05: The Way of the King

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The Road of Exile: Living Faithfully

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Mark 1:14–15

Israel’s story of exile was still unfinished.
Babylon fell, but other empires followed: Persia, Greece, and Rome.
God’s people were still waiting for God’s kingdom.
Jesus entered the story announcing, “The kingdom of God has come near.”
Jesus demonstrated the kingdom through healing, forgiveness, restoration, welcome, and confronting evil.
God’s kingdom is both a present reality in Jesus and a future hope.
Jesus calls people to repent and believe the good news.

Question: What does life in God’s kingdom look like?

Language form Tim Mackie of BibleProject

Matthew 5:3–16

Jesus describes an unexpected picture of the good life in the Beatitudes.
The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, and the persecuted are called blessed.
Jesus challenges ordinary assumptions about greatness, power, success, and blessing.
The last become first.
The humble are lifted up.
The greatest becomes a servant.
Jesus calls his people salt of the earth and light of the world.
His followers live among their neighbors while learning to live differently.

Matthew 5:43–45

Jesus instructs his followers to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them.
Faithfulness is not determined by how others treat us.
Jesus points his followers toward the character of the Father.
Mercy, peacemaking, prayer, and love begin to reveal what people shaped by God’s kingdom look like.

Mark 10:35–45

James and John ask Jesus for positions of honor in his kingdom.
Their request reveals a familiar understanding of greatness and power.
Jesus contrasts worldly authority with life in God’s kingdom.
His defining words are: “Not so with you.”
Greatness in Jesus’ kingdom is expressed through service.
Jesus points to himself as the example:
- The Son of Man came to serve.
- He came to give his life as a ransom for many.
The road of Jesus is leading toward the cross.

Mark 10:45; Matthew 28:18

The King receives a crown of thorns and dies on a Roman cross. What appears to be defeat becomes the ultimate expression of self-giving love.

The crucified King is risen
The risen Jesus declares, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
The road of Jesus leads through the cross toward resurrection and new life.

N. T. Wright’s Signpost Image: Our lives can become signposts pointing beyond ourselves toward another kingdom and the King.

Question:

If Jesus is our King, are we learning to live the way of his kingdom?