The central theme of Jesus’ message, as it has come down to us in the synoptic gospels, is the coming of the kingdom of God or, as it is usually expressed in Matthew, of the kingdom of heaven. This is not only borne out by the frequent occurrence of that formula, in the first three gospels, which marks them off from John’s tradition, as regards their form and manner of expression; it also appears from the recapitulatory characterization of Jesus’ preaching that they give in more than