"Citizen's of the Kingdom"
Isaiah prophesied, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Is 40:3). Malachi did, too: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts” (Mal 3:1).
Before Jesus came, the Lord sent John the Baptist to prepare the people to receive their Messiah. As prophesied, John preached in the wilderness, which was on the east side of the Jordan River. His message was simple: “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:28). The Jews understood that they were born citizens of the kingdom of God. John was telling them that their Messiah, the promised descendant of King David, was coming to them, but they needed to prepare by amending their lives. Their King required His subjects to live righteous lives, but His righteousness was different than what they thought. If people were to abide His rulership, they needed to change. John was inviting the Jews to make those changes before their Messiah arrived. Otherwise, they might miss Him, or worse yet, oppose Him.
John, as his title reveals, baptized all who chose to repent. The Gospel reports, “Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and many were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matt 3:31-32). They were baptized opposite Jericho at the ford where the Israelites crossed the river and entered their Promised Land in the days of Joshua. After baptism, they exited the waters by crossing the river onto the western bank, symbolizing their entrance into the kingdom’s Promised Land. The leaders and ministers of the Jews understood the symbolism and objected. They said, “We are the children of Abraham, and we only have power to bring seed unto our father Abraham” (Matt 3:36). They were only partially right.
The Jews practiced baptism for cleansing the unclean. The Law of Moses determined that any person with a discharge, such as a puss-filled wound, was dirty and impure. Anyone who touched someone with a discharge was also unclean. The Torah decreed that such polluted people needed to be cleansed in “running water.” It specified, “He shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even . . . And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean” (Lev 15:11-13). The Hebrews called this ritualistic washing Tvilah. The affected person was immersed in a flowing stream or in a tub through which water flowed. The tub with flowing water is called a Mikva.
Gentiles were unclean. Those who converted to Judaism were cleansed through Tvilah. They also made sacrifice, and for men, were circumcised. Afterward, the priest announced them full Israelites and citizens of God’s kingdom. By the time of John, the Jews used the Greek word baptizō for Tvilah. Alfred Edersheim, who converted from Judaism to Christianity about 1845 at 20, wrote, “As he stepped out of these waters he was considered as ‘born anew’— in the language of the Rabbis, as if he were ‘a little child just born.’”
The Jewish leaders objected to John’s application of baptism. They believed that they were already members of the kingdom. They were not unclean, but righteous, or so they thought. That is why they told John “We only have power to bring seed unto our father Abraham” (Matt 3:36). John explained, “God is able of these stones to raise up children into Abraham” (Matt 3:36). All who believe in Jesus and repent, confessing their sins, are made citizens of God’s kingdom through baptism. The Jewish leaders had two problems with John’s baptism. First, it implied that they were unclean. Second, it made people members of the kingdom outside their authority and supervision.
Jesus received a similar rejection when He was in Nazareth. He read the prophecy, “The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Is 61:1). After reading it, He declared “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Lu 4:21). The Jews were astonished. Was Jesus claiming that He was the anointed one? Was He the Messiah for whom they hoped? If so, why was He not performing the miracles that He did elsewhere? Jesus explained, “No prophet is accepted in his own country” (Lu 4:24). His response only further alienated Jewish leaders. Jesus clarified, “I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow” (Luke 4:25-26). The widow, who was a pagan Gentile, believed Elijah when he asked her to use the last of her oil to bake him bread, promising that she would never lack throughout the famine. God sent Elijah to this widow because she would believe regardless of her pedigree.
Jesus also said, “Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian” (Lu 4:27). Likewise, Naaman, who was a captain in the Assyrian army and an enemy to Israel, believed Elisha and was healed of leprosy. Jesus was trying to tell self-righteous Jews that belief in Him is the requisite to receiving His blessings. No one can be saved in the kingdom of God unless they believe in Jesus and that He is their Savior. Those who think themselves righteous do not need a Savior.
Jesus is coming back, just like He promised almost 2000 years ago. God sent Joseph Smith and others with him to prepare the way before the Savior’s return. They preached the same message: “Open your mouths and they shall be filled, saying, Repent, repent and prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; yea, repent and be baptized every one of you, for the remission of your sins” (D&C 32:2f-g). They were also told to build up a holy city in the middle of America, an independent jurisdiction separate from financial and global entities, but they did not do it. Now, the world is caught up in the judgment befalling the Gentiles. As those nations fall, the kingdom of God will emerge.
Peter foresaw the day of revival when the kingdom that God wants built up in this land is reconstituted. He said, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord . . . whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things” (Acts 3:19-21). When that outpouring comes, how will we react to it? Will we be like the leaders of the Jews who considered themselves already righteous? Will we question and even resist the voices that call us to repentance? Or will we believe and obey? If a pagan widow believes and is sustained because she obeyed the prophet, or if a captain among our enemies believes and is cleansed, because he obeys, will we rejoice and believe, too? Paul taught, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Rom 4:3). If we believe God even if the future unfolds differently than we thought, then we will prove ourselves faithful like Abraham. Elsewhere, Paul wrote, “They which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham” (Gal 3:9), adding, “If ye are Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29).
Jesus is coming, but before then, in the very near future, the nations will shake. As they fall, the kingdom of God will rise and fill the earth. Those who believe then will receive the promise: citizenship in the kingdom of God on Earth. O, how happy we will be to be there. How much happier we will be to see fellow saints and to gather with family members. We will truly fall on each other’s necks and kiss each other. We will also rejoice with strangers and adversaries, people we never suspected of being there, because they also believed. What a gathering that will be! For that reason, let us cultivate humility, confess our faults and need for a Savior, love and cherish every believer, and believe when the Holy Ghost sends revival, obeying His invitation and instructions.