“If Jesus were an earthly king of this age, then there would be soldiers killing to bring about his kingdom, just as they do for every other earthly kingdom; victory through violence. Yet that’s not how Jesus’ kingdom will come. The kingdom will come rather through the imperial violence done to him on the cross and through the anti-imperial, death-reversing, justice-loving power of resurrection. Then the kingdom spreads not through conquest, but through the Spirit’s life-giving and liberating power being experienced by more and more people and through their life-giving contributions to the world. At the heart of John’s kingdom theology is God’s love revealed in the death of his Son, the Lamb, the Messiah. This is conquest, but by love. This is power, but in weakness. This is kingship, but in self-giving suffering for others. This kingdom is not one that arises from within the world. But as it advances, as it spreads, it dispels and displaces the dark forces in the world.”
N. T. Wright & Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2024, pages 35-36.
Related posts:
Pastor Note #143: Coercion & the Kingdom of God
Pastor Note #107: Violence and the Kingdom of God: a Sermon
Pastor Note #104: Partisan Politics, the American Church, and the Kingdom of God
Bible Note #66: God’s Big Vision in Jesus
Pastor Note #145: What Makes for the Blessed Life?
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