I am getting a glimpse of why Jesus spoke in so many parables about "the Kingdom of God is like...." I think he did so because the Kingdom of God is so wildly beyond our finite imaginations that he used very ordinary images (e.g. a mustard seed) to depict an entirely extra-ordinary reality.
Theologian George Ladd argued that with Jesus' first coming the "Kingdom of God is now, and not yet." Jesus inaugurated the coming Kingdom but has not yet completed it. We live in the in-between time.
Last night during our time in Grasse (France), I sat around the fire with Mohsen, an Iranian who came to faith in Christ in Glasgow some time ago. What a Jew and an Iranian are doing sitting around a fire in the south of France is something only Jesus can orchestrate!
Mohsen is a soft-spoken, humble man who has lived an unlikely life, having been secretly transported by truck across Europe to the UK where he has sought and been given assylum. In the meantime we discovered a community called Mosaic in Glasgow and has become a follower of Jesus there.
I used to quietly think that the Kingdom of God (and what I thought of heaven) would be comprised of people like myself, or at least people with whom I am naturally comfortable and at ease (ethnically, skin color, even socio-economic status). I am being challenged by this as I sit next to Mohsen my new Iranian friend. All that we have in common is Jesus, and following him. And that's all we need together.
Theologian George Ladd argued that with Jesus' first coming the "Kingdom of God is now, and not yet." Jesus inaugurated the coming Kingdom but has not yet completed it. We live in the in-between time.
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| With my new Iranian friend Mohsen. |
Mohsen is a soft-spoken, humble man who has lived an unlikely life, having been secretly transported by truck across Europe to the UK where he has sought and been given assylum. In the meantime we discovered a community called Mosaic in Glasgow and has become a follower of Jesus there.
I used to quietly think that the Kingdom of God (and what I thought of heaven) would be comprised of people like myself, or at least people with whom I am naturally comfortable and at ease (ethnically, skin color, even socio-economic status). I am being challenged by this as I sit next to Mohsen my new Iranian friend. All that we have in common is Jesus, and following him. And that's all we need together.
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