Five Counterintuitive Lessons Jesus Taught about Entering the Kingdom of God

When I read through the gospels, I can't help but notice how often Jesus shatters the expectations of those around him. On page after page, he upends the disciples' notions of living for God. He crushes first century assumptions about the Jewish Messiah. He defies common knowledge regarding healing.

Ben White

Of all these mind-bending episodes, Jesus's most common lessons centered on the Kingdom of God. First century folk erroneously assumed God's kingdom would be just like earthly kingdoms: focused on power, might, force, wealth, and vengeance.

Kevin Halloran was gracious enough to host me on his blog this week, and that's exactly what I wrote about. Jesus taught many lessons about his Father's kingdom that went against the common beliefs of the day. (And may I dare say that even with the Scriptures in front of us, we still sometimes suppose the kingdom of Heaven to be just like those on earth?)

Here's how the post begins. I hope you'll click over and read the rest:

We don’t use the word kingdom much these days. Over the past three hundred years kings have faded out of style via revolutions, wars, and constitutions. Sure, kings and emperors still exist, but these are rare birds in the flock of governments around the globe. 

As a result, the force of the terms kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven that we see in scripture might lose some of its steam before they reach the ears of Westerners. 

But why should we care about kings and kingdoms?

The Lie Some Christians Like to Tell You about Being Rich

I won’t tease this one. I’ll give it to you straight. Here’s the lie:

The more money you have, the more evil you are.

Photo Credit: Reza (CC)

This lie is proliferated on several fronts:

In the political sphere.
From the pulpit.
In the workplace.
In literature and cinema.

Envy often fuels this sentiment, but I think there is something more underlying the argument.