Do you know anyone who always talks about the same things in every conversation? It gives you clear insight into what is most important to that person. What would you say that Jesus talked about continually and was most important to Him? It is not hard to figure out.
After Jesus was baptized, the Bible indicates that He went out working miracles and “preaching the gospel of the kingdom” (Matt. 4:23), telling the multitude, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent” (Luke 4:43). He talked to Nicodemus about the only entrance available into “the kingdom of God” (John 3:3-5). The Sermon on the Mount gave repeated attention to attitudes, conduct and conditions related to “the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3, 10, 19, 20; 6:10, 13, 33; 7:21). Jesus told parable after parable describing the nature of His coming kingdom (Matt. 13:1-52; 18:23-35; 20:1-16; 22:2-14; 25:1-30). He sent out the twelve apostles (Matt. 10:7; Luke 9:2) and the seventy disciples (Luke 10:9) to preach about the coming kingdom.
Jesus told His followers that the kingdom was coming. From the early days of His ministry, He proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). He promised to “build” His church and to “give…the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 16:18-19). To further pinpoint the timing, Jesus announced that “there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matt. 16:28) and “see the kingdom of God present with power” (Mark 9:1). He went on to explain to His apostles that such would happen “in the city of Jerusalem” (Luke 24:49), “not many days from now” (Acts 1:5).
When one reads through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, he will read the word “kingdom” 127 times. That’s nearly one-and-a-half times in every chapter. Does that tell you how important the subject was to Jesus?
Then, consider that Jesus spent 40 days on the earth after His resurrection. These were His “last 40 days” to say whatever He wanted to say and to prepare His disciples for His departure. So, what did He spend 40 days talking to them about? “The things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).
The kingdom was vitally important to Christ! It was His reason for coming! It was His reason for dying! That’s why His followers continued in the book of Acts to preach, reason and persuade “concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 8:12; 19:8; 28:23-31). This begs the question: How important is the kingdom to us? Do we talk about it? Is it our reason for living?