Two times our gospel today spoke about the kingdom, so, I want to focus on that and how Zebulun and Naphtali fit in, and then a few words about how the kingdom can be relevant to us today.

First, a little history. The high point of Israel’s history was during the reign of King David and his son Solomon, from about 1000 to 921 BC.  In 2 Sam 7, God made a covenant with David and promised that He would raise up one of his heirs and would establish his kingdom forever.

Initially, it looked like Solomon might be that king; but right after Solomon, things started to go bad. The kingdom divided, with 10 tribes in the Northern Kingdom, and 2 tribes in the Southern Kingdom. Then, in 721 BC, the Northern Kingdom was wiped out by the Assyrians. They shipped many of the Israelites out and brought many foreigners in, and so the 10 tribes of Israel were gone. Yet, prophets continued to prophecy that the Messiah would re-unite the 12 tribes of Israel and re-establish a new Davidic kingdom that would be everlasting.

Zebulun and Naphtali were 2 of the 10 Northern Tribes, and they were the first to be conquered by the Assyrians. This is where Jesus begins his public ministry. He begins preaching and saying “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” He is re-establishing the kingdom. Just as the destruction of the Davidic kingdom began in Zebulun and Naphtali, so Jesus starts to re-build the new kingdom in the same place.  

Now the question, did Jesus in fact build the new Davidic kingdom? The Jews say no. My wife Joni was Jewish and one of her cousins sent me a link to a site that explains why the Jewish people today reject Jesus as the Messiah and that’s the reason, they don’t believe he built the new Davidic kingdom.

We believe He did, and believe it or not, that kingdom is the Church.   Why do we say that?

I’m going to start with the covenant God made with David in 2 Sam 7. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. Jesus is a son of David. ¹³ He shall build a house for my name. Solomon does build the Temple, but then the kingdom falls apart. In John’s gospel Jesus says, “destroy this Temple and in 3 days I will rebuild it;”. It goes on to say, He was speaking about the Temple of His body. The body of Christ is the new Temple. God continues, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. When Jesus sent out the 12 he said to them, “behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Mt 28:20. Finally, ¹⁴ I will be his father, and he shall be my son. Obviously Jesus.  

The kingdom of David is international. People came from all over the world to hear the wisdom of Solomon. The Church is likewise international. The Davidic kingdom had a Queen Mother who interceded for people with the King. Bathsheba interceded with her son Solomon. 1 Kgs 2:19-20. We have Mary. The kingdom had 12 officers over Israel. 1 Kgs 4:7. The Church was built on the foundation of the 12 apostles. The kingdom had a chief steward who was second only to the king and was given the keys to the kingdom. Isa 22:22. We have Peter. So, the Church is the new kingdom of David, it’s just not what people were expecting. And what about the 12 tribes? Remember, the Messiah would reunite the 12 tribes. Jesus sent the Church out to the Gentiles. Remember the 10 Northern tribes were scattered among the Gentiles. So, when the Church went out to gather the Gentiles into the kingdom, she was re-uniting the 12 tribes, and so “all Israel will be saved”. Rom 11:26. 

What does this mean for us? 

I’m going to share one thought from the Unbound prayer ministry that I’ve talked about before. Unbound prayer is all about finding freedom in Jesus, and the founder, Neal Lozano, has identified 5 keys to this freedom. The 1^st key is repentance and faith. We turn away from sin and turn to the Lord. We turn away from the kingdom of darkness, and we turn to the kingdom of light. It’s one act. It has 2 elements: we turn away from, and turn to, but it’s one act, and ultimately, it’s a choice. Every person has to make this choice, and it’s not a once-and-done thing. We continue to choose throughout our life to believe.   

I think there are many people today struggling with discouragement, not only with the world, but, even more so, with the Church. I was talking with my dad the other day and he’s really having a hard time. He’s been a good Catholic his whole life and he’s seeing things in the Church like he’s never seen before, and he’s really struggling with faith. Just this week, a friend of mine said, we need to talk. He likewise is struggling.

Two points – First, we have to remember, and remind each other, that the truths of the faith are good and unchanging. It’s not like the truths of science. We all learned the scientific method. Someone proposes a theorem, that theorem is tested, and if it holds up, it may eventually come to be a law or truth of science. But, it is always subject to change because it depends on data. If we encounter data that doesn’t fit the scientific truth, then we have to change that truth.

Truths of the faith aren’t like that, because they are revealed by God, and thus they cannot change. Truths in Scripture and passed down in Sacred Tradition since the beginning of the Church can’t change. And Scripture addresses this very issue. The last part of Hebrews is an exhortation to Christians to remain faithful in difficult times. Heb 13:8-9 explicitly says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings.” It’s right there, and it also means that this isn’t new. 

The second point is that God is at work. He has a plan of salvation. Nothing happens that God does not permit, and He allows it because He will bring greater good out of it. But, very often, we don’t see it, and so it can be very hard. Occasionally He does give us a glimpse of what is happening, and when He does, it’s a tremendous blessing. So, I’m going to share 1 such story.

A couple days ago I watched an incredible video that my daughter sent around (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utFFt0qiYtU). You may have seen it because it has to be going viral. It’s about an ordinary guy up around Pittsburgh, who was out jogging in a neighborhood that he hadn’t been to before, and he happened to see an ambulance in a driveway, so, he prayed a Hail Mary, and didn’t give it any more thought, just kept on jogging. A week later, he’s jogging in that neighborhood again and a woman calls him, and initially he just kept jogging, but she got his attention and he’s asking, me? She said, yeah, you, and she said, you saved my life, and in surprise he says we don’t know each other. She said, no, but I recognize your face. She said last week I was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, and I was dying, and I knew I was dying, and Jesus appeared to me, and he held out his hand, and your face was on the palm of his hand, and Jesus said, you were going to die, but because of the prayer of this man, you’re going to live. One Hail Mary.

Brothers and sisters, our faith is good, our faith is true. God bless you all!