The Things Pertaining to the Kingdom of God
During the period of forty days, the Lord Christ was with His disciples, speaking to them about the things concerning the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).
And we would like to contemplate together tonight about “the things concerning the Kingdom of God.”
It is beautiful that the Lord Christ was speaking about these spiritual matters…
So that we may receive a teaching to speak about the things concerning the Kingdom.
As constructive spiritual conversations, such as the conversation of Saint Mary with Saint Elizabeth, and such as the meeting between Anba Anthony and Anba Paul…
Spiritual conversation builds both the speaker and the listener together… in the Kingdom.
Just as the Scripture said, “The lips of the righteous are a fountain of life.” As for those who are not spiritual, their conversations are destructive, or at the very least a waste of time…
Among the constructive conversations is people’s visiting of the saints, asking them for a word of benefit to build them up. When they sit with them, the desire of both the speaker and the listener is to speak about the things concerning the Kingdom of God. They find in them pleasure, consolation, and benefit. And they feel the presence of God during them.
And thus, this was the work of the apostles, prophets, preachers, teachers, spiritual guides, and priestly fathers: to speak to people about the things concerning the Kingdom of God. As the Apostle Paul said, “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”
This which Christ said to His disciples is what they preached, since there were no written Gospels at that time; rather, they lived by the Tradition.
The first Gospel written, the Gospel of Saint Mark, may have been written about twenty years later. How, then, did people live? And from what source did they derive the teaching? Without doubt, from the oral words of Christ, from His conversations about the things concerning the Kingdom of God…
And the apostles were not writing at that time, but were preaching…
And what they heard from Christ, they did not write down all of it, but rather taught it to others orally. As Saint John the Beloved said: “Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full” (3 John 12). This speaking face to face, he handed down to them so that they might hand it down to others, without writing. And his joy was complete through the Tradition.
And he said the same manner in his letter to Gaius (3 John 13).
Likewise, we see the Apostle Paul saying to his disciple Timothy: “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).
This apostolic Tradition is, in its origin, a divine Tradition…
The apostles received it from the Lord’s conversation with them about the things concerning the Kingdom of God. And although Paul was not one of the Twelve, nevertheless, according to the same principle, he said to the Corinthians: “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you” (1 Corinthians 11:23). Then he explained to them the mystery of the Eucharist and its conditions as he had received it from the Lord…
And there is no doubt that the Lord’s private conversation with the leaders (that is, the apostles) is different from what He says to the general people… And there is no doubt that during that period He handed over to them all the doctrines, rites, sacraments, and rules of faith.
And the people received all of this through Tradition, without written Gospels; they received it mouth to mouth and lived by it. And God’s way from the beginning was to write His law upon people’s hearts before writing it in books… whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament. Likewise, the Lord Christ sat with His disciples and spoke to them, instead of leaving them a book…
So what are these things concerning the Kingdom about which He spoke to them? Without doubt, the sacraments of the Church were among them…
Did He not previously say to Nicodemus: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5)?
Therefore, speaking about Baptism is among the things concerning the Kingdom of God; Baptism cannot be separated from the Kingdom of God.
Likewise, no one can enter the Kingdom without the work of the Holy Spirit in him. Thus, the Sacrament of Holy Chrismation (Myron) is among the things concerning the Kingdom of God… Also, no one can inherit the Kingdom without the Sacrament of Repentance… and likewise with the rest of the Church’s sacraments, and particularly with the Sacrament of Priesthood, the servant of all the sacraments.
Therefore, during this period, the Lord Christ handed over to His disciples the things concerning the sacraments of the Church, as Paul explained concerning the mystery of the Eucharist (1 Corinthians 11), and perhaps He explained to them its rites and conditions and the work of the Spirit in it. And what else?
Among the things concerning the Kingdom also are preaching and teaching..
Therefore, “He said to them: ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned’” (Mark 16:15, 16). And He also said to them: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19, 20).
It is established from these two passages that He spoke to them during the forty days about preaching and about Baptism; therefore, both of them are among the things concerning the Kingdom of God..
For this reason, the apostles continued steadfastly in “prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4), that is, the sacraments and teaching…
For since faith is necessary for the Kingdom, “How then shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14).
And teaching became a vital work, about which the Apostle Paul says, “Having been entrusted with a stewardship, woe is me if I do not preach.” And he says to his disciple Timothy, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them. For in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you also.”
Teaching (the Word) leads to faith. And faith leads to Baptism. And he who believes and is baptized is saved”… This is the Kingdom.
And the Word became a testimony to the Lord, who said, “You shall be witnesses to Me” (Acts 1:8). Therefore, after His Ascension, “with great power the apostles gave witness… and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33). And they could not keep silent. Rather, “they filled Jerusalem with their doctrine” (Acts 5:28).
Among the things concerning the Kingdom of God about which the Lord spoke to them was their relationship with the Holy Spirit, and the work of the Holy Spirit in them..
He was about to send them the Holy Spirit after His Ascension. Therefore, it was necessary for Him to speak to them about the Holy Spirit, who spoke in the prophets, speaking through their mouths, as He said to them, “It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father”… The Holy Spirit working in all the sacraments of the Church… The Holy Spirit who would give them power, as He said to them: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me” (Acts 1:8).
And during the forty days, He handed over to them the priesthood, the work of the Holy Spirit in it, and the authority of binding and loosing. For Priesthood is among the things concerning the Kingdom.
And thus, the Scripture says that He breathed on their faces and said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:22, 23).
And during the forty days, He also handed over to them the cross of service.
He explained to them what afflictions would befall them. He also explained to the Apostle Peter what kind of death he would die (John 21:19). And He had previously told them that they would be brought before courts and judges. Therefore, when the apostles encountered persecutions later, they did not care, because He had told them beforehand.
And thus, the Lord was preparing them in every way for the service to come.
Yet service is not all a cross; rather, it also contains help and power. Therefore, during the forty days, the Lord spoke to the disciples about the power they would receive, and what the Spirit would give them of miracles and signs.
When He spoke to them about preaching and Baptism, He also spoke to them about miracles.
So He said to them, “And these signs will follow those who believe: They will cast out demons in My name, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up
and they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” This is the holy forty-day period, the period of the Lord’s dwelling with His disciples, speaking to them about the matters concerning the Kingdom of God.
So what is our position regarding these matters of the Kingdom?
Do we sit with Christ, so that He may speak to us about the matters concerning the Kingdom of God? Do we go where He is, so that we may see Him and He may speak to us, just as He asked His disciples to go to Galilee, saying, “There they will see Me”? So they went and met Him…
Do we prepare ourselves for service, so that we may build the Kingdom like them? If not at the level of the Church, then at the level of the family or friends, or at the very least, let us build the Kingdom of God within ourselves, so that we may also practice building it outside ourselves…
Are we practicing a life of communion with the Holy Spirit like them? For without the Spirit, we cannot do anything…
And do we persevere in the Holy Mysteries in which the Spirit works, and in the rest of the means of grace, which are the matters concerning the Kingdom?
And are we practicing carrying the cross, as an important matter among the matters concerning the Kingdom, indeed, as a distinctive sign…
May we enter into the spirit of this period and live it.
And may we examine all our affairs and see whether they concern the Kingdom. And may we examine ourselves, lest we be holding fast to the matters concerning the world, or the flesh and material things, and thus deprive ourselves of sitting with Christ during the forty holy days.
Our attachment to the Kingdom and its matters requires from us a heartfelt conviction of the importance of this Kingdom for our eternity and also for the salvation of people…
If we reach this conviction, our hearts will be kindled with holy zeal and with the love of God, and we will care about the matters concerning the Kingdom.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III — El-Keraza Magazine — Tenth Year, Issue 21, 25-5-1979.
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