Give us the Bread

The Greek phrase:

ton arton emon ton epiousion dos umin semeron

 

The word-by-word English:

'The bread our the daily give us today'

 

‘Today’ or ‘this day’ is a temporal reference to the present moment. Luke says “each day,” while Matthew says “this day.” The word translated as 'daily' only occurs in the Lord’s prayers in those two Gospels. Origen, the 3^rd Century scholar, said that the word was not used in ordinary Greek, so he believed the Evangelists created it as a neologism (new word). It may be derived from the Greek word for 'the morrow' indicating the future; or it may be a compound of epi (translating a dozen English prepositions of time, place, order) + ousias (the verb to be. subsistence) and refer to the bread of daily need/necessity or sufficient for each day.

 

Bread (The Greek artos NT 97x in 89 verses; however, the word "bread" total bible in RSV327x/297v, while NKJV 346x/315v)

Matthew and New Testament

The word bread first appears in chapter 4 on the lips of the devil, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread" (the Greek is simply "stones become bread") and Jesus replies "man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." There will be another juxtaposition of bread and stone in chapter 7. Here the temptation attacks Jesus’ simple human desire--hunger. The devil is seeking for Jesus to prove His status as the Son. We might also see a connection to the multiplication of loaves—the temptation that Jesus can appease the crowds with food and miracles, not unlike the Emperor pacified the crowds with "bread and circuses." (When the state supplies free food there is always more going on...) Chapter 7 Jesus asks, what father gives his child a stone when he asks for bread? God is better than any human father, so Jesus makes clear, be confident in asking!  In chapter 9 Jesus makes reference to David eating the sacred bread during a conflict with his son, then in Mt 14-16 artos appears eleven times as Jesus feeds the multitude and discusses its meaning with the apostles. The next time bread occurs is at the last supper and the eucharist, Mt 26, where Jesus says, "take, eat, this is my body." 

 

In Luke 24:35 Jesus is with two disciples in Emmaus, who do not recognize Him until He breaks bread with them, another reference with eucharistic elements. John 6 has ten references, connected to the theme that Jesus is the Bread of Life, or the Bread come down from heaven. His flesh is real food and His blood is real drink (scandalous to Jewish ears). It culminates with the crowd searching for Jesus. He tells them, "I tell you, you are not looking for Me because you saw signs, but because you ate your full of loaves (artos). Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life."  The eucharistic theme continues in Acts ("breaking of bread" referenced several times) with an extended reflection on Eucharist in 1 Corinthians 11.

 

I think it is legitimate to include "eucharist" as part of the prayer for bread. Paul says, "because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, because we all partake of one bread." [1Corinthians 10:17] When we experience 'Kingdom come' the prayer of Jesus (that they all be one, Father, as we are one) will no doubt be answered. Paul demonstrates the deeper meaning of the loaf. In the "Didache of the Twelve Apostles" there is a similar prayer reference to grain scattered on a hillside made one in the loaf, so may the scattered church be made one in Christ. Yet the Eucharist is connected to the manna n the exodus--that bread of heaven was for daily sustenance. The Scriptures do not denigrate this meaning. In the New Testament, Jesus feeds the crowds twice, and the language makes clear that we are to ponder both the Last Supper and Israel in the desert. In 2 Thessalonians, bread is a metaphor for making one's living, so bread also means the general sustenance (food and survival needs). This more mundane angle is sacred, God's provision of food for body and soul is all salvific. 

 

Jewish Scriptures

The curse in Genesis 3:19 is the first appearance of bread--"in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground...you are dust and to dust you shall return." The human condition outside of the Garden is a battle with thorns and thistles, the abundance of food is replaced by ground begrudgingly providing sustenance. The next appearance is Melchizedek's offering of bread and wine (another tie to Last Supper) with Abraham in Genesis 14, then four chapters later Abraham offers the Three Visitors (actually God) "a morsel of bread" (which is actually three measures of flour) and in chapter 19, Lot likewise provides a feast and bread. So feeding is connected with hospitality (towards God's presence among us). After several generic references to bread as food, Jacob offers God a conditional covenant (if God will be with me and keep me in this way I am going, and give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on...then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's House [Bethel]…) The Eucharist is covenant bread, and the plea for daily bread is an acknowledgement that if the Lord is our God, He will provide for us out of covenant fidelity.

Exodus 16 provides a ripe theological source, with multiple references to bread. God declares "See, I will rain down bread for you," "you shall be filled with bread and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, "manna/what is it"--this is the bread which the Lord your God has given you to eat." In Leviticus, "the bread of God" is among the offerings, which are brought to God and eaten by the priests. 

ISAIAH 55 is one of the most beautiful songs of Isaiah… “everyone who thirsts, let him come to the waters; and you who have no money, come buy and eat. Some, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread?” The prophet calls his listeners to listen and obey, to embrace the covenant and the promise of better days. “Seek the Lord...call upon Him, repent, return.” In verse10 he reminds that precipitation provides “seed to the sower and bread to the eater--and so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth, it shall not return empty but it shall accomplish that which I purpose.”

The connection of bread, offerings and the word throughout the Jewish bible remind us of the eucharistic meaning of bread. It is the provision of God, for every aspect of human existence.

Expansion

Jesus told numerous parables of wedding feasts or other parties. He spoke of Himself as the Groom, and He offers the invitation to embrace Him (and the Kingdom) metaphorically as a banquet.  The meals in the Jewish bible are often referred to as eating bread. Ultimately, the cry to God for bread, like the cry for the Name of God to be made holy, once and for all, His Kingdom to come, once and for all, His will to be done, once and for all--all express our human need and desire for union with God. In the meantime, the Eucharist serves as a sacramental sign of the "already united" (with Him and one another--i.e., "in communion with") even as we pray for ongoing provision as we journey to the day of complete table fellowship in the Lord's Kingdom. 

Lord's Prayer 4 Thy will be done

"Thy will be done"

This phrase occurs twice in the Bible,  both are in Matthew (6:10) during the sermon on the mountain He teaches us to pray. In the Garden where Jesus prayed before He was arrested (26:42) He asked that "this cup" would pass from Him, but He was not spared. However, His prayer was answered, because He prayed that God's will was done. Jesus apparently desired not to suffer and die but He chose obedience to the Father's will. This raises a question about free will, which is a topic of great debate. Has God predetermined everything?  Do we choose to respond to God's will expressed in commands, or do we simply do as God would have us do, with the "appearance, but not the substance" of freedom. Pragmatically, really if God has pre-chosen and pre-directed everything and every one's destiny, really what difference does any of our discussion make? I understand that this is a sacred and central tenant of many serious Christians, who tell me that it respects God's sovereignty. I do not understand response to that is "the cross"--whatever we think power and sovereignty mean, God seems to define it differently. Being in control was sacrificed from the beginning, in order to be in relationship.

Does prayer impact God's will? Can God change?

There are countless examples of God becoming angry with His people, or at others for how they treat His people. The wrath of God would seem to be reactive/responsive behavior. We also know God is pleased with His faithful servants. Another example of responsiveness. There is a large volume of interactive narratives. In addition, the writings of the prophets have much relational material. I always hasten to add, that the Bible speaks of the economia the God of the economy of salvation--transactions in space and time, interactions with the world and with nature. Human language is appropriate in this sphere because God has emptied Himself to enter this sphere. Anthropomorphic language is metaphoric, symbolic and inexact. 

The Hebrew word naham (naw kham) and comes from the root to breath heavily or sigh, to pant. It means to feel pity or console (one self or another), it can also mean to be sorry or regret, lament or grieve, to repent and it can even mean to avenge. 

The first occurrence (Gen 5:29) is connected to the naming of baby Noah, who will comfort the people. The next two (Gen 6:6&7) are stunning. The Lord saw the sin and corruption of humans "and the Lord was sorry (naham) that he had made man on the earth and it grieved [asab=hurt, pain, grieve, displease, vex] Him to His heart. The next verse, God declares, "I will blot out man...for I am sorry that I have made them." 

For our purposes, Exodus 32 addresses the issue of intercession with God. In 32:12 Moses is trying to convince God that the Egyptians will say that He had drawn Israel out for ill intent (mischief) and wanted to wipe them out. Moses exhorts YHWH to "turnfrom/repent (sub) from thy fierce anger and repent (naham) of this evil against Thy people."

The Lord does 'repent' (v14). Paradoxically, the next time the word occurs is Numbers 23:19 where He says, "God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should repent. Hs He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken and will He not fulfill it? [The apparent contradiction can be explained, but not without some tension remaining!]

Judges 2:8 God is moved to "pity" by the groaning of the people. 1 Samuel 15 God greatly regrets making Saul king. Followed by 15:29 "The Strength of Israel will not lie or relent. For He is not a man that He should relent. But six verses later "God regretted that He made saul king over Israel."

1 Chronicles 21:15 God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as it was going on God regretted so He told the angel to still his hand.

Jeremiah 15:6 God acts in judgement declaring "I am weary of relenting" Jeremiah has many verses on conditional relenting, based on the behavior of the people 18:8, 10; 26:3, 13, 19. Joel 2:13-14 speaks of God relenting in response to repentance and Amos 7:3, 6 provide two examples of God relenting, as He changes His mind on punishing His people. 

One last illustration of the anthropomorphic "emptying" of God. We often overlook this clash of "theology" and "message" when reading Scripture. Jeremiah is in our daily readings currently. In chapter 2 God "remembers" the early ideal of covenant love with Israel. In chapter 3 he returns to this theme, accusing Israel "of playing the whore with many lovers." Jeremiah 3:7 And I (God) thought, "After she has done all this she will return to Me, but she did not return to Me." What can it mean that God 'thinks' something 'might' happen in the future? Obviously, we do not want to push too hard, God is communicating to humans and through a human, after all. There are also many verses which point to God's promise and declaration of a better future for His people (best seen as a pattern rather than a prediciton; a prophecy to be filled up in the return from exile, the ministry of Jesus, the ministry of the church, and most perfectly at the consumation of all things "On That Day." 

 

Will of God in Jewish Scriptures

The story of Israel is centered on grace creating//saving a people with the offer of a permanent relationship founded  on love, trust and fidelity. God's unconditional love leads Him to offer Himself as Father/King/Husband to the covenant people. The constraints of the covenant are expressed in the instruction (Torah) which God asks His people to (shamar) keep.  This is the same Hebrew word used to describe the role of 'adam in the garden. Now the whole people are to be "keepers." The motivation is this worldly--where God reigns among His people through the presence of His Name among them. 

Keep the commandments "so it will go well with you" (Jeremiah 7:24; 42:6); a recurring theme in Deuteronomy [4:40 "keep His statutes and commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after yo, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time." We find it again in Deuteronomy  5:16; 5:29, 5:33; 6:3; 6:18; 12:25; 12:28; 22:7. Clearly the purpose of the Law/Instruction is for the well being of His people. It is no accident the numerical value (in Hebrew each letter is also a numeral) of the Hebrew letters in Torah is 611. The Talmud says there are 611 commandments plus the first two of the ten commandments which God spoke to Moses. The number 613 is most accepted (though with much debate and discussion among rabbis). They concretely spell out the will of God. They seem to function like common law principles, and there is a mix of liturgical, ethical and social commands which do not follow a strict ordering. The primary purpose of the commands is to illustrate the "will of God," which is that people love, trust and obey Him and reject all other gods; and that they treat one another with love and justice.

Jeremiah 3:17 "At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer follow their own evil will." The prayer of Jesus seems to resonate with this declaration of Jeremiah (and clearly Jesus read and integrated Jeremiah in His own ministry and teaching). The problem of the fallen world is that humans do their own will and not the will of God. The deepest meaning of the petition is that God free us from our twisted human will (corporately and individually). Compliance with the will of God will make a world a better place. 

NT 

 The Greek word thelema  (will, desire, pleasure, what one wishes or determines should be done) provides for both an active and more passive understanding of the will of God. The will of God is what the Lord does and describes what happens  In other instances the word means that there are desires which God has provided as goals for us. The word thelema is only in Mark once, in 3:35 Jesus says, "Whoever does the will of God,  is my brother, and sister, and mother. The parallels Matthew (12:46-50) changes God to Father and Luke (8:19-21) flips it to say 'My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." Doing God's will makes one part of the family of Jesus--membership in His family is one meaning of "the church." But it is conditional, and implies that those who do not do the will of God are not part of the family.

The second time Matthew uses it, two chapters after the verse in the Lord's prayer Mt 7:21, Jesus warns that saying, "Lord, Lord" is not enough to enter the Kingdom, one must "do the will of the Father." In the context of the parable of the Lost Sheep Jesus concludes with this (sweet and heartening word). There is greater joy over the return of one who has gone astray--so it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost." Clearly our prayer is an embrace of the Father's will that the lost and the outcast be found and come home (with the consciousness that we, too, are the lost and least). In chapter 21, the parable of the two sons, one son says no to his father, but then does his will. The other son says, 'yes' but fails to follow up--Jesus asks, who did the will of the father? Jesus then warns, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom before you because they believed.

The Gospel of  John has many references as well (My food is to do the will of God 4:34; this is especially significant in light of the next petition "give us the bread") 6:38, 39, 40 Jesus does not do His own will but the will of the Father who sent Him (think of the Garden prayer), the Father's will is that Jesus not lose anything He has been given but to raise it up on the last day, the Father's will is that everyone who Sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life and be raised up on the last Day. John 7:17Jesus says the benefit of doing God's will is it gives us discernment to determine if He speaks the word of God.

Paul begins several letters declaring that he is called to be an apostle by the will of God (1&2 Cor, Eph, Col, 2 Tim). He speaks often of God's will in terms of the Gospel and the work of Jesus (Gal 1:4, Ephesians 1). At other times the will of God is identified as things we are supposed to do (Thessalonians) be holy, abstain from sexual immorality, give thanks.

1 Peter is especially focused on the will of God. "For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish." (2:15) Peter does indicate that God is involved in our lives as he exhorts the believers "it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, that to suffer for doing evil. He explains how and why Christ suffered, and tells the readers 'you must be prepared to suffer' leaving behind the sinful passions and desires, "you mist o longer live by human desires but by the will of God" (4:2) He concludes (4:13) that we should not be surprised by the fiery ordeal of life, as if it were strange, but rejoice in sharing Christ's sufferings and look forward to the glory to come. 4:19 "Threfore let those suffering in accordance with God's will  entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good." An amazing letter, indeed, and vital for understanding the will of God.

Lastly the first letter of John (5:14) and this is the confidence we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And that is at the heart of this petition in the Lord's prayer, that we pray for His will, we pray according to His will. This is the deepest meaning of praying in the Name of Jesus --it is to pray in the person who is Son of God. To pray in His Name is to pray with and in Him. It is  to desire the Father's will. Praying for His will becomes an open portal for the Lord to enter this place--which is ruled by the Enemy and polluted with evil and the demonic. GOd has given the world over to our wills (Genesis 1) in a very real sense. Ruled in place by the renegade and rebellious (the spiritual entities and human), the fallen world is in disorder and, per Romans, moans and longs for deliverance. Your will  be done is fundamentally a prayer for that deliverance and new life.  

 

Lent 4 More on Seeing and Salvation

Numbers  21:4-9

Ephesians 2:1-10

John 3:14-21

In my last homily, I shared how often the Bible connects the word "see" with salvation. Today we see it again: God says put a bronze serpent on a pole and "everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live."

 

In Numbers 20 & 21 both Moses’ sister Miriam and brother Aaron have died. Once more the people complain about water, but now God is displeased. Even Moses is under judgement. God says, "Because you did not trust Me enough to honor Me as holy in the eyes of the congregation; you shall not lead them into the land." Seeing is for good and for ill.

 

God wins a victory for Israel against Edom, which had attacked the Israelites; then they set out "by the way of the Red Sea." Based on the distances, the reference cannot be geographical, but may be a metaphor. In Exodus 15-16, "the way of the Red Sea" is a way of doubt and complaining. There are many parallels to Numbers. Israel pines for a romanticized Egypt and disrespects God. They complain about bitter water, which is made fresh by a piece of wood. They want food and receive manna. Then they complain about water, again, and Moses is told to strike a rock with his staff and water flows.

 

The church sees Christ in these stories of Israel—the wood is the Cross, the manna is the eucharist, and in 1 Corinthians 10:4, St. Paul says that the rock is Christ. In John 19:34 Christ is struck with a spear and waters pours from His side. 

 

In Numbers, we also see God's judgement. He sends deadly saraph nakash. The saraph are “fiery serpents,” but in Isaiah 6 saraphs are heavenly beings around the throne of God. The snake in the Garden of Eden is also a nakash, which brings death to humanity. The interplay of these stories deepen the mystery of the Numbers’ account.

 

God hears Moses’ prayer and provides a mysterious remedy: those who see the bronze serpent shall live. This has baffled scholars for centuries. Looking at an image of death brings life; there is, however, no explanation: if one sees it, one lives. In the Gospel reading today, Jesus applies it to Himself—so, the wood, the bread, the flowing water, and now, the bronze serpent are all revelations of the Lord Jesus. When we really see Jesus, we are truly alive.  

 

In Morning Prayer, Mark 8:11-21, we heard Jesus ask the disciples, “Do you not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and fail to see?” I am inclined to answer ‘yes’ to these questions. I seem unable to understand so much. Yet this question helps me in my struggle to grasp the salvific meaning of “to see.”

 

In John 1:39, 46 the young men encountering Jesus are told “come and see.” The invitation to discipleship is a seeing, it is a process. In 3:3 (the beginning of the story we read today) Jesus tells Nicodemus, “unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.” Seeing is life in the Kingdom. It encompasses faith (trusting and being trustworthy), obedience and love. 3:38 He who does not believe the Son of God shall not see life. Participating in the life of God is seeing God, the Holy Three and theosis, union with God.

Let us pray for a heart to see this Lent.

 

 

 

 

 

Lord's Prayer 3 Kingdom Come!

Kingdom come

Notes and references to Kingdom 1, 2, 3 teaching on line

 

The word "king" occurs over 2400 times in just under 1800 verses. The first references to a king is found in a battle account in Genesis14 where the kings of Shinar, Ellasar, Elam, Gorim make war on the kings of Sodom, Gomorah, Admah, Zeborim and Bela (which is Zoram). Abraham gets mixed up in the conflict, and in the process meets a tenth king, Melchizedek (meaning King of Righteousness), the King of Salem (means Peace, probably the site of Jerusalem) who offers bread and wine as a sacrifice. Hebrews picks up on this symbolism in reference to Jesus.

Kings could be tribal chieftains, or rulers of vast Empires, but their power and authority are noteworthy. It was the way government worked. After about one hundred references to human kings in the Torah, Joshua and Judges, 1 Samuel 7 makes a major shift. At the end of Judges we read that there was no king in Israel, each one did what was right in his own eyes (yet another reference to seeing). So the people of Israel desire to be like  the other nations--without fully realizing what this will mean--and have a king. Samuel is angry that the elders of Israel said, "Give us a King to govern us." God tells Samuel to do it, but then He says, "they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them." 

There are many hundreds more references to human kings, but in psalms, the Kingship of God is front and center.

Ps 5:2 Hearken to the sound of my cry, my King and my God...

10:6 The Lord is King forever and ever, the nations (Gentiles) shall perish from His land.

Psalm 24 calls the gates to make room for the King of Glory, the  Lord, strong and mighty in battle (a reference to defeating Ba'al)

Psalm 29:10 The Lord sits enthroned forever

Psalm 47:7 God is the king of the earth

Psalm 74:12 God my king is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

97:1The Lord is King; let the earth rejoice... Clouds and darkness are round about Him, righteousness and justice are the foundation  of His throne. A fire goes before Him and burns up His enemies on every side. [9. For you are the Lord, most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods]

99:1, 4 The Lord is king... Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

Psalm 103 (especially:19-22) The Lord has set His throne inheaven and His kingship has dominion over all....bless the Lord...in all places of His dominion." This King-God is proclaimed as te one who forgives, heals, saves from death, covers with love and compassion, fills with good things, is kind, merciful and patient and does not deal with us according to our sin.

Isaiah 33:22 The prophet ends a promise of Jerusalem's future glory with these words, "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our King, He will save us."

Isaiah 44:6 is part of another prophecy of hope and salvation. "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and the last, besides me there is no god." (Rev 1:16 Jesus uses the same words)

KINGDOM mamlakah. Refers to foreigners and Kingdom of Israel/Judah. God's people are called to Justice--which is right relationship with the covenant God, the covenant people, the alien, and the poor. The "right" behavior is illustrated in the various commandments and instructions found in the Torah and prophets.

Exodus 19 begins the encounter with God on the Mountain in the Wilderness of Sinai. The Lord YHWH declares that He bore the people out of Egypt on eagle's wings and brought them to Himself. He says if they faithfully obey and keep covenant that they shall be His treasured possession among all the people of the world. Out of all the earth, God tells Israel "you shall be to Me a KINGDOM of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel."

The Jewish Bible never speaks of the Kingdom of God, but it occurs 65 times in the NT, with additional uses of "Kingdom of Heaven" and simply "the Kingdom."

Daniel 6:13-14 (written in Aramaic) provides a prophecy which is transitional to the King/Messiah Jesus.

"I saw one like a son of man coming with the  clouds of heaven. And He came to the Ancient One and was presented before Him. To Him was given dominion and glory and Kingship, and all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion shall not pass away and His Kingship is one that shall not be destroyed."  The Hebrew for son of man (human) is "ben adam" is used by Jesus in self-reference on numerous occassions. The imagery of Daniel, including the use of animals to symbolize empires, is also duplicated in the Book of Revelation. The connection of God's reign and the dominion of a divine/human figure echo the creation account where the 'adam' was given dominion over all the  animals of the earth. Earlier Daniel 2:44 had similarly declared "the God of Heaven will set up  kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people." 

The words kingdom, of and God are found together 317x in 84 verses, and the exact phrase in 35 of those verses. Four of those are in Matthew, who has and additional thirty uses of "kingdom of heaven" (heaven being a circumlocution for "God"). Scholars assume these are times when Matthew failed to change his source document.

The references to the Kingdom--God's reign--illustrate the centrality of the Kingdom to His mission. It also gives us angles and insights into Jesus's understanding. (from Matthew's perspective)

Matthew12:28 If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.

19:24 it is easier for a camel (Aramaic "rope") to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich  man to enter the Kingdom...

21:31 tax collectors and harlots enter the Kingdom ahead of you

21:43 Kingdom will  be taken from you and given to a nation that produces fruit

Kingdom of Heaven

3:2; 4:17 "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near" 10:17 (apostles preach without 'repent')

5:3, 10 (Beatitudes) Kingdom belongs to poor in spirit and those persecuted for righteousness.

5:19-20 those who relax the commandments are least in the Kingdom, those who keep and teach them are greatest; unless your holiness exceeds scribes and Pharisees you  will not enter the kingdom.

7:21 you do not enter the Kingdom by crying "Lord, Lord," you must do the will of God. [next verse in Lord's prayer]

8:11 Many Gentiles will eat with  Patriarchs in the Kingdom

11:11, 12 Least in Kingdom is greater than John the Baptist, the Kingdom has suffered violence.

13:11 apostles are told the secrets of the Kingdom (mysterion is something revealed to the inner circle which is hidden from others; hence it is the same as apocalypse-revelation, or unveiling)

After this numeral parable reveal/hide the mystery of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is "like" (the same term used constantly in the Book of the Revelation to John)

Matthew 13. The Kingdom is like a man throwing seeds, like a mustard seed, a treasure in a field, a man looking for pearls, a net in the sea, a householder with old and new things.

Mt 16 the  apostles have the keys to the kingdom of heaven

Mt 18 Jesus talks about the greatest in the Kingdom, those who accept it as a child.

18: 23 Kingdom is like a king settling accounts.

19 some become eunuchs for the Kingdom, the  kingdom belongs to children, and its hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven (second verse has God)

20 like a householder hiring laborers for fields (all day)

22 like a king having a wedding feast

25 like ten maidens (wise and foolish about oil)

What power is at work in he world against God?

The world is fallen and under the 'dominion' (in some real sense) of sinful Human and 'the gods.' The key is differentiating between God's power in theory and how God's power is contained in actuality by the divine decision to create a world and be in relationship with it. Simplistic statements (God can do anything) are no simple because the reality is more complex. God can't commit suicide. God cannot make a round square (he can make a square into a circle, but it ceases to be a square). He cannot make a rock that is too heavy for Him to pick up (I remember that one from a high school agnostic).

The key question is not what God "could do" but what He in fact has done and the resultant constraints of that choice. There is a reason why incarnation and the death on the cross took place, after all, and a reason why Jesus made a church to do His work. God has willed to allow the world to exist in its current state. The Bible indicates there are powers at work which "rule" in opposition to Him. There are 246 references to "the gods" which are called 'foreign.' 'household,' 'their,' "gold or wood, or molten,' so YHWH is "the  Lord of Lords, God of Gods (Dtn 10:17), King above all gods (Ps 95:7). Ps 97 other gods bow before Him for He is high above the gods. I Corinthians 8:5 (there are many gods and many lords)

John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out." 

John 14:30 "for the ruler/prince of this world is coming. He  has no power over Me, but I do as the Father has commanded Me..."

John 16:11The Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong--"about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."

2 Corinthians 4:4 "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (+)

1 Corinthians 2:6-8 "we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish...none of the rulers of this age under this; for if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." 

Ephesians 2:1-2 "you were once dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the I of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.

This culminates in the grand apocalyptic writings (an almost theatrical production) about God's victory. In Revelation 11:15-19 The seventh angel blows his trumpet and loud voices in heaven say, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah and He will reign forever and ever." This leads the 24 elders to toss down their crowns and worship God saying, "We give you thanks , Lord God Almighty, who are and who were, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged but  your wrath has come and the time for judging the dead."

In the next chapter a vison of a woman and a red dragon, the great serpent (the  Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world) is thrown down. A loud voice proclaims in heaven, "Now  have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Messiah." We learn the  serpent  is defeated by the blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony--but the devil has come to earth in great wrath for his time is short."