Category Archives: Kingdom

Looking in Luke

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I am looking in Luke because he is a scholar, doctor, and the world-traveling companion of Paul. He accomplished his purpose to lift up Jesus by using many of the same stories as the other Gospel writers. The Holy Spirit had Luke include people, places, and other facts to bring the story he wrote for Theophilus to life. From his investigations he was able to add little things that Matthew and Mark did not include. He adds, supports, and agrees with his fellow Gospel writers, but from a slightly different perspective. I believe he melded the testimonies and thoughts of the witnesses he talked with to make a forceful declaration on the life, miracles, and work of Jesus.

Luke 5 – 9 are the chapters that caught my attention for this post. This brief look will bring together Jesus’ power to heal and people’s thoughts and declarations about Him. In the search engine of BibleGateway I put “power heal”, to find Luke 5:17, 6:19, and Acts 10:38 (in the NIV). (James 5:16 was also in the results.)

Luke references healing more than any other New Testament writer. I believe Jesus could heal anytime the need was there, but Luke 5:17 and 6:19 may imply that at those times the power was greater. Many of Luke’s stories has Jesus healing in front of Pharisees; 5:17 makes that point very clear. Jesus did that for a reason and Luke mentions it to usher in two narratives in Chapter 9.

Who ?

As Luke crafted his telling of the Good News, he brought narratives and parables together to make a point. Chapter 9 includes “who do people say I am”. Chapter 16 highlights money and how people handle wealth (as an example). How people chose to see Jesus and credit His miracles make a powerful statement. I know some of the Jewish mindset about Elijah and the Prophets; it seems we like the “golden age” over an “I Am” Lord.

The Parable of the Sower (Luke 8) and the four types of ground is taking on a new dimension for me. The people in the Gospels that Jesus interacted with are sorting themselves out as the different types of ground. For example: some Pharisees are Ground Type 1 and 2, and the rich ruler in Luke 18 is Ground Type 3, while Zacchaeus, a sinner, is Type 4 (I need to edit some of my post.). Many people saw miracles, felt His power, ate bread, and heard Jesus speak, but wanted Him to fit into their paradigms. Father forgive us and let Your Light shine on the Way we are to walk.

A question that lingers for me is – What happened to us, especially in the 2nd century? A few thoughts:

  • The Good News was still being preached.
  • Churches were growing and settling into buildings.
  • Roman persecution was still present. They liked emperor worship.
  • Church Fathers were writing.
  • People started going into solitary places to find God.
  • The favorite heresy (it took several forms and names) was to attack Jesus being man and God.

It seems that Spiritual gifts diminished. (Please do not say the Eleven, Matthias, and Paul died.) I said diminished not disappeared. John proclaimed the Kingdom was near, Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom and healed, He passed that onto His disciples, they were to go to the nations and preach the Kingdom and make disciples; I believe they did their job. So, what happened? O for more Godnatural power and healings as we preach the Kingdom.

Luke 4 and Matthew 4 – Temptations

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A morning Bible reading, a God-thought, and a Sunday morning sermon led to this post. My morning read started with Luke 4. When I had finished the first temptation of Jesus a small thought said, “The Second Adam passed the test that the first Adam failed.” The “test” that Jesus passed was of earthly provisions/good food. O, Jesus gave a “Tree of Life” answer.

Temptation 2 and 3 are exactly the same, but Matthew and Luke reverse them. Thought #1 – Both of these happened, and Jesus passed and gave a “It is written” answer. Thought #2 – Is the order important? Please see Thought #1. Matthew, a Jew, put Jerusalem and the Temple first; Luke, a Greek missionary who traveled with Paul, focused on earthly kingdoms. Who is right? See Thought #1. What was the Holy Spirit trying to teach us and why would He allow these writers to do this? See Thought #1.  

Kingdoms of the World and Their Splendor

Satan/Tempter is a liar. A “good lie” needs facts in it or it will not be believed. Jesus did not argue the devil’s statements; He ended the lie with the truth – “It is written”. Who do earthly kingdoms serve? Jesus said and showed in John’s Gospel and Revelations that His Kingdom is not of this earth, and He will bring a new one with Him when He comes again. Adam gave his authority to satan in the Garden when he ate the fruit, so satan twisted the facts making a lie.

I will offer two of MY thoughts here.

  1. The only mountain I can think of that is that high is the Mountain of God in Heaven.
  2. When people want to assign blame; ask them if it is their god or our God that should get the blame. (Be firm in your knowledge of God and His nature.)

Jerusalem and the Temple

Any fall from a tower or city gate would have been high enough to have caused death. So, the location is what is important. God loves the Land of Israel and Jerusalem. Some scholars have suggested that this is where the Garden of Eden was. That step off of the Temple would have given the devil control over the worship of God. Ask yourself why the world wants to take His Land away from Jacob’s Children.

Another Layer of Thought

Earthly rewards (Temptation #1) will get most people’s attention. Once that has been surrendered the desire for power is right before you. But if Satan can get your right relationship with the Father; he does not need the first two.

The Sermon

Steven Furtick referenced the temptations today (9/21/2025) and compared them with Moses and the Children in the Exodus. That fits with Jesus’ baptism (passing through the Red Sea), 40 days (40 years) (Jesus’ earthly ministry could have been 40 months), and bread from stones (manna) as examples. I thought of the Garden in Genesis 3. The Holy Spirit layers lessons together to increase our knowledge of the work done for us.

The Kingdom of Heaven/God – IS LIKE

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The IS LIKE post continues my study of Kingdom. IS LIKE is the phrase that will be my focus, most verses with this declaration occur in Matthew. The word like and relate terms are numerous in the Gospels, so I have included some links to allow you to go further. I will be honest, add your leaf and ink concordance, my Strong’s/Vines Concordance gave me some thoughts that were not in the electronic versions. But I do enjoy the resources I have found on-line.

ὅς | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

ὅμοιος | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

Strong’s Greek: 3666. ὁμοιόω (homoioó) — To make like, to liken, to compare

You find IS LIKE verses in Mark and Luke also, I may just reference them as many are repeats of the ones in Matthew. John did not have any that I could find, but he had a term that was great and I will talk about it. Some of this needs to be “repeats” so I will cover them now.

  • Matthew has the most references to kingdom. He uses “of heaven” the most, with just a few “of God” when the leaders were being addressed. I think this reflects his primary audience. I do not think that there is a difference in what he is talking about because the other writers use the same parables, they just use “Of God”. Look at the Lord’s Prayer.
  • Mark and Luke use “of God” when it is needed. Luke has many verses about the kingdom.
  • John does not have many verses with the word kingdom in them. That is probably because he was focused on the King and showing Him as the Son of God. He does use “my kingdom” when Jesus is talking to Pilate. See Chapter 3 and 18 for the times he brings kingdom into his Gospel.

In Matthew the first message about kingdom is “repent for it is near”, both John the Baptist and Jesus shared this word. Jesus added healing as a witness that He had come and was bring the kingdom.

Matthew 6 and Luke 11 have versions of The Lord’s Prayer; it is also known as The Our Father. The reason I bring this up is who the kingdom belongs to, and where it/He is located. Our Father is in Heaven and we are asking for His Kingdom to come. I found Psalm 9:7-11 as an Old Testament verse that lends itself to the Prayer’s terminology.

Parables, proverbs, and stories are very much a part of Hebrew literature, remember Proverbs and Judges 9. The thing I like about them are there is more than one level to them for us to ponder. Even the ones that Jesus explained to His disciples may have more in them. I like His explanations and don’t usually try to go deeper, most of the time I can barely absorb His teaching about them. But I have found that as you grow in the Lord, the more you may see. However, if your later insights cancel the simple ones, it may be time for more study.

These “IS LIKE” parables are very much like that. My Strong’s/Vines points out you may have to view or consider the whole and all the parts and characters to get the most out of them. I know I have added thoughts to many of them. Sometimes you need to really look at what the IS LIKE is talking about. An example is the humble or little child parables, looking at the circumstances for Jesus’ words are just as important as the little children.

Matthew 13 

  • 24 – a man who sowed good seed
  • 31 – mustard seed (See Luke 13:18+19)
  • 33 – yeast (See Luke 13:20)
  • 44 – treasure hidden in a field
  • 45 – merchant looking for fine pearls
  • 47 – net that was let down and caught all kinds of fish
  • 52 – owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom (teacher of the law)

Matthew 18

  • 4 – a humble child is the greatest in the kingdom
  • 23 – king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants

Matthew 20:1 – a landowner who is looking to hire labors to work in his field

Matthew 22:2 – king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. This was taught on the Temple Mount before the leaders and the people.

Matthew 25:1 – will be like ten virgins with their lamps going to meet the bridegroom. This was on the Mount of Olives to the disciples. (Sadducees asked a question about marriage while He was on the Temple Mount) This further enforces the Palm Sunday ride into Jerusalem was a part of a marriage contract for paying the bride’s price.

  • 14 – man on a journey

AS I REFLECTED ON THE ABOVE PARABLES IN MATTHEW, I NOTICED HOW THAT LIST WOULD ALSO SERVICE AS AN OUTLINE FOR JESUS’ LIFE AND MINISTRY HERE ON EARTH.

Mark

  • 4:26 – 29 – a man scatters seeds on the ground
  • 10:15 – the little child receiving the kingdom

Luke

  • 13:18 – a mustard seed planted in the garden (See Matthew 13:31+32)
  • 13:20 – yeast (See Matthew 13:33)
  • 18:17 – a little child receiving the kingdom

John – 3:3 born again God, 3:5 born of water and the Spirit God, 18: 36 Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world (MY KINGDOM). He was talking to Pilate.

Bible 911 – 1 Corinthians

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1 Corinthians 9:11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? (KJV)
1 Corinthians 9:11 If we have planted the spiritual seed that has been of benefit to you, is it too much if we receive part of the harvest from your earthly goods? (NOG – Names of God Bible)

Why two translations? 400-year-old English may not give you a large amount of understanding. Actually, take a look at several translations, I found that it helped.

For 1 Corinthians 9:11 I feel the thoughts for Chapter 9 start in Chapter 8. Paul did an amazing job of weaving several problems together. He started with food and idols then ended Chapter 9 with running your race with discipline in order to win the prize. The story of the Corinthian Church starts in Acts 18, it will give you a feel for these two Letters. I know it is hard to believe, but the first century Christian churches had problems; just read the start of the Book of Revelations. Chapter 9 builds on 2:1,6; 3:1; and 4:1,6. It seems that the Corinthians were preferring other ministers and giving Paul a bad time for a number of reasons.

FREE and FOOD These two themes are the root of the sharing in Chapters 8 and 9 with Paul’s teachings stemming from them.

Free – Paul talks about “free” quite a bit in Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians. You may want to want to check more than one translation as the number of verses using that word changes a lot. Remember, this is Paul who has a deep understanding of grace and being bound to the Lord for the purpose of spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom. We get lost in the idea of free and forget to look at the lives of Jesus and those He commissioned to spread His message.

A word for “free” was used twice in Chapter 9: 9:1 and 9:19. Paul inferred he was free several times. He was free:

  • To live for God and Jesus
  • From the fear of the Law
  • To eat what is put in front of him
  • Not to cause weak Christians to stumble
  • To be equal with other Christians
  • Not to use his rights as an apostle
  • To boast about not using his rights
  • To be available to be used by God
  • To discipline himself to be useful

Food – 1 Corinthians 9:11 in “modern times” translates to money. Programs, staff, and buildings are expensive; if you enjoy the church community, bearing those burdens are necessary. Paul starts his discourse on food talking about knowledge. Paul tempers what you think you know versus your responsibility towards weak members of Christ’s Body. Animal sacrifice was part of life in the first century, we have some knowledge and understanding of the practice. The Corinthians, however, were not ignorant and neither were Jews. Part of Jewish sacrifice was to have a family meal before God. I have heard it said that the meat market was next to the neighborhood pagan temple in large Gentile cities. Exodus 34:15 and Numbers 25:1-3 are passages about sacrificing to idols, eating the offering, and being led away from God and frequently into sexual sin. Paul did not sacrifice to idols, but he knew food was just food. It seems he had a good understanding of Jesus’ words about “what goes in the mouth does not defile, it is what comes out”. Now, use the knowledge you have right now from the Lord and switch from food to money. What are you sacrificing, eating, and teaching others about your freedom?

Paul offers several examples for 9:11 starting in verse 7 and ends with a question in 12. Why do you support others and not the ones who brought you the Gospel? I would like to offer two other references/examples for Paul’s boasting and behavior:

  • In Genesis 14 Abram gathers an army and rescues Lot. In verse 21 he refuses to take anything from King Bera of Sodom, except the tenth to Melchizedek and the share for allies who went with him.
  • Jesus in Luke 10:4-8 commissions seventy-two apostles/missionaries and sends them out. He told them to go out and that the people they preach to should take care of their needs. This is a food and funds focus from Jesus.  

Lord’s Prayer – Deliver Us

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Matthew 6: 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (NASB) Luke 11:4b does not have “but deliver us from evil”.

As I have studied this portion of the Lord’s Prayer and its various words and their meanings from the Greek, I have had a feeling that how you view Father God will influence your feelings about these twelve words. The various forms of the Greek words with their jots and tittles do dictate what word the translator may use, and the King James version is what is most accepted. Unless you have an Exodus 34:6 and 7 knowledge of our Father, and see the good things Nehemiah 9 tells that God did for His Children; I fear that it is easy to use this verse to project wrong thinking towards God.

Psalm 23 gives you an idea of God’s leading, yes, I have made reference to this Psalm for His epiousious provision. Verses 2-4 talks about leading by quiet waters and through the valley of the shadow of death. The path of righteousness is special; it is a well-marked track (See H4570).  Strong’s Hebrew: 4570. מַעְגָּל (magal or magalah) — Path, track, course, circuit

The Greek words deserve a good look. I am not putting these in order, so use the links if you want to go further. Matthew 6:13 Greek Text Analysis

There is a “legal” side in this part also, I see this in #G 4506. We asked for His Kingdom to come, and this part does show the mission of bringing us to Him and away from the evil one. These last few posts have talked about provision, forgiveness, and now the mission of His Kingdom.