"Brethren Voices" - 03-03-26 (02-17-36)

''Brethren Voices,'' "The Historical Jesus and the Kingdom of God" (Part 2) The first gathering of the Progressive Brethren took place in November 2008. It featured Keynote Speaker, Robert Miller, the Rosenberger Professor of Christian and Religious Studies of Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA.. Context is everything, because the same words may have different meanings because of the place or time. Robert Miller shared that the Historical Setting of Jesus is very important in understanding the teachings of Jesus. Miller stated, “For Jesus, the kingdom of God, is not a place or future state, but is present, here-and-now, because God is already king, in the “real world,” despite all the evidence to the contrary." In the time of Jesus, such a statement would have sounded politically dangerous, but to others, it was Good News. This three-part series, with the contributions of Robert Miller, provides us with an in depth look at the life of Jesus, in the context of the times in which he lived. It was a time when a million people were killed by the Romans, during their occupation of their empire. According to Miller, Jesus didn’t have a plan for the kingdom of God, but relied on the imagination of those who were hearing his message. He uses metaphors and images and powerful exaggerations and parables. Brethren Voices Host, Brent Carlson provides the introduction to Miller’s presentation with the story of leaven and bread making discussed in this edition, part 2. Like the other parables, this parable has been interpreted out of the historical context. Miller shares three parables. Miller shared that the message of Jesus was heard by many in the small community of Galilee as well as by the Romans who were governing that empire. Jesus shares that the Kingdom of God is unlike the kingdom of Rome. The “first people in the kingdom” are the poor and powerless. Ed Groff, the producer of "Brethren Voices" stated, we never imagined that our focus would reach so many people from coast to coast. "Brethren Voices programs have been downloaded nearly 1,700 times and broadcast, on over 100 community access stations around the country. Over 200 programs may be viewed on WWW.YouTube.com/Brethrenvoices. Check us out!!!