THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
The people of the Bible land had lost their kingdom before the time of Christ. They had no king of their own, but governors came from Rome, a city hundreds of miles away, and ruled them. But the people hoped that this would not last. They wanted a kingdom of their own. They believed God would give it to them some day. They prayed that it might come. When Jesus began to teach and hear people, they thought perhaps he would be a king to bring this kingdom that God would give them. But Jesus had something better than a great kingdom on earth. He tried to make them understand what it was. He called it the kingdom of heaven. By that he meant the rule of God in the world.
God's rule is not in a great palace, with soldiers and a throne and great splendor. It is in the heart, and grows up very quietly, like the plants in the field. Jesus once told a story to show this. It was the story of