Jesus: The Kingdom of God
What is the most important thing in your life? Is it Jesus? Is it your focus, center, pivot, the focal point of your life? Jesus is the focus of my life. Without him I'm lifeless, without him nothing is going in the right direction. But with Jesus, what a joy, I live in the kingdom of God.
After the creed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Messenger of God, Christ, I confirm to you: “You live with Jesus in the kingdom of God because it is within you, among us”.
The Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. He replied: “The Kingdom of God does not come by outward signs. Nor will people be able to say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘It is there!’ No, the Kingdom of God is in your midst. Or, ‘Look, the Kingdom of God is within you.’” (Lk 17, 20-21).
Jesus had scarcely begun to proclaim the Kingdom of God with authority when the Pharisees appeared. They accused him of blasphemy, even though he was telling them the truth. Yet in his Gospel he testified that the time had come and the Kingdom of God was at hand (according to...). Mk 1,14-15At Jacob's well, a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus began the dialogue with her: "Give me a drink!" Jesus answered, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you the water of a spring, the water of life. But whoever drinks the water I give them will never be thirsty again. The water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (Joh 4,9-14).
Jesus offers you his way of life, so that it may flow continuously between you and your neighbors, now and until eternal life in the resurrection. “But the time is coming, indeed it is already here, when people will worship God as the Father, people who are filled with the Spirit and have come to know the truth. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (Joh 4,23-26).
How do you worship God in spirit and in truth? Jesus says, "I am the vine, you are the branches!" If you abide in the vine of Jesus, you will bear fruit, more fruit, yes much fruit. You should use the fruit that Jesus gives you to offer it to your neighbors. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, God's way of life, are not only the fruit of the Spirit, but are expressions of your love for your neighbor. The source of love, Jesus, which flows incessantly, will never run dry, but rather flow into eternal life. This is true for today and for the future, when God's kingdom will be visible in all its fullness.
Jesus reveals through you the spouse, your children and parents, your friends and fellow human beings, however different they may be. Jesus wants His love flowing to you to flow through you to these neighbors. You would like to share this love with your neighbor, because you honor them the same as yourself.
You and I have a living hope because Jesus, through His resurrection, holds an eternal inheritance from the dead: eternal life in the Kingdom of God. That's what I focus on: Jesus in the Kingdom of God.
by Toni Püntener
