Day 32: The Kingdom Come

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Daniel 7:13-14, 9:20-22, 26-27,12:1-3
*Mark 13:14-27*
Revelation 1:7-8

But in those days, after that suffering... Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds” with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.”
~Mark 13:24-27







This is a radical chapter in Mark. The chapter where Jesus talks about more than ‘ethics’ and ‘kind societal lessons.’ He talks about the apocalypse—the coming of a drastically different era. Jesus talks about the breaking-in of God’s kingdom (and he leans heavily on the book of Daniel to do it).

Hindsight being 20/20, we look back and say that Jesus’ life revealed the way and truth of this divine kingdom where the hungry are fed (Mark 8:1-9), the children are welcome (Mark 10:14-15), and our expectations are turned upside down. We say that Jesus’ resurrection broke open eternal life and brought God’s kingdom here, now.
And we DO see it now. We see the kingdom of God in reconciliation and forgiveness when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper; we see the kingdom of God in the life and actions of a Church who willingly ‘picks up their cross’ and lives in service to others; and we participate in the Kingdom whenever we “reject the evil powers of this world” and actively “resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves” (from the membership vows in The United Methodist Church).

...but we don’t see the kingdom fully. Not yet. Death and suffering remain in our world, so we also remember that Christ is still returning. The Kingdom is not yet fully “on earth as it is in heaven” so we pray for it. We beg the Lord to “haste the day” when “the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend” to set everything aright. 

And in the mean time, we hope for it. And look for it. And we stay awake—living our lives in light of it. 






“The Kingdom of God  will silently increase, wherever it is set up,
and spread from heart to heart, from house to house, from town to town, from one kingdom to another.”  ~John Wesley 

(Prayer) Lord, thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven

("Wake Up" by All Sons and Daughters)

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