Every Christian — A King!!

Philip G. Roets STL, SSL

So often when we see the phrase "Kingdom of the Heavens," we are told to think of a place or an institution to which we can belong. That is not the primary meaning of this phrase as used by Jesus. The Greek word is "Basileia." The root is the word for "king" and the ending is the equivalent of "ing" in English.

For example: In English, "to laugh" means to show happiness by looks and sound. To say, "he/she laughs" means the person shows this happiness. To say, "He/she is laughing" means the person is doing it right now. This is the effect of the syllable "ing" on any verb in English. In Greek, the same effect is achieved by "eia" at the end of the word. So the word, "Basileia" means "KINGING." It is an action that is taking place right now and the action is ongoing.

The root meaning of the verb "to king" in Greek is the same as the meaning of the word "king" in English when it is used in the game of checkers. A player gets his/her checker to the other end of the board. Immediately, he/she says "King me!" Now the checker takes on all sorts of new powers. This is the basic meaning of the Greek word "basileia" as used by Jesus in his teaching.

A Christian is "kinging" when he/she is following the guidelines of the Kingdom of the Heavens.