A Topsy Turvy Kingdom

As Easter approaches I have been reading the various accounts of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem and the conversations and stories that are related in the gospels about this.

From this I see that Christs kingdom simply does not stack up with our worldly experiences and understandings, its a topsy turvy kingdom. Why can I say that? Well because with earthly kingdoms its about power, authority, respect and wealth. Then when we work we expect to get paid more than some one doing less of a job or who we consider less important or skilled.

In Jesus' kingdom its not about obeying rules and regulations its about living a life surrendered to him and which simply reflects the gratitude of what he has already done for me.

Jesus answers his disciples questions after their confusion at his telling a rich guy that he needs to give away his wealth with the parable of the Vineyard (Matt 20-1-16); Its all about gratitude not about reward for service, we can't earn what Christ has already won - our salvation!

He goes on to explain that greatness in his kingdom equates to serving (Matt 20:20-28). We are called not to abuse others because we have authority or power in a given situation. We are called to serve. Jesus our example, shows the ultimate service to us on the cross, he calls us, his people to follow him.

We can pollute the churches mission with ways that do not reflect Christ's kingdom values and invariably they cause strife and upset. If we follow Christ's ways we might avoid a few more of these.

There's much more to read ... try it for yourself and read through the journey to Jerusalem accounts (Matt ; Mark ; Luke ) . Maybe they will cause you to reflect on what might need to change in your life to come into line with Jesus' kingdom model.