BEMA Episode Link: 105: An Explosive Kingdom
Episode Length: 44:26
Published Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2019 01:00:00 -0800
Session 3
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings hear what appears to be the doubt of John the Baptist and the challenging response of Jesus that honors him.

An Explosive Kingdom Presentation (PDF)

Discussion Video for BEMA 105

BEMA 91: Tavilah T’Shuvah

“Sheep going through a gate, North Yorkshire moors” — YouTube

Transcript for BEMA 105

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 105: An Explosive Kingdom - Study Notes

Title & Source Summary

Episode: 105 - An Explosive Kingdom
Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings Focus: Matthew 11:1-19, with connections to Micah 2, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Genesis 38

This episode explores the apparent doubt of John the Baptist while imprisoned and Jesus’s challenging yet honoring response. The discussion centers on two competing Jewish eschatological views in the Second Temple period: two-part eschatology (immediate, catastrophic judgment) versus three-part eschatology (gradual, overlapping Kingdom advancement). The episode reveals how John the Baptist held to the popular two-part eschatology, expecting Messiah to bring immediate violent judgment against oppressors, while Jesus operated from a three-part eschatology where the Kingdom of God advances like a mustard seed or yeast - small, gradual, but unstoppable. This theological difference explains John’s question from prison and Jesus’s compassionate correction.

Key Takeaways

  • John the Baptist held to two-part eschatology, expecting immediate catastrophic judgment when Messiah arrived, symbolized by his metaphors of the axe at the root of the tree and the winnowing fork
  • Jesus held to three-part eschatology, where the Kingdom of God overlaps with the present age and advances gradually like a mustard seed or yeast in dough
  • John’s question from prison was not a crisis of faith but a rabbinic challenge to Jesus’s methods, particularly his healing of a Roman centurion’s servant
  • Jesus’s response quoted Isaiah and Jeremiah but deliberately omitted the line about “captives being set free,” signaling to John that he would die in prison
  • The phrase “the Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence” is better translated as “the Kingdom has been explosively advancing” using the Hebrew word pratz
  • Three-part eschatology, associated with Pharisaic thought, teaches that the world is getting better as Kingdom advances, not worse
  • Christians are called to be “explosive” people who eagerly take hold of Kingdom advancement rather than passively waiting for the end times
  • John the Baptist is identified as the Elijah figure who “kicks open the gate” for the flock to burst through, referencing Micah 2

Main Concepts & Theories

Two-Part Jewish Eschatology

Two-part eschatology was the popular view in Second Temple Judaism, particularly among the Essenes. This worldview divides history into two distinct ages with an abrupt transition:

  1. Olam Hazeh (This Age): The current broken age characterized by oppression, darkness, and evil (particularly Roman occupation in the first century)
  2. Olam Haba (The Age to Come): The future restored age where God’s Kingdom reigns with complete shalom

The transition happens through:

  • The arrival of Messiah and/or Elijah as forerunner
  • A call to repentance (tavilat t’shuvah - baptism of repentance)
  • Immediate catastrophic judgment on God’s enemies
  • Complete restoration of Israel and destruction of oppressors

John the Baptist’s metaphors embody this view:

  • The axe at the root of the tree: God is ready to chop down and burn the corrupt system
  • The winnowing fork: God stands at his threshing floor (the Temple) ready to separate chaff from grain
  • The threshing floor imagery specifically targets the priesthood, as the Temple was built on a threshing floor

This eschatology appealed to oppressed people longing for deliverance because it promised swift, decisive divine intervention against their enemies.

Three-Part Jewish Eschatology

Three-part eschatology was less popular but held by some Pharisees and ultimately by Jesus. This worldview includes:

  1. This Present Age: The current broken reality
  2. The Overlap Period: The Kingdom of God has arrived but coexists with the present age
  3. The Age to Come: The future complete manifestation of God’s Kingdom

Key characteristics:

  • Messiah initiates the Kingdom, but it starts small and grows gradually
  • The Kingdom advances like a mustard seed (smallest seed becoming large plant)
  • The Kingdom spreads like yeast in dough (small amount permeating the whole batch)
  • Wheat and weeds grow together until the final harvest
  • Believers partner with God to “speed up” the coming of the age to come through faithful living
  • The world progressively gets better, not worse, as Kingdom advances

Jesus’s parables consistently reflect three-part eschatology:

  • Mustard seed parable: Kingdom starts imperceptibly small
  • Yeast in dough: Kingdom permeates gradually but irresistibly
  • Wheat and tares: Both ages coexist; premature separation would damage the wheat

This worldview requires patient faith and active partnership with God rather than passive waiting for catastrophic intervention.

The Confrontation Between John and Jesus

When John the Baptist sent disciples to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” he was not experiencing a crisis of faith. The context reveals:

What triggered John’s question:

  • John was imprisoned by Herod
  • He heard that Jesus healed a Roman centurion’s servant
  • From a two-part eschatology perspective, the Messiah should be destroying Romans, not healing them
  • This prompted John to challenge Jesus: “Are you Messiah or not, because you’re sure not acting like it”

Jesus’s response strategy:

  • Jesus healed people in front of John’s disciples
  • He quoted Isaiah and Jeremiah about Messianic signs: blind see, lame walk, lepers cleansed, deaf hear, dead raised, good news to the poor
  • He deliberately omitted “captives are set free” - a gentle way of telling John he would die in prison
  • He concluded: “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me” - essentially saying, “I hope you’re not offended, but you have the wrong eschatology”

This exchange demonstrates the deep relationship between John and Jesus. Many scholars suggest John the Baptist may have been Jesus’s rabbi before Jesus began his public ministry. The interaction reads like a loving but firm correction from a former student to his teacher.

Jesus’s Defense of John

Immediately after John’s disciples left (possibly still within earshot), Jesus turned to the crowd and vigorously defended John:

  • “What did you go out to see? A reed swayed by the wind?” - John is not weak or wavering
  • “A man in fine clothes?” - John is not a comfortable palace prophet
  • “A prophet? Yes, and more than a prophet” - John is the promised Elijah figure
  • “Among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist”
  • “He is the Elijah who was to come”

Jesus honored John even while correcting his theology. John got some details wrong about eschatology, but he remained the forerunner, the gate-breaker, the Elijah figure who prepared the way.

Pratz: The Explosive Kingdom

The phrase “the Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence, and violent men take it by force” is notoriously difficult to translate. The Greek word biazo typically means “violence,” but context suggests a different Hebrew word lies behind the Greek.

The Hebrew word pratz means:

  • To break out
  • To burst forth
  • To explode
  • To breach

The word comes from Genesis 38, where Perez (from pratz) was named because he “burst out” of the womb ahead of his twin brother who had the scarlet thread tied to his hand.

Jesus likely said: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been explosively advancing, and explosive people take hold of it.”

This connects to Micah 2:12-13:

  • God will gather his people like sheep in a sheepfold
  • “The one who breaks open the way will go up before them”
  • “They will break through the gate and go out”
  • “Their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head”

The imagery: Sheep cooped up all winter finally released to pasture burst through the opened gate with explosive energy and joy. John the Baptist kicked open the gate (the Elijah forerunner), and the Kingdom has been explosively advancing since, with Jesus as the King leading his people through.

Application: Kingdom people should be at the front of the flock, explosive in their eagerness to participate in what God is doing, not cautiously hanging back waiting for everyone else to go first.

Mishpat vs. Diyn

This episode connects to earlier BEMA content on two Hebrew words for justice:

  • Diyn: Judicial judgment, retribution, getting what you deserve
  • Mishpat: Restorative justice, making things right, bringing shalom

John the Baptist’s two-part eschatology expected diyn - swift, catastrophic judgment on the wicked. Jesus came bringing mishpat - healing, restoration, making things as they ought to be. This distinction explains why Jesus healed the Roman centurion’s servant (mishpat) rather than destroying Rome (diyn).

Good Eye vs. Bad Eye (Ayin Tovah vs. Ayin Ra’ah)

The episode references the concept of good eye and bad eye:

  • Ayin Tovah (Good Eye): Seeing the good, filling your body with light, recognizing Kingdom advancement
  • Ayin Ra’ah (Bad Eye): Seeing the negative, filling your body with darkness, focusing on what’s wrong

In the context of three-part eschatology: Christians with a good eye see the wheat growing alongside the weeds and recognize that the world is getting better as Kingdom advances. Those with a bad eye only see the weeds and believe the world is getting worse.

Examples & Applications

Historical Context: The Essenes and John the Baptist

John the Baptist’s connection to the Essenes explains his eschatology:

  • The Essenes were a separatist Jewish sect who left the mainstream priesthood, viewing it as corrupt
  • They lived communally, often in the wilderness (like Qumran near the Dead Sea)
  • They practiced ritual purification and held radical eschatological views
  • They believed God would soon judge the corrupt Temple system
  • John’s baptism in the Jordan, his wilderness location, and his prophetic condemnation of the priesthood all align with Essene practice and theology

John’s metaphor of God standing at his threshing floor with a winnowing fork directly targeted the Temple priesthood, since the Temple was literally built on a threshing floor (where David bought the land from Araunah).

Real-World Example: Releasing Livestock to Pasture

The episode uses modern agricultural examples to illustrate Micah 2:

  • Sheep penned in a sheepfold all winter, then released to spring pasture
  • Cattle kept in corrals all winter, then let out to graze
  • Video examples show animals literally leaping and jumping with joy as they burst through the opened gate
  • This explosive energy and eagerness represents Kingdom people’s response to the opened gate

The metaphor suggests:

  • We’ve been “cooped up” in captivity and oppression
  • John the Baptist “kicked open the gate” by announcing the Kingdom
  • Jesus is the King leading us through
  • Our response should be explosive eagerness, not cautious hesitation
Application: Modern Christian Eschatology

Many modern Christians unknowingly hold to John the Baptist’s two-part eschatology rather than Jesus’s three-part eschatology:

Two-part thinking (problematic):

  • “The world is getting worse and worse”
  • “We’re just waiting for Jesus to return and judge”
  • Passive approach: “Let’s hold on until the rapture”
  • Focus on signs of decay and decline
  • Expectation of catastrophic end-times events

Three-part thinking (Jesus’s view):

  • “The Kingdom is already here and advancing”
  • “We partner with God to bring Kingdom reality now”
  • Active approach: “Let’s explosively participate in Kingdom work”
  • Recognition of both wheat and weeds growing
  • Expectation that our faithful work speeds the coming of the age to come (2 Peter)

The episode argues that Jesus followers must adopt Jesus’s eschatology, not John’s. We cannot disagree with our rabbi on this fundamental issue.

Application: Being “Explosive” Kingdom People

The pratz concept challenges believers to examine their Kingdom engagement:

Explosive people:

  • At the front of the flock, eager to burst through the gate
  • Actively looking for where God is working and joining in
  • Taking hold of Kingdom opportunities with energy and passion
  • Not waiting for everything to be perfect or clear before acting

Passive people:

  • At the back of the flock, waiting for everyone else to go first
  • Cautiously observing rather than participating
  • Waiting for ideal conditions before engaging
  • Missing Kingdom opportunities through hesitation

The question: “What kind of people are we?” Are we at the gate of Kingdom, ready to explode into what God is doing?

Application: Children in the Marketplace

Jesus’s final critique applies to religious people who sing songs about salvation while missing the reality right in front of them:

The Fable of the Piper:

  • Musician tries to save fish by playing music to lure them into his boat
  • Disaster is coming (lake will dry up)
  • Fish ignore the music
  • When fish are dying on the beach, the musician says: “I played a happy song and you didn’t dance; I played a sad song and you didn’t mourn”

Jesus’s Application:

  • This generation is like children singing songs about their salvation in the marketplace
  • They don’t realize their salvation is already at hand
  • They critique whatever God sends: John (too ascetic), Jesus (too indulgent)
  • They’re missing what’s right in front of them

Modern Application:

  • Churches sing worship songs about Kingdom, salvation, and God’s work
  • But are we actually participating in the reality we’re singing about?
  • Do we recognize Kingdom advancement happening around us?
  • Or are we like children singing songs while missing the actual thing?

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

  1. The relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus: Was John actually Jesus’s rabbi? What evidence supports or challenges this view? How does this relationship shape our understanding of their interaction?

  2. Pharisaic theology and Jesus: Since Jesus shared the Pharisees’ three-part eschatology, what other theological agreements existed? How does this complicate the typical Christian view of Pharisees as purely antagonistic?

  3. The Zealots and eschatology: Brent raised the question of whether the Zealots (also part of the Hasidim movement like the Pharisees) held two-part or three-part eschatology. Their violent revolutionary methods suggest two-part, but their Hasidic connection raises questions.

  4. Peter’s statement about “speeding up” Christ’s return: In 2 Peter, the apostle suggests our faithful living can speed up the coming of the Lord. How does this three-part eschatological view shape Christian ethics and mission?

  5. Hebrew vs. Greek Matthew: Marty suggests Matthew was originally written in Hebrew and later translated to Greek. What evidence supports this? How would it affect interpretation if true?

  6. Elijah typology throughout Scripture: John the Baptist is clearly identified as the Elijah figure. How does Elijah’s ministry foreshadow John’s? What patterns exist? Does the Elijah-Elisha double-portion blessing apply to the John-Jesus relationship?

  7. The Mount of Transfiguration: Jesus appears with Moses and Elijah. How does this scene relate to John the Baptist’s role and the eschatological themes discussed in this episode?

  8. Good eye/bad eye and eschatology: How does one’s eschatological framework (two-part vs. three-part) shape whether one sees the world through a good eye or bad eye? What are the psychological and sociological implications?

  9. Mishpat vs. diyn in Jesus’s ministry: Survey Jesus’s actions throughout the Gospels. Where do we see mishpat emphasized over diyn? Are there any instances of diyn in Jesus’s ministry?

  10. The Kingdom parables: Systematically study all of Jesus’s Kingdom parables to identify which demonstrate three-part eschatology and how they collectively paint a picture of gradual, unstoppable Kingdom advancement.

  11. The Temple and threshing floor imagery: Why was the Temple built on a threshing floor? How does this connect to judgment imagery throughout Scripture? What other prophets used threshing floor metaphors?

  12. Aesop’s Fables and Jesus’s teaching: Jesus referenced Greek cultural materials (Aesop’s Fables from Sardis). What other extra-biblical sources did Jesus use? How does this inform our understanding of Jesus’s education and teaching methods?

Comprehension Questions

  1. Explain the difference between two-part and three-part Jewish eschatology. Which groups in Second Temple Judaism held each view, and why was two-part eschatology more popular among people living under Roman occupation?

  2. Why did John the Baptist send his disciples to question Jesus from prison? Was this a crisis of faith, or something else? What specific event triggered John’s question, and what does this reveal about John’s eschatological expectations?

  3. How did Jesus respond to John’s question, and what did he deliberately omit from his quotation? What was Jesus communicating to John through this omission, and what does the phrase “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me” mean in this context?

  4. What does the Hebrew word pratz mean, and how does it change our understanding of Matthew 11:12? Connect this concept to the Micah 2 passage about the one who “breaks open the way” and explain the imagery of sheep bursting through the gate.

  5. What does Jesus’s defense of John the Baptist reveal about Jesus’s character and their relationship? Even though Jesus corrected John’s eschatology, how did he honor John? What does this teach about handling theological disagreements?

Personalized Summary

This episode challenges a fundamental assumption many modern Christians hold without realizing it: the belief that the world is getting progressively worse as we await Christ’s catastrophic return. This is John the Baptist’s two-part eschatology, not Jesus’s teaching. Jesus operated from a three-part eschatological framework where the Kingdom has already arrived and is advancing gradually but unstoppably, like yeast permeating dough or a tiny seed becoming a great tree.

The beautiful exchange between John and Jesus demonstrates both correction and honor. John, possibly Jesus’s former rabbi and certainly the Elijah forerunner, questioned whether Jesus was truly the Messiah because Jesus wasn’t bringing the swift, violent judgment John expected. Jesus gently but firmly corrected John’s eschatology by quoting messianic prophecies about healing and restoration, deliberately omitting “captives set free” as a tender way of telling John he would die in prison. Yet immediately after, Jesus turned to the crowd and gave John the highest honor imaginable: “Among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”

The concept of pratz transforms our understanding of Kingdom advancement. Rather than suffering violence, the Kingdom has been explosively advancing since John kicked open the gate. This calls Kingdom people to be at the front of the flock, explosively eager to participate in what God is doing, not cautiously hanging back. We cannot be Jesus followers while holding John the Baptist’s eschatology. We must adopt our rabbi’s worldview: the Kingdom is here, it’s advancing, the world is getting better as wheat grows alongside weeds, and we partner with God to bring Kingdom reality now.

The most convicting image is Jesus’s critique of children in the marketplace - people singing songs about their own salvation while missing the reality at hand. How often do we gather in churches, sing worship songs about Kingdom and salvation, yet fail to recognize and participate in Kingdom advancement happening around us? Jesus offers salvation now, but like the fish ignoring the piper’s music, we can miss what’s right in front of us by clinging to the wrong eschatological expectations. The call is clear: be explosive, be attentive, have a good eye that sees Kingdom advancing, and partner with God in the greatest work in human history.

Original Notes

  • John the Baptist calls out Jesus
    • Previously, John the Baptist made several strange claims
    • G-d is at the threshing floor
    • The axe is at the root of the tree`
    • This was John’s way of claiming that G-d was about to judge the Priesthood.
    • John had a two-part eschatology.
      • The Messiah has come and the end is near.
      • Once the Messiah comes, there is no time left for repentence.
      • John’s firey passion comes from his eschatology and his understanding of who Jesus really is.
    • Jesus had a three-part eschatology.
      • Jesus knew that his coming was really a new beginning.
      • He knew that the end was not as near and John believed to be.
      • We can tell from his future teachings about the kingdom.
        • The kingdom is a like a mustard seed. A seed that slowly grows. Especially one that would take long enough to hold the “birds” of the air.
        • The kingdom is like a woman baking bread with yeast. The dough slowly rises.
        • The kingdom is like a field of wheat and weeds. Jesus instructed not to pull the weeds, rather to let them grow together (three-part), as to not pull up the wheat with the weeds. Let them grow together until the wheat overtakes the weeds.
    • John asks Jesus if he’s the messiah or not.
      • This sounds like it could be doubt but it’s possible that it’s something else.
      • It sounds like John may be chiding Jesus.
      • More like, “Are you the Messiah or not because you sure aren’t acting like it…”
      • Is this the chiding of a former Rabbi?
    • Jesus responds to John
      • Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
      • Jesus tells them to go back and report what they see and hear and then quotes scripture. Isa 35:5-6; 26:19; 29:18-19; 61:1. However, he stops short of sharing that the captives will be set free.
      • John will not be freed from prison. He will die there.
  • Jesus addresses the crowd about John to show him respect
    • Jesus claims that John was the Elijah to come.
    • Jesus shares that John was right.
    • John is greatest of any man born of a woman, however, the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is. Heaven doesn’t work the way the world works.
    • The kingdom of heaven has suffering “paratz”, it is now exploding.
      • The septuigint replaces the Hebrew perez in the story of Judah and Tamar with the word used here for “violence.”
      • The image here is livestock or sheep bursting out of the gate/pen.
    • He who has ears, let him hear. You’re going to have to do a little work to dig into to the text and piece together what I’m saying. To find the buried treasure.
    • Jesus quotes Aesop’s fable claiming they were warned of what’s coming and didn’t listen.
  • Jesus claims that the world is getting better, not worse.

Discussion Questions

  • Head
    • Was John the Rabbi of Jesus? Why or why not?
    • What questions are there about two-part and three-part eschatology?
  • Heart
    • How do you feel about an explosive kingdom?
    • What is our relationship with an “explosive” kingdom?
    • Some find themselves hesitant to be all in on G-d’s church. Are we also hesitant to be all in on what G-d is doing (healing, productive, shalom)? Are we ready to go when it’s time?
  • Hands
    • Is there anything I need to do in my life where the kingdom of God is accessible to me if I want it however I’m simply not ready, I’m not bursting through the door or laying hold of it?

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