Jesus asked, “What shall we say that the kingdom of God is like, and what shall we use to describe it?” It is a kingdom which he initiated at the cross where he exposed the world’s glorification of power and evil and destined that world for defeat and destruction. The message of the kingdom in the teaching of Christ was provocative and revolutionary. Those hearing and believing this message would actually believe that another kind of world was possible. And this message was profoundly translatable. We must carefully and creatively bring it forward to the present day.
This kingdom is peaceable and would triumph, not by inflicting violence, but by enduring it. This kingdom is to be proclaimed, not to tell the future, but to change the future. This is the good news that was the purpose for which Christ came. This is a kingdom that surprises us in the unexpected moments. As Emily Dickenson said, “The truth must dazzle gradually.” Once we catch a glimpse, nothing else will satisfy. We become incurably afflicted with the desire to see more. “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom.”