Chapter 9: the Second-Level Fulfillment—Kingdom Inauguration

Scripture Passages

Matthew 3-4
Luke 22:25-30

Return from Exile and Rebuilt Temple

After the 70 years of exile were completed, God began to fulfill the prophetic hope concerning the restoration of his people. The people were restored to the land under the Decree of Cyrus in 538 BC and the temple was rebuilt in 520 BC. But as wonderful as these things were, the great promises of eschatological restoration depicted by the prophets were not fully realized. For this reason, we can speak of the post-exilic community of Israel as being in some sense in a continuing exile. This is not to downplay the historical reality of the return and the rebuilding of the temple. That was a fulfillment, though obviously not the eschatological fulfillment, of the promises of the prophets concerning the restoration of Israel (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc.). But the historical fulfillment was so weak and beggarly, it clearly was not the real fulfillment. The temple was smaller than Solomon’s. The glory of God had not returned to the temple. The nation continued to be under political domination of foreign powers (except for the relatively brief Hasmonean period). The Gentiles had not come streaming to Zion to worship the God of Israel.

The return from exile, when compared to the magnitude of the promises of the prophets, creates a tension crying out for resolution. The Hebrew Bible ends like an unfinished novel. The Hebrew Bible points beyond itself. There is a weak and beggarly fulfillment of the prophetic promises in the post-exilic community, but it is a pre-eschatological, typological fulfillment. The fact that it is pre-eschatological and typological means that it lacks the finality and perfection of the new creation. Conditions are not as they should be, given the glorious hope painted by the prophets. This disparity between the promise and the post-exilic fulfillment causes the godly in Israel to cry out to God for deliverance, for the eschatological redemption. Because it was only an initial fulfillment that did not really deal with sin, the godly remnant, such as Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:22-38), knew that Israel was in need of a new work of God to redeem Israel and bring about the true fulfillment of the prophetic hope (Luke 1:68-79; 2:25, 38).

When we turn from the last pages of the Old Testament to the first pages of the New Testament, we encounter the first of four gospels, the Gospel of Matthew. The four gospels are all about the kingdom. The gospels are the announcement that the kingdom of God—as shadowed forth in the Old Testament theocracy, lost in the exile, but prophetically renewed in eschatological fullness in the oracles of the prophets—has come. In this chapter, we are going to review some of the key moments in the life of Christ as recorded in the gospels, to show how Jesus, by means of his obedience as God’s vassal-king, brings the kingdom of salvation to men and women who receive him in faith.

The Baptism of Jesus

All four gospels agree that the first important event of Jesus’ life is the baptism of Jesus, for this is the point at which the kingdom begins to make its appearance on the public scene. John is the voice crying in the wilderness, “Make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” John preached that Israel needed to repent in order to get ready for the coming of God’s kingdom. He baptized people as a sign that they were confessing their sins and being forgiven. The baptism of Jesus means that he is identifying with Israel. He is not confessing his own sin, for he was without sin, but he is entering into corporate solidarity with Israel—Israel in its state of alienation from God, of continuing exile. As Jesus comes up out the water, the heavens are opened, and the Spirit of God descends upon him in the form of a dove. We must understand the picture here. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jesus in order to show that this is the moment when God anointed him to be his vassal-king. And in case we miss the symbolism, a voice from heaven declares, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Thus it is no wonder that the primary title for Jesus in the New Testament is “Christ,” from christos in Greek, meaning “anointed one.” He is the chosen servant of God prophesied in Isaiah 42:1: “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him” (quoted in Matt 12:18-20).

The Temptation of Jesus

Immediately after this, the Spirit impels Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he is tempted by the devil for 40 days. Here is God’s beloved Son, who successfully resists the temptations of the devil in perfect obedience to his Father. In response to each temptation, Jesus quotes from the Mosaic Law (Matt 4:4, 7, 10, quoting Deut 8:3; 6:16, 13). Jesus is pictured as the second Adam who obeys where the first Adam disobeys, the one and only true Israelite who perfectly keeps God’s Law. As the second Adam, Jesus resists the devil and triumphs over the serpent.

The temptation of Jesus at the very outset is a foretaste of the temptation in the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus cried out in agony as he faced the cross, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matt 26:39). At the very outset of the story, we get a glimpse of what will come at the end. Everything in between is preparation for the end. Martin Kähler said the gospels are passion narratives with extended introductions. He may have been exaggerating a little, but not much.

Having been filled with the Spirit, and having passed the test, Jesus now comes into Galilee, preaching the gospel and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus announces that the kingdom of God is at hand. It is significant that Jesus never defines the kingdom of God. He simply asserts that the long wait is over, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. His Jewish audience was already familiar with the Old Testament hope concerning the kingdom of God, and the fact that it was going to come again in power and glory in a future time, when the long-awaited son of David arrived.

At the very opening of the story, our attention is riveted on Jesus. We know a number of things about him. We know that he is the Son of God. We know that he has come to bring in the kingdom of God. We know that he is filled with the Spirit, that he has been tested and passed the test, and so he is fully equipped and ready for the job of bringing in the kingdom. We also know a little about that kingdom. We know that it is the kingdom that was promised in the Old Testament, and that Israel was supposed to bring in, but could not. That is why Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled,” the time for the coming of the kingdom as promised by the prophets.

This kingdom is something macro. It has to do with God himself coming in power to reign over his people. But the kingdom is also something micro. It has to do with individual people getting ready for the reign of God by repenting of their sinful ways and having their sins forgiven. This is confirmed when you notice that right after Jesus comes preaching the gospel and inviting people to enter the kingdom by repentance and faith, he goes to Galilee and begins to call his disciples: “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

The Miracles of Jesus

Each of the gospels at this point goes on to tell us more about Jesus and the nature of his kingdom. They do so by means of a rapid succession of events in which Jesus performs many miracles. He casts out demons. He heals the sick—people who are paralyzed, or who are suffering with various diseases, like leprosy. In each case, we see that all the powers of the coming kingdom are centered upon Jesus. He is the one who was filled with God’s Spirit, and so we see that power in action as he brings the kingdom to various individuals.

The important thing to notice is that he does not bring the kingdom to the nation of Israel as a whole, or to the Jewish leaders. He brings the kingdom to those who are on the fringes—the outcasts, the poor, the sick, the lame, even tax collectors (that is, Jews who were considered turncoats, collaborators with the Romans). He eats and drinks with prostitutes and other notorious sinners. He even heals the daughter of a Gentile woman.

Why does Jesus bring the kingdom to people like this? It is to show the gospel in action. Those who think they are righteous reject the grace of Christ’s kingdom. But those who know their need flock to him and receive forgiveness, mercy, and grace. When the Pharisees saw Jesus eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they grumbled and criticized him. But Jesus said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).

The Jewish leaders, the scribes and Pharisees and the priests—they were righteous in their own eyes. They did not need to repent and have their sins forgiven. They did not believe that the kingdom of God was something that they had to get ready for. It was already in their possession. They ran the synagogues, and the Rabbinical schools of learning. They followed the Torah, the Law of Moses, in great detail, all the laws of ritual purity, the laws concerning the Sabbath, and so on. The high priests were in charge of the temple, and had everything in control, thank you very much. The religious leaders believed that they were right with God, that they were doing everything just as God had commanded them. The common people—the tax collectors and the prostitutes, and people possessed with demons—now they surely needed to repent. But not themselves. Certainly God was pleased with their rigorous and scrupulous adherence to the Torah.

Jesus showed mercy and kindness, not to the self-righteous and the self-sufficient, but to the poor, the sick, and the wounded, the lost sheep of the house of Israel who have been trampled upon by the religious leaders who were supposed to be the shepherds of God’s people. Unlike the false shepherds who cared little for the flock, Jesus fed the multitudes, first 5,000, then 4,000. Like Moses in the wilderness, who gave the Israelites bread from heaven, Jesus provided the bread of life for the new Israel.

The Turning Point

That is a rough sketch of the first half of the gospels. But in each of the gospels, about halfway through, we come to a turning point in the story, and the focus shifts dramatically. From this point on Jesus is single-mindedly determined to go to Jerusalem. He tells his disciples quite plainly what is going to transpire there. He is going to suffer many things, and be rejected by the religious leaders, and be killed, and after three days he will rise again.

In the first part of the story, we have learned that the kingdom of God is a kingdom of salvation, that is, it is the arrival of the saving reign of God in the person of Jesus. We learned that those who repent and believe are given the benefits of that kingdom, the benefits of forgiveness, healing, and eternal life. It is only the Spirit-filled Son of God, not the religious leaders, who can give the bread of life to his sheep.

Now, in the second half of the drama, we are going to learn how Jesus brings those benefits to his sheep. He does so by obediently traveling the long and lonely path of suffering, even to the point of death at the hands of the religious leaders, the so-called righteous ones.

All four gospels make this point clear. For example, Luke makes this point in an interesting way: he envisions the majority of Jesus’ teaching and healings—his whole ministry—as something that occurs while Jesus is journeying to the cross that awaits him in Jerusalem. After the transfiguration, where Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31), we read, “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem” (verse 51). He set his face like flint, and was headed like an arrow straight toward his destiny, the cross. And from that point on, the gospel of Luke narrates how this one with his jaw set, his brow knitted, his whole visage overshadowed by the cross—how this one, the Son of David, the King of Israel, bestowed his grace and forgiveness and compassion to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. For example, blind Bartimaeus was sitting by the road begging. And as Jesus was passing by on the way to the cross that awaits him in Jerusalem, the blind man cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus healed him and gave sight to his eyes. This is but one example of the blessings strewn along the via dolorosa as Jesus marched on to the cross.

From here on out to the end of the story, Jesus plainly and repeatedly set this message of the cross before the disciples. And repeatedly, the disciples were not able to receive it. It was an offense to them. They just couldn’t wrap their minds around this notion that all the wonderful things that Jesus brings—forgiveness of sin, deliverance from bondage to Satan, physical healing, the new creation!—that all these things can only come through the cross.

The Transfiguration of Jesus

What is the biblical-theological significance of the transfiguration of Jesus? Here we will look at Matthew’s account. The transfiguration has to do with Jesus’ passion predictions, which both preceded and followed it (Matt 16:21; 17:12, 22-23). The transfiguration and the voice from heaven were God’s validation of Jesus’ claim that he must suffer as part of his mission. The voice from heaven said, “Listen to him” (Matt 17:5), that is, listen to what he is saying about his mission of suffering. It was part and parcel of his role as God’s obedient Son. Not only was the mission of Jesus validated as being God’s will, but the transfiguration foreshadowed the resurrection and vindication of Christ. Not only must he die in obedience to the will of God, but it was precisely through his suffering that he would achieve eschatological glory for himself and for his people.

Peter had just rebuked Jesus, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you” (Matt 16:22). Peter did believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, but he was not prepared for the idea that he is a suffering Messiah. He could not understand why the Messiah would need to die.

But having just announced his coming passion, Jesus went up on a high mountain “and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light” (Matt 17:2). Then Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. Why do Moses and Elijah appear and speak with Jesus? Moses and Elijah are two of the greatest OT prophets, summarizing the law (Moses) and the prophets (those who came after Moses during the time of the kings). This adds another layer of validation: the law and the prophets also predicted the suffering of the Messiah. According to Luke, Moses and Elijah were conversing with Jesus about his imminent death. They “spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). Moses and Elijah aren’t shocked and offended, like Peter. They are calmly discussing his imminent death as if it were something they fully expected, and as the “fulfillment” of what they themselves had predicted and even anticipated in their prophetic ministry. I say “anticipated” because both Moses and Elijah suffered at the hands of the people. Moses was continually rejected as the people grumbled against him. Elijah was rejected and persecuted by the people and King Ahab and his wife Jezebel who were continually hunting him and trying to kill him (1 Kings 19:2, 10, 14). In addition, Elijah was taken up directly into heaven and did not die, just like Enoch. This suggests that Elijah’s translation was an embodied preview of Christ’s own resurrection and glorification.

While Jesus and Moses and Elijah were talking, “a bright cloud overshadowed them” (Matt 17:5). This is the Glory-Cloud that dwelled in the tabernacle and accompanied Israel in the wilderness and that later took up residence in Solomon’s temple. (Peter recognized this, which is why he suggested the idea of making three “tents.”) The Glory-Cloud symbolizes eschatological glory, the glory of God that will fill the whole earth. The point is that this eschatological kingdom of glory is going to be achieved by Jesus, and specifically by his obedience to the point of death.

The transfiguration and the voice from heaven is God providing his stamp of approval on Jesus’ words that Peter is setting his mind on the things of man rather than the things of God (Matt 16:23). The cross is part of the things of God. God himself makes that clear by saying a second time, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 17:5; cp. 3:17). Jesus can say it and Peter can still contradict him. But if the voice from heaven says it, that removes all doubt. After the vision of the glory of God was over, and Jesus and the three disciples were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded the disciples not to tell the vision to anyone “until the Son of Man is raised from the dead” (Matt 17:9). This suggests that the vision of the transfigured Christ is an anticipation of his resurrection and glorification.

The Triumphal Entry

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey. This is clearly an act of proclaiming himself to be king. When Solomon was made the king of Israel, he rode upon David’s royal donkey (1 Kings 1:33, 38, 44). By entering into the city of David riding a donkey, Jesus was proclaiming the he is David’s greater Son and Lord, that he is the one God has anointed to rule over his people. But he is riding into the city in order to die, as poetically expressed in the hymn: “Ride on, ride on in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die.”¹

After his triumphal entry, Jesus then proceeds to cleanse the temple and throw out the money changers who had turned God’s house into a den of thieves. This act also had a Messianic significance. Recall that David planned to build this temple, and Solomon actually did build it. It was king Josiah who reformed the temple worship after it had fallen into disarray for many years. By cleansing the temple, Jesus is proclaiming his royal identity as God’s king. Indeed, Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again,” referring to the temple that is his body. God’s kingdom has come in eschatological fullness when the glory of God takes up permanent residence within the temple of Christ’s body at the resurrection. And for all who are united to Christ by his Spirit become living stones being built up into a spiritual temple, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-8).

Of course, the act of cleansing the temple is the last straw, and the religious leaders have had enough. And so they begin to plot his death.

The Last Supper

But first, Jesus celebrates the Passover meal with his disciples. On the night before he was crucified for our sins, Jesus reclined at the table with his disciples. And what blessing did Jesus bestow at that time upon his disciples? He bestowed the ultimate blessing, the establishment of the new covenant in the fulfillment of prophecy. “This cup … is the new covenant in my blood.” Here is the covenant that supersedes all previous covenants. The Abrahamic, the Mosaic, and the Davidic covenants all pointed in type and shadow to this, the everlasting covenant in Christ’s blood, a covenant that shall never be superseded, for it is the final covenant in which the kingdom is bestowed.

Now immediately after the supper, an amazing thing occurs. The disciples still do not perceive the momentous nature of this new covenant that is about to be inaugurated. With hardened hearts they begin to dispute about which one of them was the greatest. In response Jesus makes an important statement concerning the nature of his kingship that ties his kingship to the new covenant:

Luke 22:25-30:

“And he said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. ²⁶ But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. ²⁷ For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. ²⁸ You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, ²⁹ and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, ³⁰ that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’”

Jesus employs an analogy based on the actual scene of the last supper. The disciples are reclining at the table with Jesus, and Jesus has just served them the bread and the cup, the signs of the new covenant. Here Jesus says that he is among them as one who serves the meal to those who are reclining at the table. Unlike the kings of the Gentiles who lord it over others, Jesus has a very different kingship, a kingship dedicated to servanthood. And how does he serve them? He serves them, we are told in vv 29-30, by covenanting to them the kingdom. The verb rendered “assign” by the ESV above is diatithēmi in Greek and is cognate with the noun diathēkē (“covenant), and so can be rendered “to covenant” or “covenantally bestow.” Here is God’s obedient vassal-king covenantally bestowing the kingdom on his people under the new covenant.

The cup of the new covenant is mentioned again in verse 42: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.” The Son obediently submits to the Father’s will and drinks the cup of suffering according to the terms of the eternal covenant between the Father and the Son. The Father therefore covenantally bestows the kingdom upon the Son, and the Son then shares the glory of that kingdom with those who have stood with him in his trials.

The Sinai covenant, the Mosaic Law, set the context for the incarnation, so that we might see his life, death, and resurrection as occurring in the setting of a covenant of works. As God’s obedient vassal-king, he was “made under the law” (Gal 4:4) so that he might perfectly fulfill it, obtaining a perfect and complete righteousness (Jer 23:6; Dan 9:24; Matt 3:15; Rom 10:4; 1 Cor 1:30), and thereby earning the kingdom, the inheritance, for his people. The law was given for the king to obey (Deut 17:14-20), but no Davidic king had yet done so—until now. Ultimately, we are saved by works, not ours, but Christ’s. It is a covenant of works for Christ, that it might be a covenant of grace for us.

Kline puts it this way:

“A variety of purposes can be discovered to explain the insertion of the old covenant order and its typal kingdom into the course of redemptive history. Of central importance was the creation of the proper historical setting for the advent of the Son of God and his earthly mission (cf. Rom 9:5). In accordance with the terms of his covenant of works with the Father he was to come as the second Adam in order to undergo a representative probation and by his obedient and triumphant accomplishment thereof to establish the legal ground for God’s covenanted bestowal of the eternal kingdom of salvation on his people. It was therefore expedient, if not necessary, that Christ appear within a covenant order which, like the covenant with the first Adam, was governed by the works principle (cf. Gal 4:4). The typal kingdom of the old covenant was precisely that. Within the limitations of the fallen world and with modifications peculiar to the redemptive process, the old theocratic kingdom was a reproduction of the original covenantal order. Israel as the theocratic nation was mankind stationed once again in a paradise-sanctuary, under probation in a covenant of works. In the context of that situation, the Incarnation event was legible; apart from it the meaning of the appearing and ministry of the Son of Man would hardly have been perspicuous. Because of the congruence between Jesus’ particular historical identity as the true Israel, born under the law, and his universally relevant role as the second Adam, the significance of his mission as the accomplishing of a probationary assignment in a works covenant in behalf of the elect of all ages was lucidly expressed and readily readable.”²

The Active and Passive Obedience of Christ

It is not as if Christ’s life of obedience up until the cross constituted his active obedience, and his sufferings on the cross constituted his passive obedience. Rather, Christ’s whole life, from the incarnation to the cross, was an obedient suffering and a suffering obedience. His deliberate and willing offering of himself on the cross as the final sacrifice to atone for sins was the climax of his active obedience. We see this in the echoes of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 42; 53) in the Gospels. For example, Jesus said: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,” where the language of “serving” and “giving his life for the many” reminds us of Isaiah 53:10-12. Christ’s sacrifice was a voluntary act, a voluntary laying down of his life (Heb 10:5-10). Love is the greatest commandment of the law, and “greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Paul commands us to walk in love just “as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:2).

The Crucifixion of Jesus

Jesus is condemned by the Jewish Sanhedrin and handed over to the Romans to be crucified. The key thing to observe is that all four gospels place great emphasis on telling the story of the crucifixion upon the theme of the kingdom of God. Prior to his death, Jesus told the demons to be silent when they cry out that he is the Son of the Most High God. He even commanded those whom he had healed as well as his own disciples not to reveal his identity as the Messiah. He did not want the Jews to misinterpret his claim in earthly terms as if he were leading a rebellion against Rome. But when we come to the crucifixion, Jesus’ identity as the King of the Jews, the King of Israel, God’s Messiah, is no longer veiled. It is finally revealed in all its glory. The title “the King of the Jews” occurs repeatedly in the passion narratives. The soldiers dressed him up in a purple robe signifying royalty and placed a crown of thorns upon his head. In mockery they saluted him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” relishing the sarcasm. What real king would ever be put to shame like this? And yet we know that the soldiers are proclaiming the literal truth. Jesus is the king, and it is precisely his shameful death that proves it. Finally, Jesus is lifted up and crucified, with the inscription over the cross, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” It is precisely at this moment that Jesus is enthroned on the cross. Jesus, the King of Israel, reigns from the tree. By his obedience unto death, God’s vassal-king is bestowing the kingdom of salvation upon his people.

The Resurrection of Jesus

The concluding act of the drama is, of course, the empty tomb, and an angel who reports to the trembling disciples that Jesus is now risen. Why do the four gospels not record the actual resurrection itself? Why don’t they dwell on every detail like they do with the crucifixion scene? Because everything has already been said up to this point. There is no need to go on and on about the wonder and glory of the resurrection, because we have already seen the resurrection power of the kingdom of God. We saw it on the mount of transfiguration. We saw it at work in everything Jesus did during his ministry. The dawning of the new creation, the reality of the coming of the eschatological kingdom, the powers of the age to come—all these things were at work in and through Jesus as he forgave sins, healed the sick, raised the dead, and gave sight to the blind. He is the Spirit-endowed Son of God who heals and saves and forgives and calms the storm and feeds God’s hungry sheep—all because he bears the curse of God on our behalf as our sin-bearer.

The context of the Gospel accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the exile, the failure of the first-level fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise. The literal 70 years of captivity had ended when Cyrus issued his decree allowing the Jews to return and rebuild the temple, but the spiritual exile continued. The great eschatological restoration of all things that the prophets had predicted had not yet come to pass. Thus, when Jesus came preaching that the kingdom of God was at hand, and healing the sick and giving sight to the blind, he was announcing that the great time of fulfillment was at hand. He was announcing that now the second-level fulfillment was taking place. He went around bestowing that kingdom to all sinners who acknowledge their need and look to him in faith. But the blessings of the kingdom of salvation are available to men and women and children, not because of their obedience, but only because of the obedience of Jesus to the point of death. The gospels are passion narratives with extended introductions. Thus, it is not until the last act of the drama that the true nature of the kingdom of God that has dawned in the person of Jesus is disclosed. The kingdom of God is the saving rule of God coming in power. But at the inauguration of the kingdom at the second-level, the fulfillment isn’t quite what we expected. The inaugurated kingdom comes not in outward glory and power, but through the weakness of the cross. We will look at the consummation-phase of the kingdom at the second-level in the next chapter.

Kline References

Kingdom Prologue, 352.

“The Old Testament Origins of the Gospel Genre.” Westminster Theological Journal 38 (1975-76): 1-27. Reprinted in The Structure of Biblical Authority. 2^nd Edition. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975.

Discussion Questions

Do you think it is accurate to speak of Israel’s “continuing exile” even after the literal return from exile?
The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) present Jesus as constantly proclaiming the kingdom, but the language of God’s (or Christ’s) “kingdom” only appears on two occasions in the Gospel of John (John 3:3-5; 18:36). What alternative language is used in John instead of “kingdom” to proclaim the same reality?
What makes the incarnation event legible?
What does the active and passive obedience of Christ consist of?

Endnotes

Lyrics by Henry H. Milman, 1827. ↩
Kline, Kingdom Prologue, 352. ↩