there's a new deal in town

In Matthew 11 we learn that the age of the Law and the prophets has come to an end and a new age has begun. We call this the Church age or more precisely it is the beginning of the Kingdom of God. But that is not to say that the Kingdom of God is new. It is simply that the thrust of history is different. The greatest in the prior age, i.e., John the Baptist, is now as the least in this new age. There has been a change, the Kingdom is now coming in a new (or renewed) power.

Jesus has come and set up a powerful movement that is now working mightily in mankind. This new movement demands a powerful reaction. Until now the rabbis taught the yoke of the Kingdom was to accept the Law as the norm. Jesus is now saying that this is not enough. He is teaching freedom and He is teaching it with authority and power. The only proper reaction to this is radical repentance. Entering into this Kingdom is no passive act, it is violent. It turns all that you know or did on its head.

What are the signs (or symptoms) of this Kingdom? Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

Jesus wants use to now take on His yoke. In it we become lowly and humble but not as one weighed down but as one truly set free. In this Kingdom, every thing is turned upside down. The low and humble will be the greatest. The oppressed will be set free. The ruler of the earth is destroyed!

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