews knew that this Old Testament Scripture passage ended in deliverance. The last two verses of Psalm 22 [30-31] declare that: “Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!”

Today, through the Eucharist, each of us shares in todah of our Davidic Priest-King, Jesus Christ. In the Mass, we proclaim Christ’s death and resurrection; we offer our thanksgiving to the Father in gratitude for the salvation that is ours in his Son.

After his death and resurrection, Christ doesn’t stop talking to the apostles about the kingdom or about its restoration. In fact, just the opposite occurs. In Acts 1:3-8, we learn that after the resurrection, Jesus appears to the apostles and speaks to them for forty days about the “kingdom of God.” At first, the apostles don’t quite get what has happened. They are still eager for an earthly kingdom, like David’s to be restored. Jesus explains, however, that the kingdom will be restored in a different way – when they receive the Holy Spirit, and are empower to bear witness to him.

Finally, in Acts 1:8, Jesus maps out for the apostles their mission field as witnesses: It will expand outward from Jerusalem, the city of David, to Judea, the royal territory, to Samaria, the area of the ten royal tribes, and then “to the ends of the earth.” This is reminiscent of Psalm 72:8, which prayed in hope for Solomon’s reign to extend “to the ends of the earth.” This desire is fully realized in Jesus Christ.

After Jesus’ ascension, with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the apostles finally get it. They come to understand that the restoration has begun with Jesus enthroned at the Father’s right hand in the heavenly Jerusalem. They recognize that the Resurrection and Ascension are the fulfillment of God’s promise to David. Throughout Acts 2, which is essentially Peter’s inaugural sermon, Peter announces that the Resurrection and Ascension represent the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant. That covenant was sworn to David in an oath which is made clear in Psalm 89:3-4 and Psalm 132:11.

In these psalms, the Lord swears to David that he will establish an everlasting kingdom through him. That everlasting kingdom, of course, is Jesus’ heavenly reign. Peter then quotes from Peter 110:1, where the Lord establishes the Davidic Messiah at his right hand, which is exactly where Christ, following the Ascension, is established. Remember though, the kingdom doesn’t exist only in heaven. Through the ministry of the Church, the restored and transformed kingdom is also present on earth. From Pentecost on, the apostles dedicate themselves to the ministry of making the kingdom present and extending it to the ends of the earth.

As previously mentioned, the Book of Acts begins with Jesus, and then Peter at Pentecost, preaching about the kingdom. At the center of Acts is the Jerusalem Council. There, James, the head of the Church at Jerusalem, declares that through the Church, the kingdom of David is restored. Acts 15:13-19 states:

13 “When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: 16 “‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, 17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’ 18 things known from long ago. 19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.”

Finally, at the end of Acts, Paul is preaching the kingdom in Rome, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of David and Son of God [Acts 28:30-31, Romans 1:1-4].

Now we’ve come full circle. Through his Resurrection, the Redeemer conquers death – just as God promised Adam and Eve he would [Genesis 3:15]. The Davidic King establishes his kingdom forever in heaven – fulfilling God’s oath to David that he would establish his kingdom forever. [2 Samuel 7:3, Psalm 89:3-4]. In Hebrews 12:22-24, 28 it is written.:

22 “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel… 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe”

The Greek word for “assembly” used in this passage, ekklesia, also means “church.” In other words, at the end of the story, at the end of God’s story of salvation history, the Church, the unshakable kingdom, is in heaven. Each one of us is a part of this story, part of this kingdom.

We share in the riches of this kingdom through all the sacraments, but particularly through the Eucharist. That is because where the Eucharist is, Christ the King is. And where the King is, is where you find the kingdom. To receive God in the Eucharist, and to offer ourselves to God in the Eucharist is truly a foretaste of the kingdom. Not only because we are in the presence of the King, but also because the law of the kingdom, the logic of the kingdom, is life-giving love. That’s really what this study has been all about. God giving his love, his life, to us, and us giving our love, our life, back to God. This is what God has been after from the very beginning.

Back near the beginning of our study, we said that Genesis to Jesus is intended to be more than just a Bible study. It’s meant to help cause a transformation. It’s meant to help us understand more deeply how much God loves us and how hard he’s been working to save us, so that we’ll give ourselves to him. May this may this understanding, transform your heart. Because the story we’ve just gone through isn’t over. It’s a story in search of an ending in your heart, in your life.

Every one of us is standing in the stream of salvation history right now. Every one of us has an opportunity to become a member of the covenant family of God for all eternity. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, literally. Over and over, we have seen how willing God is to give himself to us. Now it’s our turn to give ourselves to him. God bless you.