A well known scholar said that the sayings related to 'the Kingdom of Heaven' were no more than a reference to the insurgency by the Jews against the Romans.
The Jews saw themselves as God's chosen people and they lived in 'the Kingdom of Heaven.' They wanted the Romans to be gone--nothing more complicated than.
However Christianity changed the meaning of Kingdom of Heaven radically and it became the carrot and reward for the flock to do as they were told while on earth.
