The Urantia Book – New Enhanced Edition

170:0.1 (1858.1) SATURDAY afternoon, March 11, Jesus preached his last sermon at Pella. This was among the notable addresses of his public ministry, embracing a full and complete discussion of the kingdom of heaven. He was aware of the confusion which existed in the minds of his apostles and disciples regarding the meaning and significance of the terms “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God,” which he used as interchangeable designations of his bestowal mission. Although the very term kingdom of heaven should have been enough to separate what it stood for from all connection with earthly kingdoms and temporal governments, it was not. The idea of a temporal king was too deep-rooted in the Jewish mind thus to be dislodged in a single generation. Therefore Jesus did not at first openly oppose this long-nourished concept of the kingdom.

170:0.2 (1858.2) This Sabbath afternoon the Master sought to clarify the teaching about the kingdom of heaven; he discussed the subject from every viewpoint and endeavored to make clear the many different senses in which the term had been used. In this narrative we will amplify the address by adding numerous statements made by Jesus on previous occasions and by including some remarks made only to the apostles during the evening discussions of this same day. We will also make certain comments dealing with the subsequent outworking of the kingdom idea as it is related to the later Christian church. 1. Concepts of the Kingdom of Heaven

170:1.1 (1858.3) In connection with the recital of Jesus’ sermon it should be noted that throughout the Hebrew scriptures there was a dual concept of the kingdom of heaven. The prophets presented the kingdom of God as:

170:1.2 (1858.4) 1. A present reality; and as

170:1.3 (1858.5) 2. A future hope—when the kingdom would be realized in fullness upon the appearance of the Messiah. This is the kingdom concept which John the Baptist taught.

170:1.4 (1858.6) From the very first Jesus and the apostles taught both of these concepts. There were two other ideas of the kingdom which should be borne in mind:

170:1.5 (1858.7) 3. The later Jewish concept of a world-wide and transcendental kingdom of supernatural origin and miraculous inauguration.

170:1.6 (1858.8) 4. The Persian teachings portraying the establishment of a divine kingdom as the achievement of the triumph of good over evil at the end of the world.

170:1.7 (1858.9) Just before the advent of Jesus on earth, the Jews combined and confused all of these ideas of the kingdom into their apocalyptic concept of the Messiah’s coming to establish the age of the Jewish triumph, the eternal age of God’s supreme rule on earth, the new world, the era in which all mankind would worship Yahweh. In choosing to utilize this concept of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus elected to appropriate the most vital and culminating heritage of both the Jewish and Persian religions.

170:1.8 (1859.1) The kingdom of heaven, as it has been understood and misunderstood down through the centuries of the Christian era, embraced four distinct groups of ideas:

170:1.9 (1859.2) 1. The concept of the Jews.

170:1.10 (1859.3) 2. The concept of the Persians.

170:1.11 (1859.4) 3. The personal-experience concept of Jesus—“the kingdom of heaven within you.”

170:1.12 (1859.5) 4. The composite and confused concepts which the founders and promulgators of Christianity have sought to impress upon the world.

170:1.13 (1859.6) At different times and in varying circumstances it appears that Jesus may have presented numerous concepts of the “kingdom” in his public teachings, but to his apostles he always taught the kingdom as embracing man’s personal experience in relation to his fellows on earth and to the Father in heaven. Concerning the kingdom, his last word always was, “The kingdom is within you.”

170:1.14 (1859.7) Centuries of confusion regarding the meaning of the term “kingdom of heaven” have been due to three factors:

170:1.15 (1859.8) 1. The confusion occasioned by observing the idea of the “kingdom” as it passed through the various progressive phases of its recasting by Jesus and his apostles.

170:1.16 (1859.9) 2. The confusion which was inevitably associated with the transplantation of early Christianity from a Jewish to a gentile soil.

170:1.17 (1859.10) 3. The confusion which was inherent in the fact that Christianity became a religion which was organized about the central idea of Jesus’ person; the gospel of the kingdom became more and more a religion about him. 2. Jesus’ Concept of the Kingdom