The Kingdom of God Has Come

In the previous chapter I said that there is no biblical text which, when seriously analyzed, allows one to suppose that the Church founded by Jesus Christ would become corrupt and slide into an apostasy lasting more than 1,600 years. Now I will go a step further and add that there are others — and abundant ones at that — which point to the era of the Church as the Kingdom of God announced by our Lord, in which Christians, as “salt of the earth” and “light of the world”[1], would carry the Gospel throughout the entire world[2].

“The kingdom of God has come upon you.”[3]

“The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”[4]

The Lord is not speaking of a Kingdom that would arrive in the distant future, but of one that had already come and was being announced to new believers. He speaks of the age of the Church, which, even with its modest beginnings — like a tiny mustard seed[5] — would not stop growing until it became a great, leafy tree that would serve as refuge for all sincere seekers of truth. Another parable that conveys the same idea is that of the leaven, in which its growth is compared to a bit of flour that, after fermenting, does not stop growing.

“And he said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’”[6]

“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”[7]

When Jesus announces to the Jews that he will give the Kingdom of Heaven to a people that yields fruit from it, he refers to the Church, which he will commission to make disciples of all nations:

“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”[8]

“And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.’’ And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.”[9]

To accomplish his purpose, Jesus transmits his authority to his Apostles and designates Peter as “steward,” giving him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven — that is, the keys to govern the Church with authority:

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”[10]

A New Covenant

Note how already in the preceding text the figure of the Kingdom of Heaven begins to be identified with the Church. Jesus speaks of building his Church, and for that purpose entrusts the “keys of the Kingdom of Heaven” to Peter[11]. Nothing in Scripture gives reason to think that this Kingdom announced by the Lord would halt or paralyze its growth for a period of so many centuries, as Protestantism has deduced. Or do the mustard seed that becomes a tree, or the leaven that ferments, cease to grow? On the contrary, regarding this new covenant sealed with the blood of Christ, we find numerous prophecies in the Old Testament that suggest quite the opposite:

“And he will come to Zion as Redeemer… And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit which is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your children, or out of the mouth of your children’s children, says the Lord, from this time forth and for evermore.”[12]

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke… But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”[13]

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews clearly shows how this new covenant announced by the Prophets finds its complete fulfillment in the Church:

“But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says: ‘The days will come, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’”[14]

Among other Old Testament prophecies that the Church Fathers unanimously applied to the Church, we have:

“And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth… And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever.”[15]

“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”[16]

“Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”[17]

“And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”[18]

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” … “The children born in the time of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: ‘The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.’ Then you will say in your heart: ‘Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away, but who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; whence then have these come?’” Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”[19]

In the New Testament, these texts are also applied to the Church, which would gather people of every race, people, and nation:

“For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.’”[20]

“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel.”[21]

See also Isaiah 52:1, 7, 10, 13–15, and compare with Romans 10:15; 15:21; Luke 3:6.

“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear!… Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; hold not back, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. For this is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you. No weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, says the LORD.”[22]

This prophecy is expressly applied to the Church by Saint Paul in Galatians 4:22–31. Compare also with Romans 9:24–26.

The Marks of the Church

This Church, which was foreshadowed as the city set on a hill, would need to possess certain characteristics or marks that would allow it to preserve and propagate the Gospel to all nations. Among these marks we may mention:

1) Perpetual Visibility: A Church that could not be identified or recognized could not be the light of the world.

2) Apostolicity: Jesus granted to the Apostles the threefold power to teach, sanctify, and govern his Church until the end of the ages[23]. The Church must therefore be apostolic: in its origin — that is, it must be the same today as the one founded upon the Apostles; in its doctrine — teaching the same truths as the Apostles; and in its succession — that is, governed, instructed, and sanctified by the legitimate successors of the Apostles. It would not be, as the Protestants assumed, a Church that would be absent from history for centuries.

3) Catholicity: The Church must be catholic, that is, universal, and must be so in three senses: of time or duration, “always, until the end of the world”[24] or “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”[25]; of place or extension, since it is open to “all nations” and “to every creature”[26]; and of faith or doctrine, to teach “all the things” that their Lord had “commanded” them, “all the truth.”

4) Unity: The unity of the Church enables its visibility, and for this reason Jesus explicitly requested it of the Father on the night of the Passion, as the distinctive mark of his Church:

“I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee; and these know that thou hast sent me.”[27]

This unity must have a threefold manifestation: of faith[28], because the truth is one and the Church is the depositary of this truth; of government, because Jesus created in her a governing body composed of the Apostles, of Peter, and of their successors, endowed with the fullness of powers; of communion, in which all members unite their efforts toward the end to be attained: to teach Revelation for the salvation of souls. Hence Saint Paul teaches that the Church is “one Body and one Spirit”[29], and must be united in “one faith, one baptism.”[30]

Jesus warned that “if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand”[31]. Satan knows that the Church cannot be divided because she is ONE, but he does know that he can draw Christians away from her communion.

5) Infallibility or Inerrancy: Nor could a Church that became corrupt and taught error be the light of the world. In this way God was already preparing for his Church the precious gift of indefectibility: even though composed of human beings, weak and sinful, she would always be “the Church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth”[32]. To reject her legitimate representatives would be to reject God himself: “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me”[33], for they would be the “stewards of the mysteries of God”[34], and for this they counted on the promise of receiving the Holy Spirit to “guide them into all the truth”[35].

Protestantism, in its various denominations, lacks Unity of Faith, Government, and Communion; lacks Apostolicity, since it appears in the sixteenth century when Christianity already had fifteen centuries of existence. The separated Eastern Churches, though they possess valid sacraments and apostolic succession, also lack Unity of Faith, Government, and Communion. They also lack Catholicity, since each one is autocephalous, independent, and incapable of extending universally.

This is why we profess that there is only One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, founded by Jesus Christ, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. Only in this Church, which is “the general means of salvation,” can the full totality of the means of salvation be found. We profess that “the Lord entrusted all the goods of the New Covenant to a single Apostolic College presided over by Peter, in order to constitute a single body of Christ on earth, into which those who in some way already belong to the People of God must be fully incorporated.”[36]

Notes

  1. Mt 5:13-14 ↩
  2. Mt 28:19 ↩
  3. Mt 12:28 ↩
  4. Lk 17:20-21 ↩
  5. Mk 4:31-32 ↩
  6. Mk 4:30-32 ↩
  7. Mt 13:33 ↩
  8. Mt 21:43 ↩
  9. Acts 13:46-48 ↩
  10. Mt 16:18-19 ↩
  11. Mt 16:19 ↩
  12. Is 59:20-21 ↩
  13. Jer 31:31-33 ↩
  14. Heb 8:6-10 ↩
  15. Dan 2:35, 44 ↩
  16. Is 2:2-3; also in Mic 4:1-2 ↩
  17. Is 9:2, 6-7 ↩
  18. Is 30:20-21 ↩
  19. Is 49:6-7, 20-23 ↩
  20. Acts 13:47 ↩
  21. Lk 2:29-32 ↩
  22. Is 54:1-3, 9-10, 17 ↩
  23. Mt 28:18-20 ↩
  24. Mt 28:20 ↩
  25. Eph 4:13 ↩
  26. Gen 22:18; Mt 24:14; Lk 24:47; Acts 15:17; Gal 3:8 ↩
  27. Jn 17:20-25 ↩
  28. Already mentioned above as the catholicity of doctrine. ↩
  29. Eph 4:4 ↩
  30. Eph 4:5 ↩
  31. Mk 3:24 ↩
  32. 1 Tim 3:15 ↩
  33. Lk 10:16 ↩
  34. 1 Cor 4:1 ↩
  35. Jn 16:13 ↩
  36. Unitatis Redintegratio, 3. ↩