Have you ever noticed that Jesus’ disciples were often confused? Jesus, the Son of God himself was teaching them and showing them what the Kingdom of God was all about, and they still didn’t get it. Jesus was showing them the true character of God and they were completely confused.
Do you remember the time when James and John put in a request with Jesus to sit at his right and left at the time when he would come in his kingdom (Mark 10:35–45)? They were essentially asking to be the Vice President and Secretary of State. They were hungry or power. Jesus responded to them by saying, “You don’t know what you’re asking.” In other words, “you have no idea what the kingdom is all about!”
This isn’t the only time when the disciples got it wrong. There was also the time within the narrative of Peter’s confession when Peter told Jesus to stop saying that he was going to die (Mark 8:27–33). In response to this, Jesus rebuked Peter harshly and even called him “Satan”! Peter was confused about why Jesus had to die. Peter, like James and John, didn’t understand what the Kingdom of God was all about.
The most obvious example from the New Testament that testifies to the disciples’ confusion is the story of the resurrection. Jesus told his disciples many times that he would die and rise again. In fact, he said it so often that Pilate ordered guards to stand watch at the tomb “lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first” (Matt 27:64). When Jesus did rise on the third day, his disciples were nowhere to be found. They were in the upper room, morning the death of their friend and Rabbi. Once again, they were confused. They didn’t understand what the Kingdom of God was all about.
I find this comforting because there are so many people, some confessing Christians and some non-Christian, who really have no idea what the Kingdom of God is all about. Like the disciples, people tend to think that the Kingdom of God is much like the kingdoms of men. This is not true. The Kingdom of God is different. The Kingdom of God is holy, set a part, and different. The kingdoms of men are about power, violence, dominance, and oppression all for the sake of maintaining power. The Kingdom of God, however, is about freedom; it’s about freeing people to the love of God and allowing them to freely choose to enter into relationship with him and his covenant people. God is not in the business of forcing people to love him. After all, that’s not love at all is it?
The Kingdom of God is about the justifying and forgiving love of God that is the basis of peace and reconciliation in a community. The Kingdom of God is summed up in the cross—the self-giving, self-sacrificing love for the redemption of others.
It’s no wonder, then, that the disciples got it wrong. They had never witness anything quite as radical, and extreme as what Jesus was describing. They could never imagine the king giving up his live for the sake of his people.
Thankfully, there was a time when it finally clicked for the disciples: Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came, it all became clear. This is one of the central ministries of the Holy Spirit–to enlighten people to the love-driven truth of God that liberates the world. Without the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, we could never completely understand it.