The King and the Kingdom of Heaven "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass" (Zech. 9.9 and quoted in Matt. 21.5). Matthew the first Evangel presents to us Christ as the King, the One who at His first coming some two thousand years ago came incognito in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The world in general did not and does not know Him, nor will it accept Him; but to those to whom the heavenly Father reveals the Son, this Jesus of Nazareth is the Anointed One of God. And hence the purpose of the King's coming to the world, as is shown by this Evangel, is to gather to himself a people in whom by the Spirit of God He can build a kingdom that is not of this world but which is of heaven. But Matthew also shows us that the church has been taught to pray, "Thy kingdom come" (6.10), indicating that the King is coming once again! He intends to manifest publicly His kingdom on earth. At the appointed hour the King will indeed return; and then will come true what is told in Revelation, that "the kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign for ever and ever" (11.15). So that this Evangel perceives the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullest sense as being the gospel of the King. We will not have a total gospel if we fail to recognize Jesus Christ as King and Lord of our very lives. Hence in the present volume, Watchman Nee leads us through the Gospel according to Matthew with this one theme in view: Jesus as King. The highlights are found in Matthew chapters 5-7 where the reality (or spiritual principles) of the kingdom of heaven is explained, in chapter 13 where the mysteries (or transient outward appearance) of this same kingdom are interpreted, and in chapters 24-25 where the coming (or final public manifestation) of the heavenly kingdom on earth is expounded. All who love the appearing of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords are encouraged to read this commentary that they may be better prepared to meet Him. May all be helped by these pages to understand the kingdom of heaven and to place themselves daily under the kingship of Christ Jesus the Lord.
