An Outline Of Jesus’ Proclamation Of The Kingdom
Chapter 12
The Kingdom of God and the Church’s Global Mission
The thesis of this chapter is that the roots of our conviction about the global mission of the church are to be found in Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom of God136 - as already present in his own mission and message. For those who know that message well, this global implication may come as something of a surprise, since not much of his explicit teaching would appear to lead to that conclusion. 137 Although the evangelists themselves clearly see the Gentile, thus “global,” implications of Jesus’ ministry,138 and even though some of his activities139 and sayings140 include an openness toward Samaritans and Gentiles, Jesus’ own ministry was directed primarily to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 15:24).141 Nonetheless, I hope herewith to demonstrate (1) that the global mission of the church rests ultimately in Jesus’ proclamation of the “good news of the kingdom,” especially as good news to “the poor”; and (2) that such a proclamation is to be understood as the fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham, embraced by the prophetic tradition, that God’s intent from the beginning has been to bless “all the peoples on earth” (Gen 12:3).