The Gospel of the Forty Days: The Church as the Restored Kingdom
Last week we developed the theme of the
Messianic expectation of the restoration of the Kingdom of David, and asserted
that in Jesus’s teaching about the “kingdom of God” during the forty days
between His resurrection and ascension (Ac 1:3), He would have taught that this kingdom is now the Church. Let’s explore that a bit more.
David’s kingdom was based on covenant with
God (2 Sam 7:1-29), which included God’s promise to establish an eternal
kingdom with a descendant of David, and “I will be His Father, and He shall be
My Son.” Luke’s Gospel makes it clear that Jesus, in the flesh, is a descendant
of David (Lk 2:4-7, 3:31); and in previous articles we have discussed some of
the Bible’s evidence that Jesus is, at the same time, in His Divinity, the Son
of God.
Now at the Last Supper, Jesus says to the
Twelve, “As My Father appointed [really, covenanted – in Greek, the word is the
usual term for making a covenant in the OT] a kingdom for Me,” – the eternal
covenant of the Davidic kingdom – “so do I appoint [covenant] for you that you
may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel” (Lk 22:29-30). Clearly Jesus is speaking of the New Covenant
Kingdom and now establishes His 12 royal officers just as Solomon, son of
David, had 12 officers over his kingdom (1 Kg 4:7). Jesus is also speaking of
the Messianic banquet (Is 55:1-2) of that everlasting covenant with David where
all nations shall come (Is 55:3-5).
Also, at the Last Supper and during the
Passover meal (which recalls the Exodus and God’s covenant with Moses after the
deliverance of Israel from Egypt), Jesus said He would not eat again of the
Passover “until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Lk 22:16), and over the
third cup of wine, the “cup of blessing” (1 Cor 10:16), He said, “This is My
Blood of the covenant” (Mk 14:24; “New Covenant,” Lk 22:20, 1 Cor 11:25, Heb
8:13, 12:24; “eternal covenant,” Heb 13:20), and that He would not “drink again
of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of
God” (Mk 14:25) or “until the kingdom of God comes” (Lk 22:18). This means
Jesus did not drink the Passover fourth cup, the “cup of consummation,”
postponing it until the kingdom is fully established. Now this would have amazed
the Apostles – the fourth cup was the high point of the Passover rite which
renewed and joined them to Israel’s covenant with God.
So when does Jesus drink the wine
signaling the kingdom is established? St. John, the only one of the Apostles
and Evangelists to be an eyewitness of the crucifixion, tells us that on the
Cross, moments before He died, Jesus said, “I thirst,” and they put a sponge of
common wine (sour wine, vinegar) on hyssop and held it up to Jesus’ mouth and
He received it (Jn 19:29-30). By noting the detail of hyssop, St. John brings
us back to Passover and the Exodus where hyssop was dipped in the blood to mark
the doorposts (Ex 12:22) and to sprinkle the people in blood establishing the
Mosaic covenant (Heb 9:19). So St. John tells us that Jesus now drinks. That
is, He now takes the fourth Passover cup of consummation – the cup the Father
has given Him (Jn 18:11). Then Jesus says, “It is finished,” and gives up His
Spirit.
In Jesus’ sacrificial death, the kingdom
of God is now fully established. Indeed, many early Church Fathers spoke of
Christ reigning from the “tree,” from the cross. The non-canonical Epistle of
Barnabas (8:5, written c. 70-132 AD) says, “The kingdom of Jesus is on the cross.”
So can there be any doubt that in Jesus'
teaching those forty days about the kingdom of God (Ac 1:3) He taught about its
establishment by the cross and His sacrificial death? That is, of His kingdom
of love and humility fulfilling the Exodus, the Passover, and Messianic
expectations (Ac 1:6), the eternal kingdom covenanted to David. That eternal kingdom
is then comprised of the Apostles and believers, and all their successors throughout
time – which is the Church.
Dibby Green
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.
References:
John Bergsma, Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Revealing the Jewish Roots of Christianity (New York: Image, 2019), p. 118-119.
Scott Hahn, The Fourth Cup, Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Super and the Cross (New York: Image, 2018), p. 108-109, 120-121, 165-166.
Scott Hahn, The Fourth Cup, Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Super and the Cross (New York: Image, 2018), p. 108-109, 120-121, 165-166.