I am teaching the book of Matthew at our home Bible study and have also agreed to teach Matthew this fall to the Soul Sisters, a ladies group at Zionsville Presbyterian Church where Janet and I attend. In fact, as some of you know, I was made an honorary Soul Sister years ago and find great joy in being a part of their group Thursday mornings throughout the fall and spring semesters.
I have taught Matthew before to our home group years ago and was looking for additional material to study in anticipation of this deeper dive into the first Gospel. In fact, one of the resources I have turned to is a book that was written by my Dad’s first cousin, Dr. Stanley Toussaint, of Dallas Theological Seminary. Stanley passed away almost a decade ago, but I had the pleasure to meet him and even dine with him during one of my many trips to Dallas on business. He was a world renowned theologian and teacher, having earned his ThD. From DTS in 1960. From what I understand, he studied Matthew in depth for decades and even wrote a book entitled, “Behold the King”, which is a commentary on Matthew’s writings.
I could go on and on about Dad’s relationship with his cousin (Dad taught Stanley to swim when they were youngsters) but the truth of the matter is that I have watched many of Dr. Stanley’s classes online and he was one brilliant guy. It was an honor to meet him and discuss, at a very cursory level, some of his teachings on the Bible. His years of study and mastery of the original languages are far beyond my level of comprehension – he was a true biblical scholar.
One of the things that I have been struck with during my studies this summer and fall is the usage of the terms “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Kingdom of God” that are used in the New Testament. I remember when I was in seminary and we were asked to do research and then submit our thoughts on whether the terms were interchangeable or were they, in fact, different things. Of course, we won’t have a definitive answer until we are in heaven with God. But I am intrigued by the different perspectives on this topic.
My own research concluded that the Kingdom of God included everything. After all, God created everything! He owns it all and the Kingdom of God reflects his sovereignty over all. The Kingdom of Heaven is a subset as one of the realms that God controls. I guess you could also say that there could be a Kingdom of Earth, etc. So “Heaven” is one of the realms that God created and ultimately controls.
Other researchers have come up with different analyses. Some theologians believe that the terms are used interchangeably. In the book of Matthew, numerous commentators believe that Matthew favors the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven.” That’s because the Jewish scribes back in the day when Matthew was written in the first century A.D. would have been prohibited from writing the name of God (Yahweh). In fact, is was prohibited to speak God’s name and if it was even written, the scribe would have to break his pencil and never use that writing utensil again.
What I gather from my cousin, Stanley, in my reading of his work, is that he believed that the Kingdom of Heaven was more physical – as reflected in the Lord’s Prayer where we implore God to make earth like it is in heaven. And it seems that the Kingdom of God is a more spiritual realm and that is what sets it apart the Kingdom of Heaven. Between them, they cover the physical and the spiritual parts of God’s kingdoms.
The truth of the matter is that whatever research you believe, all of it points to the omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience of God. And that’s what is important. Our verse for tonight is the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples – what we refer to as the Lord’s Prayer, or, in some circles, the “Our Father.” Matthew tells us the words of Jesus, in Matthew 6:9-13, “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Notice that Jesus tells us that we should be praying for God’s will be done on earth “as it is in heaven.” Doesn’t that sound like the Kingdom of Heaven? My encouragement this evening is that Jesus is the model of behavior that God wants us to emulate. My prayer is that we will all be attentive to asking God to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth and that the things that we will experience in eternity will be made manifest here on earth as soon as possible. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…