@FirstChurchofJerusalem
Today's Early Church Wisdom
“LORD God almighty, Father of Jesus Christ, that dear Child of yours, through whom we have come to know You, God of the angels and powers, God of all creation, God of the race that lives in Your presence, the race of the just. I bless You because You have thought me worthy of the day and hour [his martyrdom], worthy to be numbered among the martyrs and to drink out of this cup Your Anointed has drunk from, so to rise and live for ever, body and soul, in the incorruptibility that is the Holy Spirit’s.”
~ Polycarp of Smyrna (c.156AD)
This week's Psalm is Psalm 31 'My Rock, My Shield, My Song'

From The Ordinary to The Extraordinary

Jesus does not merely invite His hearers to repent, for the command would make little sense without an appreciation of what one was turning towards. Consequently, His next words provide direction, not merely pointing His hearers to a Kingdom that is not of this world but inviting them to enter.  The phrase ēngiken gar hē basileia tōn ouranōn (ἤγγικεν γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν) declares that the Kingdom of Heaven “has drawn near,” not merely in future expectation but in the living presence of Christ Himself. Jesus offers us a permanent escape from the limitations of this fallen world, a free passage from the ordinary to the extraordinary, a walk with Him, for He Himself is the Way. At any moment in time, we may choose to remain in the familiar and mundane, or we may transcend the limitations of our finiteness by connecting with Heaven, and when we do the light of Heaven pierces the darkness of earth.