06-16-20

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
June 16, 2020
Scripture: Matthew 10:5-7
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.’

Thought for the Day: As I continue to move through this section of Matthew’s Gospel, we come to this point of commissioning. Matthew’s Gospel has always been seen as focusing more on the Jewish community, specifically during the ministry of Jesus. Here Jesus sends the disciples to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, with an announcement – The kingdom of heaven has come near. Jesus described this heavenly kingdom as Eggizo, the Greek word we translate as: come near, approach or at hand. These words should sound familiar as Jesus was echoing the proclamation of John the Baptist, from the third chapter. What direction is this heavenly kingdom coming? So often, people are looking to the sky, assuming it will fall from the clouds to the earth. But for Jesus, it was coming near/at hand as it came alive through faithfulness to the ways of God. When the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus if he was the Messiah/Christ, the anointed one who would represent this heavenly kingdom, Jesus responded by telling them, “Go and share with John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” Wherever healing, restoration, transformation and salvation are manifest in the world, the Kingdom of heaven has come near.

Prayer: O Source of Kingdom Light, show us once again the kingdom in the life of Jesus, and in glimpsing this reign of love and new life, inspire us to do likewise. Amen.

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