Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Matthew 18: How the Kingdom Works

In Matthew 18, Jesus puts the activities of the world on hold while he gives his disciples a lesson about the kingdom of heaven. The disciples are always asking him about the kingdom. They do not yet know that the kingdom is a mystery, not a place, and that that mystery is manifesting in them specifically as a result of their being with him. In this chapter, Jesus furthers the emergence of the kingdom in them by teaching them how the reality of the kingdom works. His strategy is not to communicate information; he directs and redirects their attention in order to shift their point of view from that of a disciple to that of the teacher. In other words, he is opening the door to the kingdom rather than merely giving information about it.

Chapter 18 opens with the disciples asking, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" This is a delightfully naive question, which Jesus answers, not with information, but by reflecting back to them what they are in asking the question. "Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Only as innocent children have they been able to enter the kingdom. It is "humbling" to think of one's self outside the terms of the world. How is it possible to do that? It's not. What does one have to go on? Nothing. "Humbling" here means reduced to being outside the world. Outside the world is inside the kingdom. The disciples can only ask this question because they are already humbled.

Jesus tells them, "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; . . . " Once they have accepted Jesus, the disciples have established in themselves the innocence which is the kingdom, the innocence with which they now ask him questions. These questions arise out of their faith in him, for there is no way to accept Jesus other than innocently. Jesus is the mystery that cannot be known, not even by him. Without the persona and presence of Jesus, the disciples cannot undergo the restructuring of their existence by which they become mature beings within the kingdom. That's what Jesus is--the indicator of reality at work for those in whom it is at work (his disciples). (verses 1-6)

Jesus then turns his disciples' attention to the world of sin outside the kingdom, where life is lived in opposition to itself. Within the innocence of the kingdom, there is no struggle and therefore no pain. To live in the world of sin is to live in confusion about what is real. It is an especially egregious sin for someone to tempt a disciple, ("who cause the little ones who believe in me to sin.") Jesus tells his disciples that temptation is necessary but does not say why. "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes!" Sin is reality in resistance to itself and thus is always a mystery.

Jesus then turns his disciples' attention (verses 12-14) back to the kingdom, where reality is not in resistance to itself. There is no lesson here, only a presence in the kingdom. From outside the kingdom, this story only seems to make sense. Jesus tells of a man with a hundred sheep. When one goes astray, the man goes after it leaving the others unattended. The man is overjoyed to find the lost sheep and rejoices over that sheep more than the other ninety-nine. This story would not work for a boy undergoing shepherd training 101. There are predators in the sheep world and leaving the 99 for the one might not be prudent. In the kingdom, however, there is no danger. The Father can leave the 99 sheep alone because they are always safe. He can retrieve the lost sheep because he knows where to look; and there was never any danger. The joy the Father feels, the straying of the sheep? And the Father? Mysteries of the kingdom.

After this blissful foray into the kingdom, Jesus brings his disciples back into the storm of reality-in-opposition-to-itself, or sin. The work of Jesus' disciples is consciously to overcome sin through faith in him, so that as faith ascends, sin dissipates. This faith is the foundation upon which the mystery of the kingdom can assemble itself inside them. These two conditions of reality, kingdom and confusion, are different in appearance only; nevertheless, Jesus must swing them back and forth between the two as he teaches. For Jesus himself is the reality field become intelligent and aware of the confusion that besets it from the deepest mysteries of existence. Jesus' work is that mystery in action.

The teaching Jesus presents to the disciples at this point in the chapter (verses 15-22) is about how disciples collectively can eliminate sin as an obstacle to knowing reality (life in the kingdom). He projects their awareness into the future to a time after he has departed when those living in faith through him must as a community withstand the relentless imposition of sin into their lives. Jesus gives them a process of unwinding sin as it might appear in a member of the group, as it inevitably will, so that its depth can be uncovered and the sin exorcised. Should that process not be successful, then the community must remove the church member from the community. Jesus offers them a primary tool with which they can strengthen their influence against sin in their environment. They can invoke his name as the instrument of their power: "Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask; it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." In other words, the reality field will respond to their efforts to diminish sin (ameliorate the confusion) should they do so in Jesus' name. This is what Jesus' disciples do from inside the storm of confusion. What disciples do are real events arising out of the reality field, events which diminish confusion, not add to it. Events by which reality is revealed, not concealed. By which the kingdom is made more available, not more deeply hidden.

Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive a man who sins against him (verses 21-22). Jesus answers by showing Peter how the darkness of sin becomes transformed into knowledge of reality through forgiveness. Jesus has just laid out a scenario in which church members exorcise someone whose behavior cannot be reconciled with the group. Can that man be forgiven? And how many times should a man be forgiven if he keeps offending? Jesus tells Peter to keep forgiving . . . indefinitely. One does not take on the confusion of the sin if one keeps forgiving. For those learning how to live in the kingdom, unqualified forgiveness is the lesson: forgiveness and sin continually embrace each other until they cannot be told apart. One might imagine them as dancers twirling around each other with increasing speed until they disappear into each other and become the energy capable of sustaining knowledge of reality. Earth and the kingdom can be looked at as two different reality zones. In earth reality zone, reality is hidden in the confusion of sin. In the kingdom of heaven, reality is revealed. Unqualified forgiveness is the spiritual foundation required of one in order to move beyond earth reality zone into the kingdom. Those who are bound by sin live in confusion about what is real. Those who are in discipleship with Jesus are emerging from the confusion of earth reality zone into the unbounded reality of cosmic life.

In the story of the king who wishes to settle accounts with his servants (verses 23-35), Jesus shows Peter what happens when forgiveness fails. A king forgives a servant his debts, but the servant does not forgive the man who owes him money. The king becomes angry and throws his servant into prison. When forgiveness is not passed on, that is, when forgiveness is not forever ongoing, then sin re-emerges and reality resists itself unto death. Thus the man in prison can never pay off his debt because he is forever in prison. This intractability requires the application of a power directly from the kingdom (Jesus) in order for the dead energy of sin to be brought back to life (resurrection).

In Chapter 18 Jesus provides an opportunity for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see to begin the process of leaving earth reality zone and taking up a cosmic life. The kingdom of heaven is the field of cosmic life. By bringing his disciples deeper into the reality of what they are doing, overcoming the disturbance of sin, Jesus is responding to an intent arising out of the mystery of the kingdom, which he refers to as the Father.