J.J.
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – Acts 1:6-8
Now that Jesus had shown Himself to be the Messiah-Christ, would He at this time finally restore the Kingdom of Israel? The disciples had in mind, still, an earthly kingdom. One with military and executive government, taxes and territory.
Jesus does not reject the question outright. It was a valid question. The Kingdom of Israel would eventually be restored. But the question was too narrow.
The real questions were as follows:
- How big would Jesus’ Kingdom be?
- How would His Kingdom be established?
Jesus’ response to the disciples answered these questions in part. The comprehensive answers were probably scattered throughout Jesus’ teachings, proclamations and demonstrations during His public ministry and after His resurrection.
How big would Jesus’ Kingdom be?
The whole world! Jesus declared that the disciples were to go “to the end of the earth”. Jesus’ Kingdom was not only Jewish or Israel. His Kingdom would include people of every nation and tribe. His Kingdom would cover every inch of the earth.
Jesus’ Kingdom will comprise every people and every land.
How would His Kingdom be established?
Two main ways in conjunction. First, rather than power through military conquest, it would be power from God the Holy Spirit Himself. We would see in the rest of Acts how the disciples wielded this power: through signs and wonders pointing to Jesus, through teaching, preaching and healing, through living out the common life of Christian fellowship.
Second, through the disciples being witnesses to Jesus. In those Roman Imperial times, military conquest was the main means of exerting power. Here, the disciples would exert power not by military conquest. They would exert power by testifying about Jesus to the world through their proclaiming, teaching and healing. People who hear of this Jesus would thus believe in Him and pledge their loyalties to Him. It is quiet political subversion. A person could at once be a legal citizen of the Roman empire and even serve in Caesar’s courts, but also be a true and fully committed citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom. The former is temporal; the latter eternal.
We must never underestimate the force of our witness, and never trade it for the force of might. Jesus will establish His Kingdom through our God-empowered witness.
And at the time fixed by God the Father, Jesus’ Kingdom shall be fully established and manifested. There will be seasons in between. Seasons of war and seasons of peace; of empires and of ruins; of suffering and of healing.
Yet, the Heavenly Father has already fixed the season for Jesus’ Kingdom to be complete. And the Father has the authority to do so. The Heavenly Father has authority over cosmic history.
Where do we want to be at the end of history? That’s the question we must ask ourselves.
S.D.G.