On 18 March, during the general audience in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father continued his reflections on Jesus Christ. In this reflection, the ninth in the current series, the Pope spoke about the inauguration of God’s Kingdom. 

1. "The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand" (Mk 1:15). 

With these words Jesus of Nazareth begins his messianic preaching. In Jesus the Kingdom of God enters into the life and history of mankind, and it constitutes the fulfilment of the promises of salvation which Israel had received from the Lord. 

Jesus is revealed as the Messiah, not because he aims at a temporal and political dominion according to the mentality of his contemporaries, but because in his mission, which culminates in his passion, death and resurrection, "all the promises of God find their Yes in him'' (2 Cor 1:20).

2. In order to understand fully Jesus' mission one must recall the Old Testament message which proclaims the saving kingship of the Lord. In the canticle of Moses (Ex 15:1-18) the Lord is acclaimed "king" because he freed his people in a marvellous way and led them with power and love to communion with him and with their brethren in the joy of freedom. Moreover, the very ancient psalm 28 [29] bears witness to the same faith: the Lord is contemplated in the power of his kingship, which holds dominion over all created being and communicates to his people energy, blessing and peace (Ps 28 [29]:10). It is especially in the call of Isaiah that faith in the Lord as "king" appears completely permeated with the theme of salvation. The "King" whom the prophet contemplates with the eyes of faith "sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up" (Is 6:1), is God in the mystery of his transcendent holiness and merciful goodness whereby he is present to his people as the source of love which purifies, pardons and saves: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory" (Is 6:3). 

This faith in the saving kingship of the Lord prevented the monarchy from developing autonomously in the people of the Covenant as was the case in the other nations. The king is the chosen one, the Lord's anointed, and as such, he is the instrument by which God himself exercises his sovereignty over Israel (cf. 1 Sam 12:12-15). "The Lord reigns", the Psalms continually proclaim (cf. 5:3; 9:6; 28 [29]:10; 92 [93]:1; 96 [97]: 1-4; 145 [146]:10). 

A new covenant

3. In face of the sad experience of human limitations and of sin the prophets announce a new covenant, in which the Lord himself will be the saving and royal guide of his renewed people (cf. Jer 31:31-34; Ez 34:7-16; 36:24-28). 

In this context arises the expectation of a new David whom the Lord will raise up as the instrument of the exodus, of liberation and salvation (Ez 34:23-25; cf. Jer 23:5-6). From this moment onwards the figure of the Messiah will appear in intimate relationship with the inauguration of the full kingship of God. 

After the exile, even though the institution of the monarchy ceases in Israel, there is a continuous growth of faith in the kingship which God exercises over his people and which will extend even to "the ends of the earth". The Psalms which sing of the Lord king are the most significant witness to this hope (cf. Ps 95 [96]; 98 [99]). 

This hope reaches its high point when the eye of faith, looking beyond the time of human history, will see that only in the future eternity the Kingdom of God will be established in all its power. Then, by means of the resurrection, the redeemed will be in full communion of life and love with the Lord (cf. Dan 7:9-10; 12:2-3). 

4. Jesus refers to this hope of the Old Testament and proclaims its fulfilment. The Kingdom of God is the central theme of his preaching as is shown particularly in the parables.

The parable of the sower (Mt 13:3-8) proclaims that the Kingdom of God is already at work in Jesus preaching, and at the same time it directs one's gaze to the abundance of fruits which will constitute the superabundant richness of the Kingdom at the end of time. The parable of the seed which grows of itself (Mk 4:26-29) emphasizes that the Kingdom is not a human work, but solely a gift of God's love which acts in the hearts of believers and guides human history to its definitive fulfilment in the eternal communion with the Lord. The parable of the darnel in the midst of the wheat (Mt 13:24-30) and that of the net cast into the sea (Mt 13:47-52) show first of all the already active presence of God's salvation. Together with the "children of the Kingdom", however, there are also present the "children of the Evil One", the workers of iniquity. Only at the end of time the powers of evil shal1 be destroyed, and those who have accepted the Kingdom shall be forever with the Lord. Finally, the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price (Mt 13:44-46) express the supreme and absolute value of God's kingdom; he who understands that is prepared to face any sacrifice and renunciation to enter it. 

5. There is a wealth of profound enlightenment in Jesus' teaching. The Kingdom of God, in its full and complete fulfilment, is certainly of the future, "until the Kingdom of God comes" (cf. Mk 9:1; Lk 22:18); the Lord's Prayer teaches us to pray for its coming: "thy Kingdom come" (Mt 6:10). 

At the same time, however, Jesus states that the Kingdom of God "has already come" (Mt 12:28), "it is in the midst of you" (Lk 17:21) by means of the preaching and works of Jesus. Moreover, from the whole of the New Testament it is evident that the Church, founded by Jesus, is the place where God's kingship is made present, in Christ, as the gift of salvation in faith, of new life in the Spirit, of communion in charity. 

Thus appears the intimate relationship between the Kingdom and Jesus, so strong a relationship that the Kingdom of God can also be called the "Kingdom of Jesus" (Eph 5:5; 2 Pet 1:11), as indeed Jesus himself states before Pilate by asserting that "his kingdom is not of this world" (Jn 18:36). 

6. In this light we can understand the conditions indicated by Jesus for entrance into the Kingdom. They can be summed up in the word " conversion". Through conversion the human person opens up to the gift of God (cf. Lk 12:32), who "calls you into his own kingdom and glory" (I Thess 2:12): he welcomes the Kingdom as a child (Mk 10:15) and is prepared for whatever renunciation is required to enter it (cf. Lk 18:29; Mt 19:29; Mk 10:29). 

The Kingdom of God demands a profound or new "justice" (Mt 5:20); it requires commitment in doing "God’s will" (Mt 7:21); it calls for the interior simplicity "of children" (Mt 18:3; Mk 10:15); it implies the overcoming of the obstacle constituted by riches (cf. Mk 10:23-24) . 

7. The Beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus (cf. Mt 5:3-12) could be called the "Magna Carta" of the Kingdom of heaven which is given to the poor in spirit, to those who mourn, to the meek, to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, to the merciful, to the pure in heart, to the peacemakers, to those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. The Beatitudes not only indicate the requirements of the Kingdom; they manifest first of all the work that God accomplishes in us by making us similar to his Son (Rom 8:29) and capable of having his sentiments (Phil 2:5 ff.) of love and pardon (cf. Jn 13:34-35; Col 3:13). 

8. Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom of God is witnessed to by the Church of the New Testament which has lived it in the joy of its paschal faith. It is the community of the "little ones "whom the Father "has delivered from the dominion of darkness and transferred to the Kingdom of his beloved Son" (Col 1:13); it is the community of those who live "in Christ", allowing themselves to be guided by the Spirit in the way of peace (Lk 1:79), and who strive not "to fall into temptation" and to avoid the works of the "flesh", well knowing that "those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God" (Gal 5:21). The Church is the community of those who proclaim by their life and words the same message of Jesus: "The Kingdom of God has come near to you" (Lk 10:9). 

9. The Church, which "in the course of the centuries is always advancing towards the plenitude of divine truth, until eventually the words of God are fulfilled in her" (DV, 8), prays to the Father in every Eucharistic celebration that his Kingdom may come. She lives in fervent expectation of the glorious coming of the Lord and Saviour Jesus who will offer to the divine majesty "an eternal and universal kingdom: a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace" (Preface of the Solemnity of Christ the King).

This expectation of the Lord is constantly a source of confidence and strength. It stimulates the baptized, who have become partakers in Christ's royal dignity, to live every day "in the Kingdom of the beloved Son", to bear witness to and proclaim the presence of the Kingdom with the same works as Jesus (cf. Jn 14:12). In virtue of this witness of faith, the Council teaches, the world will be imbued with the spirit of Christ and attain more effectively its end in justice, charity and peace (LG, 36).