opinions and musings

Guest post today from Frank Viola: Click this link to read the unedited interview: http://frankviola.org/2012/01/23/ntwright

If the central message of the gospels is that God in the person of Jesus of Nazereth has come to earth to be King, then what does that Kingdom look like as it develops in our lives and in society?  Mark in his gospel records that Jesus announced that the time was fulfilled and that the Kingdom of God was now a present reality (Mark 1:15).  However, in contrast to that, Matthew’s gospel records Jesus giving an example prayer in which he prays that God’s Kingdom “would come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  (see Matthew 6:10) So it seems that even though the Kingdom of God was present in first century Palestine, Jesus wanted his followers to pray for it to arrive.  Perhaps the Kingdom proclaimed by Jesus is something that will grow over time?   One of the parables that Jesus told about the Kingdom speaks of a small seed growing slowly over time until it becomes a large tree for all the birds to nest in.  (Matthew 13:31-32) Another parable about the Kingdom