2. T/ir ,.,;,/, irj /..rm , if thr . ,:/-,v,.,v,„,„._Witll
the excciitii.il ot t\v.> p:i.ssa,;jcs ill Ml. which speak of tlie km-. Ion, «ill„,m ;ni> ., n:il il vni- w..r,l (Mt
'kingdom of God,' the lonuer greatly predominat- ing in Matthew, and the latter being the exclusive term in Mark and Luke. It seems probable that the term ordinarily used by Jesus was ' kingdom of heaven,' and that for the following reasons.
(1) It is the prevailing term in the Logia of Matthew, and the Logia, unlike the Gospels of Mark and Luke, are regarded as directly Apostolic.
(2) The presumption is that Jesus used a current Jewish term, and 'kingdom of heaven' has a dis- tinctly Jewish colouring, which does not belong to the term 'kingdom of God.' For the Greek word for 'heaven ' in this phrase is a jjlural {tCjv ovpavdv) in accordance with the Hebrew usage (c;?-^' hidS?), but contrary to the Greek. And, furtlier, the ex- pression ' kingdom of lieaven ' accords better with tlie popular Jewisli belief that the kingdom of the Messiah was to come from above. (3) The origin- ality of the term ' kingdom of heaven' is favoured by the coiiH,liTati.,ii (IkiI I lie Smmil and Third Evangelist-, sinrc ih^y \mo|i. for Cmlile readers, may nmri' ron.lily !"■ Ilioii^jlii lo li.'ivr modilicd a Jewish expics-ioii Ih.-m tli.it tho .■iiithor of tlie Logia, who wrote for Jews, modilied the term used by Jesus, t
But, while there is therefore every reason to conclude that Jesus ordinarily used the term 'kingdom of heaven,' we ci'it.-iinly are not justified in saying that Hi' cli.l iliis (o avoid .speaking the Divine name (cf. i >. llolizin.uiii. The. Life, of Jesus, pp. 163, 164; Daliuaii. JJir IT,,,-/.- ,/^r'.9„,'p. 92, Eng. tr.). It is impossible tu sii|iiiosi' tli.-il Ihcmanwho called God His Father, an. I « ho loll that God was always with Him, the man who Inouuht God near to His disciples and convinced Ihi'in lli.it ITe num- bered the hairs of tlieir lieads, Ih.ii Ihov ,,,iil(l approach Him at any time witlioui piio-i or oui- ward sacrifice, — that such a man .sIiihimI tho siipoi- stitious re.-anl for (he Holy Name. If Jesus liabitiially ii-o.l I hi' (I'rm 'kingdom of heaven,' wliicli \\i' lii'lii'\i' lo have been the case, He jiro- balilyiliil -o Iht.mi-o 1 hat was the name in common use aiiioir.. Mi h, ,,: . : ,.
3. /•'"'- '//it of the term.— To ascer-
tain till' I ill!, I ill of tlie term 'kingdom of heaven,' ,1- nii! liv Iomis, we may well begin with a passage in which He seems to give a general
mterpretation of it, viz. the second and third peti- tions of the Lord's Prayer, 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth ' (Mt 6'"). The second of these petitions appears to ex- plain the first. It seems to imply that, where the will of God is done, there the kingdom of God has come. That will is thought of as being done per- fectly in heaven ; and when it is done thus on earth, then the kingdom of heaven is realized. Accord- ingly this passage su.ggr-ls tint tho fiiinlaincntal idea of ' kingdom of Ilea Mu i- iho,///. ,f Cml,
Another pas.sage wliii'h, ihou'.jh nol using the word ' kingdom,' seems to thu.w liulit oii tlic conception of Jesus, is that \. Iiirli lorouls His answer to those who, wliile He «a.- ti'.iihin'j im a certain occasion, told Hiiu that His luothor and brothers desired to see Him (Wk 8=i-»'). He said, 'Whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and people who sat around Ilin were owned as His khnt,- think that what maih' il them also members of l!i wliich brought tliem noai t
* See below, § 3.
t Note the bearing of the words frequently modify ' Father."
vhich
r.' But if these in.g to His word,
- reasonable to
- Iviiiilred made Ion,. And that
.\ .1- the doing of I ill the Lord's Trayor seems (oeNplaiii llielii,,, 'kiiie.lom.'
1,1 line with I he tlioii-ht ot I he-e two ]iassages wliii'h li,'i\e lieeii eoiiviilereil, i-. the eoiK'e]itioil of a con.siderable number of important sayings of Jesus concerning the kingdom. Thus, in the Sermon on the Mount, He told His hearers to seek the king- dom and the righteousness of their heavenly Father (Mt (,^). Here, as in the Lord's Prayer, the kingdom is something to be desired and sought. It is contrasted with food and drink and clothing, —things that the (Jentilrs seek, and is thus char- acterizeil as an inwan! an.l siijritnal good. "We may then re-,'ii,l the wonl ■ 1 i'jhleousness' as giving lieie the .loniinanl IhoiiL'ht of that kingdom which is to be souglit. Mot oflicrwise are we to understand the word in that passage which deals with the young scribe who answered Jesus dis- creetly (Mk 12«). The Master told him that he was not far from the kiiii^dom of God. Now, in these words He was oli\iiiu-ly 1 h.nai tcrizing the moral and spiritual stale <if the young man ; and thus the content of the teiin 'kiii-dum' is here moral and sjjiritual. So in the parable of the Automatic Earth. As it is (he function of the earth to carry forward (he ile\ eloimient of the seed lodged in it, so by analo'j\ il is (hr- function of the heart to develop' the kiiiuihnn of heaven (i^-^^). Manifestly, then, the kiii;_'ilijiii is here thought of as a spiritual prineijile (.. he leeeived into the heart.