God’s Disillusioned Kingdom on Earth
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
Looking back at the life of Jesus we can see the traditional roots of his upbringing. He learned Jewish history and scriptures from his father and synagogue leaders. According to Floyd Ross and Tynette Hills in their book The Great Religions By Which Men Live (1961), “He knew well the ever present Jewish hope for a brighter, better future, when God would help the Jews to regain their freedom and prestige among the nations. This hope flamed high in their hearts, as they lived under Roman conquerors.”
Many of the Jews felt hopeless, that their individual actions were not important. They believed that God was going to create a miracle, bringing into being a new age, when Judea Palestine would be “powerful, independent, and respected among nations. There would be no accompanying armies or foreign governors. The Jewish people would live in the same prosperous way they had lived under King David of long ago,” (Ross and Hills).
Jesus did not believe that God sent his blessings to some and withheld them from others. Ross and Hills continue by saying that God’s blessings came to a person, “The Kingdom of God is not a condition that we get in some undisclosed future. No, [the kingdom of God is a present possibility of goodness that is hidden, like a seed, inside every person.] You have only to let it grow naturally, feeding its development by loving attitudes and kind deeds. And behold, it grows gradually until you yourself are part of the Kingdom of God.”
Hearing the stories of the prophets, knowing many of the Psalms describing God’s love and mercy, we are told most importantly that Jesus developed a “close personal relationship with God. Prayer and meditation made him feel at home with God.” Jesus turned to God through meditation and prayer.
Jesus comforted those who had ears to hear. He taught, “God expected something of man…to behave toward [one another] with loving concern, forgiveness and patience just as he [would]. This was the righteousness God’s Kingdom required, not a righteousness bound up with many rules and practices. This righteousness went much deeper, as deep as thoughts…and desires.” From these roots flowed correct speech, acts, and efforts.
We further learn in The Worlds Religions (1958) by Huston Smith that the stories of the prophets and visionaries in the Hebrew history stretch back more than 5000 years. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus begins his ministry with a quote from Isaiah saying, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled.” Smith shares a quote from William James found in his Varieties Of Religious Experience. “In its broadest terms, religion says that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in rightful relations to it.” Smith emphasizes that the biblical tradition in which Jesus stood should really be understood as a continuum, “a sustained and demanding dialogue of the Hebrew people with the unseen order.”