Minutes before He was crucified and saved us, Jesus told Pontius Pilate: "My kingdom does not belong to this world" (Jn 18:36). Jesus put it mildly, for Jesus' kingdom is as different from the world's kingdoms as the heavens are above the earth (see Is 55:9). Consider the following differences:

GOD'S KINGDOM

• The poor have God's kingdom now (Lk 6:20).
• The hungry, the weeping, and the persecuted are blessed (Lk 6:20-22).
• Those married do not seek divorces (see 1 Cor 7:27).
• Those single do not seek someone to marry (1 Cor 7:27).
• Those in God's kingdom recognize that "the world as we know it is passing away" (1 Cor 7:31).

THE WORLD'S KINGDOMS

• The rich possess the world's kingdoms and are possessed by them.
• The full, the amused, and the popular are enjoying and cursing themselves (see Lk 6:24-25)
• Those married often seek divorces.
• Those who are single often date with a view to promiscuity and/or marriage.
• Those in the world's kingdoms deny reality and history; they act as if this world will last forever.

There are several thousand more differences between God's kingdom and the world's kingdoms. Seek first and only God's kingdom (see Mt 6:33).

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Edward J. Gratsch, March 8, 2000

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, March 9, 2000