Living in the Now & Not Yet

Download: Audio

Scripture:  Matthew 12:22-28

22 Then they brought to Him a demoniac who was blind and mute; and He cured him, so that the one who had been mute could speak and see. Read more…

Looking to Sunday

by Elaine Poproski

He does it so casually – – healing people.

With a word, a man who’s never walked stands up and goes home; someone who’s never seen the sun opens his eyes; another, who’s never heard “I love you,” can suddenly hear. It’s all so…casual.

But of course it is. In Jesus, the kingdom of God is present. And in the kingdom of God there is no room for suffering or illness or pain. So Jesus speaks and the things that plague us run for the hills. Whether generic, impersonal evil or the truly malevolent, nothing that is not good can remain when Jesus is near.

In Matthew 12 we read of Jesus casting a demon out of a man and connecting that act to the presence of the kingdom of God. In Luke 9 we read of Jesus sending His disciples out amongst the people, declaring them to have power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and thus to proclaim the kingdom of God. In Revelation 21 we read a beautiful vision of God’s kingdom finally come in full.

See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be His people,
and God Himself will be with them;
He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.
And the one seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.”

In Jesus, the kingdom of God has come. And yet, we are all only too aware that even still we await the full arrival of God’s kingdom. Nowhere is this as visible as in the sickness and pain that continues to plague us. So we declare Jesus’ name, taking up the power and authority with which He clothes His disciples, while also awaiting the new heaven and the new earth. We live and we pray in the tension of the now-ness and the not-yet-ness of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

As you prepare for Sunday, perhaps read those words above from Revelation 21. Read them out loud. Read them over and over again. And then perhaps move to Luke 9:1 and read those words over and over again until they are in you – until they are a part of you. Know their truth. Know that, despite the not-yet-ness of God’s kingdom, Jesus is present by the Holy Spirit, and that means God’s kingdom is also present.