I’ve been pondering lately how the Kingdom of God is upside-down. I suppose that is just from our perspective, really it is right-side-up and we are upside down. It is a kingdom where the first are last and the last are first, it is a kingdom where the poor are blessed because it belongs to them. A kingdom whose citizens, when struck on one cheek, offer the other in return, beyond that they love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them.
It is a kingdom where the powerful are to be vulnerable and servants to all. where you must lose your life to gain it. It is a kingdom where the shepherd will leave behind the 99 sheep in-hand to search for the one lost sheep. It is where a widow will scour her house for a missing penny and then rejoice at it’s finding and invite her friends to a party. You may say “that doesn’t even make sense”, but of course it doesn’t, it is upside down.
And ultimately it is a kingdom ruled by a servant God-king who laid aside his glory to enter into his creation as a poverty stricken servant, born in a barn, wrapped in rags, laid in a manger. He became king not through conquest, but by surrender and his very coronation involved his own torture and death, where his throne was a cross and his crown was made of thorns.
