Summarize the following: Jesus is the Messiah. He is God's only Son, Emman-uel-"God-with-us." He is the one who announced the coming of God's Kingdom: God's reign of peace, justice, truth, and goodness. He asked people to prepare for God's rule by turning from their sins and believing in the Gospel.
Jesus' contemporaries understood the expression
"Kingdom of God" to be a time in the future when
God would show his power, pass judgment, and estab. lish his divine rule over all of creation. In this under-standing, every creature would recognize the one, true God--the God who revealed himself to the Chosen People. When God's Kingdom was fully established, the will of God would then be accomplished in "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev 21:1: cf. Is 65:17).
Jesus' description of the Kingdom of God differed in some respects from Jewish expectations.
One main difference is that he himself would usher in the Kingdom and, through his Death and Resur-rection, open the gates to heaven. And Jesus' description of the Kingdom of God had a present dimension as well as a future dimension. Jesus also taught about the meaning of the Kingdom of God in much more depth and detail than the Old Testament provided.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (541-546) expands on the announcement of the Kingdom of God and on some of its characteristics.
The Kingdom of God Is at
Hand
Jesus announced the Kingdom of God through parables and miracles from the beginning of his public ministry. In Galilee, Jesus preached, "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mk 1:15). As the Gospel writers make clear, Jesus not only announced the coming of God's Kingdom but also inaugurated it in his own Person.
Jesus stands at the center of the gathering of all people into this "family of God" (CCC, 542). As the Father's Son, Jesus continues to call and gather all human beings into this family. "By his word, through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by sending out his disciples, Jesus calls all people to come together around him" (CCC, 542). God's love excludes no one. Jesus gave up his life as a ransom for every person. It is in the Paschal Mystery- his Death on the Cross and his Resurrection--that he ultimately accomplishes the coming of his Kingdom. The Invitation to the
Kingdom of God
Although Jesus first announced the coming of the Kingdom to the Chosen People, this invitation was extended to all people. The message was emphasized in the parable of the sower (see Mt 13:1-9, 18-23).
Jesus emphasized that the poor and the lowly-those who have accepted the Kingdom of God with humble hearts-are most eligible to enter. Jesus himself shared the life of the poor, from his humble birth in a stable to his Death on the Cross, stripped of his clothing. He knew hunger and thirst. He had no possessions. "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head" (Mt 8:20). The eternal Word of God emptied himself of his power and glory (that is, his "richness") in order to enter into solidarity with human beings (that is, he became "poor"). Even if the eternal Word of God had become a prestigious and wealthy king in the Incarnation, he would have lived in abject poverty in comparison to his divine state. However, he did not become a royal or rich human being but a poor carpenter who grew up in solidarity with the poor and marginalized and who reached out to the poor as his own.
Jesus calls you to reflect his act of self-emptying in the way you approach the poor. Thus, in the same way God became poor for you so that you could benefit from his riches, he calls you to empty yourself of your pride and to join the poor in solidarity and with a humble heart that they may become enriched.
Jesus taught that you must respond to the needs of the poor by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the imprisoned (see Mt 25:31-46). He preached that love in action toward those in need is the condition for entering the Kingdom of God.
The invitation to everyone to enter to the Kingdom of God also extends to sinners. Jesus said,
"Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners" (Lk 5:31-32). By his association with sinners and his care for their welfare, Jesus showed that God's mercy is a sign of the coming of the Kingdom. This mercy is the same quality that Jesus requires of you: to love even your enemies.
How is the invitation to the Kingdom of God extended? "Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching" (CCC, 546). For example, Matthew 13 contains a number of short parables about the present and future dimensions of the Kingdom of God. Writing for his Jewish and Christian audience, Matthew used the expression "Kingdom of Heaven" rather than "Kingdom of God" out of reverence because Jews typically avoided saying God's holy name. Examples of some of the parables that express God's invitation to the Kingdom and the characteristics of the Kingdom are shared in the next section.