Nothing Mattered to Him But the Kingdom

Nothing was important to Jesus but the Kingdom of God---particularly, how to set it up on earth. First, he did nothing but show his disciples, and people around him, what the Kingdom was like. And then he taught them hints how to make the Kingdom work in their lives. This should be a vital part of our evangelism and discipleship---showing them the King, his kingdom and how to live there NOW! [Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay].

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There were other pressing matters then, for sure. Like Rome's occupation of Israel, corruption in government, poverty, injustice, human rights abuse, rebellion, hunger, etc. But he didn't come for those things, although God cared for these issues, too. But they were nothing compared to putting up God's Kingdom and rule on earth---because the Kingdom had to do with true LIFE.

And LIFE is the answer for everything. It's the ultimate remedy for man's soul, needs and aspirations.

It saddens me how majority of Christians worldwide don't have a clue what the Kingdom is. After receiving Jesus, they are taught how to operate in their local church. They are taught the ways and policies of their church denominations. And that's all they'd know the rest of their lives on earth. They even equate the Kingdom to their denominations. But they are worlds apart, really.

Just look at what Jesus did in ministry and compare that with what denominations are doing today. There's not even a hint of Jesus in denominations. You see more a Jesus that has been adjusted to fit in the world than THE JESUS who declared he was not of this world. I mean, all his ways were spiritual and supernatural---nothing this world can duplicate. Like, he fed multitudes with a few bread and fish multiplied by an astounding miraculous power while we'd do the same by soliciting money or stubbornly asking for donations, often even from unwilling non-believers.

See the big difference?

Jesus came to represent the Kingdom---show us what it's really like---and show us how to be part of it. Not to be part of it is spiritual damnation forever. And to be part of it we need no less than deep and thorough repentance and total surrender to him. TOTAL. You lose your rights and privileges and become like Jesus---he emptied himself and took the form of a servant. To him, that's the real meaning of life. He came that we may have life, and it's all about Kingdom life on earth as it is in heaven. Kingdom life is true ministry---the rest is garbage. Church programs, activities, concerts, gimmicks, and what-have-you are all trash.

In fact, Sunday worship services are garbage without this Kingdom life.

Here's Kingdom life as he showed it in his life---hearing direct from the Father and doing only what the Father speaks. Staying meek, simple and low-profile and letting God run your life and ministry. Instant healing becomes the normal way of dealing with diseases. A simple, short prayer produces instant miracles---like multiplying scant food supply, transfiguring and transporting you to heaven during prayers or talking with saints as Jesus did with Moses and Elijah or even throwing entire mountains into the sea with supernatural power. Driving out demons "with a word," resurrecting the dead, or controlling nature with a mere command or rebuke. That's Kingdom life. That's the LIFE he came to give us, and which he wants us to have abundantly.

It's not just salvation of our souls.

When he declared he was LIFE and we receive him into our lives, we automatically get that life---HIS LIFE. His life automatically produces these wonders. It should. It should not diminish in any way once his life gets inside of us. The same LIFE of Jesus is in us now! And that life should produce the same things. "Very truly, he who has faith in me will do the same things---and greater things shall he do..."

Kingdom life is not just about salvation. It's that plus more. Jesus came to propagate God's Life (make disciples of all nations) and this builds the Kingdom of God on earth---God's own family on earth, all of us having his spiritual DNA. Any effort at evangelism or church planting that ignores this truth is garbage. You're not building God's Kingdom; you are just building your denominational empire.

We should take Jesus' Kingdom LIFE seriously and do nothing but this in church. It's his genuine ministry. And Jesus wants us to do nothing else. "Anyone who has faith in me will do the same things I'm doing---and greater works shall he do because I go to the Father."

This is what the church should be busy with, especially in these last days---not be busy with silly church programs, activities, entertainment and gimmicks.

He Discouraged People from Following Him

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Jesus actually discouraged some people from following him. I don't know if the church has considered this, but it will blow her mind away. Yes, Jesus taught us how following him was crucial. He stressed to one guy that, "If you want to be perfect, sell your possessions and give to the poor and come follow me." Following him is vital to perfection.

Yet, he told the demon possessed man he healed at Gadarenes to just go home and testify to his townsfolk about the Lord instead of following him. He also told a teacher of the law how foxes had holes and birds had nest but the Son of Man had no place to lay his head on. It's not going to be easy, he said in effect, so you better just stay. And you know what he told Nicodemus, of course.

Imagine telling a Sanhedrin member, "You're Israel's teacher and you don't know what this means?" It was an insult. If I were him, I'd probably be very careful not to offend a Pharisee of good standing like Nicodemus. I'd do everything to make him stay and have him a member of my church. I mean, a Sanhedrin guy? How can you let go a guy like that?

And a teacher of the law who had expressed willingness to "follow you wherever you go." How could Jesus dissuade all these people? Didn't he want people to join him?

And yet Jesus is the Way. He demonstrated God's way---the proper way to do ministry. And the church should re-think its tendency to please people and go after them just to get more members in. We'd do anything just to have people come to our church---and we think it's good churchmanship. Some pastors will even do circus stunts just to have people stay and come back next Sunday. But Jesus did differently.

Remember the royal official who asked Jesus to heal his dying son? Remember what Jesus told him? “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” If a "royal official" comes to us for help, we'd probably be too accommodating and say nothing but kind words to make sure the guy likes us. But not Jesus.

This royal official "went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death," but here's how Jesus responded: “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” I mean, the guy "begged" Jesus (and he was a "royal official"), and yet Jesus didn't go. He just told the guy to go home. How can you not go when someone begs you, and he's a big-time official? If a royal official "begged" me to go with him, I'd probably be obligated to go, even feel honored. But not Jesus.

What is he showing us?

It's the Kingdom principle of the element of pursuit and element of disinterest. Jesus teaches us not to be too accommodating or obliging just to please people. There should be an element of pursuit on their part and element of disinterest on our part, especially if we are pastors. Jesus was fond of saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." This statement embodies these two Kingdom principles---which pastors and the church have never learned fully well.

Today, we tend to please and pursue after people. And we urge pastors to do likewise.

Jesus loved people to be saved and be like him, but he never pursued them. A lot of his disciples left him after he taught them about eating his flesh and drinking his blood (and that his flesh was real food and his blood was real drink). But he didn't lift a finger to try to win them back. He simply let them---he opened the door widely for their easy exit, so to say.

Like Jesus, we should balance well between loving souls and letting them be. Wisdom from the Holy Spirit will achieve this.

The church---especially pastors---should learn from this Kingdom principle. It will make sure the church is being built according to God's pattern and design and pass his standard of quality. Otherwise, we just build churches of men and women who are full of conceit.

They Found the Messiah

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Naturally, you consult the Scriptures to verify anything on faith. God's Word in the bible is the final say on God and His Kingdom. Andrew and his friends did that, I'm sure. They regularly consulted the Old Testament. Plus, their discipler, John the Baptist, had told them how Jesus was the Lamb of God. 

But Jesus didn't look Messiah material. Majority of folks in Israel then believed the Christ or Messiah was going to be a big shot, perhaps in the category of Herod or Pilate---or at least Nicodemus. Even to this day, most Jews reject him as the Messiah. And some mindless "Christians" are joining them in this quest for some other Christ other than Jesus. So, how did Andrew and company ascertain that Jesus was the Christ?

Your Private Life

Andrew and company followed him around. They were Jesus stalkers, as it were, as I am. Then, Jesus turned around and confronted them: "What do you want?" he asked. It was obvious they wanted something from him, and it wasn't his money. Jesus looked poor. You saw that at a glance. So what did they want from him? 

"Teacher, where are you staying?" they asked. 

It struck me that they didn't ask, "Prove from Scripture that you are the Christ." We'd ask for bible references to prove or establish that what we're doing is correct, sound doctrine. We're particular about that,a nd rightly so. But Andrew and company wanted to know where Jesus lived. 

The experts in the law---Pharisees and law teachers---would've also demanded him to prove from Scriptures his claim to Messiahship--or at least John's claim that Jesus was the Lamb of God. That was important then, it's important today, too. Everything should be bible-based. I would have asked for Scriptural backup if I were there. But I'm just a spiritual Jesus stalker moving in the realms of the spirit, not history. But it seemed that Andrew and company thought otherwise. They believed seeing where Jesus stayed mattered more than Scripture references.

I repeat, don't get me wrong. Scripture backing is important to establish anything on faith. But I'm curious why Andrew and company wanted something else. They wanted to see where he lived---not just his address but where he lived---and perhaps how he lived. I don't blame them. I can understand why. Sound doctrines are good, but life, character and supernatural power are most important in the Kingdom. Andrew and company seemed to understand that. So they had to see where (and how) Jesus lived. What was his lifestyle?

It's not how you are in church but how you are at home.

The Pharisees and law teachers could backup their faith with tons of Scripture references and they looked good in the synagogue and the temple grounds (especially with their priestly attires and robes)  but their lives and characters were often rotten. As Jesus later would comment, they were nothing but whitewashed tombs. Hypocrites. They could engage anyone in debates on Scriptures and prove or disprove anything accordingly. But Andrew and company were tired of all of them. Andrew was tired of religious titles, degrees, schooling, masters, doctorates, etc. because they really amounted to nothing. Zero. Nada. Pfft.

In HIM was Life

So he and his friends started looking for LIFE. They wanted to see where he was staying and how he lived there. Jesus was game. "Come and see," he readily replied. In effect, he said come and see LIFE, and this life is the light of men. The light of men is not Scripture per se or expertise on it, but how Scripture is lived out in daily life. How the Word became flesh and dwelt among men.

So they went. They saw with their own eyes where Jesus lived. They probably saw the radical simplicity of his home, a few furnishing and stuffs around there, nothing special, everything just within basic needs. I remember what was provided for Elisha by a wealthy couple---just a bed, a table and a lamp. That's all true prophets need. That's what genuine men of God need. Nothing more, nothing less.

Others need mansions, big church structures, posh vehicles, trophies on shelves and diplomas and certificates on the wall. Everything to prove their worth.

A bed for sleeping and a table and lamp for meditating God's Word. I believe these were all that they also found in Jesus' bachelor's flat. Plus, they spent the day with him, noting his lifestyle and the things he said naturally when in the comforts of his home. You usually act naturally at home, even with guests, compared to how you act when in public---more so when in front a camera. Cameras can change rotten characters into good ones.

They noted especially how he talked. They must have heard a lot of rumors about Jesus, but finally hearing him in person eliminated false appraisals. Andrew and co. didn't measure Jesus by his material possessions or societal or religious positions or his titles or degrees. They measured him by his life. They finally decided, yup, he was the Messiah.

They spread the word around: "We have found the Messiah." It was something that wasn't revealed or taught to them by men, but by God himself.

He Could've Been Ceasar's Son

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Didn't he target the whole world? Then Jesus should've been the Roman emperor's son. That way he would have tremendous influence worldwide and command attention from all over. The Gospel would have been spread faster and wider, the kind that Ceasar Augustus did when he ordered the whole Roman world to submit to a census.

As Ceasar's son he could easily issue a similar decree---everyone must gather at the palace in Rome and listen to Jesus preach. Everyone! Or suffer the consequences. Entire nations would have turned Christians in no time. His mission would have achieved unprecedented quick success. So, why didn't Jesus do it that way?

Or, he could've at least been Pilate's or Herod's son.

And isn't this what churches today want, the very reason why a lot of pastors try to attach themselves to politicians or influential folks in government (or become politicians themselves), because they believe they could easily influence people this way and hasten evangelism? Exactly why they urge us to use what resources or means are made available to us "by God," resources like politicians who are mostly known to be corrupt.

I've seen church leaders commend pastors who manage to work out close connections with such politicians, thinking these ministers are something else. "They're so effective!" Okay, but why didn't Jesus do it that way, though he had all the power to do it thus? Why choose to be the son of a poor carpenter, from a poor family, from a poor town and from a small country---and far away from all the politicians, the rich and top religious leaders?

It was they who went to Jesus and insisted themselves on him.

During his birth, only shepherds were invited, the lowest type of workers that time. Well, when he was about 2, some wise men from the east were also invited, but they were pagans. And from the looks of it, they were even astrologers. Then in ministry, he chose mostly fishermen, one was a rebel zealot, another was a tax collector. Why didn't he just get Herod's officials or Pilate's generals?

Then his ministry partner was his cousin John who, for some reason, refused to be priest like his father Zechariah was (priests were well off because all their needs were lavishly provided for by the people. It was a must) and preferred to live in the wilderness, wear camel's hair and leather belt, and eat nothing but insects and wild honey. Why not partner with Pharisees and law teachers instead?

Or at least he should've convinced John to become priest so they could have greater influence in the Sanhedrin and the priesthood and make evangelism easier and more powerful.

And why did Jesus have to break some laws that irritated the religious leaders? Did he really have to break the Sabbath? Was it not possible to do his ministry in the 6 days before Sabbath, as one Pharisee had suggested? Even if someone was at the point of death on a Sabbath, he could always delay it a while (to skip Sabbath) and do the miracle the day after---like what he did with Lazarus when his rescue came 3 days after Lazarus died.

There were lots of things Jesus could have done to make everything simpler and less troublesome. Less annoying so that everybody could've been be happy. But he didn't. Didn't he and the Father and Spirit carefully plan these things well in advance? Then how come the outcome was like that---he was hated by the religious leaders, hated by the people, and abandoned by his own disciples. In the end, he was nailed to the cross, shouting dismally about why God abandoned him. What a failure. He and his message were rejected. It seemed that only the pagan wise men embraced his kingship, in addition to his women disciples and John the beloved.

Why did everything go wrong?

But did it? Actually, everything went as planned. It was how the Trinity had planned everything, exactly to the letter and dot. They had planned defeat---well, seeming defeat, that is. Because in the Kingdom, triumph takes the form of defeat. Of death. In other words, the world sees defeat what the Kingdom sees as success. It's derived from how the least is the greatest---a Kingdom principle the church has yet to learn to this day. The church is ever a slow learner. It barely copes with Kingdom movement and culture. Everyone still wants to be great and they think being the greatest is success.

Defeat is success in the Kingdom. When the world is mocking you, belittling your works, treating you as trash and deeming you a total failure, you're winning. It's the complete opposite if the world is congratulating you. And that's what the church craves for today---the world's recognition and approval. If they can have their way, I bet they'd prefer being born Ceasar's son than Joseph's, and born in Rome than in Bethlehem. You can tell it by their avid preference for big, moneyed and peopled churches and distaste for small ones.

They think big is success and small is failure. So they go mindlessly and blindly for anything big. They'd give everything just to be big---or the biggest.

But Jesus preferred doing things in the Father's way---the least is the greatest. Seeds ought to fall and die to multiply. No church today wants to fall and die. They all want to save their lives, losing it in the process. That's Kingdom principle. God wants big numbers, but he wants them produced in least of ways. Losing everything. You try to save yours, you really screw everything, though the world may congratulate you.

Do I Harass Your Faith by Following Jesus Around Like This?

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Originally, stalking means harassing someone by secretly following him. I'm a Jesus "stalker" because I follow him around the Gospel, watching him closely as I remain hidden in the background (as if secretly), and when I tell people what I see they think I'm harassing their faith. So in this sense, I'm a Jesus stalker.

I love following Jesus around. I see other aspects of him---his Kingdom profile seen only by a few who stubbornly seek him, encroaching on his privacy even when it's forbidden by the religious, and then share what I discover. I used to share it solely through my group bible studies and books, but now I do it by blogging.

It says the Word is eternal. And Jesus is the Word. I want to see how his features are endless or eternal. I heard somewhere that Jesus always has new aspects to reveal each time you look at him. "They are new every morning," and the angels, elders and the redeemed in heaven never stop to bow down and worship him, saying, "Holy, holy, holy!" They always catch a new glory on him each time they look and so never run out of new songs to sing.

I thought I knew Jesus after being born again and serving him well in our campus ministry and studiously searching Scriptures daily, especially when I became full-time pastor of a church. But I was wrong. So I went on finding ways to see more of him until I learned how you can actually "stalk" Jesus in Scriptures, follow him closely without being noticed by others. You can actually go inside the Gospel and live there, seeing Jesus and other bible characters in actuality---be part of it all and yet outside of it. A real Jesus stalker.

Here's another discovery---you can stalk him more when you're not in church. So I started doing secular work since then, though today I'm just into blogging and e-book writing---well, still somewhat "secular," in a sense. Yes, you find Jesus more easily when you're outside the church, especially if the church is peopled with unbelieving religious folks. That again is another discovery.

You see Jesus in church, too, especially if the church is dead serious about him---because lots of churches are just serious with church, church the way man prefers it (or has wrecked it)---they make church so disconnected and distant from him. I'm often in some pastors' meeting where you hear about everything except Jesus. They love talking about ministry but not Jesus. You cannot be a Jesus stalker like that.

God won't let you get inside to catch eye-witness accounts if all you do is your "ministry" and fill your heart with concerns about it. Pastors have lots of "ministry concerns" and they think it sounds spiritual. Nope, it sounds very mundane. To be a genuine Jesus stalker, you have to relax and be free to roam around to enjoy Jesus' surroundings. You have to rest a lot in God and walk with him as Enoch did for 300 years.

A Jesus stalker "wastes" a lot of time "doing nothing," like Mary did. She just sat at Jesus' feet and enjoyed listening to him. She "wasted" time in that. Martha protested and bragged about her full-time ministry for Jesus. Well, we know the rest of the story. Mary was commended for being a mere Jesus stalker.