The Kingdom of God is not on the defensive. We are not defending ourselves against evil, we are conquering evil with good. The people of God in the first century were entirely defensive in their attitude toward outsiders. There was an aspect of this that was appropriate, because, for a time, God wanted his people to keep themselves from being contaminated by evil influences. But Jesus was announcing a new age in which the Spirit of God was being given to God’s people so that they would be the ones doing the influencing. In God’s Kingdom evil does not contaminate good but good transforms evil. Jesus shocked people by associating with those who were traditionally ‘unclean’ like lepers and particularly Romans. But Jesus was demonstrating the way the Kingdom of God works. We all have a tendency to live defensively. Thousands of years of bloody human history has ingrained a deep fear within us that sees us living like shell creatures in our little fortress-lifestyles. But God is calling you to break out of that shell and step into the world of others in love and care. The Jews could not accept Jesus because his works did not fit into their small-world defensive stance. God wants to do wonderful things in your life that are not going to fit into your small world. They may not fit into the way you see things. They may not fit with what you expected or even desired. So, if you are to accept Jesus you will need to allow God to break your world open.
Ask God to open up your world.
Read Matthew 8:1-13
