of God’ epitomizes Jesus’ ministry.38 Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God is best understood along the lines of ‘inaugurated eschatology’, or, in the words of George Ladd, ‘fulfilment without consummation’.39 That is, there is both an ‘already’ and a ‘not yet’ aspect to the kingdom. Thus, in keeping with OT expectations, Jesus expected a future consummation of the kingdom.40 The more striking element of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels, however, is that he did not just announce a future kingdom;