The Upside-Down Kingdom Chapter 11

Chapter 11 of The Upside-Down Kingdom by Donald B. Kreybill discusses the difference between the social ladder of the kingdom on Earth, and the kingdom of Heaven. The social ladder on Earth begins with the most powerful and makes its way down to the least powerful. Jesus, however, flips this idea by claiming that “lo¬w is high”. Jesus’ views of power, status, and inequality opposed societies cultural expectations. Jesus rejected denomination and hierarchy in social governance. Social power is based off of four major recourses: financial power, expert power, organizational power, and personal power. These recourses follow the idea that social ranking determines power. The cultural expectations of leaders is that they are able to use power to control leadership and for glory. Jesus contradicts this idea and uses influence to gain power, not control. Jesus’ words and actions invite people to follow him, not force it upon them. Jesus also used his power to serve the needs of the hurting and the ill, not for self-gain. …show more content…
In Matthew 15: 21-28, the disciples tell Jesus not to touch the woman who is demon-possessed because they think that she is unclean. This shows that the disciples view power as being above others. They believe that Jesus is too important to be touching people who are unclean. Jesus then reminds the disciples that his purpose on earth was for the needy, not the powerful. Another section where the disciples show their view of power is in Matthew 16: 21-28. Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to die and rise again, but Peter refuses. Peter thinks that Jesus must be on earth in order to be king. He is expecting a king that will take power over the world and protect his people in that way. However Jesus saves his people by reigning in Heaven. He chooses death and suffering because the result is the saving of all people then and for the rest of