#Subversive kingdom study free#

The Messiah was not going to be a government leader of an earthly kingdom, but was instead he was king of the Kingdom of heaven, a Kingdom that Jesus prayed, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” It was a surprising kingdom that was among us and in us, and could be advanced through us. They said that Jesus actually was the Messiah, and that the Jewish leaders had a faulty understanding of the prophecies about the Messiah. The earliest Christians, however, taught something different. So when Jesus came along saying he was the Messiah, but he did not rise to become a military leader, the Jewish leaders deemed him a fraud and blasphemer, and they crucified him.

#Subversive kingdom study free#

Reading those prophecies, the Jews in the first century believed that the Messiah would free their land from their Roman overlords. That word “Christ” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” The Messiah shows up in Old Testament prophecies as a coming king, of the line of the great King David, whom God would send as the fulfillment of the prophets’ message, which said that he would rescue Israel and restore her to prominence, just like in the days of King Solomon. Paul is saying that Jesus is the Messiah. Second, not only would Romans bristle at the suggestion, Jews would be upset at the Messiah part. Paul is saying, “Christians, Jesus is your Lord, no matter what the emperor says.” Just the greeting of the letter is a subversive act. Calling Jesus “Lord” and “Christ” is very intentional on Paul’s part, then.įirst, what does Paul mean when he says that Jesus is “Lord”? Paul is saying that Jesus is Lord, not the Roman emperor, the Caesar, who thought of himself as deity and required people to say, “Caesar is Lord.” Paul, calling Jesus “Lord,” as he also does in verse 2, as if to really drive the point home, is directly confronting the empire in this letter. Jews would agree with the first part, not the second. The Christian church is uniquely rooted in both God as Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul emphasizes here the fact that the Christian Church is different.

There were plenty of other religions in the Roman Empire, and we have already seen evidence of that by the presence of aggressive Jews in Thessalonica. What does his name mean? Continue reading, as our study through 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 during this first week of Advent will seek to understand the name of Jesus.Īfter confirming to the Thessalonian Christians that they are the church, connected to the larger Christian family, Paul continues encouraging them in verse 1 by declaring that they are “in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” In other words, they should see themselves as a distinctly Christian church. Have you ever heard someone talk about Jesus Christ, as if “Christ” is his last name, or surname? The name “Jesus Christ” has become so culturally familiar, perhaps most often used as an expletive.