(The Gospel of Mark 10:15)
Grace:
The phrase “Kingdom of God”
reverberates through Christian scriptures in the teachings of Jesus. Some Christians
understand God’s kingdom to refer strictly to a heavenly realm beyond this
earthly life; others understand it to refer also to an ideal state of being on this
earth, in which human beings find union with God and one another. In reading this text, I am struck especially
by the simplicity of the verb receive. I recently heard someone of
another faith tradition say that “One who cannot see God in all, cannot see God
at all.” I suspect this is exactly what Jesus wanted his listeners to
understand when he spoke of the need to be “born again” in order to receive the
kingdom of God. (John 3:3) How do your sacred
scriptures invite you to see God and to receive God’s kingdom?
Yasmina:
In Islam the term “seeing
God in others” is not used. Instead, Muslims recognize a person’s piety by how
much their actions reflect their respect for God’s commands. This stems from
the view that belief in God must be coupled with righteous deeds: “O mankind!
We created you from a single [pair] of a male and a female, and made you into
nations and tribes, that ye may know each other [not that ye may despise each
other]. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is [he who is] the
most righteous of you.” (al-Hujurat
49:13) As a Muslim, I view myself as a minute being in God’s kingdom, which
encompasses the heavens, the earth and all that lies between them. I am
reminded to always act with humility because achieving righteousness is a
lifelong journey; only God can judge and invite whom He wills, with His grace
and mercy, into the final abode of peace.
Tziporah:
To answer your question, Grace, I turn not to the
“sacred scriptures,” but to the early rabbinic literature and the writings of
Maimonides (1135-1204). Many of Jesus’
parables about the kingdom of God have parallels in Jewish texts, which use
this exact phrase, as well as the phrase olam
ha-ba, “the world to come,” to refer to the messianic era. The rabbis of
the Talmud suggest that all righteous people, including non-Jews who follow the
Noachide Laws,[1]
will inherit a portion in the world to come. In Maimonides’ lifetime, there was
much controversy about whether olam ha-ba
referred to an actual place in the physical realm. In his treatise on the tenth chapter of Mishnah Sanhedrin, Maimonides describes the world to come as follows: “The
Garden of Eden is a fertile place containing the choicest of the earth’s
resources, numerous rivers, and fruit-bearing trees. God will disclose it to
man some day. He will teach man the way to it, and men will be happy there.”[2] Jews are urged to be righteous and fulfill the
commandments, not only to receive our portion in the world to come but also to
live well in this world.
