From the Gospel of Matthew
What Jesus taught, answered from Matthew
These seven questions were asked about the kingdom of heaven. Each answer is what Jesus taught, in his own words from Matthew. Matthew is the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven: it uses that phrase more than thirty times, where Mark and Luke say "the kingdom of God." They are the same kingdom. Jesus uses both names in a single breath in Matthew 19:23-24.
Every reference is a link. Tap one to read the passage.
Question 1
It is God's reign: God as King and Father, we as his children, and his will being done. At its heart are three things, and all three are received by faith.
He is "Lord of heaven and earth" (11:25), and Jesus teaches us to pray for his reign: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (6:10).
ReadMatthew 11:25; Matthew 6:9-10
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father" (6:9). Peacemakers "shall be called sons of God" (5:9). A father who gives good gifts to his children is his picture of how God treats us (7:11).
ReadMatthew 6:9; Matthew 5:9; Matthew 5:45; Matthew 7:11
"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (5:48). Jesus' own family are those who do his Father's will (12:50).
ReadMatthew 5:48; Matthew 7:21; Matthew 12:50
When a Roman centurion trusted him, Jesus said, "with no one in Israel have I found such faith," and promised that many would come "from east and west" to sit at table in the kingdom of heaven (8:10-11).
ReadMatthew 8:10-11
Question 2
Two things: that God already reigns as King, and that he would send a King to set everything right. Jesus taught both, and Matthew shows the promised King arriving in him.
Jesus speaks of heaven as "the throne of God" and of Jerusalem as "the city of the great King" (5:34-35). The Lord was already King.
ReadMatthew 5:34-35
The prophets looked ahead to a ruler God would send, and Matthew shows that hope arriving in Jesus: the ruler from Bethlehem "who will shepherd my people Israel" (2:6, from Micah 5:2); the servant on whom God puts his Spirit (12:18-21, from Isaiah 42:1-4); the king who comes humble, riding on a donkey (21:5, from Zechariah 9:9).
ReadMatthew 2:6; Micah 5:2; Matthew 12:18-21; Isaiah 42:1-4; Matthew 21:5; Zechariah 9:9
John the Baptist announced it first: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (3:2).
ReadMatthew 3:1-12
Daniel saw "one like a son of man" coming with the clouds of heaven to receive an everlasting kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14). Jesus took that picture as his own: "you will see the Son of Man... coming on the clouds of heaven" (26:64).
ReadDaniel 7:13-14; Matthew 24:30; Matthew 26:64
Question 3
It begins with God as our Father and all of us as his family (Matthew 6:9; Matthew 23:8-9; Matthew 12:49-50). His love reaches even the people we find hardest to love, "for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good" (5:45). Knowing that sets us free from fear: "Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" (10:31). And the kingdom brings real gifts:
"Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid" (14:27). Everyone who leaves things behind for his sake "will inherit eternal life" (19:29).
ReadMatthew 14:27; Matthew 10:26-31; Matthew 11:28-30; Matthew 19:29
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (5:3), and "the poor have good news preached to them" (11:5).
ReadMatthew 5:3; Matthew 11:5; Matthew 11:28
Again and again Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said... But I say to you" (5:21-48), and he sums it up: treat others the way you want to be treated (7:12). In his kingdom, "whoever would be great among you must be your servant" (20:26).
ReadMatthew 5:21-48; Matthew 7:12; Matthew 20:25-28
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (4:4). "You cannot serve God and money" (6:24). "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" (16:26).
ReadMatthew 4:4; Matthew 6:24; Matthew 16:26
Lay up treasure in heaven, "for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (6:21), and seek his kingdom first (6:33). No one is too small to matter: "it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish" (18:14).
ReadMatthew 6:19-21; Matthew 6:33; Matthew 13:44-46; Matthew 6:26; Matthew 18:12-14
God sees and rewards faithfulness: "Well done, good and faithful servant" (25:21). His reward is generosity, not wages earned. In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, the landowner asks, "do you begrudge my generosity?" (20:15).
ReadMatthew 5:10-16; Matthew 25:21; Matthew 20:1-16
"Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (25:34). "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (13:43).
ReadMatthew 25:34; Matthew 13:43
Question 4
Both. It is already here wherever God's will is done, and its fullness is still to come.
Wherever God's will is done and neighbors are loved, the kingdom is already here: "if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" (12:28). It starts small and grows, like a mustard seed and like leaven in dough (13:31-33). It shows in good fruit (7:16-20) and in love for God and neighbor (22:37-40).
ReadMatthew 12:28; Matthew 6:10; Matthew 13:31-33; Matthew 7:16-21; Matthew 22:37-40; Matthew 25:35-40
Its fullness is still ahead: the Son of Man coming in his glory (25:31-34), the pure in heart who "shall see God" (5:8), and the day Jesus promised to drink the cup new with his friends "in my Father's kingdom" (26:29).
ReadMatthew 25:31-34; Matthew 24:30-31; Matthew 5:8; Matthew 26:29; Matthew 8:11
Question 5
The kingdom is entered now, and the door is open to anyone. Jesus told the religious leaders, "the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you" (Matthew 21:31). He names two things.
"Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (18:3). Children receive; they don't earn. God has "revealed them to little children" (11:25), and he gives good things to those who ask him (7:11).
ReadMatthew 18:2-4; Matthew 19:13-14; Matthew 11:25; Matthew 7:11
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (5:6). "Repent" (4:17): the word means a change of mind, a turning toward God. "Seek, and you will find" (7:7).
ReadMatthew 5:6; Matthew 4:17; Matthew 7:7-8; Matthew 13:45-46
Question 6
Sin starts in the heart and the will. God forgives freely, and we receive his forgiveness as we forgive others.
"What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person" (15:18). Over Jerusalem Jesus grieved, "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" (23:37).
ReadMatthew 15:18-19; Matthew 23:37
God forgives freely. To a paralyzed man Jesus said, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven" (9:2). And we receive God's forgiveness as we forgive others: "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" (6:14).
ReadMatthew 9:2-6; Matthew 6:12, 14-15; Matthew 18:21-35
Question 7
Everyone who does the Father's will is his family, and his love reaches even our enemies.
Pointing to his disciples, Jesus said, "whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother" (12:50). His love reaches beyond any circle: love your enemies "so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven" (5:45). "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (22:39). And whatever we do for "one of the least of these my brothers," we do for him (25:40).
ReadMatthew 12:49-50; Matthew 5:43-48; Matthew 22:39; Matthew 7:12; Matthew 25:40