The Apostles and the Kingdom of God

Jesus chose the twelve apostles and instructed his disciples regarding the Kingdom of God.

Choosing the Apostles, Lk 6:12-16

After spending all night on a mountain in prayer, Jesus called his disciples, and from them he chose twelve apostles.  You can find the lists of these twelve in several places in your Bible, Matt 10:2-4, Mk 3:16-19, Lk 6:14-16 and Acts 1:13.  The twelve were:

• Simon, whom he named Peter and also called Cephas, Jn 1:42
• Andrew, Simon’s brother
• James, son of Zebedee, Mk 3:17
• John, James’s brother, Jesus surnamed them Boanerges
• Philip
• Bartholomew
• Matthew
• Thomas
• James, the son of Alphaeus
• Simon, called Zelotes, the Canaanite, Matt 10:4
• Judas, James’s brother (Alphaeus), also called Lebbaeus and surnamed Thaddaeus, Matt 10:3, author of the Epistle of Jude
• Judas Iscariot, the traitor

Healing all the multitude, Lk 6:17-19

After choosing the twelve apostles, Jesus came down from the mountain and stood in the plain. He was surrounded by his disciples and a great multitude of people from Judea, Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon.  They came to be healed of their diseases and others came who were vexed with unclean spirits.  They sought to touch him because virtue went out of him.  See Lk 8:43-47.  Virtue, in this sense, is the efficacious power to heal.  Jesus healed them all, which is characteristic of true, divine healing.

Instructing his disciples re the Kingdom of God, Lk 6:20-26

It is important to note that this is not the same sermon as the sermon on the mount.  In Matt 5:1 he went up into a mountain.  In Lk 6:17 he stood in the plain.  In Matt 5:3 he’s teaching them about the kingdom of heaven.  In Lk 6:20, he’s teaching them about the kingdom of God.

Simply put, the kingdom of heaven is about “heaven on earth”.  In Deut 11:21, in the context of living by the words of God, and teaching them to their children, the Lord said, “That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth”.  And in Matt 6:10, in what is known as the “Lord’s prayer”, Jesus said, “Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”.  This kingdom is clearly connected with Jesus Christ ruling over the earth from Jerusalem, and Israel being the ruling nation of the world.

The kingdom of God, on the other hand, is just that.  It’s God’s kingdom.  At this time, it doesn’t “come”, rather it “is within you”, Lk 17:20-21.  The kingdom of God is “not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost”, Rom 14:17.  It is about “his righteousness”, Matt 6:33, rather than “our righteousness”, things in heaven rather than things on earth, and eternal matters rather than temporal matters.

So, when Jesus proclaimed the blessings and the woes in verses 21-26, he instructed his disciples to live for the kingdom of God rather than for worldly possessions, comforts, pleasures, and accolades.

Blessed are ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.  He didn’t say that they would obtain the kingdom of God by being poor.  Clearly, we enter the kingdom of God by being born again, Jn 3:3-7.  He said that the poor are blessed.  God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, Jas 2:5.  Consider Prov 13:7.

In the kingdom of God, on this side of eternity, we abound in the riches of his wisdom and knowledge, Rom 11:33, his grace, Eph 1:7, his unsearchable riches, Eph 3:8, and his glory, Eph 3:16.  On the other side of eternity, we abound in “the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”, Eph 1:18.  The deeper the poverty now, the greater the eternal riches now and in eternity, 2 Cor 8:2.

Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled.  We should be hungering for Jesus Christ, the bread of life, Jn 6:35.  Paul, the apostle, suffered hunger, 2 Cor 11:27, Phil 4:11-12, and learned contentment, to his great gain, 1 Tim 6:6.  It seems that we are more interested in food than in the Lord.  Yet, the fuller the belly now, the leaner the soul now, Ps 106:14-15.

Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.  Jesus prayed “with strong crying and tears”, Heb 5:7.  Paul had “great heaviness and continual sorrow” in his heart, Rom 9:2.  He “ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears”, Acts 20:31.  We should cry now; we’ll enjoy an eternity of laughter later.

Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you… for the son of man’s sake.  As Jesus said, “in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets”.  The world was opposed to Jesus.  Paul was stoned, whipped, beaten, and jailed.  If you’re going to live for the kingdom of God, you are going to be opposed and hated by the world, Jn 15:18-21.  But notice, in the day of our reproach, we are to “leap for joy”.  It’s not all tears down here; we have joy, too.  And in heaven, our reward will be great.

Woe unto you that are rich.  Ye have received your consolation.  Unfortunately, you can’t take a dime of it with you.  If you labor to be rich down here, you will be bankrupt in the kingdom of God.  Consider Prov 11:24-25 and 2 Cor 8:9.

Woe unto you that are full.  Ye shall hunger, while others who have hungered and thirsted for righteousness will be filled, Matt 5:6.  Don’t be a man given to appetite, Prov 23:2.  Don’t let your belly be your god, Rom 16:18.

Woe unto you that laugh now.  Ye shall mourn and weep.  It’s that simple.  You mourn during the time of sowing so that you can rejoice in the time of reaping, Ps 126:5-6.  If you don’t, the converse will be true.  Our goal should not be to seek as much pleasure as possible; rather we should seek first the kingdom of God.

Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you.  So did their fathers to the false prophets.  The prophets who spoke the truth were hated, 1 Ki 22:8, Amos 5:10.  We’re not making enemies; yet we aren’t trying to be a friend of the world, either, Jas 4:4.

Conclusion: unlike the sermon on the mount, the things Jesus taught his apostles and disciples about their conduct in the kingdom of God apply to us as well as to the disciples he taught that day.

To study the previous lesson, see The Sabbath Days. To study the next lesson, see Children of the Highest.