The Kingdom and the Tunnel

Last week I had to drive to Barbourville, KY to take a class on New Testament studies. The class was primarily dealing with the gospels of Matthew and Mark during that first weekend. The gospel of Mark is believed to have been the first of the gospels written, and that Matthew is an extended account of what is in Mark (Matthew is twelve chapters longer). As you read Matthew you will notice that there are many themes in this book of the Bible that characterize the purpose and the audience to whom this was originally written. These themes are important to understanding what Matthew was saying about Jesus, and these themes are important to us today as we grow in our understanding and relationship with Jesus.

               One of the major themes in Matthew is “the kingdom of heaven”. Throughout Matthew’s gospel Jesus says that this kingdom has come near. And it is in Matthew’s gospel where we have Jesus teaching his disciples a model prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) that today we know as The Lord’s Prayer. Here is this traditional version of this prayer that many people have memorized:

Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come. 
Thy will be done in earth, 
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us. 
And lead us not into temptation, 
But deliver us from evil. 
For thine is the kingdom, 
The power, and the glory, 
For ever and ever. 
Amen.

            In this prayer, Jesus taught us to pray that God’s kingdom come and that God’s will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. The phrase “the kingdom of God” or “the kingdom of heaven” can be broadly defined as God’s rule and reign over all creation, but is also a very personal spiritual realm where God is the ruler of the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to His kingship and His kingdom.

            Jesus said over and over that God’s kingdom was coming near. Some people just couldn’t see that at the time. Some people still can’t today.

            When I was on my way to that class at Union College in Barborville, KY I had to go through a tunnel leaving Tennessee and entering into Kentucky, the Cumberland Gap Tunnel. It was my first time going through it, and I didn’t know that it was there until I was right up on it and then right inside of it. Now I don’t have anything against tunnels really, but there is something about the concept of a concrete hole going through the bottom of a mountain that I am not a huge fan of. Plus I have seen enough movies were being in a long tunnel like that can be hazardous to your health. If you’ve seen Independence Day you know what I mean.

            So I was driving through this tunnel and I knew that at some point I would be out of it. I knew that eventually I would be in Kentucky. But when I first got into the tunnel I couldn’t see where it ended. So I just kept driving, which by the way is the smart (and legal) thing to do when you are in a tunnel.  As I got closer to the end I could see a glimmer of the opening, not the whole thing, but it was a start. So I kept on driving. Then I could see the opening get a little bigger, then a little bigger still, then I was out of the tunnel. I knew the opening was there all along, I just couldn’t see the entire thing because I was too far away to start with, then as I got closer there were cars in front of me blocking my view.

            The kingdom of heaven is sort of like that. Mortimer Arias, in his book Announcing the Reign of God, referred to this as an “eclipse of the kingdom”. He described the kingdom of heaven like an eclipse, where you can see part of something, but it is being slightly obscured by something else, but you still know it’s there.

            The kingdom is partially here because Jesus was here, ushering in a new revelation of the kingdom of God and bringing us all closer to its completion. In another sense the kingdom is still out there down the road, and we can’t see all of what it is going to be when we get there, but we know it’s there, even if the view is partially blocked right now.

            So while we are travelling this tunnel together, moving toward the light of the kingdom together, let’s pray together that God’s will be done here on earth as it is heaven, and that His kingdom come.

            “Marantha, come Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 16:22b).