“Thank You, Lord Jesus, for we are in Your kingdom. You are our King and You reign over us. There are benefits and privileges and all our needs are met in Your kingdom. We also have tasks and responsibilities that we need to fulfil in Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 1:21-22 “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, (22) beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” We have looked at some of the qualities that were needed to be in the person, who was to be the replacement of Judas and be numbered with the eleven. This person needed to be with the other eleven and had gone about with Jesus, from the time of the baptism of John till the time Jesus was taken up.
What was the message of Jesus after the baptism of John? Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, (15) and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” The message of John was for people to repent of their sins and be baptised. He explained to people how people were doing things that were against God and how they needed to repent, confess their sins, and be baptised. Matthew 3:6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. The message of John was a preparation for the message which Jesus came preaching. The message of Jesus was of the Gospel of the kingdom of God. We were once in the kingdom of God when God created us. We are subject to His rule and authority over us but we rebelled against God and became enemies of His kingdom.
To return to God, it is required of us to repent of our rebellion, reject every other rule to which we had given ourselves and return to be subjected, once again, under the rule of God. This is the repentance that is required of us. This is the message that Jesus began to preach and teach after the ministry of John the Baptist. John himself was a little troubled about the ministry of Jesus. Why was this so? John, like other Jews, was expecting the Messiah to come and set up His physical reign on earth. They had several vivid pictures painted in the Scriptures of life in the kingdom of God. When John saw that Jesus was not moving towards setting up His reign here on earth, John was concerned. Matthew 11:2-6 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples (3) and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (4) Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: (5) The blind see 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. (6) And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
The message of Jesus was a comprehensive solution to man’s crisis. The Gospel of the kingdom of God brought healing and restoration to every dimension of human life and existence. To experience the message of the Gospel of the kingdom, it required a person to come to full surrender and submission to the rule and authority of Jesus. This is what causes offence. People want blessings in life but mankind does not want to submit to the rule and authority of God over their lives. Therefore, people are offended by Jesus. Blessed is the man who does not take offence with Jesus but willingly submits to the authority of Jesus over his life.
Luke 4:43 but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” John’s ministry had an important place in God’s plan and the message of Jesus was built on the shoulders of John’s message. Matthew 9:35″ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” The message of Jesus was a comprehensive solution to the need of man.
The disciple who was being selected to replace Judas should therefore have a clear understanding of the message of Jesus, which is the Gospel of His kingdom. The disciples were sent out as messengers of the Gospel of the kingdom of God. They were empowered to go out to preach and teach the Good news of the kingdom of God. Matthew 10:7-8 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ (8) Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” This was what the disciples did and this was what was necessary to identify the person to take the place of Judas as one to be numbered with the eleven. Luke 9:6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
“We live and are blessed in the kingdom of God and we invite people to join us to partake of the fullness of the kingdom of God.”