Christ's Spiritual Message Met With Worldly Expectations

Christ came into the world to establish a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom of souls which loved God and wanted forgiveness for their sins. Man, in his sinful nature, however, did not want to hear this, because a prerequisite for receiving forgiveness is to repent of one's sins and leave them behind. It would mean renouncing ambitions to political power and vast wealth and leaving behind a comfortable life for a life dedicated to serving God, which often meant ridicule, isolation, and even death. The truly Christian spirit reveled in these rejections, as Christ did, but the worldly men despised it. The spirit of the world is manifested in Satan's temptations in the wilderness, who tried to lure Christ away from his mission by offering him the kingdoms of the world. Even the Apostles, those closest to Christ who should have understood the...