Second Thoughts ~ Walking with Judas Part IV Thy Kingdom Come

Greetings Dear Reader, 

In case you have missed it, my next work of fiction, The Judas Scroll will be out November 5, 2021.  You can email me to preorder a signed first edition at the link above until October 20^, 2021 (aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com ).  It is the next novel in The Jesus Cycle which includes, The Foster Father of God, Magi: The Gift Bearers, and The Praetor.   What I wish to do is address some of the historical background leading up to it. 

One of the things the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Zealots all wanted was the restoration of the Kingdom of God on earth.  The difficulty is the way in which each philosophy viewed the nature of the Messiah and his arrival.  Looking at anything through and out of focus lens will distort what we see, perceive, and believe. 

The Pharisees believed the Jews could earn the arrival of the Messiah by being good enough.  They used this to worship the Law above the Father.  They displaced the weightier matters of the Law, love and compassion for weights increasing their power and wealth through judgment and avarice. 

Now, we must look at the words of Jesus through the lens of a Zealot.  They believed Messiah would come as an armed conqueror on a charger for war.  If one believes Jesus to be the Messiah and sees his power over disease, crowds, and death, one begins to yearn for him to act like GOD.  When Jesus begins to teach about the Kingdom arriving on earth, the lens of the Zealot does not focus on the message of peace and redemption.  A Zealot cannot see the vitality of the need to love our enemies.  

Toussaint, in his book, Behold the King suggests Jesus was making a genuine offer to establish His physical kingdom on earth.   He makes a good argument for this.  He is saying, accept me as King and I will destroy your enemies.  The people respond, destroy our enemies and we will accept you as King.  As with all things, Jesus asks for faith and following first.  

Still, looking at his discussion of the Kingdom through the eyes of a Zealot, one can see why Judas would feel the need to push Jesus to act.  There could be disillusion or panic when Jesus begins to speak of departing or dying.  Failure to understand the role of the Messiah as a suffering servant would lead one to think he could help God achieve his military goals.  

It is the same for us all, Dear Reader.  We remake Jesus in the image we wish to see.  We use our image to further our own agenda when what we need to do is follow in faith with no presuppositions.  I must follow Christ and never try to lead him.  Judas wanted Jesus to rule but he wanted it to be in Judas’ method and timing.  When Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and begins to speak of his death, Judas begins to form a plan to get Jesus to repeat the glimpse of his power he has shown.  He wishes to push the Messiah to do it on a grander scale. 

Wishing you joy in the journey, 

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good. 

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“The Kingdome of Heaven is at hand.”