Aids to Insights

Background information lends texture to many biblical statements. Rarely does that information determine orthodoxy or even how we should apply the lessons of Scripture to our lives. Still, knowing the context in which a writer sends forth his sentences sometimes helps us appreciate the nuances of divine inspiration. Let’s consider some examples—some aids to insight—using various areas of information surrounding Scripture. They all apply to the kingdom Paul proclaimed to the Hebrews (e.g., Heb. 12:28).

Natural History

First, a knowledge of natural history makes Jesus’ sermon about kingdom life more memorable. Matthew reports that Jesus “went up into a mountain” to prepare for this lesson. The Lord appears to re-enact Moses’ actions when he went up on Mount Sinai. The contrast between the two mountain revelations is stark. God gave Moses the law, but that law brought death (Rom. 7:5, 9; 1 Cor. 15:56). Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, gives the “laws” associated with blessings and life (Matt. 5:3–12; Rom. 8:2).

In keeping with the theme of life, Jesus illustrates key points from creation. To discourage our anxiety he says, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matt 6:26). This image becomes even more interesting and powerful when we consider a point William Hendriksen makes. He draws on the work of Alice Parmelee¹: “That author calls the country in which the Sermon on the Mount was delivered ‘the cross-roads of bird-migrations.’” He then asks, “Was a thick swarm of winged travelers cleaving the air at the very moment when the Lord spoke the words of 6:26? It is entirely possible.”²

Hendriksen makes a similar observation about “the lilies of the field” (Matt. 6:28):

In the light of the context (note “the grass of the field.…”) it is very well possible that Jesus, instead of referring to any particular kind of flower, was thinking of all the beautiful flowers that were adding their splendor to the landscape at this time of the year.³

Topography

Our second example of background information comes from topography. During the last week of his life, Jesus visited Jerusalem multiple times. On Tuesday of Passion Week, Jesus was returning from Bethany to the holy city. He had cleansed the Temple and cursed a barren fig tree the previous day.

The disciples marveled when they beheld the withered tree. Jesus used this occasion to challenge their faith: “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:22–23; emphasis added).

The topographical point springs from Jesus’ location when he spoke these words. He and his disciples may have been within sight of Jerusalem, Mount Zion, and the Temple. This possibility caused N. T. Wright to suggest: “Though the existence of more than one saying in this group suggests that Jesus used to say this sort of thing quite frequently, ‘this mountain’, spoken in Jerusalem, would naturally refer to the Temple mount.”⁴

We can imagine Jesus pointing to this particular mountain that symbolized Jewish opposition to Christ and his gospel. It would, figuratively, oppose the disciples for the duration of their generation. Their faith, however, would prevail against it. God would use his appointed means to remove this source of kingdom opposition.

Political History

Our third example of helpful background information comes from political history. To counter the idea “that the kingdom of God should immediately appear” (Luke 19:11) during his lifetime, Jesus recited a parable. “He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return” (Luke 19:12). Upon his return, the newly crowned king condemned those “which would not that [he] should reign over them” to death (Luke 19:14). Jesus told this parable in Jericho, shortly before Passion Week.⁵

We know Jesus ascended to his Father and received the kingdom (cp. Dan. 7:13–14). He then returned in AD 70, per inmillennialism, to destroy those apostate Jews who rejected his kingdom (cp. Matt. 21:41–45; 22:1–7; 24:1–3, 34). There is an interesting back story to the parable.

The ground work of this part of the parable seems to have been derived from the history of Archelaus, son of Herod the Great. The kings of the Herodian family made their journeys to Rome, to receive their “Kingdom.” On Archelaus’s doing so, the Jews sent after him a protest, which however was not listened to by Augustus. The situation was appropriate; for at Jericho was the royal palace which Archelaus had built with great magnificence.⁶

Ellicott notes that this background event occurred “in the recent history of Judæa” and that Josephus had preserved it for posterity.⁷

Jesus used the political events of the previous generation to depict his own soon-coming departure and return as King. For the Hebrews, his return was in the very, very near future (Heb. 10:37).

Military Action

Paul, probably writing between AD 60 and 70,⁸ uses a prophecy that involves military action to enhance his closing lessons to the Hebrews. He says, “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one [about to⁹] to come” (Heb. 13:14). The negative part of this statement is true for all generations of Christians, including our own. No present earthly city serves as our eternal residence. For Paul and his first readers, however, there was an unmistakable reference we sometimes miss.

The Hebrews had a city that formed the center of their universe—Jerusalem. Just before his death, Jesus revealed that armies would destroy the holy city: “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh” (Luke 21:20).

This military campaign would play a vital part in establishing the kingdom of God. It would occur in Jesus’ generation: “So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled” (Luke 21:31–32; emphasis added).

Josephus, the Jewish historian, describes how God fulfilled this prophecy in AD 70. Jewish Zealots provoked the Roman armies to attack. The war ended when the invading armies surrounded and destroyed Jerusalem.

It was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations.¹⁰

Paul’s letters show he knew this was about to happen. He emphasized the temporary nature of the earthly Jerusalem and pointed Christians to the heavenly Jerusalem, the holy city of the Messianic Age. Writing sometime between AD 48 and 55,¹¹ the Apostle speaks of the “Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all” (Gal. 4:25–26). The bondwoman (Jerusalem below with her children) was to be cast out; the freewoman (Jerusalem above with her children) would remain (Gal. 4:30).

The Hebrew letter contains the same message. Paul says his readers have come to the heavenly Jerusalem and its unshakable kingdom (Heb. 12:22, 28). The earthly Jerusalem had rejected God’s Messiah and would soon perish when Jesus returned (Heb. 10:37; 13:10–14). William L. Lane says,

The repudiation of Jesus unmasked Jerusalem as an ephemeral, transient city and made certain the coming of the future city. . . . The members of the assembly are called to recognize that true sacred space will not be found in Jerusalem, with its impermanent sanctuary and altar, but in the presence of Jesus.¹²

In as literal and physical a fashion as we can imagine, the Hebrews had “no continuing city” on earth.

Conclusion

We can understand God’s word without these tidbits of information. Yet, the thought Jesus may have glanced at migrating birds and blossoming flowers adds an element of spontaneity to an already lively sermon. Can we trust God to provide for us as we live in his kingdom?

We can imagine how Jesus pointing to the Temple mount as he said the words “this mountain” would excite the apostles’ faith. They might remember a former prophecy in which God promised that his Spirit would destroy the mountain that opposed his kingdom: “Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it” (Zech. 4:7). Do we believe God will anoint our preaching and witness to produce such results?

The contrast between Jesus receiving his everlasting kingdom from the Ancient of Days and Herod’s sons seeking a temporal kingdom from the Emperor—who now claimed to be a god—impresses us with the glory of the former. Do we praise God for this contrast?

And the contemplation of how Paul asked the Hebrews to wean their allegiance from their beloved earthly city, which Jesus would soon destroy, and give it to the heavenly Jerusalem challenges us to renew our own baptismal pledge. On what are our affections set, on things of earth or things above (Col. 3:1)?

We, like the Hebrews, have “no continuing city” on earth. Our citizenship, even now, is in the heavenly Jerusalem. We look forward to the consummation of God’s kingdom when he will resurrect our bodies (1 Cor. 15:20–26). Even then, our home city will remain unchanged.

SaveSave

1. Alice Parmelee, All the Birds of the Bible: Their Stories, Identification and Meaning, (New York: Harper, 1959).
2. William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1973), 350. In a footnote, Hendriksen gives the location of his quote as p. 183 of Parmelee’s book.
3. Hendriksen, Matthew, 352.
4. N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, Christian Origins and the Question of God (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1996), 422.
5. A. T. Robertson, A Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ, (New York: Harper, 1922), 150.
6. Henry Alford, The Three First Gospels, Vol. 1, Part 1, The New Testament for English Readers (London: Rivingtons, 1863), 415.
7. Charles John Ellicott, Ellicott’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981), Commentary on Luke 19:12. See Flavius Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1974), 17:9:3–4.
8. Introduction to Hebrews in The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016).
9. From Gk. mellō. Cp. “the one being about to be” in Paul R. McReynolds, Word Study Greek-English New Testament, (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 1999). See our discussion here.
10. Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1974), 7:1:1.
11. Introduction to Galatians in English Standard Version.
12. William L. Lane, Hebrews 9-13, Vol. 47B, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, 1998), 546–47.