THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!

That’s the message Jesus the Savior proclaimed right from the outset of His ministry.  The Savior King travels throughout the cities, towns, and villages teaching and proclaiming “the Gospel of the Kingdom.” He declares forgiveness, life, and salvation that is found through faith in Him. He heals every disease and affliction as a product of spiritual healing. The things that the Savior King sees and hears as He travels about moves Him with great compassion. As the Savior King observes His kingdom, the plight of His people stirs His emotions. His people look harassed, troubled, helpless, oppressed, dejected.

We just need to picture a typical movie plot. A wife or a daughter is kidnapped and brutally treated. She is thrown around helplessly, with seemingly no way of escape from the danger. Rescue—saving—is desperately needed. So, husband or daddy comes to save the day!

This… this… is exactly what Jesus recognizes among His people—among the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They are kidnapped, held captive, experiencing distress, being thrown around helplessly, and they desperately need rescue. The situation is critical. They have very few people actually trying to help them. They have very few shepherds truly caring for their needs and delivering them from distress.

So what distresses the Savior King’s people—the lost sheep of the house of Israel? Those who have the task of shepherding the people aren’t doing so. The Pharisees and Sadducees aren’t doing a good job declaring the forgiveness of sins. They aren’t doing a good job proclaiming the salvation of God. They aren’t doing a good job telling the people of God’s gracious and merciful love for them.

Instead, the people are being told that they must earn their keep. They must earn the favor of God. They must earn His richest blessings. They must earn the inheritance of eternal life. They must follow the Law of Moses and the Tradition of the Elders to even be considered for salvation. The people are taught that they have an angry heavenly Father for whom they must work very hard in order to earn His good graces. And there’s an element of truth… in order to earn God’s good graces, you must work very, very hard. You must be perfect. You must dot every “I” and cross every “T” in order to be good enough for heaven. Nobody is. So it was a failure of the Pharisees and Sadducees who preached the Law in such a way that they also failed to preach the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God.

As the Savior King evaluates His kingdom, He sees a people who are fighting diseases like cancer, who grieve due to sudden and evil death, who face life threatening medical emergencies. He sees some who have limbs that don’t work, eyes that don’t see, ears that don’t hear. He sees some whose business ventures have failed, marriages have failed, friendships have failed. On top of all of that, He sees people burdened by a religious system that teaches anyone who is healthy, wealthy, and wise are the truly righteous who are blessed by God, because they have earned it. But those who are sick, poor, or uneducated are being cursed by God because they are sinners to be avoided. The distressed people truly are lost sheep!!

In response, Jesus urgently addresses His disciples saying, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” As remains today, Jesus interacts with so many people who are distressed and weary, so many people who are thrown around and dejected sin, so many harassed by Satan’s false teachers, so many gripped by death, so many who desperately need deliverance, rescue, and rest that only can be found in Jesus the Savior King, the truly Good Shepherd.

There is a way for people (then and now) to be freed from their oppressive distress. There is a way for people (then and now) to be comforted in their affliction. The way is the Gospel, the Good News of the Kingdom of God, the Good News of salvation in the Savior King, the Good News of God’s arrival among His people by means of the incarnation of the Messiah. The Savior has come. The Messianic King has come. This can only mean that the Kingdom of God has come. Wherever God is, the Kingdom of God is there. Wherever Jesus is, the Kingdom of God is there. Jesus has come to deliver sinners, so the Kingdom of God has come into the midst of the earth through Jesus. The Savior King has come to rescue distressed and dejected sinners. His ministry and mission centers on forgiving sins and healing the effects of sin. He has come to restore creation through defeating the very thing that plagues creation—sin.

When some friends brought a paralytic to Jesus by lowering him through a roof, Jesus saw their faith. The first thing the Savior King said to the paralytic? “Your sins are forgiven.” He proclaimed relief of the man’s distressful condition. He announced pardon and peace. Some of the Lord’s opponents, however, took this as an opportunity to question Jesus among themselves. He responded: “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” The Savior King then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” Jesus forgave the man’s sin, and then He proved His authority by healing the man.

Jesus the Savior King has the authority to forgive sin; He has the authority to heal creation; He has the authority to reverse the curse of the fall into sin, because He Himself went to the cross where He gave up His life for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He laid down His life for the sins of the entire world. The Savior King used His authority to show steadfast love and mercy to distressed sinners—the same steadfast love and mercy of His heavenly Father.

He tells His disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers into the harvest. Jesus is Lord of the harvest. Later in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says: “I will build my Church.” So, Jesus tells His disciples to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into the harvest. And then… and then in the very next verse… Matthew tells us, “He called to Him His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.” Jesus calls the twelve to be the workers of the harvest. Then, He sends them out as apostles. The word “apostle” means “one who is sent.” Jesus doesn’t send out those who are wise and learned by worldly standards. He calls average men.

Jesus gives the twelve men His own authority, just as the prophets of old were given authority from God to proclaim God’s message to His beaten down, burdened, distressed, and lost sheep. Jesus gives the apostles His authority, so that they do the very same things that Jesus does, with everything centering on the proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom: “Proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” They call for their fellow Jews: their siblings, their parents, their neighbors to repent of their sins because the Kingdom of Heaven, the very presence of God has drawn near, in Jesus the Savior King. Just like their Lord, the twelve apostles proclaim the restoration of creation that the Savior King brings through His death and resurrection.

Now, you would think… you would think… that people would rejoice to hear the Good News of salvation and would flock to receive the Good News of sins forgiven, by the masses. In reality, that’s not often the case. Many, many times, sinners who are in distress don’t want to hear it. So, the Good News was and is often met with the opposition by those who refuse it. The prophets experienced the reality. The apostles soon would experience it. The Savior King would experience it. Jesus Himself was rejected and hung on a tree. Those who rejected Jesus heard of the amazing things Jesus did. Some even witnessed miracles. Word got around about Lazarus’ resurrection, and Jesus’ enemies felt they needed to stop Him. That which should have made them rejoice, gave them motivation to kill Jesus. But the Lord’s death was the very means of salvation. The Savior King dies in the place of His people.

As the apostles spread the Good News of forgiveness, life, and salvation across the Empire, they will often experience the same rejection along the way. In the midst of that rejection, the apostles will witness to the salvation of the Savior King Jesus that has been accomplished by His suffering, death, and resurrection. They will suffer throughout their witness, and yet they have the authority of Jesus and the sword of the Spirit (which is God’s Word), so that many will receive salvation through the Gospel proclamation of the apostles. Everyone who hears the witness of the apostles (then and now) receives an eternal inheritance.

The proclamation of the “kingdom of heaven” continues to sound forth into the world. By the authority of the Savior King, the Word of the apostles heals the sick, raises the dead, cleanses lepers, and casts out demons. You are proof of that. Through the Word of the Gospel (the forgiveness of sins) you are healed, raised, cleansed, and given the Holy Spirit. You find rest in the compassionate Savior King, who died on the cross so that you have life in His name. Amen.