The Kingdom of the Heavens
Summary
In Matthew 11, we discover that John the Baptist, who earlier preached the Kingdom of God in the wilderness, is now imprisoned. At this point in story, we do not know how John ended up in prison. All we know is that he preached the Kingdom. Looking a few verses ahead, we learn from Jesus that this very Kingdom “suffers violence” at the hands of violent men. (Matthew 11:12) It is Caesar, the antichrist, and Herod, the traitor—a false king who pertains to his Roman master—who, in Matthew, struggle to take the Kingdom of God by force. Later, in chapter 14, we learn of Herod’s petty role in John’s imprisonment. All the same, hearing news of the works of Jesus Christ, an imprisoned John found hope, against hope, and sent word to his rightful King, who proclaimed: “The blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at me.” (Matthew 11:5-6) Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Matthew 11:1-6 Episode 286 Matthew 1:1-6 Subscribe: feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; Music from https://filmmusic.io: “Dark Times” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)In Matthew 11, we discover that John the Baptist, who earlier preached the Kingdom of God in the wilderness, is now imprisoned. At this point in story, we do not know how John ended up in prison. All we know is that he preached the Kingdom.
Looking a few verses ahead, we learn from Jesus that this very Kingdom “suffers violence” at the hands of violent men. (Matthew 11:12) It is Caesar, the antichrist, and Herod, the traitor—a false king who pertains to his Roman master—who, in Matthew, struggle to take the Kingdom of God by force. Later, in chapter 14, we learn of Herod’s petty role in John’s imprisonment.
All the same, hearing news of the works of Jesus Christ, an imprisoned John found hope, against hope, and sent word to his rightful King, who proclaimed:
“The blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at me.” (Matthew 11:5-6)
Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Matthew 11:1-6
Episode 286 Matthew 1:1-6 Subscribe: feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; Music from https://filmmusic.io: “Dark Times” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
