The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

“The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

When people hear the phrase, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” many believe it means that the second coming of Jesus is near. But the word ‘kingdom’ in the biblical Greek means much more than just the geographical rule of a king. Kingdom, in its essence, means the royal nature of a king. The royal nature of heaven is at hand. Jesus instructed his Disciples to go and announce to the Jewish people that the Messiah had arrived and that God’s royal nature was dwelling among them.

What does the royal nature of God look like? It looks like a Jewish carpenter who was born in a barn and executed as a criminal. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. Before Jesus, people could not look upon the face of God and live. God humbled himself and took on our humanity so that we could see God face to face. God’s royal nature is sacrificial love. It is through this sacrificial love that Christ offered himself to pay the wages of death for all mankind. God reconciles us through the death of his son so that we can live with him forever.

If salvation and redemption weren’t enough, God went even further. He bestows his royal nature upon us when he adopts us as his sons and daughters in our baptisms. We are clothed in sacrificial love and given the Holy Spirit so that we might live as sons and daughters in his royal family. He calls us by name as he did the twelve Disciples. The Disciples were first sent to draw the Jewish people back to God. We are sent to bring the good news to all people so that everyone might be saved. We are the laborers Jesus told the disciples to ask the master of the harvest to send out.

When we die, we will stand before Jesus and give an accounting of our lives. We will have to give an accounting of the labor we did for the kingdom. He will ask us one question. “Do you love me?” The love we have for Jesus will be shown in the number of people we brought to a saving relationship with him in this life. The miracles of curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and driving out demons fail in comparison to the joy that there is in heaven when we bring a lost soul to know Jesus. Those who were cured, cleansed, or delivered all still died, but those we bring to know and love Jesus will live forever.

When you are dismissed from Mass today you are being sent out on mission. You are laborers being sent out into the field to assist with the harvest. You have received Jesus in the Eucharist and you have been filled with his royal nature. Love is not meant to be hoarded but shared. It is through sharing of love that love is multiplied like the loaves and the fish. You may be the only face of Jesus someone will ever look upon. Be sure that they see the love Jesus has for them through you and you will hear the words we all should long to hear when we die –

“Well done good and faithful servant.”

Evangelizing Worldwide

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