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CHRIST’S MESSAGE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND

THE UBUNTU ETHIC

ONWUEGBUCHULAM, SUNDAY PAUL CHINAZO

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ABSTRACT

The Notion and Message of the Kingdom of God was deep in the Jewish tradition to which

Jesus was born into and in which he grew. Jesus in his earthly ministry took up the preaching

of this message and revolutionalized it from what his Jewish tradition and understanding

takes it to be. Jesus brought up themes of the message of the Kingdom which resonates

among the rejects and nonentities of his society. This essay will seek to explore all these and

to show how Jesus changed the understanding of the message of the Kingdom of God. The

essay will further situate this message in African theology by placing it in parallel with the

African notion of Ubuntu. It will seek to see what Ubuntu do and can contribute to the

understanding of the message of the Kingdom of God and how the Gospel message of the

Kingdom of God preached by Christ can challenge our African understanding of Ubuntu

especially in these modern times in which this ethic has been eroded and its essence

beginning to be lost. It will also try to see what African theologians can do to make the

Kingdom of God as preached by Christ a reality in Africa.

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INTRODUCTION

The message of the Kingdom of God was deep in the Jewish tradition to which Jesus was

born into and in which he grew. Jesus in his earthly ministry took up the preaching of this

message and revolutionalized it from what the Jewish tradition and understanding takes it to

be. He brought up themes of the message of the Kingdom which resonates among the rejects

and nonentities of His society. This essay will explore all these and will further try to relate

the message of the Kingdom of God to the Ubuntu ethic as found in African worldview. We

will try to see what Ubuntu can contribute to the understanding of the message of the

Kingdom of God and also to see how the Gospel message of the Kingdom of God preached

by Christ can challenge our African understanding of Ubuntu especially in these modern

times in which the essence of this ethic has been eroded. It will also try to see what we as

Africans can do to make the Kingdom of God as preached by Christ a reality in Africa.

1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NOTION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE HEBREW TRADITION

1.1 The Jews and the Idea of God as Ultimate King

Chilton (1987:49) is of the view that the symbol of the kingdom in Israel is complex but it is

well defined by the fact that ‘Yahweh is King’. The idea that God is King of the Jewish

nation stems right from the Hebrew nation’s understanding of creation. For Fuellenbach

(1994:34) ‘it is creation theology which is fundamental to the idea of the kingdom in Israel’s

religion;’ in it ‘Yahweh is acclaimed and experienced not only as king of Israel, but in

particular as Cosmic King who created the world by defeating the chaos of nothingness.’ The

Jews see God as Creator of all, who has made humans and given them the authority to rule

over all that God the Supreme King has made (Gn 2:15-16).

Apart from the understanding that God is Creator of all and hence is the King of Israel, the

Hebrew nation also developed a strong sense of God as their King from the Exodus

experience. At the base of Mount Sinai, the Jewish nation as such was born, with God as their

King; according Chilton (1987:4) ‘God’s Kingdom was celebrated when Moses sang of

Israel’s crossing the red sea (Ex 15:18).’ On arrival and occupation of the Promised Land, the

Jewish nation continued taking God as their King; hence their traditional religion, social,

political and economic life was guided by the thought that God is their King. Every aspect of

their life was centred on the Torah which is the law of God that governs the relationship

between each Jew with another and also guides their relationship with God their King.

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Following the example of the nations around them, the Hebrew nation asked to have a human

King (1Sam 8). God relented and gave them a king and then begins the rule of the Israelite

kings, but even with the advent of the kings, the Jews still believe that God is their ultimate

King and the earthly king is a symbol of God’s Kingdom among them. The anointing of the

king shows that the king is chosen and approved by God to be God’s representative among

the Jews. Among all these kings, the prominent was King David whom the Jews saw as the

epitome of God’s Kingdom among them. Under David they see themselves united as a nation

and people of God; they enjoyed the qualities of the Kingdom of God—peace, unity and

harmony in their nation. This was until the conquering of the Jews and their going into exile.

1.2 The Development and content of the Message of the Kingdom of God in Israel

After the reign of King David and Solomon his son, the United Israelite nation was divided

into two kingdoms: Israel and Judah. Most of the kings from the Two Kingdoms were known

to be weak and there was an erosion of religion and worship of God as the Jews followed

other gods and forgot God their King. They were attacked and conquered by other nations

(Babylonians and Assyrians) and taken into captivity. In their captivity, they looked forward

to the day God their King will deliver them; they looked forward to the restoration of the

Kingdom of God among them. They hoped for the fulfilment of the promise God made to

their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to restore the Kingdom of God among them. Chilton

(1987:4) affirms that ‘critical research has confirmed that God’s “Kingdom” in ancient

Judaism refers, not to a realm over which God rules...but to the anticipated fact of his

intervention on behalf of his people.’ Hence, they longed for the Messiah the descendant of

King David, who will restore the Kingdom of Yahweh.

This became the theme of the message of the Kingdom of God as the Jews have it and in this

message they believe that God will restore God’s Kingdom among them through the Messiah,

but this can only come about by the strict obedience to the Torah and the Prophets. For the

Jews, the restoration of the Kingdom of Yahweh which will bring peace, unity, harmony and

justice can only come about if all Jews will repent and return to Yahweh (Hos 14:1-10). The

message asks that the Jews worship God in truth and in spirit and this should be evident in

their keeping of the law and the prophets. This message calls for a good relationship between

the Jew and his/her neighbour and between the Jew and Yahweh. It is a message of justice as

the Jews see God’s Kingdom as the kingdom of justice and peace. There is a great fear that

by not keeping the law and prophets and all that this message calls on people to do, then the

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Kingdom of God will not come, hence some religious people like the Pharisees, took it as a

religious duty to teach people and make sure that they obey the demands of the Torah.

We must note that the emphasis on the strict obedience to the law led to a kind

fundamentalist attitude which goes contrary to the law of love and freedom as people became

slaves of the law. Surely, this led to the loss of the law of love, since God gave the Torah, so

that the Jews through it will love God and love one another. It is important to note this, in

order to see the positive contribution Christ made to the Jewish understanding of the

Kingdom of God.

2. JESUS CHRIST AND THE MESSAGE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

2.1 Understanding Jesus in the Milieu of Expectation of the Kingdom of God

Jesus was born into the tradition and culture of the Jews and He partook in their ceremonies

and religious rituals (Lk 2:41-42). He was born in a time when the Jews were expecting the

coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God as they perceive the occupation of the

Romans as oppressive. They longed for the imminence of the Kingdom of God to restore

their freedom. Jesus was born of a lowly birth to the family of Mary and Joseph and His birth

was in a manger in Bethlehem (Lk 2:4-7). He was a carpenter’s son who grew up like any

other normal Jew and even joined His father Joseph in the carpentry business (Mk 6:3). As

we noticed in the Scriptures, He did not join the zealots to fight the Roman occupants and

neither did He join any movement towards the political emancipation of the Jewish nation.

We can then understand why the Jewish leaders were enraged, when Jesus insinuated that He

is the expected Messiah and Son of God (Jn 5:18). For the Jews the Messiah will come in

majesty and liberate them from slavery to other nations and establish the Kingdom of

Yahweh.

In His earthly ministry, Jesus tried to make them understand that the Messiah should not be

seen as a political figure but a figure who comes to liberate the people most importantly from

their slavery to sin and restore them to God and thus re-establish the Kingdom of God among

them. Yet the people were adamant since Jesus is a disappointment to what they conceived

the Messiah to be; however, His disciples did recognize him and at Caesarea Philippi, Peter

confirms: “you are the Christ the Son of God” (Mk 8:29). In spite of this, the Jewish leaders

persecuted him and handed Him over to be killed by the Romans. However, before His death

and in His thirty three years life on earth, Jesus, as Scripture reports, proved to be the

Messiah by His works and deeds. According to Latourelle (1968:45), ‘the Synoptic Tradition

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describes primarily...the historic manifestation of Christ, building up His activity of

revelation with His title of Messiah, Teacher and Preacher.’ Jesus also went about healing,

performing miracles and liberating sinners and those oppressed and thus brings the qualities

of the Kingdom of God to the people around Him.

According to Fuellenbach (1994:4)‘the most basic historical fact of Jesus’ life is the symbol

which dominated all his preaching, the reality that gave meaning to all his activities, that is,

the Kingdom of God.’ Jesus understood the misconceived idea of the message of the

Kingdom of God, and He went about teaching what the true message of the Kingdom of God

is all about, since as Son of God He has firsthand information concerning this Kingdom.

McKenzie (1977:479) affirms that ‘in the synoptic Gospels the term Kingdom of God is

frequently used to designate the central theme of the mission of Jesus’ and Jesus used

different parables to illustrate that the Kingdom of God transcends what the teachers of the

law of His time conceives it to be.

2.2 The Teaching and Contribution of Jesus to the Message of the Kingdom of God

Love of God and neighbour is the central theme of the message of the Kingdom of God

taught by Christ. For Jesus, love of God and neighbour is the summary of the law and the

prophets which the Pharisees and the teachers of the law emphasizes on (Mt 22:34-40).

According to Chilton (1987:1) this teaching is what made Jesus famous and reputable as a

teacher of morality as He ‘gave pre-eminence to the commandment in Leviticus 19:8 “you

shall love your neighbour as yourself”.’ Weiss (1971:134) also affirms that ‘for Jesus, the

highest, present, personal good is, instead, the consciousness of the love and care of the

heavenly Father, of being a child of God.’ Jesus’ message of the Kingdom of God reflects

that this Kingdom is one of diligence and perseverance in loving, forgiving and doing good.

So we can say that Jesus made a revolution in the understanding of the message of the

Kingdom of God. For Chilton (1987:9) ‘there can be little doubt but that Jesus’ understanding

of the Kingdom was such that it had an immediately ethical impact.’ Consequently Jesus was

a force that calls for change to a corrupt society, a society which understands the message of

the Kingdom of God but goes about realizing it in an inhuman legalistic ways. Through His

message of the Kingdom of God, Christ was a true liberator; the Kingdom is one which

liberates people instead of enslaving them with oppressive laws and rules. Crossan

(1991:265) is of the view that the Kingdom of God preached by Jesus was a Kingdom of the

undesirables; Christ made it clear that the Kingdom is for the outcasts of the world. Hence,

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Christ was a voice of the voiceless and asks for the care of the poor and needy. Christ taught

people to make the option for the poor as a means to inheriting this Kingdom of God (Mt

25:33-40). In this way ‘Jesus saw himself as the sign of God’s future Kingdom, but he also

took on himself the authority to articulate God’s care in the present’ (1991:12).

Summarily, we can say that Jesus took the understanding of the message of the Kingdom

from that of strict following of the law and the prophets as the Jews understood it to another

level of love of God and neighbour. Chilton (1991:1) asserts that ‘those who handed on

Jesus’ sayings... knew very well that an ethic of love lay at the heart of His teaching.’ This is

Christ’s contribution to the tradition of the Kingdom of God; however we note that Jesus said

‘Do not think I have come to abolish the law, no I have come not to abolish but to uphold

them’ (Mt 5:17). Jesus is not condemning the law; rather He took the understanding of the

law to the level in which love becomes the watchword. This love is lived in the community in

which all see themselves as sons and daughters of God and as ‘taking part in the dawning

Kingdom of God’ (Theissen & Merz 1998:242). This understanding of community to a great

extent describes what the Ubuntu ethic is also all about.

3. UBUNTU AND THE MESSAGE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD PREACHED BY CHRIST

3.1 Understanding the Concept of Ubuntu as an Ethic in African worldview1

Etymologically speaking the concept of Ubuntu derives from the Nguni word for humanness.

Ubuntu actually is shortened form of the aphorism Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu; which

means a person is a person through other people. In short the concept of Ubuntu reflects what

one can call personality/personhood achieved through the highest form of interpersonal

relations. This is a concept which one can say is at the core of the life of Africans and it is a

value which Africans hold at esteem. What makes the concept of Ubuntu unique is that by its

own definition, Ubuntu is a concept which reflects the importance of the other in creating a

true human community. Prinsloo (2000:43) is of the view that ‘Ubuntu takes seriously the

view that man (sic) is basically a social being.’ This is to say that according to the Ubuntu

ethic, the human person is necessarily a member of a true human community.

Gathogo (2008:40) understands the Ubuntu concept as, ‘personhood or humanness and

respect for human dignity.’ He further asserts that, ‘it is an aspect of African hospitality,

which according to him, is basically ‘defined as that extension of generosity giving freely

1 The description in this subsection is culled from Onwuegbuchulam (2008).

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without strings attached’ or as ‘an unconditional readiness to share’ (2008:42). ‘This sharing,’

for Gathogo, ‘has to be social in scope’ and ‘can be seen simply as the willingness to give, to

help, to assist, to love and to carry one another’s burden...’(:42). Ubuntu is also seen as that

which enables any human group to cohere and this is possible through its key values which

Mbigi & Maree (1995:2) points out as including ‘group solidarity, conformity, compassion,

respect, human dignity and collective unity.’ Shutte (2001:30) further affirms that Ubuntu is a

form of morality, ‘which is intrinsically related to human happiness and fulfilment.’

3.2 What Ubuntu can contribute to the Message of the Kingdom of God

Ubuntu as we have seen is at the heart of what it means to be a human person in the African

worldview. The essence of Ubuntu is the community and solidarity that should exist among

people. It advocates the peaceful co-existence of humans and nature. According to the

Ubuntu concept, to be human is to regard the other with respect; Maseko (2000:14) affirms

this when he says that ‘Ubuntu is an inner movement in a person to reach out to

other...existents in life in a dignified manner.’ Ubuntu means sharing of resources, it means

understanding that I am because of other people. It is all these that Ubuntu can bring to the

tradition of the message of the Kingdom of God. It is not difficult to perceive the similarity

between the theme of the message of the Kingdom of God that Christ preached and the key

values of Ubuntu. All that Jesus asks the people of His time to do in order to secure the

entrance into the Kingdom of God, is to accept the message of the Kingdom which is

summarized in love. If we look at this, we can understand that this is also what Ubuntu

teaches because at the root of every progressive human relationship is love—any mutual

relationship as Ubuntu demands can only be fostered in the atmosphere of love.

The Ubuntu worldview is like the fertilized land in which the Gospel of the Kingdom of God

Christ preached was planted in Africa and from which it bore such a tremendous and

abundant fruit of African Christians. It is not far-fetched to say that even before the advent of

the message of God’s Kingdom as preached by Christ, Africans were already deep into that

kingdom. Through their understanding of Ubuntu, they lived already the Gospel values of the

Kingdom of God as they lived in solidarity with one another and the nature around them

because they believed that their existence is dependent on the mutuality of these

relationships.

What Ubuntu can ultimately contribute to the message of Christ is the aspect of community.

This is not to say that the message of the Kingdom according to Christ does not have this

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theme, no, but Ubuntu upholds this key value as necessary to human existence. Ubuntu

concretizes the ethics of the message of the Kingdom of God as preached by Christ; it makes

it an existential rather than an ethereal reality. Ubuntu brings the Kingdom of God to the here

and now of the African human existence and experience instead of something to come with

the reign of God in the future as the Hebrews conceives it. However, even with these key

values which Ubuntu can contribute to the understanding of the Kingdom of God, this

African worldview needs to be challenged by the Gospel of Christ especially in contemporary

times.

3.3 Challenge of the Gospel to Ubuntu

Africans do really believe that for Ubuntu to work and become a reality there must be love of

neighbour and nature. But the Gospel and Christ’s message of the Kingdom of God

challenges Africans and their Ubuntu worldview to go beyond just ordinary love for fostering

human existence. It challenges Ubuntu adherents to also incorporate forgiveness for the sake

of the Kingdom of God. It challenges Ubuntu to bring in compassion and care for the sick,

poor and the rejects of our cultures, since some African cultures has created structures that

oppresses and discriminates against people. For example, the Igbo culture still has the Osu

caste system, which discriminates against some certain groups of people thought to be slaves

or those offered to the gods. These people are considered untouchables and hence bared from

any normal human relationship with any “freeborn” of the Igbo society.

We can then ask: is this the same Africans who proclaim Ubuntu? For Christ, the Kingdom of

God is for the undesirables and the outcasts of our societies. This should challenge Africans

to think and see whether it is the case that there is something lacking in Ubuntu, or that they

have lost the capability to live fully the key values of Ubuntu. Furthermore, the current issues

in African societies: xenophobic attacks; discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS and

other diseases; murders; crimes; legalization of abortion, prostitution and such like it;

corruption; etc; tell us that we have lost what it means to realize the Kingdom of God in

Africa and obviously we do not see Ubuntu in all these. We need to allow Christ’s message

of the Kingdom of God to challenge our African understanding of Ubuntu, in order to make

the Kingdom of God a reality in Africa.

3.4 Making the Kingdom of God Preached by Christ a Reality in Africa

The task of bringing the Kingdom of God and making it a reality in Africa is a task for all

Africans especially African Christians. In this task all Christians are called to make Christ’s

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call of love to be a reality in Africa. We are called to make the love of God as Jesus taught us

to permeate us and through us reach every individual in Africa Christian and non-Christians

alike. The message of the Kingdom of God asks us to forgive, care, make peace, be

compassionate, and generally let our Christian values be part of our everyday life. This is

what Jesus teaches as the values that we need to make the Kingdom of God a reality in

Africa. We Africans are privileged to have a worldview like Ubuntu and this is at the basis of

every human relationship, but the message of Christ asks us to make this practical in our

lives. We are called to show forth what love is, not only because we understand it from the

perspective of Ubuntu, but because we also understand that the Gospel of Christ calls us to

love God and one another. The message of the Kingdom of God preached by Christ agrees

with Ubuntu on the importance of others in our lives hence in this message we are asked to

love, not just because our own existence depends on it, but also because others existence

depends on it.

We can then make the Kingdom of God a reality in Africa by allowing ourselves to be

challenged by the key values of Ubuntu and the values inherent in Christ’s message of the

Kingdom of God. In this, African people are called to value human life and fight against such

evils as legalization of abortion, prostitution and all forms of immorality. We Africans are

called to respect, care and be compassionate to one another and reflect on how to stop such

evils like xenophobic and racist attitudes. Our leaders are called upon to respect those placed

under their charge and stop stealing from them and impoverishing their lives by engaging in

corruption and embezzlement which goes contrary to the values of honesty, truthfulness,

responsibility contained in Christ’s message of the Kingdom of God. We all are called by this

message to work for justice and peace and to make this a reality in our African society; we

are called to be just and to fight for the oppressed and poor of our societies and also to

remove all oppressive structures that encourages discrimination. We are called to respect the

rights of women and children and acknowledge the equality of all as God made us to be. We

should also love and care for the sick in our societies especially those infected and affected

by HIV/AIDS and other kinds of diseases.

When we do all these, we will be building the Kingdom of God in Africa; this is to say that

the Kingdom of God can ultimately be concretized in Africa when we endeavour to integrate

the key values found in Ubuntu and the message of the Kingdom of God preached by Christ.

Let us note that there is no great rift between Christ’s message of the Kingdom of God and

the key values Ubuntu holds in esteem. One then wonders why the early missionaries to

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Africa did not capitalize on this to establish a vibrant African Church in which the two values

are engendered. Perhaps there is also a greater job for us as African theologians to re-

catechize and find means for inculturation of the values of Ubuntu and the Gospel message

and by this we also help in building the Kingdom of God in Africa by building a truly African

Church.

CONCLUSION

In the Hebrew tradition, the Kingdom of God entails the reign of God among the people of

Israel and all are called to bring it to reality by the obedience to the Torah and the Prophets.

On the other hand, Jesus gives us a firsthand message of what the Kingdom of God really

demands—love of God and neighbour. The Ubuntu ethic found in African worldview, tells us

that a human person can only be a truly human person through others; hence we see the

similarity between this African worldview and the message of Christ preached by Christ. The

challenge then is on how to make the message of Christ a reality in Africa by the integration

of the Ubuntu values and the message of Christ. These have been what this essay has tried to

explore and present; ultimately this paper asserts that the Kingdom of God can be made a

reality in Africa and this is the task of all Africans Christians and non-Christians alike.

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