Welcome to the Kingdom

Jesus taught the disciples about the Kingdom of God on multi¬ple occasions. After Jesus’ teachings to the disciples, commonly known as the “Sermon on the Mount,” and various miracles, the disciples had already been told to preach, teach, and demon¬strate the Kingdom of God. They had already been given King¬dom power to cast out unclean spirits and heal all kinds of dis¬eases and sicknesses (Matthew 10:1, Mark 3:13-15). According to Mark 4:2, Jesus taught the disciples and the multitudes many things in parables. However, the parable that was recorded for mankind in all three synoptic gospels is the Parable of the Sow¬er (Mark 4:1-20, Matthew 13:1- 23, and Luke 8:4-15). On the day of this teaching, Jesus, in a boat on the sea, taught both the 12 and the multitude. However, later, when He was alone, Jesus explained the parable to the 12 and “those around Him” (possibly some of the 70 disciples – Mark 4:10) when asked. The parable used terms and imagery that would be easily understood by the people of that time – sowers, seeds, soils, and birds. While the natural importance of these elements was readily identifiable to believers in the 1st century, their spiritual significance was less discernible. Even the disciples did not un¬derstand the parable Jesus taught; that is why they asked Him questions privately for a greater understanding. Christ used this private moment to expound on the relationships that exist between the natural elements of the parable and their spiritu¬al counterparts. Jesus Himself asked, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4:13). As such, any study of Kingdom parables must begin here. It is clear that God expects us to understand this parable first. Since Jesus clearly tells us that we must understand this parable before all other parables, I refer to this parable as the Parable of Preeminence. By now, you may be wondering why Christ was so emphatic about this parable being studied and understood first. The an¬swer, of course, has to do with the message of the Kingdom – this is the parable upon which the Kingdom message is largely built in the Newer Testament. Possessing a limited or skewed understanding of this parable, or worse yet, not understanding this parable at all, will result in everything else you learn about the Kingdom of God being completely off. Understanding the Parable of Preeminence is critical in order for you to live out your life as a Kingdom citizen. It outlines four of the most criti¬cal variables in your Kingdom walk.