(snip) > > That's hard to square with the part of the verse that says [the > kingdom of God] commeth not with observation.
He means that you must act in order to fulfill your destiny, here on earth, because you have a limited time here. > > Are you aware that it is quite reasonable that "Jesus assumes his > > hearers understand the Kingdom foundation that was laid in the Hebrew > > Scriptures. When Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God/Kingdom of HeavenES, Jesus was a Jew, so he believed in all of what went before him. What he added to it, was the fur > > ... he speaks of the time of the fulfillment of the Abrahamic and > > Davidic covenants. A time of a restored earth where the faithful will > > worship and serve their God forever under the rulership of a righteous > > leader of the Davidic line. > > > Jesus also said that his kingdom is not of this world. He evolved Jewish thought at that time and in this time. He furthered the understanding of the soul, and how the soul transcended the body. The Romans at the time, were pretty much obsessed with the physical (not much has changed, has it?) Anyway, he came by example, by loving and forgiving, and transcending the body. Trouble was, all of his early followers (who were mostly Jewish) were killed, and Israel was destroyed, (the first Holocaust). The Jews were scattered, and when Rome adopted Christianity, and stripped of it any Jewishness, Made it into a Roman Play (same thing happened in Europe, with the Monarchies, making there own rules and translations, that served their political power, made it up as they went along, kind of like George Bush & Co.)- again, not much has changed! In the same way, Maharishi's kingdom is ultimately not of this world, Socrates kingdom was not of this world. Spirit is not material, you can't see it or touch it. Most people believe only what they can see and touch. Spirit, is not taught generally on TV, radio, Schools, University's and so forth. That is why Jesus' teaching is as revolutionary today, as it always was and always will be: it can't be institutionalized as much as the Bush & Rove have tried. Julius Caesar tried, John Kennedy tried... Ya, know, it might just not be possible to institutionalize Spirit.
