On the Road to Jerusalem: Fit for the Kingdom

“Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’"—Luke 9:62

Jesus spoke a great deal about the kingdom of God, but what is it? It is a kingdom that is not of this world (John 18:36), has been prepared since the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34), and will endure forever (Revelation 11:15). It is a kingdom that cannot be shaken or stopped (Hebrews 12:28). It’s not a kingdom that “flesh and blood” can inherit, which means that there is no ability to inherit it by our effort, background, accomplishment, or pedigree (1 Corinthians 15:50). Those who continually indulge in wickedness will not be able to enter into it (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:21; Ephesians 5:5), and those who have wealth will have a hard time getting in (Mark 10:25). It’s God’s “good pleasure” to give it to those who have faith like a child (Mark 10:15), have been born again (John 3:3-5) and are considered poor in the world (James 2:5).

During Jesus’ ministry on earth, many were looking forward to the kingdom’s coming (Mark 15:43). And His preaching ministry centered on the good news of the coming kingdom of God (Luke 4:43; 8:1), as did His disciples’ (Luke 9:2), and Paul’s (Acts 19:8; 28:23, 31). It will be proclaimed throughout the world before the end comes (Matthew 24:14). And Jesus foretold at the Last Supper that He will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God is actualized at His Second Coming (Mark 14:25; Luke 22:16-18), when He will finally partake of its fruit with all of the saints of God past and present (Luke 13:29).

But what is the kingdom of God? We know that it is “not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”—Romans 14:17. And that it does not consist in “talk but in power”—1 Corinthians 4:20. We know that we are to “walk in a manner worthy of God” who calls us into it (1 Thessalonians 2:12), and that “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God”—Acts 14:22. But what is it? It is the declaration and manifestation of God’s sovereign rule, inaugurated at Christ’s first coming by His life, death, and resurrection. It is continually proclaimed and lived out by those who have repented of their sins and trusted in Christ (i.e., the church), as they are empowered by His Holy Spirit to live holy and upright lives, forsaking sin and enduring suffering, in joyous submission to His sovereign rule as a testimony to God’s power and God’s judgment of sin. The kingdom of God, although inaugurated at Christ’s first coming, will continue to grow in the world, until the day when He comes again, and His kingdom will be consummated and manifested for the world to see, when He will judge both the living and the dead, and the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will be punished (2 Timothy 4:1).

As we enter into this Lenten season, we consider Jesus’ words anew, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God"—Luke 9:62. Jesus wants us to enter into His kingdom with determined focus. As He “set His face” to go to Jerusalem, we set our faces to pursue His kingdom. We don’t look back to our lives of sin, but continually press forward with determined focus, knowing that all God has declared and promised will come about.

Where is your focus? Are you looking back to your past life of sin? Are you prepared to suffer for the kingdom? Confess and repent of any sin that is keeping you from pursuing Christ’s kingdom wholeheartedly, and ask Him to give you, for your joy, a singular focus for His glory and kingdom. Amen.