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     Last week we considered Jesus as the unusual king.  He announced His kingdom was coming (Matthew 3:2).  How could Jesus be king of His kingdom when He left 40 days after His resurrection?  And where is His kingdom?  Ten days after Jesus left the earth, the apostle Peter exclaimed He is on the throne at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33, 36).  Some 30 years later apostle Paul said some folks were already in the kingdom, including Paul himself (Colossians 1:13).  What?  An invisible kingdom?

     Regardless of folks who assert Jesus will establish His kingdom at some future date, it has been in existence for nearly 2000 years.  But how would the King Jesus establish His kingdom, if He is not here to do it Himself?  Emissaries!

     Although Jesus would not be on earth to establish His kingdom, during the three years of His ministry, 12 men accompanied Him constantly to listen, observe and learn.  They were not administrators or generals, which we would expect to be at the royal palace of the kingdom.  In fact there was no palace or capital because the King was no longer on earth.  More so, who would have selected this ragtag bunch of men to establish a kingdom on earth with no king?  No one!  Who would select fishermen, a zealot who wanted to run the Romans out of Palestine, a hated tax collector, etc?  From a purely worldly viewpoint, they were untrained, unarmed and unprepared to do battle, let alone to be become the foundation of any kingdom.  Where would they build their headquarters?  They didn’t.  So how could they establish a kingdom?

     Some time earlier, Jesus told Peter, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18).  In that discussion Jesus referred to His kingdom and His church synonymously.

     The night before Jesus was put to death, He repeatedly assured these 12 men that He would send the Holy Spirit to guide them (John 14:16,17, 26; 15:26, 16:7,8, 13,14).  Forty days later, Jesus would remind these apostles of His promise to send the Holy Spirit to help them (Acts 1:4, 5, 8).  In fact in reality, it would be the Holy Spirit via the apostles who would establish the kingdom.  But the Holy Spirit would do only what Jesus would instruct (Jn 16:13).  Indeed, He is the King.

     This reminds us of God’s revelation some 700 years earlier, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” (Isaiah 55:8).  To say the least, Jesus kingdom is most unusual.  Citizenship in His kingdom has eternal benefits.

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