The King and His Kingdom

"I love Jesus...do I really need a Church? Why do we need religion?" In this episode, Dr. Sri reveals how the history of the Kingdom of God is interwoven with the inseparable bond of Christ and his Church throughout the Old and New Testaments.

Snippet from the Show
You can't love the king and ignore his kingdom.

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The Most Important Teaching

Many of us think that the main reason Jesus came was to die for our sins, but we can forget that the main reason wasn't the only reason.

During his public ministry, what did Jesus talk about the most? Salvation? Forgiveness? Love? No...it was his kingdom.

If all Jesus wanted to do was die for our sins, he could have done that very quickly and efficiently when he was a little baby.

Even as an adult, consciously choosing to willingly give up his life, there were many situations before Calvary where his death could have taken place. Why the wait?

He came to do more than just die.

If we want to receive what Jesus did for us in its fullest form, we must receive all the graces he won for us through the graces passed down through his Church.

The Kingdom of God in Scripture

Matthew 4:25
"So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan."

The Davidic Kingdom
2 Samuel Chapter 7: God promises David that he is going to have an everlasting dynasty, a kingdom that would reign forever.

For the Jews living in the first century, they lived under oppression with no king ruling over them, only nations, the Romans in particular.

When Jesus comes around announcing that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, they knew what it meant: "We want to meet this guy. He's the one. He's the great king we've all been waiting for."

Old Testament Kingdoms vs. The Kingdom of God

Old Testament: Visible structures, offices of authority, lines of succession.
The Kingdom of God: Visible structures, offices of authority, and lines of succession.

Old Testament: Liturgy and the Priesthood
The Kingdom of God: Liturgy and the Priesthood

Old Testament: The Prime Minister, whose authority was given by the king of the kingdom
The Kingdom of God: The pope, whose authority was given by the King of the Kingdom
(The Keys of the Kingdom: See Isaiah 22, Matthew 16)

Old Testament: The role of the queen mother, the mother of the king
The Kingdom of God: The role of the Queen Mother, the Mother of the King

Casting Lots in the Jewish Tradition
The Romans cast lots for Jesus's garment. They rolled the dice, it was a game of chance.

In the Old Testament, casting lots was not just a game of chance. It was the way in which God's will is made manifest for his priests. (See 1 Chronicles Chapter 24, Luke 1: 8-13, Acts 1:26)