Define Que Quiso Decir Jesús Con La Expresión “Reino De Dios”

“Kingdom of God” is a concept found in the writings of all four gospel-writers, with Mark, Matthew and Luke all mentioning that this was something preached in Jesus' early sermons. The actual meaning of “Kingdom of God” has meant many things to different people from before Jesus' time to Christians today. This essay will look at some of those interpretations to discover what Jesus himself meantwhen he used the term.

To understand Jesus' message, it is important to put his words into the context of the time. The Kingdom of David was seen by Jews as the period of greatest prosperity, wealth and peace. Importantly, the Jewish people lived together peacefully, which later became symbolised in the reign of Solomon with the construction of his Temple. Later, however, fortunes werereversed, with the division of the kingdom into two in c.BC931, the destruction of Solomon's Temple in BC587 and the abduction and exile in BC598-538 of the majority of the elite to Babylon. This sharply contrasted with earlier centuries, as seen from Old Testament writing from around the time of the exile. What is clear from the Old Testament writing is those better times of the reign of David wereto come back, the return of a Kingdom promised by God. In God's covenant with David, Nathan tells him,

“I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me”(2 Sam 7:12-14)

This is a clearsign to the exiled Jews at the time of the arrival of a descendant of David, who would lead them to a better life as they had once enjoyed. There are other mentions of this in the Old Testament, for example when Daniel explain King Nebuchadnezzar's dreams to him. Daniel explains how ultimately there will be kingdom set up by God “which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left foranother people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.”(Daniel 2:44). Central to this ideal of the coming of a new kingdom, was that of social justice and the end of persecution: “Behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord. “Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock(...) bring them back to theirpasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply(....) they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.”(Jeremiah 23:2-4).

It was in the depths of those dark days that John the Baptist and later Jesus began preaching about the coming and arrival of the Kingdom of God and what this meant to those who listened can be understood from the context of thattime. As mentioned earlier, key to Jesus' earliest preaching was the idea of coming of the Kingdom of God. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”(Mark 1:15);“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”(Matthew 4:17). Jews at the time assumed that this was the promised Kingdom, with Jesus the descendant of David, the Messiah they had beenawaiting. However, it was God's will that by sending his son to earth, Jesus would gather others around him, teaching them how to enter God's kingdom, effectively planting a seed on earth that would lead to that kingdom (CCC, para.541). Rather than a physical kingdom, Jesus' meaning was one of a communitarian faith. In order to enter this Kingdom, Jesus taught two main requirements, to considertheir relationships with God, and with one another. They needed to change their relationship with God where they gave their hearts, minds and souls to God and indeed Jesus equated that relationship as one of a loving Father with his children. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength”(Mark 12:30-31). Jesus...