This is from my daily Greek exercise of sight reading a few weeks ago, courtesy of Vincent S Artale Jr.
Our text is from the Greek translation of Matthew 3:2. Here is my translation:
“[καὶ] λέγων· Μετανοεῖτε· ἤγγικεν γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. ”
And saying Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is near
Here are some observations:
- In the context this is John the Baptist engaged in his preaching ministry in the wilderness of Judea (Matthew 3:1). John the Baptist’s job is to prepare the way for Jesus the Messiah. This verse gives us the words of John the Baptist.
- The main verb here is “Repent.”
- This is a command; that is, John the Baptist is telling his hearers they are obligated to fulfill this action.
- In the Greek this verb is active voice showing this is something the listeners are to do. Sometimes people can think “God is going to have to make me change/repent…” which is true. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have the personal responsibility to repent!
- The object of where one should repent towards is assume to be God.
- Why should we repent? The Greek word γὰρ here is indicating that John the Baptist is providing a reason why we should repent. What is the reason? “the Kingdom of heaven is near.”
- Why we repent is in light of the consideration of the topic of the Kingdom of Heaven. Elsewhere in the other Gospels it is called Kingdom of God instead of Kingdom of Heaven. But here heaven is understood as referring ultimately to God just as the phrase “White House” might refer to a physical location but it is at times understood as referring to the president. Likewise the Kingdom of Heaven is talking about God’s Kingdom.
- Here the clause tells us the Kingdom of Heaven is near. In the Greek the verb is a perfect tense which emphasize the certainty of this kingdom of God arriving. Yet we know the Kingdom of Heaven in its fullest sense is still future.
- Sometimes people confuse the difference between feeling bad and true repentance. What is the difference between remorse and repentance? Check out this post.
Application:
- In light of what you are pursuing are you currently actively pursuing God or pursuing something else above God? If something else is above God, then that is the sin of idolatry. We need to turn to God instead of our sins.
- Consider the link above concerning the difference between mere remorse and true repentance. Which one is true in your life right now?
- In your daily life during the last week have you been thought about the kingdom of heaven or the things of God?
- Spend some time meditating on the coming Kingdom of heaven in the future. In light of the coming Kingdom of heaven, is there anything you need to change in terms of your priorities and values?
- Again in light of your sinfulness, have you turned to God and Christ? Have you turned to Him to ask God for His grace to be forgiven?
- Know that repentance does not meaning doing good works to please God; no, true repentance is not self-righteousness. Instead true repentance is turning away from sin, even the sin of self-righteousness or the attempt at self-justification, and turning to God. If you are a believer the thought of turning to God despite one’s sinfulness is truly amazing grace. Let that compel you to turn to God for grace!
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Thanks for this much needed quick devotional! So much misunderstanding out there regarding the word “repentance.”
Thanks! You’re right there’s so much confusion about repentance…some thinks it’s penance (doing good things to cancel sins and guilt). But true repentance is heading towards Christ and not so called good works and true repentance heading towards God means one isn’t heading towards sins and there will be fruit with that. I suspect the history of the doctrines of penance doesn’t help and seems some Protestants don’t see clearly the truth either with things like ECT…
Thanks for the good clarifying thoughts! Yup, agree on all.
Lately I haven’t thought about the kingdom of heaven as much as I should have.
Good lesson. Ty.:)
You’re welcome! I hope God uses this to encourage nonbelievers to turn to God and Christians to turn away from sins and to God.
My hope also. 🙂
If you don’t mind follow my blog and god bless you and your family
Good exposition bro Jim. I am going to share some of my recent personal experience to help you make your point. As you know, we left our church because of an open, notorious and unrepentant sinful situation that was ongoing. You know we addressed it and nothing was done to change the behavior. Apparently a few weeks back, the family stood and the father offered an “apology to the church,” for, “if we have done something to hurt the church..” This was then presented to me as sufficient repentance. I basically called hogwash on that as even the slightest repentance. Repentance would have been a good faith effort to end the sinful behavior months before when it was first brought up. This was nothing more than an effort to clear their precious reputation while enjoying all the fun the sin had to offer. The sad part is that now my wife and it(along with two other families who also left) are looked upon as unforgiving since we dismissed their “apology.”
Also from that incident, I have an example of true repentance. As you know, one of my closest friends and my mentor had not supported us in this effort originally. He came to understand where he had failed, and came to me personally, came clean about his role and his failure, and committed to do differently if anything like that ever happened again. Because of that, our relationship is restored and even stronger than before. That is repentance. And forgiveness.
Those are very personal examples you shared but good ones in terms of illustrating the difference between false repentance and genuine repentance. I hope your comment will be helpful for those reading this devotional. I just prayed for that church and also for your classes; going to sleep now brother!
Sleep well my friend
Repentance is so misunderstood these days. Thank you for this teaching pastor Jim
You’re welcome. You’re right repentance is quite misunderstood. How is your arm doing?
Strong pain killers help me sleep at night 😊
Good devotional! Only God can bring us to righteousness.
Amen! How’s your energy?
Still pretty low, but slowly coming back. Thanks Jim!
Sometimes I don’t think many realize that repentance is turning away from the sin. They “repent” and keep doing the same things. I used to struggle with this.
Thanks for sharing that Dawn. That’s encouraging to hear of even your growth and understanding. Lately I’ve been motivated to repent when I understand repentance is also a result of God’s grace that leads to repent. It makes me see it not just as mere duty but a privelege. God’s grace is amazing isn’t?
You’re welcome. Yes it is truly amazing. I ask God regularly to show me any sinful ways I have. Acknowledging sin is not always easy but it’s worth it to be able to have deeper fellowship with the Lord.
Jim, thank you for continuing to share the truth of God’s Word. We pray that many will be blessed by reading. Blessings for your Lord’s Day.