Introduction
to the New Testament
Ways
of reading the New Testament
Social
Forces in the First Century
First
Christians from the outside
Reconnecting
This Generation with Jesus
The
Jesus of History: His Conduct and Message
Family
and some immediate context
Choice
of disciples and its cost
Social
engagement by disciples
The
arrival of the rule of God and Jesus
The
Rule of God and forgiveness
The
Rule of God and Healing, Exorcism, and Miracle
Ethics
as interpretation of Torah
Jesus
and Jerusalem: His Fate and Resurrection
Jesus
of History: His Resurrection
General
Letters of the New Testament
The
Synoptic Gospels and Acts of the Apostles
Studies of the New Testament suffer from the isolation
that many scholars have consigned it, an isolation that includes refusing to
acknowledge the context of the
The historical and critical method of reading the New
Testaments gives priority to the question of what the text meant to the
original writer and reader. It means learning about a time and place far
removed from one’s own. This approach allows the text to say something
unfamiliar, strange, and possibly true. It assumes some willingness to discern
the truth contained in the text. It also represents a commitment to the basic
foreign character of the text. It also tends to seek an objectivity to the
study of the text that is, in practice, unattainable.
Sociology and cultural anthropology have introduced
further refinements to the historical and critical study of the New Testament.
Such studies seek an account of the social environment of the New Testament.
Therefore, it will describe occupations, tools, houses, roads, means of travel,
money and economic realities, architecture, villages, and cities, laws, social
classes, markets, clothes, and so on. Some will analyze the social setting in
terms of class conflict. Another approach emphasizes the complex patter of
thought and behavior that constitute culture. The social historian addresses to
religious texts questions that seek to extract from them something different
from their obvious content or intention. One danger of this approach is that it
can dilute the religious and theological content of the New Testament. Yet, I
am not comfortable with theological reductionism either. Theological reflection
does not occur in a vacuum, suggesting that social and cultural studies can
enlighten theological discourse, even if it cannot replace it. Interpreters of
religious cannot limit themselves to explicit meanings if they have the
objective of discovering what life was like as a believer. Human beings are
more than their religious dimension. I am interested in what early Christians
believed and said, but I am also interested in what else they did and what they
did by means of what they said. I want to understand a set of phenomena that
occurred at the end of the first century AD. This means rejecting the
application of one social theory, and instead having some openness to the
elements of any modern social theory that might illuminate the text and the
life of early Christianity.
Society is a process, in which personal identity and
social forms are mutually and continuously created by interactions that occur
by means of symbols. Culture consists of webs of significance, according to
Clifford Geertz. There is some real but complex relation between social
structure and symbolic structure, and religion is an integral part of the
cultural web. Religion is a system of communication that exists as a subset
within the multiple systems that make up the culture and subcultures of a
particular society. The sort of questions we ask about the early Christian
movement are those about how it worked. The comprehensive question concerning
the texts is not merely what each one says, but what it does. Such an
understanding may help theologians do their task.
The sociology of knowledge suggests a symbolic world, a
system of shared meaning that enables us to live together as a group. The
symbolic world shared by a group can be discerned from the things that are
understood. This symbolic world shapes the customary actions of the group,
while customary actions of a group shape the symbolic world. A symbolic world
interprets my experience after the fact. A symbolic world also gives people the
capacity to perceive, to have experiences in the first place. Symbols shape
experience.
Theological reading of the text recognizes the primary
focus of the text as religious in content. It serves the interests of the
community that still intentionally binds itself to the New Testament text. It
can adopt an approach that simply serves the interests of the present religious
community out of which the interpreter speaks.
For example, a theological reading focuses on what the
New Testament proclaims concerning what God has done to bring salvation to
humanity. In Paul, that proclamation focuses on the facts of the death and
resurrection of Christ set in an apocalyptic context that gives meaning and
significance to those events. The cross and resurrection marks the transition
from this evil age to the age to come. The age to come is the age of
fulfillment. The importance of the statement that Christ died and rose in
accord with scripture is that the fulfillment of the Day of the Lord has begun
in Christ. Deliverance has already begun. The new age is here by virtue of the
death and resurrection of Christ, and Christ is the Lord of that new age. He
will come in judgment to be in actuality the Lord that the Father intends him
to be. Dodd summarizes the preaching of Paul in the following way. Christ
fulfills the prophecies and inaugurates the new age. Jesus was a descendent of
David. He died according the promise of scripture, bringing deliverance out of
the present evil age. People buried him, thereby emphasizing the certainty of
his death. He rose on the third day, in accord with the promises of scripture.
The Father exalted him to the right of God as Son of God and Lord of all. He
will return to bring judgment and salvation upon humanity, thereby holding
individuals and communities accountable for what they have done with their
lives.
The early speeches in Acts have a similar pattern. The
ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ inaugurates the age of fulfillment.
They emphasize that he descended from David, that his ministry among the Jews
was one of healing and power, that the guilt for his death rests upon the Jews,
and that God raised him from the dead. The resurrection exalts Jesus to the
right hand of God as Messiah over the new
I do not find it helpful to think in terms of the
“development” of such teaching. What we have found in comparing Paul and
Luke-Acts ever so briefly is both difference and unity. We are on safer ground
if we can understand the situation as one of several Christian communities that
demonstrate diversity of theological expression, while also understanding that
they speak and live with the same risen Lord. Further, I would note that the
Christian writings we have testify to Jesus as Messiah, Son of God, Son of Man,
Wisdom, Lord, and so on. In other words, once the disciples saw Jesus risen
from the dead, many of the theological ideas circulating in
I would like to consider the possibility that the church
of the New Testament rejects an over-emphasis upon future judgment and
salvation for good reason. The church could have moved that direction. However,
the church increasingly emphasized the significance of Jesus as Lord, Messiah,
and Son and the life-giving power of the Spirit for the present life of
individuals and for the community of believers. The future possibility of
individuals and communities becoming accountable before God becomes a strong
motivator for moral and ethical action in the present. Further, eschatology
establishes a cosmic dimension to the hopes of the New Testament that re-focus
the energy of believers beyond private salvation and toward what role one can
play in bringing health, healing, and wholeness to others.
I grant that believing so much of the fate of humanity
and the world hangs upon what happened to one man, Jesus of Nazareth, in 30 AD
in the Roman
As we read the New Testament, the fundamental question is
not whether particular incidents occurred in history precisely as reported. The
question is whether the core affirmations of the preaching and teaching of the
church remain powerful, persuasive to reasonable people, and can embed
themselves in the lives of believers in relevant ways. As we read of the New
Testament vision of God, humanity, Christian community, and the final accounting
of humanity before God, we need to have the courage to suspend some of our
modern perspectives and hear this ancient witness of the church. It may well be
this ancient witness will speak a fresh word to us in this day.
An ideological reading of the text claim to make explicit
in its reading of the text what is implicit in all interpretation. This is a
favorite of Marxist and feminist reading of the New Testament text. As readers,
we do a disservice to the text of the New Testament when we adopt conspiracy
theories for its production. Some authors suggest that the apostles and early
church have so twisted their view of Jesus that they represent severe
distortions of the person and work of Jesus. Crossan, in his massive study on
the historical Jesus, suggested that the church represents a second betrayal of
Jesus. He has reduced Jesus to little more than a political reformer on behalf
of the peasants in
Many authors from the 1970’s to 2000’s subsume the
obvious religious and theological themes of the New Testament to social and
political themes. The implication is that if the agenda of movement is not primarily
social and political, it is an insignificant movement. I grant that for any
movement to have lasting significance it will need to embed itself in social
arrangements. Consequently, I do not find helpful to reduce our understanding
of the New Testament to theology either. What I find most helpful is to utilize
modern studies of psychology, sociology, economics, and politics to enhance our
understanding of the New Testament. However, these disciplines need to serve
and enhance the religious and theological themes that clearly dominate the
message of Jesus, Paul, John, and other persons in the New Testament. We need
to understand the New Testament as fully human productions. What we find in the
New Testament is the universal struggle for meaning, to express our individual
quest for worth and dignity. We need to understand the New Testament within its
first-century Mediterranean setting and even more particularly in first century
Judaism.
An existentialist reading of the text suggests that the
supernatural and mythological world of the text needs re-interpretation toward
a basic orientation of the believer to the world. Thus, Bultmann removes the
apocalyptic material of the New Testament from view in terms of the end of
human history and suggests that each individual stands before God every moment.
A final judgment for human history represents the crucial of the decisions we
make every day. The primary question is what human life is all about, and to
that question, the New Testament has a sufficient and authoritative answer, as
long as one strips away the myth. This approach assumes priority to a modern
view of nature and social world.
A psychological reading assumes that certain
psychological patterns remain constant across history and culture. It views
traditional theological themes, such as death and resurrection, in terms of
archetypes within the human mind to which these symbols give expression.
From a literary perspective, the diversity of the New
Testament writings must not blind us to the underlying unity we find in terms
of subject-matter as it seeks to explain what God has done in Jesus of
Nazareth. We need to take the texts as a whole as the primary source, rather
than reduced to the status of sources for another body of information. As religious
texts, they represent the reflections of the adherents of a religious movement.
By religious, I mean experiences, convictions, and interpretations that the New
Testament perceives connect with ultimate reality. This means it points to a
way of being human as individuals and social creatures that refers to a ground
or foundation and to a sense of infinity and eternity that directs us beyond
the normal attention we give to finite things. We find pastoral theology here.
Over the period of several centuries, Hebrew monotheism
prepared the ground for emphasizing this world rather than a spiritual world.
Such an emphasis can continue to assert humanism and moral values, but deny any
transcendent basis for those values.
Postmodern thought generally is negative regarding the
possibility of human knowledge. However, constructive postmodernism agrees that
perspectives limit human knowledge, while also insisting that it is possible to
work out provisional understandings of reality that consider limitation. Based in
process thought, it often rejects traditional conceptions of God.
Honor
and shame was one of the pivotal values within this culture. Honor is the value
or worth of a person in his or her own eyes combined with value or worth in the
eyes of one’s social group. An enormous amount of human activated centered in
the maintenance of the honor of one’s family or other group to which one
belonged. To preserve honor was to avoid shame. To focus on honor and shame was
to focus upon the standing of a person or group within some larger group.
The
Roman period (63 BC to 410 AD) brought the vision for unified Mediterranean
land under
The
Roman emperor's during this period
were Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Vespasian,
Titus, Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan. The
great historian of this period was Josephus.
However, it must be remembered when reading him that he writes as a
member of the priestly aristocracy. He
distrusted the lower classes. Much of
our information about the
Crossan
reconsiders the idea that “pax Romana” or “the peace of
The
Augustan Age was bureaucratic,
focused on city life. It was
pro-military and anti-economic. The
patron and the client were essential to social organization. This meant that the strict lines between
upper class and lower class, as well as within those classes, was not observed
all the time. The client could gain the
confidence of the patron and advance beyond his or her own class. This occurred through personal knowledge and
acquaintance. It was a way of advancing
beyond one's own class. However, power
and prestige still belonged to a relative few. The growth of the empire by
conquest meant that already rigidly stratified culture swelled the ranks of
lower classes through the displacement caused by war. War also led to increased
taxation to support the empire.
Hellenistic
ideals and realities concern the following. The city-state, the polis, was the
first tool of Hellenization. The Greek language also brought unity among the
educated classes. It also brought religious syncretism.
The
pagan world receives overwhelmingly negative evaluation from Judaism and the
New Testament. Many Roman and Greek moralists agreed with this negative
assessment. Rootlessness, resentment, loss of personal sense of worth, lack of
community, passivity in the presence of Roman power, aroused powerful religious
responses in the pagan world. Hellenistic religion held prophecy in high
regard, as the oracles of Delphy and Dodonna show. Religious power showed
itself in miracles, and in particular healings and exorcisms. Many turned to
astrology as a way of discerning the future and perhaps modifying it in some
way. Magic offered an immediate way of manipulating threatening forces. Mystery
cults received wider appeal during this period, as they gave adherents a sense
of salvation from demonic powers at work in the structures of the world, and
bound adherents to the god or goddess. Golden
Ass by Apuleius is a romance, filled with fantastic and sometimes bawd
tales, a spiritual journey from alienation to restoration. It reveals the
craving of ordinary people for some power over their life, and some sense of
identity in an alienating world. Those desires could be met imperfectly by
magic and astrology. The mysteries offered much more. They offered renewal of
individual life in the world and the promise of immortality. Syncretism was a
general characteristic of Hellenistic religious experience.
Hellenistic
philosophy also dominated the intellectual scene. Most popular was Stoicism.
Philosophy became syncretistic, just as religion had become. Theoretical
differences were less significant than practical results, especially in terms
of shaping moral persons. The good life was the virtuous life. Cynicism
represented an individualistic approach. The Cynic hero was Diogenes. Cynicism
shaped the approach by Epictetus to Stoicism. Seneca was a court counselor.
Musonius and Epictetus taught in schools.
The
Hellenistic world readily admitted the need to take its classic texts and
interpret them through allegory. Allegory helped the reader discover
contemporary virtues beneath those simpler, ruder ones. In moral discourse,
figures from the myths took on new dimensions in line with contemporary
perceptions.
The
New Testament borrows its symbols primarily from Judaism. It appropriates the
themes of Judaism, while remaining critical of those who Jews who do not
appreciate the re-interpretation of Judaism that the New Testament proposes. It
shows steady hostility toward those Jews who remain unenthusiastic about
Christian themes.
Indeed, scholars have established
the apocalyptic character of Jewish thought previous to 70 AD.
Judaism also existed outside of
There were centers of
Judaism throughout the
Christianity benefited from Diaspora
Judaism as it helped make Gentiles aware of monotheism, the high moral code of
Torah, and the attraction of being the people of God.
Jewish apologetic makes a statement
about the view the group has of outsiders. It presumes a world of good will and
openness to rational argument. The writing of apologetic may have been the
greatest oblique compliment paid by Jews and Christians to that corrupt pagan
world. Something is also said about insiders. They are people open to the wider
world, eager to bridge the misunderstandings separating them from others and
confident that their shared culture will enable such bridge building. One
addresses apologetic to outsiders for the purpose of persuasion. It also aims
at insiders, persuading insiders to make themselves intelligible to others and
thereby making insiders increasingly intelligible to themselves. Apologetic
strengthens community identity even as it seeks to communicate it. Yet, the
symbols of the community become transformed. To make our position clear to
outsiders, we must use language and symbols familiar to them. Our aim is
greater understanding and tolerance.
People
responded to the strict hierarchy of the Augustan age in several ways. Bryan
Wilson and Vittorio Lanternari have written on religious movements of protest
among third world peoples. The poverty
and rigidity of such a system led to response among the people to overcome
their poverty and to have more freedom.
Those movements that focused on the self and subjectivity were
conversionist (God will change us), manipulationist (God calls us to change
perception), and Thaumaturgical (God will grant particular dispensations and
work specific miracles). Those movements
that focused on the world and objectivity were revolutionist (God will overturn
the world), introversionist (God calls us to abandon the world), reformist (God
calls us to amend the world), and utopian (God calls us to reconstruct the
world). In particular, in the first
century it would have been difficult to withdraw from Greco-Roman
civilization. Cynic and Stoic teaching
substantially merged at this time, and became a favorite among lower classes as
a form of withdrawal. Christianity can
be viewed as building upon this movement as it gained in appeal among the
people. The movement of cynics and Christianity were largely conversionist
responses to the social order.
One response was that of scribal millenialism. This was the theology of the upper
class. It believed in the concept of a
perfect age to come brought about by God's intervention.
A second response was the peasant protester. The peasant is defined by the outside powers
that appropriate their surplus wealth.
The peasant protester caused trouble for the upper class by passive
resistance most of the time. There are
seven recorded strikes in this century.
A third response was the charismatic prophet. This person was a wonderworker, not tied to
any established religious
institutions or ritual. Yet, this person
felt free to dispense forgiveness and miracles.
It represents the conflict between personal power and institutional
power. There were ten such peasant
prophets, most of whom carried the millennial dream combined with a return to
the desert, symbolizing the desert wanderings of
A fourth response was the bandit and the messiah. The social bandits have support of the
peasants. There were eleven cases,
especially in 52 AD, and this movement lead to the Zealots. There were five reported cases of messiahs,
who led revolt against
A fifth response was the rebel and revolutionary. The sicarii were from the retaining
classes. This class led revolt against
the empire from throughout its
lands. However, leadership passed to the
zealots, who were from the peasant class.
The following
material is gleaned from Josephus with the help of John Dominic Crossan, Historical
Jesus.
Lenski
divides human societies into hunting arid gathering, simply horticultural,
advanced horticultural, agrarian, and industrial societies. Agrarian societies have nine classes, but
there is a great gulf separating the five upper classes from the four lower
ones. The ruling class enjoyed
significant property rights on all the land in the domain and received 25% of
the national income. The governing class
was only one percent of the population, but received 25% of the national
income. The retainer class averaged
around 5% of the population and ranged from scribes and bureaucrats to soldiers
and generals. Their function was to
serve the political elite. The merchant
class confronted the governing class on the level of market rather than
political authority. They evolved from
the lower classes, managing to acquire a considerable portion of the wealth,
and in rare instances some political power.
The priestly class could own a substantial amount of land, around 15% in
some societies. The lower classes were
subdivided as well. The peasant class
was the vast majority of the population.
The upper classes viewed this class with suspicion, trying to keep them
economically at the point of barely providing the necessities of life so that
they would not rebel. The artisan class
was around 5%, with their income generally slightly less that the peasant. The unclean and degraded class were those
whose origins or occupations separated them from the peasants and
artisans. The expendable class, often 5%
to 10% of the population, included petty criminals and outlaws, beggars,
underemployed itinerant workers, forced to live by their wits or by
charity. This class was created by the
fact that in agrarian societies usually produced more people than the upper
classes found it profitable to employ.
Bryan
Wilson has written a fascinating study on religious movements of protest among
tribal and third world societies. He
proposes a sevenfold typology based on the diverse ways in which people respond
to the world when salvation from evil is no longer found adequately within the
standard religious resources of their tradition. First, there are subjectivists who place the
primary emphasis on response.
Conversionists believe that "God will change us." The world is
too corrupt to change, so the only means of salvation was through a
transformation of the self.
Manipulationists believe that God calls us to change perception, to view
the world differently than they did before.
Thaumaturgists believe that God will grant particular dispensations and
work specific miracles. Salvation is
particularistic, personal, local, and magical.
Second, objectivists place more emphasis on response to the world. Revolutionists believe that God will overturn
the world, presuming divine and imminent action, with or without human
participation. Introversionists believe that God calls us to abandon the world,
since it is so irredeemably evil that one must withdraw completely. Reformists believe that God calls us to amend
the world, similar to secular improvement programs. Utopians believe that God calls us to reconstruct
the world, based on divinely given principles of reconstruction and insisting
on the role of human beings in making that world a reality.
Christianity began in obscurity. It had a founder whom
the Romans executed. The chief appeal was to the outcast and marginal elements
of society. It experienced persecution. Yet, within four centuries,
Christianity became the dominant religious fact of Hellenistic culture. What
distinguishes the movement is its claim to have actualized the good news of God
to human beings. What accounts for its spread is its ability to make the claim
plausible, persuasive, and even present, for others. The New Testament is a
window through which we can see the movement in the period before it achieved
political and cultural acceptance, yet when it had already begun to shape its
distinctive self-consciousness.
We receive a hint of the view others had of Christianity
in the period of the New Testament in the silence.
Josephus has several references that are of note. One, in Jewish Antiquities, contains
the following:
Ananus,
thinking that he had a favorable opportunity because Festus had died and
Albinus was still on his way, called a
meeting of judges and brought into it the brother of Jesus who is called
Messiah, James by name, and some
others. He made the accusation that they
had transgressed the law, and he handed them over to be stoned.
The purpose of this reference
is to show that the trial of Jariies was illegal and that Ananus was dismissed
from being High Priest because of this event, which occurred in 62 AD. We find another reference in The
Testimonium Flavianum. It does have
some Christian additions. Without those
additions, this is how the text reads:
At this
time there appeared Jesus, a wise man.
For he was a doer of startling deeds, a teacher of people who receive
the truth with pleasure. And he gained a
following both among many Jews and among many of Greek origin. And when Pilate, because of an accusation
made by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who had
loved him previously did not cease to do so.
And up until this very day the tribe of Christians, named after him, has
not died out.
One of the points this evidence makes is that Jesus, and
the church as it existed throughout the first century, remained on the margins
of Roman civilization. Far from being
partners, the church invited people to largely abandon Roman civilization, and
its system of economic, political, and military power. As with its founder, the church remained
little more than an annoying pest to the Romans.
The Talmud makes only a few obscure references. Sanhedrin
43a, b, 103a, 107b appear to mention Jesus directly. Sanhedrin 106b might
allude to him. Koheleth Rabbah 1.8 refers to heretics that might refer to
Christianity, as might Sanhedrin 43a, Mekilta par. 66b.
The Hellenistic world has a few references, a phrase here
and there, a sentence or paragraph, but over all, very little. Tacitus, an
historian of the early second century, refers to the first persecution of
Christians under Nero in 64 AD. He then
observes, in explaining the origin of the name "Christian":
This
name originates from 'Christus' who was sentenced to death by the procurator,
Pontius Pilate, during the reign of Tiberius.
This detestable superstition, which had been suppressed for a while,
spread anew not only in
What we seem to see in the existence of the church is a
group of people subverting the normal social and cultural life of the empire
through its somewhat familial and anti-ethnic life as a community. When society
reacts with violence against a group within the society, the reason is because
those invested in the culture feel the foundation of their culture shaken. The
fact of widespread persecution, regarded by both pagans and Christians as the
normal state of affairs within a century of the beginning of Christianity, is
powerful evidence of the sort of thing that Christianity was in self-perception
as well as perceived by others. It was a new family, a third race in Christ,
rather than Jew or Gentile. Its existence threatened the foundational
assumptions of pagan society.
Jews persecuted Christians because the program of the
Pharisees involved intensification of the Torah, a program Jesus and the early
Christians questioned. Christians welcomed Gentiles, and in doing so claimed
the fulfillment of the long-cherished hopes of
Both Jews and Christians agreed in monotheism and
creation. However, they disagreed profoundly with how God was active in the
world. For the Jew, that activity was through Torah and through
Yet, the Christian experience of salvation brought
freedom, release, redemption, release, redemption, liberation, and salvation
point to a transfer from one, negative condition, to another, positive, one.
They claimed a new covenant with God. They were part of an entirely new
creation. Paul said “All this is from God.” Their prayers did not simply recall
mercies from the past, but expressed hope of their renewal in the future. They
looked forward to the reign of God as a fulfillment of personal and human
history. The universal offer of this vision made this salvation open to all
persons. Something happened in the lives of real people. They experienced a new
and unsuspected power from a new and confusing source. We cannot comprehend the
New Testament if we see it as a collection of theological writings in a
theoretical mode. What happened? What experience could be profound enough and
powerful enough to change fearful followers into bold and prophetic leaders?
What power could transform a fanatic persecutor into a fervent apostle? What
unseen hand shaped, out of the unpromising.
Religious experience is about what one perceives to be
most real in life. Religious experience involves the entire human person in a
response (not just projection or fantasy) to what is real. Religious experience
involves an encounter with the holy, the mystery of the totally other that
opens like a chasm before humans in unexpected ways, forcing a halt to the
round of busyness and distraction, making impossible the repression of its
presence. Genuine religious experience is acted out in a consistent pattern.
This sort of experience shaped the New Testament. Christianity begins with the
followers of Jesus experiencing Jesus after his death in an entirely new way.
Christianity is a religion of personal encounter with the Other. The primitive
Christian experience consisted in encountering the Other in the risen Jesus.
Even Paul experiences Jesus as one who is alive and powerfully present in the
messianic community. Paul reports that his experience of the risen Lord was not
unique. Over 500 people, could say they had a similar experience. The Gospel
narratives are selective and are shaped to teach the community. Scholars
explain such experiences as neurosis and illusion. Like other conspiracy
theories, such explanations appeal to the hermeneutics of suspicion, to the
presupposition that religious texts fundamentally function to camouflage other,
less noble human appetites. As with conspiracy theories, there is little in the
texts themselves to support such interpretations. The source of the power and
freedom the first Christians claim is the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul makes it clear that the life-giving power of the Spirit and the
resurrection of Jesus have an intimate connection. The conviction that Jesus is
alive and powerfully active in the believing community is the implicit
presupposition of all the writings of the New Testament. The Jesus of the
Gospels is not simply a past figure of fond remembrance. He is living Lord
confessed and experienced in the community, whose words now address believers
not out of past weakness but out of present strength.
The Book of Acts shows that early Christianity grew by
the establishment of churches and Acts shows how rapidly the message sped
across vast geographic areas. The rapidity of the growth of Christianity meant
that his memory had to be transmitted and preserved through new and changing
circumstances. This means the period after the resurrection was not a long
period of tranquil recollection and interpretation carried out under tight
control of a single stable community that transmitted it to other lands,
languages, and cultures. The evidence points in the opposite direction: there
was not longer period of tranquility. As a missionary religion, preaching was
significant for its growth, some of which finds its way into the Gospels and
Acts. They met for worship around the
The church has the responsibility of reminding people
that a man named Jesus once stood in their midst. No one who for whom Jesus
becomes important can ever again become as though he or she never heard of him.
That importance may have been confused recollection and superstition in such a
way that it did not give strength for the journey of life. Where the demand for
further and more trustworthy information about Jesus arises, we find a rather
bewildering array of contradictory voices.
We might hear one voice place Jesus in the context of
the history of religions and compare him to Greek traveling teachers called
Cynics and to religious teachers like Buddha. Jesus becomes a teacher of
asceticism and escape from the world. Jesus did away with Judaism through his
Greek influences.
We might hear a second voice call place Jesus in his
Jewish context and suggest he was an ascetic after the order of the Essenes or
John the Baptist. One might hear some statements of Jesus to suggest
asceticism, denial of the world, and detachment from the world. Jesus expressed
concern for the hold that wealth, anxiety over material things, and selfishness
could have on the course of one’s life. The involvement of Jesus in Galilean
life, the fact that he did not join the Essene sect or the John the Baptist
sect in the wilderness, and the fact that he encouraged profound love for
neighbors and enemies, suggests that Jesus did not travel the path of the
ascetic.
We might hear a third voice place Jesus in his Jewish
context and suggest that he was a rabbi, teaching little that other rabbis had
not already taught. Jesus becomes one who added little to the insights of
Judaism, and the church becomes a body of people who distorted Jesus into an
anti-Jewish sect.
We might hear a fourth voice place Jesus in his Jewish
context and suggest he was an apocalyptic prophet proclaiming the soon arrival
of the reign of God. Jesus becomes a mistaken preacher of the end whom the
church transformed into a divine being at the center of a cult.
We might hear a fifth voice that considers later
metaphysical speculation about the relationship between Jesus as Messiah, Son,
Lord, and Logos, and his connection with God, as the true and rational truth of
the message of Jesus. Jesus becomes the occasion for philosophical reflection
that transcends the historical contingency of his appearance in first century
Judaism.
We might hear a sixth voice that considers Jesus as
the originator of a social movement against the Jewish and Roman power
structures, his motive being economic, political, and religious transformation,
and in particular the deliverer of the oppressed lower classes. Such an
economic and political program tends to make Jesus a political or
We might a seventh voice that suggests Jesus had
concern only for the soul and for spiritual matters. He then would have no
concern for social and economic matters.
We might hear an eighth voice saying that Jesus did
lead a social movement that was utopian. He had no means of implementing his
social movement. His vision might stir sympathy for a nice idea, but it has no
practical use for today.
In one sense, we might view such reflections by
various thinkers as a touching and sentimental as they appear to re-discover
themselves in this Jesus, or at least to have a share of Jesus. The confusion
appears hopeless, however. I would not blame people who simply gave up the
search for trustworthy information concerning Jesus. I would blame no one who
decided that the question does not matter, although I do think such a
conclusion wrong. When we make enquiry concerning Jesus, we have to do with
something common to humanity in our awareness that we cannot reduce human life
to biology, economics, psychology, sociology, or any other way we might engage
in study of ourselves. I want to direct our attention not just toward a
doctrine, but questions of life. Jesus and the apostles lived with the
conviction that they had a greater destiny and a deeper meaning than their
immediate time and space could contain.
I must deal with the uniqueness of the man Jesus, whom
Christians claim to be the Son of God.
Christology has an urgent task. I cannot complete the task by merely
repeating literally the ancient formulas and their explanation. I cannot
complete the task by abolishing the ancient formulas. Christian theology has
struggled with the traditional affirmations of faith. I invite you to engage this struggle with me.
We need to broaden the horizons and modes of expression.
Albrecht Ritschl took a polemical view of the
difference between a view of Jesus developed from above, as over against a
Christology from below. Speculative
Christology begins with the divinity of Jesus as a reality. This was the pattern of reflection about
Jesus in the church, beginning in the second century. However, we ought not to view this
distinction as opposing each other. This
is simply a question of method. We must
vindicate all statements of the significance of Jesus for us in the historical
reality of Jesus. This view presupposes
that the conduct, message, and fate of Jesus had an upward thrust. All official pronouncements about Jesus must
have their foundation in the historical reality of Jesus. Such a Christology may focus on the
proclamation of Jesus, or his way to the cross, or the faith response to the
proclamation of Jesus. However, we need
to reconsider the role of the resurrection in this methodology. Many do not want to consider this. After all, the resurrection of a dead person
is so open to question. Such a method
does not replace faith or the Holy Spirit.
Nor does such a method allow us to appeal to faith and the Holy Spirit
as an argument. After all, the Easter
message followed the Easter event.
Our understanding of humanity as beings oriented
toward God, and toward that which is beyond human community and individuals, is
an important step in our Christology. In this sense, if God was present in a
unique way, it was only in that God has definitively shown the fullness,
health, and wholeness of humanity in Jesus. The hope of fulfillment found in
Jewish apocalyptic finds its fulfillment in Jesus. Jesus viewed himself as the
one through whom the nearness of God came into the world in a unique and
universal way. We may dare to view the Incarnation as the emptying of God and
the completion of humanity.
Christians know God as shown through Jesus of
Nazareth. This generation needs to
establish its own connection with Jesus, unhindered by past formulations of the
significance of Jesus for them. I will
grant that we begin with the Christology with which we presently live out our
lives. For example, the concept of revelation has been important to the church
in understanding Jesus. To take the
concept of revelation seriously is to recognize the fundamental unity between
the one who reveals (God) and the one who does the revealing (Jesus). At the same time, the whole life of Jesus
recognizes the fundamental distinction between Jesus and God. This has led to a whole series of discussions
in the history of the church about the nature of the unity and the distinction
between Jesus and God. There can be
little doubt that the early church took the fundamental unity of Jesus with God
provided the basis for the message of the early church. The resurrection of Jesus established this
belief.
We must deal with the way in which God is present to
us in Jesus of Nazareth. He was a human
being like the rest of us. Christology
generally focuses on the uniqueness of Jesus.
Christology also focuses on his relationship to God. Most importantly, how does that relationship
affect the human race? To say that only through Jesus do we know God seems
arrogant. Yet, the saving significance
of Jesus lies in how the man, Jesus of Nazareth, has any bearing upon the
common destiny of humanity. In Jesus,
that which is the destiny of humanity has appeared for the first time in an
individual and thus has become accessible to all others only through this
individual.
Many theologians argue that the Trinity and the
Christology of orthodox theology is unbiblical.
Yet, the growing concentration of divinity in Christ is consistent with
the direction that the New Testament takes.
Think of the way the New Testament describes Jesus. In him is the fullness of divinity
bodily. He is all knowing, can raise the
dead and work miracles, he is before all things in time and rank, and has life
from within himself. The consequence of
the New Testament is that Christ can only be God. Christ is one with the father in will, some
will say. Yet, to be one will,
presupposes unity in nature. Christ is the
ambassador and representative of God.
Only a divine being can truly represent God. My representative can only be someone with
whom I share certain qualities.
Christianity concentrates its belief and values in Christ. He alone meets the longing for a personal
connection to God. On him alone
Christians concentrate all the joys of the imagination, all the suffering of
the heart. In him alone do we exhaust
all feeling and imagination.
Many theologians do not want to be bothered with the
debatable proposition that in Jesus of Nazareth we have discovered the one whom
most fully and universally reveals God.
It is tempting to focus on the faith of individuals or the church rather
than specifically faith in Jesus.
However, we would not be faithful to the task of Christology if we do
not undertake this effort. Such a
presentation does not make unnecessary faith or the Holy Spirit. However, the appeal to faith or the Holy
Spirit is not persuasive.
Christian doctrine has a Trinitarian structure. The
appearance of God in Jesus of Nazareth results in reflection on God as creator,
reconciler, and one who consummates the world.
To pursue Christology in this way suggests a reconstruction in terms of
its origin.
I do not want to clutter the following discussion
unnecessarily with debates from the past, except for historical purposes. Such discussions of the unity of Jesus with
God often came to a debate between the divine and human nature of Jesus. These debates went as far as they could, and
were useful in their day. Discussion of
the unity of two substances simply cannot carry itself with the needs and
issues of this day. Many of these
debates now seem to have an antiquated dimension to them. Rather, we must
recognize that we can find the unity of Jesus with God only in the historical
conduct, message, and fate of the man, Jesus of Nazareth.
The teaching about Jesus lies at the
center of every Christian theology. This
essay must face doubts. Among those who
do not believe, these are many, and we must not avoid them. Among those who believe, doubts often
arise. This essay must satisfy the
believer's own conception of what is true.
If the affirmation of faith that we know God through Jesus is not dealt
with honestly and directly, it has no right to claim to be a Christian
presentation. We cannot avoid this basic
task of Christology.
The story in Acts 4 of a crippled
contains the seeds of the problem for modern reflection upon the question of
who Jesus is. Peter makes the statement
there that "there is salvation in no one else." Modern experience
does not appear to confirm this as true.
People experience gifts of wholeness outside of a specific act of God in
Jesus. Further, as Christianity
encounters other religions, there arises the issue of the justification for
believing that Christianity is superior these faith systems. Then, there is the question of truth. Outside of evangelical and fundamentalist
circles, people do not raise this issue quite so much any more. It remains a valid one for all religions, and
Christianity in particular. Is it true
that salvation is only in Jesus and if so, in what way? Lastly, there remains the question that has
plagued the church throughout the centuries, and brought into focus in this
century: what about the relationship between Christians and Jews? Because Christians have used their position
of power to the disadvantage of Jews, it is only proper to look again at how
the question of who Jesus is affects this issue. For these reasons, the question of
Christology, of coming to terms with who Jesus is, remains a vital one for the
church today. We are therefore dealing
with the center of the church. If the
church loses its center, it simply dissolves into a mere reflection of the
present age. It becomes the church of
society, rather than the
The central historical question
dealt with by Christology is this: how did Jesus who preached become the Jesus
who was preached? How did the one who
preached about the
Every attempt to deal with Christology today must deal
with the tension between what theology and faith have said about Jesus on the
one hand, and what the historical study of Jesus says on the other. For some, it is impossible. The historical Jesus has no influence upon
the church today. These scholars usually
view Jesus as an apocalyptic preacher of the imminent end of the world. His failed message has little to do with the
church of today. In this view, only the
Christ of the church has any significance.
The historical Jesus is quite meaningless to salvation or a universal
message of relevance. They find the
unity of the New Testament precisely in the common experience of the early
Christian movement itself. The starting
point for Christology is what the church proclaims about Jesus, and thus what
theology and faith say about Jesus.
Indeed, for a long time scholars considered the idea of getting behind
the preaching of the church to Jesus himself impossible.
Yet, it appears many of us cannot rest with the
assumption that the Jesus of history is quite meaningless for the church
today. As often stated in such
discussions, we must admit that the faith of the church and of individual
believers does not depend upon the results of historical research. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing made a statement
that confronts us with an uncomfortable truth: "Accidental, historical
truths can never become evidence for necessary truths of reason." He could
also say that "a broad, common or garden ditch" yawns between the
two. This is consistent with the
philosophy of Leibniz. The Enlightenment
of his day tried to isolate the truths of reason, which were innate, from the
truths of experience or history. Lessing
believed that the truths from the past about which we could be informed were
nothing unless they related to truths as they were lived out in
experience. Abstract truth, whether
historical, philosophical, or theological, cannot lead to the transformation of
human life that Jesus sought.
I have a few questions. Why can the man Jesus be the ultimate
revelation of God? Why is it that in him
we know the true God? We can find the
unity of Jesus with God only in the historical conduct, message, and fate of
Jesus. As such, the traditional approach
in Christology, in which the focus is on the relation within the Trinity,
cannot be the place to begin. As A.
Ritschl has pointed out, there is no way of knowing the "Son" apart
from his historical existence. This view
presupposes that the conduct, message, and fate of Jesus have openness to the
reality of God. We must show the
foundation of confessional statements as in the historical person of Jesus.
Christology must show that in Jesus
of Nazareth there is reason to believe that here is the one supreme case of the
fulfillment of human reality. The
overcoming of alienation in human sin became real in Jesus of Nazareth. The church has witnessed to the unity of God
in that the creator is the some God revealed in Jesus. The saving work of God becomes an expression
of God's creative work. When Paul compares
Adam to Christ, he testifies to the universal significance of Jesus.
The view that an historical event
can have universal significance is itself debatable. We must presume that the
will of God for bringing healing and wholeness to humanity is universal. Thus,
people who do not have contact with an historical event of universal
significance must still experience sufficient grace to bring their lives to the
fullness possible in that space and time. The point of departure for Christian
preaching is connection with the historical Jesus of Nazareth, and therefore
with an ascending Christology; a Christology from below. Christological
reflection cannot begin at the “end” determined by the later theology of the
church. The individual churches and individual Christians may interpret
adequately or inadequately what occurred historically in Jesus. Where it is
interpreted adequately and legitimately in a profession of faith and unites
people in this profession, there we have the Christianity of the church. The
belief of ordinary Christians often carries mythological connotations, no matter
how orthodox their formulas are. Those who demythologize such classical
Christian teaching do not have the same understanding of Christian teaching as
the piety influenced by myth. Others rejected orthodox formulas because they
misunderstood them, even while they may have genuine faith at some level.
How do people who do not believe in Jesus as the Christ
come to this faith? People make this decision before the tribunal of
conscience, truth, and moral decision. It appears one must be at a point of synthesis
is necessary for faith in order to see the objective ground of one’s faith in
Jesus, which then justifies the willingness to believe. Such assertion refers
to a definite historical person and to historical events. It implies historical
assertions that conscience and integrity of believers require them to
investigate. Christological assertions have a historical dimension. These
events are of decisive importance for the existence of humanity. I recognize
that some emancipate themselves from the burden of history, suggesting the
unnecessary character of a historically contingent ground of Christian faith.
In such a conception, faith itself is the first and last thing. Faith does not
contain within it an element distinguishable from itself that would ground it.
Such an understanding has the advantage of freeing us to begin with from every
historical difficulty. Such an understanding also separates itself from the
Christian faith as understood in the tradition. However, the New Testament
knows itself as a faith related to a definite historical event from which it
receives its justification and foundation. Even for the first witnesses to
Jesus, the point is that faith involves the commitment of the whole person, and
not just faith that certain events occur.
The question is how something historical can be
universally significant, and thus whether the ground and totality of humanity
can be dependent upon an historical, contingent reality. We must live with the
relative certainty of historical knowledge and the absoluteness of commitment
on the other. We cannot escape the possibility of error by refusing to reach
such commitment because we cannot have absolute historical certitude concerning
the foundations of faith. In this sense, we must admit the universality of the
incongruence between the full commitment we need to have fullness of human
life, and theoretical certainty about the facts. Such ambiguity is part of the
freedom human beings enjoy. In such matters, the distance between historical
foundation and responsive commitment is large. This faith has an interest in
the history of Jesus before the resurrection and his self-understanding. This
faith has a connection with the self-understanding of Jesus, even if that
understanding is not the full understanding of the later church. For Jesus, his
proclamation of the new potential experience of the nearness of the reign of
God suggested that he was himself more than a rabbi or prophet. He viewed the
newness and uniqueness as potentially significant for all people. He abolishes
religious and moral categories such as those touching family, marriage, nation,
the law, the temple, the Sabbath, and the origins of religious authority. They
have now been broken through a new and real immediacy of God. They no longer
have that precise function of mediating and representing God that they once
correctly claimed to have. Jesus is the historical presence of this final and
unsurpassable word of God.
In terms of Jesus as Messiah, his
earthly ministry had a messianic character in the sense of renewing and
deepening Isaiah's relation to God.
However, he had nothing to do with restoration of political independence
or establishing supremacy among the nations.
The concept of sending presupposes the pre-existence
of the Son. The purpose is the
reconciliation to God to the world.
Jesus liberated the one true God from the historically conditioned
images of land, law, and temple. This
constitutes the messianic character of Jesus.
The history of Jesus had the result of freeing the messianic hope of
The
New Testament is our primary source for our knowledge about the Jesus of
history. That fact presents a
problem. In terms of the modern study of
the biblical text, we cannot identify the biblical narratives with
history. We cannot return to a
pre-critical time, and simply believe whatever the text narrates, without
asking the tough historical questions which our time demand. We cannot assume, as was legitimately done in
the past, that Jesus as he was and Jesus as the early church came to know is
identical. I realize that such
statements make members of many churches nervous. The modern study of the text questions what
we learned in Sunday school about Jesus.
In this essay, I want to challenge some of those assumptions. However, I do that from the standpoint, not
of trying to destroy faith, but to have has take another look at that faith.
The gospel narratives themselves are both conserving
traditions about Jesus and creative in applying the knowledge about Jesus to
their second and third generation audience.
We are compelled to move beyond what the church says, beyond what the
apostles say, to Jesus himself. Three
facts make this possible. First, we can
discern the difference between the gospel texts and the historical figure of
Jesus. Second, it is necessary, since
the texts point beyond themselves to this Jesus. Third, only in this way can we perceive the
unity of the apostolic texts. While
their dogmatic statements vary, their witness remains to the same Jesus. The only legitimate way we can do this
through historical study. Then we can
establish whether there is a connection between Jesus on the one hand and what
the church says about him on the other.
If we are supposed to speak about the center of our
faith, then the one about whom we speak can be only Jesus of Nazareth. We cannot assume the divinity of Jesus. We must be open to the real, historical man,
Jesus of Nazareth.
The challenge of Christology for Christians is that we
cannot discuss whom Jesus was apart from who he is for us, what he means for
us. One of the issues raised, then, is
whether who Jesus was, in his resurrection, message, conduct, and fate, can
have universal significance for the rest of humanity. If we cannot demonstrate this, the Christian
enterprise has been for nothing. The
continued existence of the church for two millennia at least suggests at the
beginning of this essay that it is possible to make these connections.
In dealing with Jesus, Christology often focuses on the
significance of Jesus for us, that is, salvation. The focus is on the meaning of Jesus as it
relates to the fate of humanity. This is
quite natural, for we are most interested in what immediately influences our
lives. At the same time, has anything
actually been said about Jesus? We need
to separate who Jesus was on the one hand, and his significance for humanity,
and thus of salvation, on the other. We can view "Salvation" as that
wholeness of life toward which humanity is even now searching and working, both
as individuals and as communities. We
shall never have such wholeness in this life.
Humanity is continually open to that which is beyond present experience
and lures it beyond anything that is presently at hand.
People tend to produce an image of Jesus that suits their
own desires. This is nothing new. At the beginning, those who followed Jesus
had some faith in him. While those who opposed him did not. Some of his fellow Jews remained in their own
traditions rather than follow the path taught by Jesus. Many non-Jews dismissed Jesus quickly. The New Testament itself reflects a variety
of beliefs about Jesus. It has been appropriate
for people to find in Jesus human being the supreme ideal, the goal, of
salvation. They have often done this
through reflection upon the conduct and message of Jesus. In the process, their own particular hopes
and dreams have influenced individuals and cultures. Albert Schweizer, in Quest for the Historical Jesus, viewed this largely in a negative
light. However, it does not need to
be. Reflection upon the life of this one
human being, it is hoped, can in every age tempt humanity to accomplish the
impossible, to reach beyond itself to new heights.
The recent research into the historical Jesus by the
Jesus Seminar, Crossan, Borg, Horsely, and others, has the value of viewing
Jesus in direct interaction and tension with his political and social
environment. The advantage is to use an
inter-disciplinary approach in social history, economic history, and history of
religions and religious movements. We
can understand Jesus as a holy person who can connect people with the spiritual
aspect of reality. He was a charismatic
healer and exorcist who ignored established religious institutions and
order. He was a teacher of subversive
wisdom. He was a social prophet. He initiated a religious movement designed to
re-vitalize Judaism from the bottom up.
The danger of this movement in recent scholarship is that
it will replace the old, eschatological Jesus with a new political Jesus. Neither of these visions had much relevance
to the message of the church or to the social and political situation of our time. Recognizing the hierarchical, patriarchal,
militaristic, anti-economic, and oppressive colonial situation of
I present here the foundation for New Testament theology.
I hope to show that Bultmann is wrong to say that Jesus is only a historical
presupposition for New Testament theology. Rather, I find in Jesus the
beginning for a dramatically new theological reflection on the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.
We can give an account of the life of Jesus without the
obvious quality of divinity. If
Christians take the incarnation seriously, such an enterprise must be
possible. After all, if the divinity of
Jesus were very clear, there would not have been the debate about Jesus there
has been in history. However, this does
not mean that we need to reduce our account to political, social, and economic
matters, as if religion were simply a tool of those forces. Rather, religion is
a force in its own right. We need to be able to discern patterns of divinity in
our account, lest we negate the possibility that the church is right in its
view.
I take advantage in this presentation of the historical
work of the Jesus Seminar. Among my several objectives is to show that with a
reasonable degree of openness to the historical and sociological studies of
modern scholarship, the apostolic church reflected in the canon of the New
Testament took a justifiable path in viewing Jesus the way they did. I would
also suggest that Jesus himself might have been more creative theologically
than many modern biblical scholars will consider. I do not mean to suggest that
this presentation proves that the apostolic church was right about Jesus. No
historical research could do that. Further, I limit the data of the words and
deeds of Jesus largely to the material most scholars of the New Testament would
consider as authentic to Jesus of Nazareth. I note that when one approaches the
Gospel material from a modern historical perspective, the result is fragments.
Such fragments may assist one in meditation and devotion. However, I sense the
need for a story. I want to connect the dots, so to speak. However, what I
wanted to do was to offer a credible story to a modern reader that would also
respect the stance taken by the rest of the New Testament. My point is that the
Jesus Seminar developed a social and political Jesus out of the fragments. I
would like to take largely the same fragments and tell a different story. I
hope it will show itself credible to you.
In this process, we discover that Jesus and his followers
set themselves over against other groups in
From 4 BC to 66 AD, the
Jesus was born between 7 and 4 BC, at the end of the
reign of King Herod. Although he may have been born in
In 4 BC, with Jesus only two years old, Herod allowed the
Romans to place the Roman Eagle on the
In 6 AD, a millennial prophet arose. Jesus was now about 12 years old. A Galilean named Judas incited his fellow
citizens to revolt. He upbraided them as
cowards for consenting to pay tribute to the Romans and tolerating mortal
masters, after having God for their Lord.
This man was a teacher who founded a school of thought of his own. It is clear from other references in Josephus
that he was a millennial prophet, promising that Heaven would be their zealous
helper to no lesser end than the furthering of their enterprise. Josephus describes his followers as those who
think little of submitting to death in unusual forms and permitting vengeance
to fall on fellow citizens and friends if they only may avoid calling anyone
master.
The father of Jesus likely died before he began his
public ministry. He had four brothers: James, Joses, Judas, and Simon. He also had sisters. He likely spoke some Greek for business
purposes, some biblical Hebrew in the synagogue and in later debates with
Pharisees and scribes, and he spoke Aramaic among the common people. He was among a small minority of Jewish people
who could read. To our knowledge, he never wrote anything of his own. He obeyed
his parents. He followed the Law. He worked with his hands a woodworker.
Although he might have worked in the urban center of Sepphoris, only 3.7 miles
from
From 6 to 66, the Pharisees were the dominant religious
group. They accepted the religious and
spiritual center of
In the winter of 26-27 AD, with Jesus at 32 years of age
and just before his baptism by John, Pilate brought images of the emperor to
Jesus did not organize the peasants into a political
resistance movement that would be anti-Roman.
However, the success of the non-violent protest may have given Jesus
confidence that this was the best way to live in the context of Roman colonial
rule. The Romans had the political,
military, and economic power. They had
Jewish institutional leaders with whom to negotiate. The peasants and others in the lower classes
had only their numbers and their moral and spiritual power. Jesus became convinced that violence on the
part of Jews, and therefore expressions of Jewish nationalism as embodied in
bandit leaders and messiah figures, was not the way for Judaism to go. His objective, then, was a theological
transformation of Judaism, which was to begin among the lower classes and work
its way up. If successful, it would have
had social and political implications.
However, he did yet think all this through to the end. Now, the moral and spiritual transformation
was primary.
As Jesus grew up and became an adult, his people
experienced the tensions of another power occupying them. We have already noted
that twice the superior military strength of the Romans defeated nationalist
uprisings. However, we have also noted a relatively successful nonviolent
protest by peasants in
The relation of Jesus to his family was a complex one.
During his ministry, they thought something happened to him that made it
questionable whether he remained sane.
Mark
When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”
Mark 3:31-35 (NRSV)
31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” 33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
My wonderment about the life Jesus lived is that he does
not appear to value force and power in terms of political, economic, or
military means. He appears to think and live in terms of the force of love and
grace. I wonder if it would be too much to say this: for Jesus, the heart of
God is full of love and grace, and that God weeps and agonizes when we abuse
each other through the wrong use of power. Let us at least reflect upon this
possibility.
I further wonder if Jesus does not come to conclusions
concerning non-violence for theological reasons. As we shall soon discover,
Jesus will reject tying God to the Promised Land, to the Torah, and to the
There were
varieties of prophetic and apocalyptic conversion movements. In particular, such uprisings occurred
between the Maccabean uprising in 167 BC and the destruction of the
John the Baptist was an ascetic preacher of repentance
and of the future judgment upon
The first significant decision Jesus would make in
terms of his public ministry was to baptism by John toward the beginning of 28
AD. Jesus led a respectable,
unexceptional, and unnoticed life until he left family and neighbors and identified
with the message of John the Baptist. It is the only external and verifiable
marker for the turn around in the life of Jesus. His public ministry was a way
to live out in his life the general call of John for a transformation of heart
and conduct. Like Ezra and the Teacher of Righteousness in
Jesus did not stay with John in the wilderness, but went
back to the beauty of
Luke 7:24-25 (NRSV)
24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak
to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at?
A reed shaken by the wind? 25 What then did you go out to see?
Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in
luxury are in royal palaces.
Luke
28 I tell you, among those born of women no one is
greater than John; yet the least in the
Luke 7:31-35 (NRSV)
31 “To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not weep.’
33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’; 34 the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
Luke
16 “The law and the prophets were in effect until John
came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone
tries to enter it by force.
King Herod put John to death.
Interestingly, later in his public ministry, John wanted to know who Jesus was,
and Jesus directs attention to what God is doing through him in these last
days. John would meet a violent end in the place where Jesus lived and
preached. The execution of this holy man, John, whom many revered after his
death as a martyr, turned the mind of Jesus to the dangers involved in
continuing the basic message of the nearness of the rule of God.
It is difficult to know how he viewed his role. He could emphasize the importance of what he
was saying by the phrase, “I tell you” (Q
He emphasized his own life style by saying "I
appeared on the scene eating and drinking thereby befriending toll collectors
and sinners" (Q
He delivered a major sermon in
He viewed himself as being sent (Qm
Matthew
40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
Luke 10:3 (NRSV)
3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into
the midst of wolves.
He viewed himself as more important than the social
demands of family, expecting his presence to create division in the most
accepted social unit of his day (Q 12:51-53, 14:26, Mk 10:29-30).
Luke 12:51-53 (NRSV)
51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Luke
26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and
mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself,
cannot be my disciple.
Mark 10:29-30 (NRSV)
29 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has
left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields,
for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not
receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and
children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
He called himself a prophet
(Th 31:1, Q
He declared the temple to have become a hideout for
crooks (Mk
In spite of all this, when confronted directly about his
own significance, he avoided questions of his authority (Mk
Mark
27 Again they came to
He avoided the responsibility
of a teacher in
Luke
14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge
or arbitrator over you?”
Luke
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?
He even avoided being called
good (Mk
As John the Baptist questioned who Jesus was, Jesus
directed his attention away from himself and toward what God did through him.
Luke 7:20-23 (NRSV)
20 When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ ” 21 Jesus had just then cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and had given sight to many who were blind. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. 23 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
Jesus rejected titles that were available to him:
Messiah, Son of God, Son of Man, and Servant of God. Nor was he an apocalyptic preacher. The person of Jesus is not at the center of
his message. He hesitated to accept popular titles like these because of the
tendency to interpret them along lines Jesus did not accept. Further, this
distinguishing of himself from the Father suggests his purpose of glorifying
the Father, rather than himself. In this, he became a model disciple. Rather,
the message of the rule of God was at the center. However, as we shall see, Jesus will not be
able to separate the message from the one who gave the message.
Many modern scholars consider these facts as significant
in their attempt to drive a wedge between Jesus and his band followers on the
one hand and the later church, especially that of Paul, on the other. Their
puzzle consists in why the church stopped preaching the message of Jesus
concerning the kingdom and started preaching faith in Jesus Christ. Although I
hope the reason for this will become clearer, we already note that the
distinction between Jesus and his Father in that the purpose of his coming was
to glorify his Father. Only after the disciples saw Jesus in a new form of life
after his crucifixion did the disciples understand whom it was they had been
following.
Jesus took the initiative to choose disciples whom he
called to leave their homes in order to follow him. Some followers remained
home, like Simon the leper (Mk 14:3-9), Lazarus (Jn 12:1-2), and the anonymous
host of the Last Supper (Mk 14:3-15). He reminded people of the risks involved
in following. He also had female disciples in fact, even if the text does not
call them that. These women followed Jesus, attended to his needs, and listened
to him teach. In other words, they did all the things the male disciples of
Jesus did.
His selection of the twelve disciples was a prophetic
statement concerning the reconstitution of
Among the distinguishing marks of his public ministry was
his easy association with female disciples and other women. Yet, like the
Essenes, Qumran, and the Therapeute, he chose a celibate life, possibly
embodying a riddle-like message to disturb people and provoke them to thought,
both about who Jesus was and about themselves.
In following Jesus, the implicit assumption is that
conversion is necessary. This meant that
adherence to the Torah was insufficient.
It appeared that no amount of faithfulness to Torah would be sufficient
for describing a life faithful to God and in which one took seriously the first
commandment. Living geographically in the Promised Land was not sufficient.
Bringing sacrifices to the
Jesus extended friendship to his closest companions, the
disciples. Jesus established a core of
followers whom he invited to be part of his inner circle. The key here is that it is by the invitation
of Jesus, which clearly impressed the disciples. Jesus called them. They left all their possessions behind
them. Jesus gave them the task of
bringing the same message that the rule of God was coming soon. However, the distinctive nature of this call
is not in leaving possessions, but in the conversion of disciples
themselves. In responding positively to
the call of Jesus, they renounced trust in the law for bring its saving purpose
upon their lives. Instead, they took up
the salvation offered by God through Jesus.
This implied a readiness to accept whatever might come as one follows
Jesus, including suffering and death.
This fellowship with Jesus that the disciples experienced before Easter
became the basis for community life in the early church. In the first church in
The shared home and the common meal in which Jesus
participated stood as a sign against the cultural terms of the day. It was a strategy for building or rebuilding
covenant community on radically different principles from those of honor and
shame, patron and client. Jesus brought
people from various classes together at a common meal. Dress, equipment, and
appearance was just as important as house and table response. The itinerant nature of the ministry of Jesus
was symbolic in its radical egalitarianism.
Jesus sent his disciples.
He viewed himself and his followers as scouts or heralds of a better way
of life. What was that way? Since their numbers were small, they must be
willing to take great risk in order to find the lost. They must be willing to do ridiculous,
senseless things. Instead of safely
burying the gift they have been given by God, they are to take the risk of
investing, even if it might mean losing it (Qm 25:14-27).
Matthew 25:14-27 (NRSV)
14 “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.
After all, "Those in
good health don't need a doctor' (Gospel Fragment 1224 5:2 earlier than Q
12:17a). Some will respond positively to
what is said and benefit greatly, while many will reject what they have to
offer (Th. 9:1-5, Mk 4:3-8).
Mark 4:3-8 (NRSV)
3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as
he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other
seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up
quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it
was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other
seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no
grain. 8 Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain,
growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
They must act like the widow
trying to get a hearing from a judge who could care less (Q 18:2-5).
Luke 18:2-5 (NRSV)
2 “In a certain city there was a judge who neither
feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a
widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my
opponent.’ 4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself,
‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet
because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she
may not wear me out by continually coming.’”
They must be as dishonest
managers operating in a hostile environment, but doing what it took survive (Lk
16:1-8).
Luke 16:1-8 (NRSV)
“There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 2 So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ 3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ 7 Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ 8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.
They must be like that pesky
neighbor, coming at inappropriate times with the hope of a favorable response
(Lk 11:5-8).
Luke 11:5-8 (NRSV)
5 “Suppose one of you has a
friend, and you go to him at
Cynics described themselves as God sending them. Diogenes said that the Cynic is both
messenger and scout of God. Epictetus: "Behold, God has sent me to you
as an example, that you may see
humans, that you are seeking happiness and serenity not where it is, but where
it is not."[1] Why was
it important to have this vision of God sending them? Dio Chrysostom says he hoped it would gain
him a hearing. To say that God sent you
responded to concerns about authority and authorization. It answered the implied question: And what
gives you the right to say that? How is
it that you can do this? Like Epictetus,
Jesus viewed himself and his followers as a messenger or scout, a herald of a
better path to happiness. In this
capacity, both Jesus and Epictetus expected to face certain wolves along the
way.
The cost of following could be great. Jesus made a radical demand on his disciples.
They had to be committed to him and his mission.
Jesus could symbolize following as taking up a cross (Q
Luke
27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot
be my disciple.
The statement about the cross
has much support in the gospel tradition. One can also interpret it apart from
the experience of Jesus' own cross, as indicated by Cynic teaching:
Epictetus
said, "If you want to be crucified, just wait. The cross will come. If it seems reasonable to comply, and the
circumstances are right, then it's to be done, and your integrity
maintained."
He is rather rehearsing one
of a number of possible consequences of adopting and living in accordance with
a certain philosophy. By analogy, he
graphically depicted the cost of assuming a similar way of life. The fate imagined is conceivable because of
the social challenge and outrageous behavior otherwise called for by Jesus.
Even Jesus did not have a home (Q
Luke
58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of
the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Luke 9:60 (NRSV)
60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own
dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the
As a further downplay of
family, he even used the image of castration.
"... There are castrated men who were born that way, and there are
castrated men who were castrated by others, and there are castrated men who
castrated themselves because of the
Jesus taught a distinctive way of life by his own conduct
as well as his message. Jesus' own
conduct gives a practical and provisional realization of the future he
envisioned as God's kingdom. As such,
God's future rule becomes concrete and definable.
This way of life includes a rigorous life style that led
to an unusual path toward happiness. It
is the poor, the weepers, and the hungry, who are happy.
Q
Q 6:21a
Congratulations, you hungry! You will
have a feast.
Q 6:21b
Congratulations, you who weep now! You
will laugh.
However, "if two make
peace with each other in a single house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move
from here!' and it will move" (Th. 48, Q 17:6, Mk
Luke 17:6 (NRSV)
6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
They are to carry no purse,
knapsack, or sandals in their travels (Q 10:4).
They are not to speak to people along the way (Q 10:4).
Luke 10:4 (NRSV)
4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one
on the road.
They are to eat whatever is
put before them, without regard to dietary law (Q 10:7, 8).
Luke 10:7-8 (NRSV)
7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever
they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house
to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you,
eat what is set before you;
They could expect
rejection. In such a case, they are
simply to let their greeting return to them (Q 10:5-6), and may even show how
silly it all is by shaking the dust from their feet (Q
Luke 10:5-6 (NRSV)
5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this
house!’ 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace
will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.
Luke
11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet,
we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the
This indicates a way of life devoted to begging as the
primary source of physical nourishment.
This was a perilous from of existence.
This strategy of social engagement helped them to discern those
potential supporters from those who were not.
It was not just a search for survival, but a part of the strategy.
Cynics begged. How to deal with rejection was important for Cynic as well.
"Diogenes
once begged alms of a statue, and, when asked why he did so, replied, 'To get
practice in being refuse.'" "Ask for bread even from the statues in
the marketplace as you enter it. In a
way, such a practice is good, for you will meet persons more unfeeling than
statues. And whenever they give
something to eunuchs and to the authors of obscenity rather than to you, do not
be surprised. For each person pays honor
to the one who is close to him and not someone far off. And it is eunuchs rather than the
philosophers who pander to the masses.
Cynics also espoused such a
way of life as the true path to happiness:
Diogenes
Laeterius: "Diocies relates how Diogenes persuaded Crates to give up his
property
to
sheep-pasture, and throw into the sea any money he had."
Similarly
Monimus, after deciding to follow Diogenes: "straight off pretended to be
mad and was flinging away the small change and all the money on the banker's
table, until his master dismissed him; and he immediately devoted himself to
Diogenes."
Julian
described Diogenes as: "Cityless, homeless, a man without a country,
owning not an obol, not a drachma, not even a household slave."
Other statements from Cynics:
"If
all the gold, all the silver, all the copper should give out, I would not be
injured in the least." "... are you not afraid of the money?... For
by no means does money always profit those who have gotten it; but people have
suffered many more injuries and more evils from money than from poverty,
particularly when they lacked sense."
"I,
however, says Diogenes, go by night wherever I will and walk alone by day, and
I am not
afraid
to go even through an army camp if need be, without the herald's staff, and
amid brigands; for I have no enemy, public or private, who opposes me."
Jesus was a first-century Jewish teacher announcing and
inaugurating the
The reign of God was the fundamental principle of
Jesus. At a time when
For Jesus, the selection of twelve disciples anticipates
the reconstitution of
What will the end be like? That day will be unexpected, like a burglar
(Q
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NRSV)
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (NRSV)
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; 7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
It will be unexpected as in
the days of Noah in that people will be going about their normal activity (Q
17:26-27, Lk 17:28-30).
Luke
39 “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at
what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
Mark 13:34-36 (NRSV)
34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves
home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the
doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35 Therefore, keep awake—for you do
not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at
Luke 12:35-38 (NRSV)
35 “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
Luke 17:26-27 (NRSV)
26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be
in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking, and
marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and
the flood came and destroyed all of them.
Luke 17:28-30 (NRSV)
28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of
No one knows the exact moment
(Mk
Mark
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Yet, the signs of the times
are all around even as people can see them (Mk
Mark 13:28-29 (NRSV)
28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
Luke 13:6-9 (NRSV)
6 “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”
The only concession Jesus may
have made to apocalyptic was the view that the Son of Man would come with lightning
(Q
Luke
24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky
from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
The end could overtake anyone
at any moment.
Yet, dimensions of the rule of God are present in the
message and action of Jesus. The future rule radically alters the present
situation, both in the way people perceive it and in the way they live it. The
future impinges on and shapes the present moment. Followers can address God as
Father. In praying for daily bread, making forgiveness in the future rule of
God contingent upon forgiveness extended to each other, and spare followers
from the final clash between god and evil lest they succumb, Jesus suggests
actions that make the rule of God effective in the world in a minimal way. The
table fellowship Jesus extended to the disciples is a sign and pledge of
sharing the final banquet in the rule of God. The table fellowship he extended
to the morally unclean made Jesus unclean in the eyes of many, but Jesus saw
himself as communicating health and wholeness to outcasts. He probably
celebrated a large banquet by the
Mark 6:35-36, 39-40, 42-44 (NRSV)
35 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said,
“This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36 send
them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy
something for themselves to eat.”
39 Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down
in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of
hundreds and of fifties.
42 And all ate and were filled; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
Even now the poor, the
mourners, and the hungry are happy, since they have the promise of the reversal
of their lot by God. The reign of God is already among them (Lk
Luke 17:20-21 (NRSV)
20 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when
the
He declares his exorcisms
manifestations and partial realizations of the coming of God in power to rule
(Lk
The rule of God is an entire dynamic event of God coming
in power to rule. Through his word and deed, people experience now the favor of
the Father toward
Jesus invited people to see the reign of God arriving in
unexpected ways. In fact, he saw the
kingdom in nature, in household tasks, in business dealings, and therefore in
ways few people would have imagined. By
presenting this vision of reality, Jesus may have done little more than remind
his hearers of the first commandment and the uniqueness of the Lord he
proclaimed. It involves a total
commitment to God. Those who participate
now in this reality already experience salvation. There is a priority of God's future for
humanity. The approaching rule of God
means what is brought close is God's unconditional will to salvation, of
reconciling clemency and suffering graciousness, and along with them opposition
to all forms of evil. God's dominion is
saving activity within our history.
Salvation is a gift. Present and
future are interrelated. Jesus does not
accept apocalyptic reversal. Jesus
taught the hidden quality to the kingdom amidst a world that to most of us
gives no sign of it. God's rule is
discernable only in faith.
Jesus saw the kingdom coming in children being welcomed
(Mk
Mark 10:14-15 (NRSV)
14
“Let the little children come to
me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the
People will not be able to
identify easily where the kingdom is (Ql7: 23, Lkl7: 20-21).
Luke
23
They will say to you, ‘Look
there!’ or ‘Look here!’ Do not go, do not set off in pursuit.
Luke 17:20-21 (NRSV)
20 Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when
the
He used the image of the
unwelcome and troublesome mustard plant (Th. 20:1-4, Q
Luke 13:18-19 (NRSV)
18“What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
Luke 13:20-21 (NRSV)
20 “To what should I compare the
People view it as a treasure,
and will sell everything to get it (Mt
Matthew 13:44-46 (NRSV)
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Those who do the will of God,
rather than just give lip service, will enter the kingdom (Mt 21:28b-31).
Matthew 21:28b-31 (NRSV)
28 “A man had two sons; he went to the first
and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 He answered,
‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father
went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did
not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said,
“The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the
prostitutes are going into the
There is unexpected behavior
in that the owner of the vineyard pays all the same, even if there is unequal
distribution of work (Mt 20:1-15).
Matthew 20:1-15 (NRSV)
“For the kingdom
of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire
laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for
the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went
out about
Jesus shared the typical belief of his own day that God
would intervene in human history, and destroy evil, sin, and injustice. In this, he shares the prophetic vision of
Friendship unites affection with respect. Jesus is spoken in this way only twice, in
Luke 7:34, as the friend of tax collectors and sinners, and in John 15:13 he
declares himself to be the friend of his disciples. This friendship can only be an open
friendship, including an increasingly larger circle of persons. The conduct of Jesus, his presence among the
people, has not received the attention it deserves. The conduct of Jesus is nothing other than an
invitation to enter companionship with God.
Jesus had a broad range of contacts with people in the ordinary affairs
of life, eating and drinking, searching out people who were on the fringes of
society, especially the tax collectors and sinners. We can see this in the story in Luke 7:36-50,
where a woman who was prostitute enters the home of the Pharisee where Jesus
was having a meal. The Pharisee was
judgmental of Jesus for allowing the woman to touch him. However, Jesus tells a story, which leads to
the conclusion that, the one who has the larger forgiven debt will love more
than the one who has a small debt to forgive.
The extension of friendship to those who have the greater debt is one of
the characteristics of the ministry of Jesus.
This is especially true in the story of the party given by the tax
collector Levi in Mark 2:15-17.
Mark 2:15-17 (NRSV)
15 And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. 16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
When Jesus says he has come
to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance, he is expressing one of
the primary reasons he was not afraid to go against the law. That law stated that one should not have
table fellowship with sinners. The
friendship that Jesus extended to others in and of itself became an invitation
to friendship with God. This behavior on
the part of Jesus is fully consistent with the parables of Jesus described
above. In particular, those that tell
stories of the search for what has been lost and of the kingdom of God promised
to tax collectors and prostitutes (Matthew 21:31b).
Matthew 21:31b (NRSV)
31“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the
prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.
Instead of taking care of the 99 sheep, it means taking
the risk of finding the one lost and inviting others, who could probably care
less, to celebrate (Q 15:4-6).
Luke 15:4-6 (NRSV)
4 “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing
one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the
one that is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays
it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And when he comes home, he calls
together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I
have found my sheep that was lost.’
It means being like a woman
willing to tear up her house to find one lost coin, and then invite others, who
could care less, to celebrate (Lk 15:8-9).
Luke 15:8-9 (NRSV)
8 “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’
All of this is because God
gives great freedom to go into the "far country," and yet is always
ready to welcome home the lost (Lk
Luke 15:11-32 (NRSV)
11 “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ 31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ ”
The reign of God is like a
trader looking for beautiful pearls (Mt
Matthew 13:45-46 (NRSV)
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
The reign of God is like a
proprietor who hired people at different times of the day, yet paid all the
same (Mt 20:1-15).
Matthew 20:1-15 (NRSV)
“For the kingdom
of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire
laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for
the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went
out about
The unexpected coming of
divine intervention will be like the wealthy person who puts slaves in charge, each
with a task, and each expected to keep alert (Mk 13:34-36). That Jesus used such images suggests he was
more acquainted with business dealings than some have thought.
Matthew 25:14-27 (NRSV)
14 “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.
People will initially reject
the message of Jesus, but then others will be invited to the banquet.
Luke 14:16-23 (NRSV)
16 “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17
At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been
invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ 18 But they all alike
began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land,
and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’ 19 Another
said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please
accept my regrets.’ 20 Another said, ‘I have just been married, and
therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the slave returned and reported this
to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave,
‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor,
the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 And the slave said, ‘Sir,
what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23 Then
the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel
people to come in, so that my house may be filled.
Modern persons need to become open to one thing here:
Jesus did things that the people of his day considered miraculous. This is not
the same as saying that God worked miracles through him, for no one could prove
that. The stories to which I refer here most scholars agree that some
historical basis is at their core. There may have been an early collection of
miracles at Mark 2:1-12,
In a world where medical technology was limited, people
often looked to individuals with special gifts for help and healing. Jesus and
his followers were among those groups.
It was a way of bypassing institutional religion in favor of a more
direct and informal access to God. The
charismatic challenged religious institutional power.
Studies show that demonic possession has a close
connection with political oppression, even in cultures of today. Class antagonisms reach such a climax that in
some individuals, people view mental illness as a socially acceptable form of
protest against or escape from such oppression.
He connected casting out demons with the arrival of God's
kingdom (Q
Luke
20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the
demons, then the
Luke
21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or
‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the
He cast out a mute demon (Q
Luke
14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone
out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed.
He cast out an unclean spirit
that through the man down in convulsions in he synagogue (Mk
Mark 1:23-26 (NRSV)
23
Just then there was in their
synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, “What
have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know
who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying,
“Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit,
convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.
He cast out an unclean spirit
that had all the effects of what we call madness (Mk 5:2-8, 15).
Mark 5:2-8, 15 (NRSV)
2 And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately
a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. 3 He lived
among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; 4
for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains
he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the
strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the
mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. 6 When
he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; 7 and
he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of
the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he
had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 15 They
came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right
mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid.
He cast out a demon from a
distance from the daughter of a Phoenician woman from
Mark 9:17-18, 20-23, 25-27 (NRSV)
17
Someone from the crowd answered
him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to
speak; 18 and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he
foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to
cast it out, but they could not do so.”
20
And they brought the boy to him.
When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy,and he fell on the
ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the
father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From
childhood. 22 It has often cast him into the fire and into the
water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and
help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be
done for the one who believes.”
25
When Jesus saw that a crowd came
running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that
keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and
never enter him again!” 26 After crying out and convulsing him
terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them
said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him
up, and he was able to stand.
Mary of Magdala, a female
follower of Jesus, had seven demons cast out of her (Lk 8:2).
Luke 8:2 (NRSV)
2 as well as some women who had been cured of evil
spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had
gone out,
It is interesting that the Talmud, in Sanhedrin, 43a,
calls Jesus a sorcerer. It is likely
that Jesus expelled what the first century understood as demons. Today, we might call it a severe psychosis,
where the person retreats from reality, resulting in wild frenzy or catatonic
stupor. Anxiety, compulsiveness, and
depression characterize neurosis.
Hysteria is a psychological state that can copy almost any disease, even
blindness or paralysis.
Jesus referred to his exorcism as a sign that the
Luke
20
But if it is by the finger of God
that I cast out the demons, then the
His opponents accused him of
having a demon himself and offered a reason why this cannot be true (Q
Luke
17
“Every kingdom divided against
itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house.
Yet, in spite of this, he
recognized that often those relieved of the oppressive force of a demon end up
worse off some time later (Q 11:24-26).
Luke
11:24-26 (NRSV)
24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through
waterless regions looking for a resting place, but not finding any, it says, ‘I
will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 When it comes, it
finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven
other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the
last state of that person is worse than the first.”
Jesus healed persons as well. He healed the son of a
royal official in
Luke
7:1-10 (NRSV)
After Jesus had finished all his sayings in
the hearing of the people, he entered
He healed the mother-in-law
of his disciple Peter (Mk
Mark 1:29-31 (NRSV)
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
He healed a leper in a
synagogue (
Mark 1:40-42 (NRSV)
40 A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
He healed a paralytic in
Mark 2:1-5 (NRSV)
When he returned
to
11 “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” 12 And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
He healed one with a withered
hand in a synagogue (Mk 3:1-5).
Mark 3:1-5 (NRSV)
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 5 He … said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
He healed a woman suffering
from a hemorrhage for twelve years (Mark
Mark 5:25-29 (NRSV)
25
Now there was a woman who had been
suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26 She had endured much
under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better,
but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, and came up
behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for she said, “If
I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29 Immediately her
hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her
disease.
He healed one who was deaf
and had a speech impediment by bringing him away privately, putting his fingers
into his ears, spitting and touching his tongue, with the result that he could
hear and speak (Mk 7:32-35).
Mark 7:32-35 (NRSV)
32
They brought to him a deaf man who
had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33
He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers
into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking
up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35
And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he
spoke plainly.
He healed a blind man that
others brought to him by bringing him away from the crowds, spitting on his
eyes, laying hands on him, with the result that the man could now see people
who were blurry to him (Mark 8:22-24). This healing is unusual in that it at
least suggest that Jesus restored the sight of the man partially, rather than
fully.
Mark 8:22-24 (NRSV)
22 They came to
He healed a blind man named
Bartimaeus in
Mark 10:46-52 (NRSV)
46 They came to
He healed two persons in
John
5:2-9 (NRSV)
2 Now in
Now
that day was a sabbath.
John 9:1-3a, 6-7 (NRSV)
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2
His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his
parents sinned. 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and
made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7 saying
to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and
washed and came back able to see. 6 When he had said this, he spat
on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s
eyes, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means
Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.
Jesus told one person, "Get up, pick up your mat,
and walk" (Mk 2:9). He told his
followers: "Cure the sick ..." (Q 10:9).
Jesus brought at least one person back to life that
people thought had died. Jairus was the leader of a synagogue whose daughter
friends thought had died, but whom Jesus took by the hand and raised her up (Mk
Mark 5:22-23, 35-36, 38-42 (NRSV)
22
Then one of the leaders of the
synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23 and
begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and
lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”
35
While he was still speaking, some
people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble
the teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus
said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”
38
When they came to the house of the
leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.
39 When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a
commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they
laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and
mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He
took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl,
get up!” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about
(she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.
He may also have raised
Lazarus of Bethany (Jn 11:1, 3, 6, 17-18, 33-39, 43-44).
John 11
(NRSV) – selected verses
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of
3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he
whom you love is ill.”
6 after having heard that Lazarus was
ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb
four days. 18 Now
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping,
he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said,
“Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus
began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But
some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept
this man from dying?”
38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave,
and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the
stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there
is a stench because he has been dead four days.”
43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44
The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and
his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
I realize this seems
incredible. However, if you go to
We need to observe several matters here. One is that other
persons in
Jesus attracted large crowds. When he delivers
condemnation upon Chorizin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum for not responding to his
message, the reasonable assumption is that he directed his message and miracles
to the whole city and that he attracted fairly large audiences (Q 10:13-15).
Luke 10:13-15 (NRSV)
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you,
will you be exalted to heaven?
No, you will be brought down to Hades.
He had a major address to a
significant number of persons in
Later events become unintelligible if we do not assume
that for a brief period Jesus became a significant figure in the internal
debate of Judaism. In fact, we need to consider that debate for just a moment.
It appears that Pharisees, Sadduccees, Essenes, Zealots, and conversion
movements like that of John the Baptist, could all exist and religious and
political entities, while not writing each other off. They carried on vigorous
debate among each other. They did not seek the death of the other. We need to
be sure that we account for what it was about Jesus that led Jewish sects to
consider that the message of Jesus or his person was of such a nature that it
required his death.
Jesus debated with his contemporaries over the direction
Judaism should go. This was an internal
Jewish debate which Jesus and his followers would lose. In particular, the debate with scribes and
Pharisees was difficult because both sought to relate their message to the
people. It is not proper to speak of
Jesus on the one hand and Jews or Judaism on the other. Jesus was a Jew who offered a different way
of practicing Judaism than that of rabbinic Judaism, or the Judaism of the
synagogue. The act of disagreement,
dispute, criticism and even the lampooning of another person or group's point
of view and practice are not inevitably incipient genocide. Such behavior may simply be another form of
the social debate and interactive conflict making up all cultural construction. The social debate and interactive conflict is
the steady state of ongoing social tensions, constant bickering, interested
squabbling, sometimes heated exchange, and the perennial mix-up of envy and
desire forming part of every human group.
Criticism is an important part of the process whereby a given group
defines for themselves a social identity.
It is the means whereby different members of a particular human network
determine how they will relate to one another.
The texts of the Torah remained the focus of all Jewish
sects. Commitment to Torah was an attempt to be faithful to the covenant and
maintain holiness. It was a way of nurturing memory in order to call forth
hope. The sense of election as the people of God and the sense of covenant
remained strong throughout Judaism. According
to W. D. Davies, Palestinian Judaism had the common pattern of covenantal
nomism. This meant the belief that God has chosen
In
terms of the political context, the story of Judaism is one of brave refusal of
foreign domination and a severe internal struggle over the extent to which
Judaism would adopt Hellenistic themes. Since the major issue was syncretism,
the Jew knew he or she had to choose Torah. The sects within first century
Judaism were mutually antagonistic political parties as well as religious
sects.
Even
though Judaism in
Apocalyptic literature is the context for much of the
transformation of traditional symbols of Judaism. The Book of Daniel
inaugurated a long period of speculation about the end of the world.
Apocalyptic is a specifically religious response to the experience of
persecution from without and erosion from within. Apocalyptic answers the
question posed by the choice between king and Torah. To those suffering for
allegiance to Torah, it brought comfort. To those tempted toward apostasy, it
encourages firmness and faithfulness. The Torah taught that the Lord was the
master of human history. However, instead of blessing and curses of
Deuteronomy, we find the faithful experiencing persecution precisely because
they are faithful to the Torah. Apocalyptic revolves around three basic ideas:
historical dualism, universal and cosmic expectation, and the approaching end
of the world. They divided history into
periods because in this way one could re-assert the dominion of the Lord over
history, for now history had a direction and purpose. The writers of this
literature have profound awareness of the difference between what is in the
world and what in fact should be. They
also feel the tension between faithfulness to the law on the one hand, and the
apparent futility of such faithfulness on the other. The authors are motivated by a hope that
takes them beyond present reality. It is not the literature of the academic
world. Rather, it is under the pressure
of martyrdom, persecution, the temptation to abandon morality, and the desire
to find some meaning in the midst of suffering.
That is where the expectation for the transformation of the present age
into a new age has such a strong impact.
This literature inspired messianic resistance to foreign rule, most
particularly in 66-70, during which
Messianism was in the air,
especially the distinction between the earthly Davidic king on the one hand and
a heavenly Messiah or Son of Man who would initiate the reign of God on earth.
It accepted martyrdom, resurrection, and individual judgment. When faced with
persecution, people had the choice of obedience to the king or the Torah. This
transformation reminds us that the symbols of Torah found continually application
to new situations. In addition, the symbol of temple also transformed in
The apocalyptic and messianic movements had a profound on
the first century Judaism and Christianity.
After 70 AD, apocalyptic and messianism, along with the Zealots,
lessened in influence. They disappeared
after the Bar-Kokchba rebellion in 132-135 AD.
The Sadducees and Essenes no longer existed after 70 AD. This led to Judaism becoming largely what the
Pharisees said it should become; an expression of faithfulness to the law of
God as updated through the oral tradition of the rabbis. The Judaism of the synagogue became
victorious over other forms available in the first century AD.
One group of Jews became agents of Roman oppression. The
tax collectors were among this group. They preyed on the people for
Essenes formed communities among the people. The belief that the
On the
west side of the Dead Sea, but out of range of the exhalations of the coast, is
the solitary tribe of the Essenes, which is remarkable beyond all the other
tribes in the whole world, as it has no women and has renounced all sexual
desire, has no money, and has only palm-trees for company. Day by day the throng of refugees is
recruited to an equal number of numerous accessions of persons tired of life
and driven thither by the waves of fortune to adopt their manners. Thus through thousands of ages (incredible to
relate) a race into which no one is born lives on forever; so prolific for
their advantage is other men's weariness of life! Lying below the Essenes was
formerly the town of
Josephus also comments on the
views of three Jewish groups in terms of their doctrine of fate or
predeterminism:
As for
the Pharisees, they say that certain events are the work of Fate, but not all;
as to other events, it depends upon ourselves whether they shall take place or
not. The sect of the Essenes, however,
declares that Fate is mistress of all things, and that nothing befalls people
unless it be in accordance with her decree.
But the Sadducees do away with Fate, holding that there is no such thing
and that human actions are not achieved in accordance with her decree, but that
all things lie within our own power, so that we ourselves are responsible for
our well-being, while we suffer misfortune through our own thoughtlessness.
Josephus also tells us of the
Essene common ownership of property:
Riches
they despise, and their community of goods is truly admirable; you will not
find one among them distinguished by greater opulence than another. They have a law that new members on admission
to the sect shall confiscate their property to the order, with the result that
you will nowhere see either abject poverty or inordinate wealth; the
individual's possessions join the common stock and all, like brothers, enjoy a
single patrimony.
Their texts come from 152 BC
to 68 AD, going across the Hasmonean and Roman periods of history. Though there is much similarity with Jesus at
the point of shared wealth, Jesus did not identify with the Essenes in their
physical separation from their civilization, no matter how corrupt it was.
The Pharisees valued the oral tradition as a valid
application of God's will for today.
They rejected much of Greek culture.
Cooperation with the Greeks or Romans angered them. In fact, the intense study of the Law that
they undertook arose in reaction to the threat of Greek culture and especially
the Seleucids. The traditional written
sources for this group would be the Mishnah and the Talmud. During the time of Jesus, the Pharisees may
not have been a large presence in
·
Purity rules
concerning food and vessels containing food and liquids, as well as clean and
unclean hands.
·
Purity rules
concerning corpses.
·
Purity or
sanctity of the cult apparatus in the
·
Tithing, priests’
shares and dues.
·
Proper observance
of the Sabbath and holy days, especially in regard to work and travel.
·
Marriage and
divorce, including writing the bill of divorce and the grounds for divorce.
Most of the material related
to Pharisees refers to legal rulings or opinions, concerned with orthopraxis
more than orthodoxy. They certainly shared the monotheism of Jews. They also
believed in the general resurrection and immortality suggests a loose
connection with apocalyptic literature of the period. If we can draw anything
from the beliefs of the apostle Paul about Pharisees in the period, at least a
strand of their group had apocalyptic and messianic tendencies. Josephus says that they affirmed all things
happen because of fate while taking nothing away from human choice.
The Sadducees were from the wealthy class in
Among the Romans, we note that by 6 AD, when Jesus would
have been around 10 years old, the Roman prefect ruled
The Samaritans as a religion worshipped Yahweh at
A zealot in the time of Jesus was not a distinct group,
as later in 66-70 AD. Rather, any Jew who as intensely zealous for the practice
of Mosaic Law, who insisted that fellow Jews strictly observe the Law as a
means of separating Israel from Gentiles, and who might use harassment and
violence to advance these ends.
Rather than try to separate the sayings and deeds of
Jesus into how they relate directly to the previous groups, I will simply put
together the way Jesus directed his energies toward them. The main point is
that Jesus directed his message to all
Against his closest competitors among the people, scribes
and Pharisees, he treated rather lightly the Law, which they treated with great
seriousness. He pronounced
"Woe" as part of his on-going critique of their systems of holiness
and purity.
Luke 11:42-44 (NRSV)
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.”
Luke 11:46-48 (NRSV)
46 “Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with
burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them. 47
Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors
killed. 48 So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your
ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs.
He contrasted his own
teaching with what Moses taught (Mk 7:9-13, 10:5-9).
Mark 7:9-13 (NRSV)
9 Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Coban’ (that is, an offering to God)— 12 then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”
Mark 10:5-9 (NRSV)
5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
The "woe" was part of the teaching of wisdom,
such as in Amos 5: 1 8, 6: 1, Isa 5, 28-33, Hb 2. As curse and judgment in
apocalyptic, see Enoch 92ff, 94:6,7,8; 95:ff, 96:4-8.
{?Q10:13 Damn you, Chorazin! Damn you,
{?Q11:42 Woe to you, Pharisees! You pay tithes on
mint and rue and every herb, but neglect justice and the love of God. You should have attended to the last without
neglecting the first.}
{Q11:43 Woe to you, Pharisees! You're so fond of the
prominent seat in synagogues and respectful greetings in marketplaces.}
{?Q11:44 Woe to you!
You are like unmarked graves which people walk on without realizing it.}
{?Q11:46 Woe to you legal experts too! You load people down with crushing burdens,
but you yourselves don't lift a finger to help carry them.}
{?Q11:47 Woe to you!
You erect monuments to the prophets whom your ancestors murdered. 48 You are therefore witnesses to and approve
of the deeds of your ancestors: they killed the prophets and you erect
monuments to them.}
Mt23:24 You blind leaders! You strain out a gnat and
gulp down a camel.
The woes register a reading
of the local culture in which Jesus lived.
Read within the framework of the traditional interpretation of this
passage, these woes appear as oracular denunciations of a recalcitrant,
devious, and ostentatious self righteousness, still referred to sometimes as
Pharisaism. The imprecation "woe to
you" becomes in this case a proleptic verdict of damnation, although Jesus
uttered the sayings introduced by it as part of an erstwhile mission to
The constant tweaking of the contrast between appearance
and reality characterized the Cynics as well, who never ceased to bring their
rhetorical inventiveness and sardonic sense of humor to bear upon the gap. It may be that the sheer press of established
ways was such that, practically speaking, all Jesus could hope for was to
unsettle things a bit.
These verses observe the basic incongruity in the
ambition of the Pharisees to attain a state of perfect holiness via a thoroughgoing
system of personal purity. After all,
people cannot finally achieve true virtue in this fashion, given the enduring
imperfection of reality. This
imperfection includes both the instruments of purification and the agents who
use them. However, Jesus is less
mischievous and playful than are the Cynic statements.
Jesus calls the attempt by the Pharisees to elaborate
their faith's tradition to the utmost degree by dwelling on the smallest of
daily details as long on effort, but short on principle. The forest has been lost amidst the trees.
While the Pharisees enjoy a certain position of social
status, they do not use it in accordance with its function and possibilities,
but simply hold on to the privilege of having it. Implied is a certain self-consciousness to
the Pharisees' imperfect righteousness.
The Pharisees currently occupy a certain position of power, being able
to control access to a specific experience of knowledge, seen as desirable by
others. Beyond being an immature thing
to do, Jesus declares that the very idea of locking people out impossible if
the intent is to deny something truly important to those who need it. The Pharisees enjoy a certain power or
privilege without, however, doing anything constructive with it. If what the Pharisees lock up truly mattered,
they would finally not be able to deny anyone access to it. If, on the hand, they succeed in keeping
certain people out, then the experience is hardly worth the effort in the first
place.
Jesus brings a new vision, a new direction, for
Judaism. Jesus had a relaxed attitude
toward Law and Hebrew Scripture. He knew
he offered new wine. He knew the days of
the
Jesus treated the Law with indifference. He did not just exegete the law. The law had become a tool of human authority
exercised by Pharisees and priests over the peasants. It was no longer an expression of the will of
God. He likely did so because it blinded
his fellow Jews from acting rightly in the critically times in which they
lived. The problem was not that of
hypocrisy. It was the fact that they did
so well at something which no longer mattered.
Jesus knew that if people forever tied the one God to the historically
and culturally bound forms of law, land, and temple, the universally valid
content of Judaism would never go beyond
They tithe, but they pay no attention to justice (Q
Luke
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue
and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these
you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others.
They expect people to treat
them well at public gatherings (Q 11:43, Mk 12:38-39).
Luke
43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of
honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.
Matthew 12:38-39 (NRSV)
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
They memorialize the great
prophets of the past without heeding their warning (Q
Luke
44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.”
Luke
47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets
whom your ancestors killed.
Luke 11:39-41 (NRSV)
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you.
They do not help people who
must carry great burdens (Q
Luke
46 And he said, “Woe also to you lawyers! For you load
people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to
ease them.
The Sabbath law is not
absolute, but serves humanity (Mk
Mark
27 Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for
humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath;
Luke 14:5 (NRSV)
5 Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child or an
ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a
sabbath day?”
Laws for ritual purity are no
longer absolute, for moral cleansing is more significant (Mk
Mark
14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them,
“Listen to me, all of you, and understand:
Mark
18 He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand?
Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile,
While they offer fine
prayers, they take money from widows (Mk
Mark
40 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
They know what Judaism is
about, but they withhold that knowledge from others (Th. 39:1-2, Q
Luke
52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
Jesus told a story against
the Pharisee by saying that God did not accept his prayer while the prayer of
the hated toll collector was accepted (Lk
Luke 18:10-14 (NRSV)
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
When asked about the poll
tax, he invites people to give the emperor his coin, but give to God what
belongs to God (Mk 12:14-17).
Mark 12:14-17 (NRSV)
14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? 15 Should we pay them, or should we not?” But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.” 16 And they brought one. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him.
When asked by what authority
Jesus said and did all this, he avoids a direct answer by asking them a
question about John the Baptist (Mk
By the way, Cynics also chided the emphasis on externals,
which people could perform without a corresponding inner reality:
"Seeing
someone perform religious purification, Diogenes said, 'O unhappy one, don't
you know that you cannot get rid of errors of conduct through sprinkling any
more than you can mistakes in grammar?"'
"Diogenes
was also moved to an that persons should sacrifice to the gods to ensure health
and in
the midst of the sacrifice feast to the detriment of health."
"Once he saw the officials of a temple
leading away someone who had stolen a bowl
belonging
to the treasurers, and said, 'The big thieves are leading away the little
one."'
"Law
is a good thing, but it is not superior to philosophy. For the former compels a person not to do
wrong, but the latter teaches one not to do wrong. To the degree that doing something under
compulsion is worse than doing it willingly, to that degree law is worse than
philosophy. For this reason do
philosophy and do not take part in government.
For it is better to know the means by which persons are taught to do
right than to know the means by which they are compelled not to do wrong."
Preoccupation with the
minutiae of a religious system is faulted for its failure to advance what ought
to have been presumably the faith's ultimate aims and primary values.
In this critique, Jesus directly characterizes the
Pharisees through analysis of their behavior.
He applies a metaphorical description.
He contrasts the official posture of the Pharisees as legislators and
their human, all too human, inability or unwillingness to promote fulfillment
of the laws they make. This is
consistent with Cynics as well:
"And
Diogenes used to wonder that the grammarians would investigate the ills of Odysseus,
but be ignorant of their own. Or that
the musicians would tune the strings of the lyre, but leave the dispositions of
their souls discordant; that the mathematicians would gaze at the sun and the
moon, but overlook matters at their feet; that the orators would make a fuss
about justice in their speeches, but never practice it; or that the avaricious
would cry out against money, but love it excessively."
The point is plain. Such persons say one thing and do
another. Some people are always ready to
solve everyone else's problems but their own.
The use and abuse of authority may be an additional factor. The indiscriminate exercise of power always
ultimately works against itself. Instead
of demonstrating the extent of one's strength, the result is rather diminished
effectiveness and a reduced range of influence.
On the example of erecting monuments:
"As
Stilpon says, neglecting the living because of the dead is the mark of a person
who does not reason correctly."
He also debated Hebrew Scripture, though on a limited
basis. He pointed out that the scripture
honors parents, while Pharisees had laws that permitted people to avoid giving
such honor (Mk 7:9-18).
Mark 7:9-18 (NRSV)
9 Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Coban’ (that is, an offering to God)— 12 then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”
14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”
17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile,
He approved the commandments
(Mk
Mark
19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You
shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false
witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’ ”
He debated the issue of the
resurrection of the dead (Mk
Mark 12:24-27 (NRSV)
24 Jesus said to them, “Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.”
He teaches that at some point
in the reign of God, past generations will rise from the dead and that faithful
Israelites would share in a new type of life that leaves behind old
relationships established by marriage and sexuality. He debated the issue of divorce, contrasting
the relaxed views of Moses with his standard of applying an absolute
prohibition to divorce and remarriage based on the Holiness Code in Leviticus
(Q 16:18).
Luke
18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
He viewed the Pharisee as blind trying to lead the blind
(Q
Luke
39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide
a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?
Luke 6:41-42 (NRSV)
41 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend,let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
Luke
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;
Luke
44b
Figs are not gathered from thorns,
nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.
Luke
45 The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
They are like vultures who
gather over the carcass, which could be Jesus himself (Q
Luke
37 Then they asked him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
They pay attention to
minutiae while allowing for greater faults (Mt
Matthew
24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
"... when you give to
charity, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing ..."
(Mt 6:3). 'When you fast, comb your hair
and wash your face" (Mt
Jesus was fatalistic about this battle. He used the image of wine to describe his
situation. He brought young wine. The problem is that people prefer aged wine
(Lk
Luke
39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, ‘The old is good.’ ”
Mark
21 “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old
cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a
worse tear is made.
He even got tired enough of
the conflict that he said whoever is not against us is on our side (Mk
Mark
40 Whoever is not against us is for us.
He viewed himself as a
prophet, though as one not welcome in
Luke
24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted
in the prophet’s hometown.
The fact that many rejected
him led him to say, "Congratulations to those who don't take offense at
me" (Q
Above the battle, in spite of the fact that he appeared
to be losing, "I was watching Satan fall like lightning from heaven"
(Lk
Luke
49 “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
As part of his ethical instruction, Jesus adopted a
casual approach to economics, thereby refusing to become indebted to the
economic and political system of his day.
By not feeling the need to protect what they had, Jesus took every
material means of manipulating and imposing oneself on Jesus and his first
followers out of their enemies' hands.
Such injunctions as follows were smart moves under the circumstances. Such counsel is a subversive wisdom. Such a deviation from established patterns
in society is an attempt to upset the social order or disorder created by these
patterns of both thought and action.
The social situation in which Jesus found himself
suggested a relaxed attitude toward wealth.
The governing class, for example, was one percent of the population but
received 25% of the national income. The
retainer class averaged around 5% of the population and ranged from scribes and
bureaucrats to soldiers and generals.
Their function was to serve the political elite. The upper classes viewed the peasant classes
with suspicion, largely because the upper classes allowed them to have the
necessities of life, and that was all.
With necessities provided, this large class, comprising as much as 65%
of the population, would not rebel. The
society vested economic and political power in about 6% of the population. There was little hope of moving into that
elite. Normally one was born into
it. Thus, what Jesus said and did in
regard to wealth was a form of resistance to the dominant social institutions
of the day. Jesus and his followers are not indebted to this world, opening the
possibility of normally inconceivable options for dealing with evil and
injustice that the Jewish people faced.
This is subversive wisdom of the Cynic regarding money
and its proper management. Significant
deviation from the usual habits for handling such an issue is an effort to
upset the social order or disorder created by these patterns of both thought
and action. We should see everything in
these verses as part of the regular daily grind of a subjugated people's
struggle to survive. Personal violence
and theft are as normal a part of everyday existence as the more peaceable
exchange of goods and services. By
behaving in a different fashion from typical collegiality would they be able to
realize their distinctive virtue.
Crates:
"You will be able to open your purse easily and to give away freely what
you draw out with your hand: not as you do now, calculating, hesitant, trembling,
as those with shaky hands. But you will
regard a purse that is full as full and after you see that it is empty, you
will not complain."
"Give to everyone who begs from you..." (Q
6:30) is a rule that if followed would lead to impoverishment. Sparrows are cared for by God, people are
worth far more than they (Q12:6).
Luke 12:6 (NRSV)
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not
one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.
"Don't fret about
life." God provides for the birds.
God takes care of nature. So will
you be provided for (Q l2:22-28). Philippians (60-62 from a prison in
Luke 12:22-28 (NRSV)
22 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!
The burden of wealth ought
not to afflict the followers of Jesus at all.
"Sell your belongings, and donate to charity..." (Q
12:33). Wealth gets in the way of
serving God totally: "No servant can be a slave to two masters. No doubt that slave will either hate one and
love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You can't be enslaved to God and a bank
account" (Q
Luke 16:19-26 (NRSV)
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. 24 He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’
A rich person often thinks
only of themselves, and rarely of their eternal destiny (Th. 63:1-3, Lk
Luke 12:16-21 (NRSV)
16 “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Further, "How difficult
it is for those who have money to enter the
Jesus
has this relaxed this attitude toward wealth because his own vision of
happiness is not placed in the economic hierarchical system created by Roman
civic action. Rather, "Whoever
tries to hang on to life will forfeit it, but whoever forfeits life will
preserve it" (Q
We need to balance this attitude toward wealth with the
many images that Jesus used from the business world of his day. The merchant class, though it could gain
enough to wealth to gain a moderate degree of power, in general was only slightly
wealthier than the peasant was. This was
the one path for the peasant to get out of subsistence living. They confronted the upper classes because of
the market rather than politics or the military. For example, A wealthy person invites people
to his dinner party, but is turned down, so others are "forced" to
come in so that the house will be filled (Q 14:16-23). A wealthy man leaves three slaves in charge
of money, two of whom invest their money, and of whom buries it (Qm
25:14-27). A wealthy man gives the
younger son his inheritance long before he was required to (Lk
In II Corinthians (II Cor 10-13 in Spring or summer of 56
from Thessalonica) 10:1, Paul seems aware of the general character of Jesus,
namely, "the meekness and gentleness of Christ..." Philippians 2:7-8
is part of an early, possibly Aramaic hymn that has the phrase: "...
taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of humanity. And being found in human form he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross." This could well be
a vivid description from the church in
Jesus used the common wisdom of the time to invite others
to listen to what he had to say.
"Anyone here with two good ears had better listen" (Q
Jesus taught in the area of ethics, giving specific
advice concerning the critical nature of the times. The sharpened edge to this
ethic arises out of the sense Jesus had of the soon arrival of the rule of God.
Although I suggest that Jesus offered interpretation of portions of Torah, he
did not offer his followers a new code by which to live. He had respect for
many of the regulations of the day. He probably obeyed Jewish dietary laws. We
have no record of Jesus breaking most of the purity legislation, although he
did conflict with religious leaders at some points.
He accepted the shema.
"The first is, '
Galatians
14 For the whole law is summed up in a single
commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Romans 13:8-10 (NRSV)
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Nietzsche rather famously
objected to this love of neighbor as a form of weakness. It represents fleeing
from one’s own dignity and honor and losing oneself in the other. He rightly
contrasts Jesus and the value of bravery and courage in military battle of
which the Greeks wrote. At the same time, Nietzsche failed to see the form
courage took in Jesus and in those who followed him through the application of
the principle of love to persons regardless of social class or ethnic group.
Nor does it matter whether the neighbor is a good or righteous person. Jesus
simply calls upon followers to love the neighbor regardless of what they do. We
cannot understand this love apart from the important connection Jesus makes
between the love the Father has for all and that the follower can experience
that love. The parable of the prodigal son is the supreme example of this love,
as well as the parable of the large debt the owner forgives of one of his
servants. Jesus appears convinced that this Christian love arises out of the
abundance of love and forgiveness extended to us, rather than out of some
Platonic sense of lack. Such love remembers that the Father demonstrated love
for us while we owed a large debt, while we were in the far country, and while
we were sinners (Paul). Therefore, we owe this love to our neighbor. This love
does not seek the possession of the object loved, but the good of the object
loved, in this case being the neighbor. Further, the objection that Jesus does
not display love toward his opponents forgets that love can take a stern,
educative, and corrective turn. Thus, even though Jesus entered into vigorous
debate with religious leaders, suggesting that the promises God made to Israel
God now extends to humanity because he has come, is said to them out of care,
concern, and love for them. The whole entry into public ministry one could view
as an act of love by Jesus for his people. In fact, Pannenberg suggests the
possibility that the message of Jesus centers on how seriously Judaism will
take the shema. The rule of God requires
an ultimate decision on the part of the person.
Is there in the message of Jesus a provocative use of the shema? My
suggestion is that Jesus may well have viewed Torah in light of the two great
commandments, granting normative status to those laws that enabled one to
fulfill them. In practice, this meant that if Torah or oral tradition became an
obstacle to the love of God and neighbor, then Jesus willingly set them aside.
We might also note that Jesus valued the Ten
Commandments: “You know the commandments: `You must not murder, you are not to
commit adultery, you are not to steal, you are not to give false testimony, you
are not to defraud, and you are to honor your father and mother.'” (Mark
Jesus noted how the religious leaders of the day
developed ways of paying attention to matters of Torah that truly did not
matter to God. In Colossians (60-62 from a prison in
Mk7:9
How expert you've become at putting aside God's commandment to establish your
own tradition. 10 For instance, Moses
said, `Honor your father and your mother' and `Those who curse their father or
mother will surely die.' 11 But you say,
`If people say to their father or mother, Whatever I might have spent to
support you is korban ... 12 you no longer let those persons do anything for
their father or mother. 13 So you end up
invalidating God's word with your own tradition, which you then
perpetuate. And you do all kinds of
other things like that!
He gave practical counsel concerning charity, tithing,
prayer and fasting: "... trust that you will receive everything you pray
and ask for, and that's the way it will turn out" (Mk
Matthew
7:9-11
Who
among you would hand a son a stone when it's bread he's asking for? 10 Again, who would hand him a snake when
it's fish he's asking for? Of course no
one would! 11 So if you, shiftless as
you are, know how to give your children good gifts, isn't it much more likely
that your Father in the heavens will give good things to those who ask him?
Further, Jesus claimed a
unique relationship with his heavenly Father:
Luke
21 I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
The relationship that Jesus
had with his Father in heaven, Jesus extended to his followers as he taught
them to pray.
Luke 11:2-4 (NRSV)
2 “Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
Jesus disagreed with purity legislation of the day. Romans
Mk7:14
Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand! 15 It's not what goes into a person from the
outside that can defile; rather it's what comes out of the person that defiles.
Mk7:18
Are you as dim-witted as the rest? Don't
you realize that nothing from outside can defile by going into a person, 19
because it doesn't get to the heart but passes into the stomach, and comes out
in the out-house?
Th 89: 1
Why do you wash the outside of the cup?
2 Don't you understand that the one who made the inside is also the one
who made the outside? Q11:39-41
Jesus disagreed with common interpretations of the Torah
concerning Sabbath. In this case, he lowered the standard for Sabbath
observance. Everyone recognized the allowance for saving life on the Sabbath,
but not everyone allowance for doing good on the Sabbath when one could wait
until the next day to do it.
Mk2:27,
The Sabbath day was created for humanity, not humanity for the Sabbath
day. 28 So, the son of Man lords it even
over the Sabbath day.
Lk14:5
Suppose your son or your ox falls down a well, would any of you hesitate for a
second to pull him out on the Sabbath day?
Jesus also gave some interpretation of the Torah. I grant
that several of the passages to which I refer many New Testament scholars would
not consider as authentic statements from Jesus. As I have reviewed the matter,
I would offer this reflection. We know that Jesus was primarily a teacher
within the Judaism of 28-30 AD. On what basis can we suggest that Jesus would
not offer theologically challenging of Torah?
Jesus interpreted the fifth commandment concerning murder
in a way that applies to one’s emotional and thought life.
Matthew 5:21-22 (NRSV)
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.
This interpretation is
consistent with other teachings of Jesus concerning what to do with anger and
reconciling with each other. Romans 14:4, 'Who are you to pass judgment on the
servant of another?" reflects knowledge of the Q statement in Lk
6:37.
Matthew 5:23-24 (NRSV)
23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if
you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave
your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or
sister, and then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 5:25-26 (NRSV)
25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Luke 6:41-42 (NRSV)
41 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
Luke
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven …
In one parable, he counseled
them to settle disputes now (Q
Luke
12:58-59 (NRSV)
58 Thus, when you go with your accuser before a
magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case, or you may be dragged
before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer
throw you in prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out until you
have paid the very last penny.”
Jesus practiced this
forgiveness in his life in one memorable incident.
John
53 Then each of them went home, 1 while Jesus
went to the
He had disregard for the sinful past of others. Such forgiveness is a participation in the
alternative reality established by Jesus' overcoming what separates us from
God. We have already seen that as Jesus
turned toward tax collectors and sinners in table fellowship is an inclusion of
such persons in the saving love of God.
Resentment and violence was spiraling out of sight. The owner of some farmland sent his own son
to collect the wealth owed him, and people killed his son. Injustice and violence were getting out of
hand (Th. 65, Mk 12:1-8).
Mark
12:1-8 (NRSV)
“A man
planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and
built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 2
When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them
his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, and
beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again he sent
another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. 5 Then
he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some
they beat, and others they killed. 6 He had still one other, a
beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7
But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us
kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized him,
killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
A wealthy Samaritan helped a
Jew who was beaten and robbed (Lk
Luke 10:30-35 (NRSV)
30 “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and
fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away,
leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that
road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So
likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the
other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and
when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and
bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his
own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next
day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care
of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’
Jesus offered an interpretation of the of the sixth
commandment that suggests that one has already been unfaithful to one’s spouse
if one has seriously considered another person as a sexual partner.
Matthew 5:27-28 (NRSV)
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Jesus disagreed with current
legislation concerning marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
Mk10:5
He (Moses) gave you this injunction because you are obstinate. 6 However, in the beginning, at the creation,
`God made them male and female.' 7 For
this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his
wife, 8 and the two will become one person,' so they are no longer two
individuals but `one person.' 9 Therefore
those God has coupled together, no one else should separate.
In I Corinthians (Fall of 54
from Ephesus) 7:10-11, Paul makes it clear that it is "the Lord" who
said that the wife should not separate from her husband, which reflects
knowledge of a saying on divorce which is in both Q and Mk.
1 Corinthians 7:10-11 (NRSV)
10 To the married I give this command—not I but the Lord—that the wife should not separate from her husband 11 (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.
Jesus considered the matter of truthfulness by his
followers seriously. Given the propensity toward needing oaths to make sure one
tells the truth, he wants followers to have the integrity of their word.
Matthew 5:33-37 (NRSV)
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to
those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows
you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not swear at
all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the
earth, for it is his footstool, or by
Jesus taught an ethic for his followers designed to deal
with a hostile environment. It was a
critique of the major forces in his country, which he believed were leading the
nation to destruction. It is important
to hear this ethic, not in light of our social setting, but in the light of
Jesus and his first followers.
Jesus knew that military resistance was not likely to
work. Jesus saw the spiral of
violence. He saw where it would
lead. Some form of liberation from the
menace of unresolved hostility and sporadic military repression, with personal
enmity and the permanent threat of abuse, was the objective of such
injunctions. We must assume the
pervasive and seriously destabilizing nature of all colonial rule as such. Scholars have assumed that “organized”
political projects of resistance and revolt did not become fully articulated in
There are parallels in Cynic literature. Diogenes: "When asked by someone how to repulse an enemy, he replied, 'You be kind and good to him."' Striking someone was a form of insult among Jews and Romans. In these verses, a certain proactive strategy of passive resistance is apparent. Not always successful, the same behavior may nonetheless frequently produce a holding pattern, delayed attack, bewilderment, and retreat, if not defeat on the part of the predator.
Epictetus:
"Does anything seem strange to him?
Does he not expect worse and harsher treatment from the wicked than
actually befalls him? Does he not count
it as gain whenever they fail to go to the limit? 'So-and-so reviled you.' I am greatly obliged
to him for not striking me. 'But he also
struck you.' I am greatly obliged to him for not wounding me. 'But he also wounded you.' I am greatly
obliged to him for not killing me." "Now the Cynic must have such
patient endurance that most people will think that he is insensate and a
stone. Nobody reviles him; nobody beats
him; nobody insults him. But his body he
himself has given for anyone who wants to use it as they see f it."
Jesus had no basis for political, economic, or military power. His counsel recognized that it was important to keep opponents off guard.
He encouraged the people to comply with the Romans:
Mk
He encouraged his followers to love enemies (Q
Matthew
39 But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer.
Matthew
41 and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the
second mile.
Matthew
18:23-34 (NRSV)
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared
to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he
began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25
and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with
his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So
the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I
will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of
that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same
slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a
hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29
Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with
me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw
him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow
slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and
reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord
summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt
because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on
your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord
handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.
Jesus also encouraged people to apply love and
forgiveness in personal relationships.
Q6:32 If
you love those who love you, what merit is there in that? After all, even sinners love those who love
them.
Q6:37
Don't pass judgment, and you won't be judged; don't condemn, and you won't be
condemned ...
Q6:37b
... forgive, and you'll be forgiven.
Q6:41
Why do you notice the sliver in your friend's eye, but overlook the timber in
your own? 42 How can you say to your
friend, `Friend, let me get the sliver in your eye,' when you do not notice the
timber in your own? You phony, first
take the timber out of your own eye, and then you'll see well enough to remove
the sliver in your friend's eye.
The matter of non-resistance on which Jesus insisted has
a specific social and cultural context that we need to consider before we can
discern the norm for Christian behavior it suggests. Ambrose and Augustine
suggested this meant that no Christian could defend oneself from violence, for
this would harm genuine love toward the neighbor. However, one could act to
defend one’s neighbor. A further problem arises when abstracting the
non-resistance taught Jesus to another cultural setting, the matter of pacifism
arises as a national policy. When we recognize the teaching of Jesus as a
strategy for dealing with the specific circumstance of the occupation of
Jesus reminded people regularly: “The last will be first
and the first last” (Q20:16). This view is consistent with the beatitudes:
Q
Q 6:21a
Congratulations, you hungry! You will
have a feast.
Q 6:21b
Congratulations, you who weep now! You
will laugh.
"Treat people the way you want them to treat
you" (Q6:31). "For the
standard you apply will be the standard applied to you" (Q 6:38b). "Those who promote themselves will be
demoted, and those who demote themselves will be promoted" (Q
To conclude the matter of ethical life, Jesus considered
that behavior arises out of the kind of person or character one had. Jesus
reminded people that the fruit of their lives revealed what was within them.
Q6:43
For a choice tree does not produce rotten fruit, any more than a rotten tree
produces choice fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its fruit. ... 45 The good
person produces good from the fund of good in the heart, and the evil person
produces evil from the evil within.
After all, out of the surplus of the heart the mouth speaks.
Q6:44b
Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from brambles.
It was an ethically demanding time: "Struggle to get
in through the narrow door; I'm telling you, many will try to get in, but won't
be able" (Q
"Your
eye is the body's lamp. When your eye is
clear, your whole body is flooded with light.
When your eye is clouded, your body is shrouded in darkness. Take care, then, that the light within you is
not darkness. If then your whole body is
flooded with light, and no corner of it is darkness, it will be completely
illuminated as when a lamp's rays engulf you" (Q
"And
if your hand gets you into trouble, cut it off!
It is better for you to enter life maimed than to wind up in Gehenna, in
the unquenchable fire, with both hands!
And if your foot gets you into trouble, cut it off! it is better for you
to enter life lame than to be thrown into Gehenna with both feet! And if your eye gets you into I trouble, rip
it out! It is better for you to enter
the
In relation to the
Mark
17 He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written,
‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?
But you have made it a den of robbers.”
He invited the people to look
at the beautiful buildings, but every stone will be knocked down (Mk 13:2).
Mark 13:2 (NRSV)
2 Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
Jesus even overturned tables
in the
Mark 11:15-16 (NRSV)
15 Then they came to
Such acts expressed an
intolerable arrogance on the part of Jesus, who threatened leaders in
Jesus was not a political or military leader. There is no evidence in the gospel materials
or in the early history of the church in
Therefore, Jesus fits in quite well with the separation
of politics from religion which existed in
Why did the authorities crucify Jesus? Pharisees, Sadducees, Priests, Essenes, all
existed along side the Romans. It was
often the millennial prophet, the bandit, and the messiah, whom the Romans
killed. One unifying characteristic of
these groups deserves mention. All had
support among peasants and unclean classes.
All existed outside the stable institutional structures with which the
Romans could negotiate. For the Romans,
the peasants were a large class of workers that they needed to keep occupied in
order to gain wealth, but keep poor so as not to create another class of people
in direct competition with them. Anyone
who gained popularity among them was automatically a threat to them.
I Thessalonians (Winter of 50-51, from Corinth) 2:13 16,
Paul shows an elementary knowledge of the death of Jesus, telling them the
church in Thessalonica suffered in the same way as Jesus, who suffered at the
hands of his own fellow citizens, as they did, and killed him, as well as
driving out other Christians from Jerusalem and Israel. He also classifies their treatment of Jesus
as consistent with their treatment of the prophets, which reflects the same
reasoning as in Q (Mt 23.29-37).
What can we be reasonably certain happened? Only two years before, Pilate backed down to
a group of peasants who were willing to die before they gave in to Pilate. He came to know their moral power. Now, Jesus comes to
Mk14:1
And the ranking priests and the scribes were looking for some way to arrest him
by trickery ...
Mk14:10
And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went off to the ranking priests to turn
him over to them. 11 When they heard,
they were delighted, and promised to pay him in silver. And he started looking for some way to turn
him in at the right moment.
Mk14:12
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they would sacrifice the Passover
lamb ... 16 and they got things ready for Passover.
Mk14:17
When evening comes, he arrives with the twelve.
18 And ... they reclined at table and were eating ...
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NRSV) 23 the Lord
Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24 and
when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for
you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way he took the
cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do
this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Mk14:26
And they sang a hymn and left for the
Mk14:32
And they go to a place the name of which was Gethsemane ... 35 And he would
move on a little, fall on the ground, and pray that he might avoid the crisis,
if possible.
Mk14:43
... Judas, one of the twelve, shows up, and with him a crowd, dispatched by the
ranking priests and the scribes and the elders, wielding swords and clubs. ...
45 And right away he arrives, comes up to him, and says, `Rabbi,' and kissed
him. 46 And they seized him and held him
fast. 47 One of those standing around
drew his sword and struck the high priest's slave and cut off his ear. ... 50
And they all deserted him and ran away.
51 And a young man was following him, wearing a shroud over his nude
body, and they grab him. 52 But he
dropped the shroud and ran away naked.
Mk14:53
And they brought Jesus before the high priest, and all the ranking priests and
elders and scholars assemble. 54 Peter
followed him at a distance until he was inside the courtyard of the high
priest, and was sitting with the attendants and keeping warm by the fire. 55 The ranking priests and the whole Council
were looking for evidence against Jesus ... 65 And some began to spit on him,
and to put a blindfold on him, and punch him ... And the guards abused him as
they took him into custody.
Mk14:66
And while Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest's slave
women comes over, 67 and sees Peter warming himself; she looks at him closely,
then speaks up: `You too were with that Nazarene, Jesus!' ... 70 But ... he
denied it.
Mk15:1
And right away, at daybreak, the ranking priests, after consulting with the
elders and scholars and the whole Council, bound Jesus and led him away and
turned him over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate
questioned him ...
Mk15:7
And one called Barabbas was being held with the insurgents who had committed
murder during the uprising. 15 ...
Pilate ... set Barabbas free ... (and) had Jesus flogged, and then turned him
over to be crucified.
Mk15:16
And the soldiers led him away to the courtyard of the governor's residence, and
they called the whole company together.
17 and they dressed him in purple and crowned him with a garland woven
of thorns. 18 And they began to salute
him: `Greetings, King of the Judeans! 19
And they kept striking him on the head with a staff, and spitting on him; and
they would get down on their knees and bow down to him. 20 And when they had made fun of him, they
stripped off the purple and put his own clothes back on him. And they lead him out to crucify him.
Mk15:21
(It was Friday, April 7, 30 AD) And they
conscript someone named Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country,
the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they bring him to the place
Mk15:43
Joseph of Arimathea, a respected council member ... appeared on the scene. ...
46 And he bought a shroud and took him down and wrapped him in the shroud, and
placed him in a tomb that had been hewn out of rock ...
Judas, one of the Twelve, talks with officers of the high
priest to betray him. Such betrayal is
often the way those in power bring down those popular among the people. There is a meal with his disciples on
The crucifixion of Jesus was a reaction to his public
ministry. Jesus did not will his own
death. It is clear that in spite of the
danger he went to
Jesus had an experience of God in which he sensed the
call of God to announce a new way of being the true Israel of God. He had fresh
construal of the law and the prophets, the controversial way by which the God
of Israel would make
Did anyone give Jesus an honorable burial? The tradition says that Joseph of Arimetha
was a member of the council who wrapped him in the shroud and placed him in a
tomb. Many scholars today suggest that
his burial was such a scandal that early Christians cleaned it up and made it
seem better. The problem with this is
that early Christian preaching seems to face rather directly the scandal of the
cross. Mark betrays no interest in
cleaning up the story. Further, Paul's
statement in I Cor 15 about the early tradition in
Was the tomb of Jesus empty? If we assume that the tradition of a personal
and proper burial of Jesus is accurate, then at one time people knew the burial
place of Jesus. The reference of Paul in
I Cor 15 points to how early this tradition was. Pannenberg points to the fact that there was
no early Jewish polemic that suggested otherwise. However, there is no indication that Jewish
authorities debated this closely with Christians. After all, one who was crucified was cursed,
not a Messiah. I suspect Christians were
simply not significant enough people with whom to bother. Female witnesses originated the traditions
concerning the empty tomb in
Was Jesus a dangerous man? Pilate could only answer in the
affirmative. Anyone who gained
popularity among peasants was potentially dangerous. However, we must repeat that Jesus was not
forming a political movement among the peasants to resist
I must at least consider the possibility that Jesus
viewed suffering and death as in his future, that it was part of the plan of
God, and that his suffering of the messianic woes prophesied by the prophets
would become his own. It may be that God's plan in this movement was to create
a new Judaism, rooted in open communal life together and reliance upon God
rather than institutions, Law and negotiation with and accommodation to
Jesus believed in the rule of God and the present, if
provisional, experience of that rule.
Was the vision of Jesus, evidenced in his ethos, ethics, ideology, and
critique, simply a grand illusion? No
theological reflection would have taken place had there not been a
transformation of these saddened, fearful, guilt-ridden disciples. They had experienced their own weakness in
abandoning an innocent man to the authorities.
They deserted their friend in his time of need. They saw him taken away for the last time,
resigned to his fate. It was then they
knew. They doubted him many times. They saw him challenge conventional Jewish
beliefs. They witnessed exorcism and
healings. Now, the authorities arrested
him. He accepted his fate with grace and
dignity and a commitment to his God. The
cross became his last prophetic act of obedience to God and defiance to the
religious and political authorities, the upper classes, of his day. They knew that the one whom the religious and
political authorities thought was a criminal was in reality a messenger from
God. What happened to them?
I Cor. 15:5 - Jesus appeared to
Cephas.
I Cor
15:5, 7 - Jesus appeared ... later to the Twelve ... then to all the apostles.
I Cor.
15:7 - Jesus appeared to James
I Cor. 15:6 - Jesus appeared to more than five hundred
of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still with us,
though some have fallen asleep. Acts
2:4? - They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues
as the Spirit gave them power to express themselves.
I Cor.
15:8 - Jesus appeared to me (Paul) too.
Gal.
[?Lk24:18
Cleopas (Clopas?, a cousin of Jesus, whose son Symeon later became a follower
of James, saw the risen Lord].
Who needed the resurrection? Who needed Easter? Was it Jesus who needed to be reaffirmed that
his message and conduct and the acceptance of his fate were rooted in God? Or was it the disciples who needed to see
that the controversial man who was crucified was indeed a man who lived and
died faithfully with his God? To ask the
question is to answer it. The disciples
needed Easter. What happened to them?
Jesus lived his own life in obedience to the will of
God. That is all he needed to know. Had the significance of his life ended with
that reality, his life would have been well lived. Had his life ended in obscurity, as most of
us do, had he been nothing more than a reference to another Jewish martyr in
Josephus, he would have fulfilled the purposes of God.
However, we cannot separate the Jesus of history from
what happened after his death. We cannot
separate who Jesus was in his conduct, message and fate, from the fact that
people came to believe he had risen from the dead. It is to this transformation of the lives of
those closest to him that we now turn.
The language of resurrection is metaphor, suggesting an
awakening from sleep. This leads easily
to a conception of new life, and thus not just a resuscitation of the old
life. Second, one cannot legitimately
separate the person and cause of Jesus from the resurrection. Third, the
resurrection is not a return to life in time and space as we experience it.
Fourth, Jewish apocalyptic was the intellectual system used to interpret what
happened to Jesus after his death. Jesus was not a ghost or one who came back
to the reality of his earthly life. The
fact that such an event, which was supposed to be reserved for the end of time,
happened now to the crucified one meant that God had confirmed his ministry,
and that this confirmed the apocalyptic vision.
Apocalyptic led to a much more broad concern for the human race, thus
breaking the wall between Jew and gentile.
Such intellectual framework depends upon the appearances first and
secondarily on the empty tomb.
Historicity, contrary to Pannenberg, means that it must be like other
known events.
The earliest written account of the appearances of Jesus
is in I Cor 15. The intent is to give
proof by means of witnesses for the factual nature of the resurrection of
Jesus. The assumption of the historical
validity of appearances rests on good historical foundation. Based on Paul in Gal 1, the vision was of a
spiritual body that took place from "heaven," or eternity, with a
vision of light and the hearing of words.
Jesus was clearly recognized. It
is possible that extrasensory perception and prophetic intuition is involved,
which re-opens the possibility of an 'objective' reality.
Is it an historical possibility that the apocalyptic
resurrection of the dead contains some truth?
If so, it is possible that an unexpected resurrection occurred in
Jesus. Christianity must answer in the
affirmative. The life-giving Spirit of
God connected with Jesus in his death and gave him new life. Christianity
simply needs to accept that the resurrection of Jesus will always be a
debatable idea because it goes against normal human experience. The fact that the dead do not come back to
life is no problem for him, since there is always the possibility that God has
chosen to introduce the planned end-time resurrection of the dead into the end
of the life of Jesus. If there is no
truth contained in Jewish apocalyptic expectations, the message of the
resurrection of Jesus, and the Christian message in general, is discredited.
All of this raises questions concerning the historicity
of the resurrection of Jesus. The church
faces a dilemma at this point.
Historical research centers on humanity and on analogy of experience. When faced with perplexing historical
dilemmas, we typically develop theories based upon our human experience. This being the case, a one-time experience to
one man, Jesus of Nazareth, brought about God, is beyond the reach of such
research. With the assumptions of normal
historical research, the conclusion can only be that the resurrection of Jesus
did not happen in the way the church came to believe.
Another approach would be to construct a different view
of history that allowed for the one time event and openness to the work of
God. However, of itself this does not
lead to the possibility of resurrection based on historical study. We would still demonstrate it. If one believes that we can prove the
resurrection historically, that God raised Jesus from the dead, one has in
effect an historical proof for the existence of God. This puts faith at the service of history,
which can never have the level of certainty required to inspire confidence.
Another approach would be to respond by theology
developing its own theological approach to history. However, could we place such a construction
into meaningful interaction with other studies?
Probably not. In this approach,
we can use no psychological, sociological, or historical tools to understand
it. This would remove the event from the
realm of normal and rational discussion, and put the knowledge gained through
it inaccessible. It asks people to
believe what they cannot observe as happening in common human experience.
The historian must deal with the emergence of the early
church and its message. For the
apostles, it is clear that the belief in the risen Lord led them to formulate
their preaching along new lines and to form Christian communities and undertake
a mission to the world.
The passage of time between Jesus on the one hand, and
the expectations of the soon arrival of the end of the world on the other,
presents a further reason to question the continuing relevance of the
apocalyptic context for the conduct and message of Jesus. The vision of the end that apocalyptic took
so seriously we can no longer accept as valid.
It is difficult today to believe resurrection could
happen, though admittedly no more difficult than in the time of Jesus.
The narrations of the appearances of Jesus in the gospel
story become vehicles for the perspective of each writer. In Mark, though there are not appearances in
the strict sense of the term, the nature miracles of Jesus seem nothing less
than the heavenly Jesus appearing. The
baptism (
The tradition noted by Paul in I Cor 15 comes from within
the first three years of the mission in
We now come to the crucial question. What happened in the months after the death
of Jesus? What analogies with human
experience can we draw upon to understand what then?
It is best to assume that after the
death of Jesus, Peter went to
A similar prophetic experience would
be that of Isaiah, who "saw" the Lord while in the
The problem is that there is not
enough historical information from an early enough period to know the nature of
the debate. It is reasonably certain
that debate focused on the cross. Their
Jewish brothers and sisters could not believe the Messiah could be
crucified. While one can imagine debate,
it is interesting that there is little about a denial of the empty tomb or the
appearances. It is likely that Jewish
authorities did not consider Christians significant enough to be taken
seriously.
We know that such visions can be the basis of personal
and mass transformation. In the Roman
Catholic Church, there has been a long tradition of visions. Most recently, the Virgin Mary has revealed
herself and given a message to the faithful.
Statues of Jesus are seen weeping or bleeding. In my own experience, one person told me of
kneeling at the altar of a church during communion, looking up at the cross,
and seeing Jesus as if he really were there.
This was from a man whom would be among the least likely to hear such a
story. Such visions are viewed as being
revelations from God. Did they really
happen? Yes ... for the person who saw
it. If there was a camera there, could
it record it? No. Further, people report
having visions in near death experiences.
They speak of floating above their own bodies and of seeing other beings
as they approach the light. People speak
of "feeling" or "seeing" or "hearing" a loved one
who died. Groups of people have seen
some of the visions. The result is that
human beings have a psychic capacity to "see" things that are not
objectively there. Undoubtedly, some
form of psychic energy, the unconscious or subconscious, has burst into the
conscious life of individuals and groups.
It was the vision of the risen Lord
that became the foundation for the early church. They, however we might explain it today,
viewed this vision, as a gift of grace from God. The person of Jesus became of ultimate
significance to them. Jesus became a
source of offense in his life. He offended the religious leaders of his day.
His disciples failed to understand him. Now that they saw him, they concluded
that the traditional titles that
We can show the fact that such
visions can form the basis of mass movements from examples in our own
time. The pilgrimage to holy places
where visions occurred is enough evidence.
The disciples, who experienced either private or collective visions of
the risen Lord, were convinced they experienced a revelation from God. That was all they needed to put their lives
at risk.
The same Jesus who told them to love
their enemies and to forgive repeatedly, and to call God, "Father,"
was the same Jesus, who in their vision, accepted them, loved them, and
continued in fellowship with them. The
same Jesus who extended friendship to tax collectors and sinners, prostitutes
and gentiles, was the same Jesus who forgave Peter and the rest of the
disciples for their failure to understand, for their lack of faith, and
especially for deserting him at the end.
Such overwhelming grace, such good news, had to be shared. It came from he whom they believed was now
living, and with God. This Jesus, who
formed them and kept them together, was the same one who would keep them
together after he died. They realized it
was more than just what he said and did that was important. Rather, Jesus himself was important in
binding them together. This band of
believers defined themselves by their relationship to Jesus. He became of ultimate significance to
them. It was not long until the
disciples would proclaim Jesus as having universal significance for the world.
The point is not that there is an objective, verifiable
experience, but that the persons received prophetic vision and intuition that
changed their view of Jesus and therefore changed their lives. Something else did need to happen for the
message of Jesus to fulfill itself. This
occurred when the disciples, full of lack of understanding, who deserted him
and denied him, were extended the gift of continuing friendship with
Jesus. The one with whom they had
fellowship, continued to have fellowship even after his death. The one who spoke of unconditional love and
forgiveness offered that gift to the band of followers. It was this vision of the grace of God
through Jesus that brought about transformed people who could now begin a
church. Again, what Josephus said was
right: "those who had loved him previously did not cease to do so."
That was the miracle of faith. That was
the transforming vision that changed their lives, and indeed changed the world.
I
would now like to shift our attention to the next great strand of Christian
teaching in the New Testament; namely, that of Paul. Pauline Christianity is a reasonably coherent
and identifiable segment of early Christianity. It represents the earliest of
all extant Christian writings. Each responds to some specific issue in the life
of one of he local churches or in the missionary strategy of the leaders. Yet,
later Christians have found his reflections on particular situations and
churches as bearing significance for churches in differing cultures and at
different junctures in history. His letters also frequently quote traditional
material that provides glimpses of rituals, rules, admonitions, and formulated
beliefs common to the Pauline communities. Further, although Christianity arose
in the villages of
First,
I would like to consider Paul and his churches in light of some recent
sociological studies.
Paul
was a man of the city. Even his agricultural metaphors have evoke the knowledge
of the class room rather than personal experience. He was an artisan,
distinguishing him from the farmer and from the wealthy. The security and
stability of the city led to the hope that most people could attain justice in
the courts. Non-citizen residents of the city established identity through
participation in cults and voluntary associations that also had religious
dimensions to them. The Jews formed a distinctive community, governed by its own
laws and institution and contended for full citizens. Roman policy was toward
favoring the aristocracy. One might think lower classes would hate
One
question is the connection of Pauline Christianity with Judaism.
I
now want to consider the social level of Pauline Christianity. Gerd Theissen
finds people who have a relatively high economic and social level. Class
structure in the empire was clear and legally based. One could have a different
social rank based upon the nature of the sub-group: power, income, occupational
prestige, education, religious purity, family and ethnic-group, and local
community status. Paul names 65 persons in his letters. He refers to the
household of Caesar, part of the upwardly mobile group. He refers to members
having lawsuits against each other, suggesting some material means. We find
little evidence of the highest order of social class in the Pauline churches,
but we also find little evidence of the lowest classes as well. Some of those
in higher status can also have social dissonance with Roman culture.
The
formation of ekklesia provided the
possibility for a sense of belonging. This is why Paul showed concern for the
inner life of the community. They were small groups. However, when one became
part of these households and voluntary associations, they were also aware of
being part of a much larger movement as well. The household was an already
established social institution into which Paul inserted Christian teaching and
values. Spreading Christianity through households is quite different from the
direct appeal to individuals that modern American Christians accept. The
pattern that many of these early groups accepted was that of voluntary
associations. They established membership through free choice rather than
birth. It reflected local democracy for leadership. The decision to join and
experience baptism represented the exclusive claim that Christianity brought to
the system. The synagogue became a natural model for their gatherings. The role
of women was much larger in Pauline communities than in the synagogue, and in
this, he followed the pattern of the voluntary association in society. The
teaching activity of Paul and his churches resembled to some degree the
philosophical school of the time. Such schools offered a way of life and
focused upon moral instruction and virtue, and in this, Paul would agree. Paul
also expressed the boundary of the church in several ways. One was through his
language of belonging, in which he distinguished between the family of God and
those outside as under the influence of evil. However, he rejected the
distinction between Jew and non-Jew. Further, the affirmation that their
beliefs resulted from revelation provided a strong sense of cohesion. Paul also
developed language of separation from the outside world, assuming hostility
from the world and that suffering would result. The sense of purity, reflected
in discussions about meat offered to idols and rules for sexual behavior, also
demonstrated difference from those outside. Yet, Paul is also quite clear that
relationships with those outside should reflect decency and basic virtue with
neighbors and co-workers. Paul also worked hard to cultivate a sense that each
individual group was part of a world-wide movement united by Christ. His
letters reminded them of that connection.
Paul
also developed some organizational positions for the sake of governance of the
community. The example of the Jerusalem Council is instructive in that Paul
accepted the leadership of the
Ritual
is a form of communication or speech. It communicates believes and values of a
society or a group. It is symbolic action, representing what the society holds
to be of primary importance. Ritual is also performative speech. One ritual of
the Pauline community consisted in its coming together on a regular basis. In
their coming together, they sang psalms, hymns, and spiritual odes, one example
of which is the hymn in Philippians 2:6-11. They read and preached from their
bible, the Old Testament. We might note moral exhortation was part of the
gathering. Doxology was also part of the gathering. We might also assume that
these communities developed rituals for the burial of their dead and marriage.
Baptism was for initiation into the community. Some instruction or catechism
may have been part of the preparation for baptism. Baptism is a cleansing bath.
Baptism is also with the Holy Spirit, and thus a sacrament of fulfillment of
the promise of the future as well as preparation for that future toward which
God moves the world. Baptism binds one to the community of the church and to
the body of Christ. It connects the person to Christ in death and resurrection
and embeds one in the body of Christ. It receives its significance from witness
to the gospel in preaching and in the response of people to that witness in
faith. The references to baptism of households suggests that personal faith is
not as much required as faith of those responsible for you, and that those
responsible for you have the responsibility of nourishing faith in those for
whom faith is not yet personal. The Supper of the Lord was a ritual of
solidarity. Everyone received the bread and cup in the same way, reinforcing
the sense of solidarity with each other and moving against the rigid class
structure in the rest of life in Roman culture. For these brief moments,
solidarity across gender, ethnic, and class lines suggested a power to remove
those distinctions. This supper is a sacrificial meal, given the context in
which Jesus shared his last meal with the disciples. The meal becomes a
communion in the death and resurrection of Christ. The meal is spiritual food
and drink, communion in the nourishment given now by the Spirit. The supper is
a remembrance of the action of God in Christ to bring humanity in the future to
its wholeness and fullness.
I now want to discuss some of the theological themes upon
which Paul expounds.
To view Paul's
becoming a Christian from a purely logical standpoint is to miss what seems to
have truly happened. Paul began, as do
all of us, with the personal experience of Jesus. For him, this
meant Jesus was the savior, the Lord, the Messiah. He reflected upon the cross and resurrection as to what that might mean for
humanity. In a word, Paul began with
what God did in Jesus, not with what humanity needed. The further implication is that the
resurrection implies Christ's lordship, his return, the judgment and the
salvation of those who believe. The focus of the message is what God did in
Jesus; the intent is to elicit the response of faith in the hearer. This faith is the response of the whole
person to the salvation offered in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the main theme of Paul is the
gospel as the saving movement of God toward humanity in Jesus Christ, as well
as how his hearers can participate in that movement.
It
is from this experience of Jesus that Paul knew, almost instinctively, the
plight of humanity. We know that Paul
thought of himself as blameless as far as it concerned Torah. Unlike Luther, he
did not have a conscience plagued by guilt. The problem of humanity is not past
sin, nor the law, but of not being under the lordship of Christ. The gospel Paul preached was not the plight
of humanity, but God, and the revelation God offered in Jesus Christ. God has
offered a savior, and therefore humanity needs saving. God has offered
salvation in Jesus Christ, and therefore all other means of salvation are
deficient. Although the gospel is not about humanity, the intention of the
gospel is to receive the response of faith. As he considers the assurance of
salvation, he focuses upon the election of the people of God and their
predestination. As he focuses upon the need for response, he focuses upon the
responsibility of people to respond.
Among
the beliefs Paul promoted, the belief in one God suggested to Paul the unity of
gentile and Jew. The thin network of Christian communities made audacious
claims of universality of their gospel. This God shown in Jesus Christ was for
the world. Therefore, if a Christian was already married to one who did not
choose to become a Christian, the Christian should remain married if possible.
They should live peacefully with non-Christians. God was Father, and the
Christians were the children of the Father.
Next,
I would like to consider the probability that apocalyptic forms the background
for the preaching of Paul.
The
apocalyptic background of the teaching of Paul suggested a cosmological and
universal link between the proclamation of the good news and the fate of
humanity. Millenarian movements look forward to a series of events in the near
future that would transform present relationships of power, prestige, and
wealth. The crucial significance of this perspective is cognitive and symbolic.
It analyzes what is wrong with the present age and holds out the hope for God
to do something new. For a person attracted to millenarian preaching, the world
as it is no longer makes sense. The symbols provided by the culture no longer
satisfy, provide a sense of meaning, or help one to cope with reality. Such
apocalyptic movements provide relief from cognitive dissonance with the
culture. One might guess that those attracted to the Pauline community
experienced some dissatisfaction with the rigid social structure of Roman
society. The symbols of transformation would have some attraction. Their
present suffering connects them to the suffering of Christ, just as they can
expect union with Christ in resurrection to new life. To the Thessalonian
Christians, Paul said that not even death separated believers from each other.
In the letter to Galatians, Paul uses apocalyptic language to recommend new
social relationships today. Christ has already transferred believers from the
evil of the present age. They dare not step backward to the Law, but forward to
their new life in Christ. He defines the new order in terms familiar in the old
order, but with new meaning to the terms. At
The eschatology of Paul is consistent with that of the
church in his period. He modified the apocalyptic character of Christianity and
Judaism at this point. Since the primary end time event had already occurred in
Jesus, this was a necessity. Paul
modified the historical dualism that dominated apocalyptic by a focus of
attention upon the battle in this world of death, sin, law, and flesh. Paul also modifies the universal and cosmic
battle that would continue to escalate.
The presence of some elements of the end of the world in the present
through Christ also allows Paul to celebrate the life and victory of the
Christian in the present. Though Paul
does expect the end of the world within his lifetime, he does away with the
speculation about the sequence of events leading to that event because of the
coming of Christ. There was the
expectation that the return of Christ would be soon, especially as seen in I
and II Thessalonians. He also sought to
work through what the resurrection of Jesus might mean for believers in I
Corinthians 15.
Now,
I would like to focus on what one might consider as the logical presentation of
this gospel from the standpoint of theology.
Paul
has a somewhat consistent view of humanity and the predicament humanity faces.
Humanity is on a quest, where the willing, hoping, and striving of humanity
does not achieve actuality in individual life. Rather, one's life is always
ahead, an intention and quest, where one may find oneself or lose oneself, gain
self or fail to do so. I want to mention the terms of Paul as he expresses this
understanding.
Paul
cannot conceive of any human life without body (soma), even in resurrection. He contrasts the physical body with
the spiritual body. Thus, body appears to represent the whole person, the
uniqueness and individuality that constitute each of us. Without body, humanity
would not be humanity. Sin can rule this body.
Psyche
refers to the specifically human state of being alive that inheres in humanity
as striving, willing, purposing, and self. In distinction from psyche, pneuma refers to the self as aware. Humanity is a unity that has a
relationship to self (soma) and a
relationship to orientation (striving, willing, and purposing).
Mind
(nous) denotes humanity as the
subject of willing and doing. It denotes the possibility in which God addresses
humanity in revelation as a thinking and responsible being and it constitutes
the description of that by which thinking and acting so deeply determine
humanity. Mind is the real self in contrast to the self objectified to itself
in soma. Conscience scrutinizes the
content of mind.
The
heart refers to willing and striving. It is the concept that preeminently
denotes the human ego in its thinking, affections, aspirations, decisions, both
in the relationship of humanity to God and to the world. It denotes humanity in
the religious and moral dimension. The heart has this connection to God. The
revelation of God is toward the center of human life, and that means toward the
heart.
Sin
is a mode of human living. In order to understand what Paul means by salvation,
we will need to explore what he means by humanity as fallen into sin and in
need of the redemption shown in Christ. His analysis of the human predicament,
his anthropology, is one of the principle contributions he made the theological
thought. His penetrating observations have to do with showing how one who does
not have in Christ is lost to oneself, unable to achieve the goal toward which
he or she so ardently moves.
Evil
is perverse intent and pursuit that misses the life God intended. Sarx or flesh refers to material nature
of humanity. It can also mean an orientation to what is temporary and clinging
to it. It signifies the weakness of humanity, dependence on God, and
perishableness in itself. It can also correspond to the human being as sinner.
Adam is the one who has distributed sin to humanity. This does not refer so
much to individual sin as to the structure of humanity in its sinfulness. Yet,
sin does not lose its ethical character. Sin is an ethical quantity. Sin has
entered into the world through humanity and has the character of transgression
of the divine command and succumbing to temptation. The theological nature of
this condition of humanity shows itself in that as created by God, humanity is
always responsible to God. The question with which life confronts humanity is
the orientation of one’s life. If that orientation is not toward God, then it
is toward sin and separation from God. Such a life leads to self-centered life
and death. Sin is a theological relationship, more so than individual deeds.
Sin is a turn from one’s true self and true orientation as God intended.
One
may give oneself to worldly enticements and pleasures or to a flurry of moral
and religious activity, and still be oriented away from God. Humanity is victim
to sin and is helpless in its presence. What humanity does is against the true
intention of humanity toward life. This corruption of sin corrupts the
knowledge and volition of humanity, and so makes humanity sin with delight. The
corruption of sin resides in heart and mind, centers of human activity that
ought to direct humanity toward its God intended goal. Chapter 7 of Romans is a
good example of the weakness of the ego apart from the strength that Christ
gives the believer.
Cosmos
is both created by God and under the dominion of principalities and powers. It
represents the life context of humanity. We consider cosmos, this world, or
this present age. Such terms constitute the description of the totality of
unredeemed life dominated by sin outside of Christ. The powers of evil, misery,
and death hold sway in this world. The dominion of these demonic forces
determines the outlook of Paul toward this present age. To belong to the world
means to be a sinner, to participate in sin, and to experience the judgment on
sin. Sin is a supra-individual mode of existence in which one shares through
the single fact that one shares in the human life-context and from which one
can be redeemed only through the new life-context revealed in Christ.
Paul
suggests that God never intended humanity to achieve wholeness in life through
law, but rather that the way of God has always been faith. To attempt salvation
through Law is already sin. Sin expresses itself in transgression of law. Law
can mean a wider norm for human life, or the particular Law given to
Paul
enumerates several consequences of sin. One of them is the wrath of God. This
wrath is an eschatological reality. One can avert it because it is in the
future and the present gives time to preach about it. This wrath is already
present. The presence of this wrath gives further impetus to preaching
reconciliation with God. This wrath shows itself in the disturbance of the
relationship with God. It also shows itself in that alienation from God means
the corruption and destruction of that for which God intended in one’s life.
The wages of sin is death; the wages of sin is bondage and moral weakness.
Death and bondage also exert their influence in the present.
Paul
accepted the current view of forgiveness of past sins through Christ, that the
death of Christ is expiation for them.
Propitiation does not mean that the mind of God had to undergo change.
However, the Greek word does mean, “to cause to be graciously disposed.” The
point of the discussion of atonement by Paul is the reality of divine judgment
on sin and the need for sin to be atoned for to bring reconciliation. The
surrender of the life of Christ gives others life, and in that sense is for us.
The idea of ransom comes from the realm of law. The death of Christ has brought
redemption paid to God. The New Testament as a whole and Paul in particular go
no further. Sometimes liberation is through ransom, sometimes he refers to
believers purchased by the death of Christ. The objective character of ransom
is not that of a business transaction, but the price paid to bring humanity
from the dominion of sin and death. Christ represents humanity before God, pays
the price, and thus unites in himself the combination of the saving will of God
and the judgment of God against sin, law, and death. Justice is victorious in
love, and love is victorious in justice. The concept of adoption arises from
the field of law. In the Old Testament,
The
plight of humanity is that humanity orients itself away from the action of God
in Christ. No amount of repentance or remorse for sinfulness will bring about
the needed change in that orientation. The sinfulness of humanity does need an
accounting, but this occurs because God has accepted their cost through the
death and resurrection of Christ, not because humanity recognizes how sinful
and rebellious it is. The point is that humanity faces a plight from which only
Christ can deliver.
The
most powerful belief Paul presented was that of the crucified and risen Jesus
Christ. It becomes the paradigm of the ways of God in the world. It becomes the
basis for erasing the distinction between Jew and gentile. It is the basis for
understanding the suffering of Christians in the world. It becomes the basis
for evaluating behavior in the church. It was the foundation for the belief in
life after death. The deed of divine grace is that God gave Christ up to die on
the cross. It is the deed of the prevenient grace of God. He can write in terms
of the Jewish sacrificial system concerning the death of Jesus. Reconciliation
is through the blood of Jesus, and thus is propitiation or Passover-sacrifice.
Closely related to propitiation is his death as vicarious. This vicarious death
brings redemption from the curse of Law. The death of Christ means release from
the powers of this age in Law, Sin, and Death. This event of grace shown in the
death of Christ becomes available to humanity through preaching and witness.
Paul raises an historical person and what happened to him to the character of
an eschatological event. Preaching the word gathers people into ekklesia.
Paul
declared the reversal of this evil world. In one sense, the call for conversion
represents some sense of dissatisfaction with the way things are.
The
attitude of the person who receives the gift of righteousness is faith. Faith
is obedience in the sense of renunciation of any human accomplishment and
obedient submission to the way of salvation provided by God. Faith is not
adherence to a report about historical incidents. The person concerned for self
lives in fear, blocking the arrival of the future. Faith lets the anxiety go.
Faith is hope and confidence in God. Faith involves a new understanding of
oneself.
One made a shift in allegiance. Paul now needed to
explain that shift. He could speak of bondage and liberation, in which the
believer could expect freedom from the demonic forces shown in the structures
of the world. This can be seen in Galatians 5:1 and in the thought of Romans
6-7. Another image is that of union with
Christ. I Corinthians 6:13b-18a shows
this concern. Paul offered the
conception of participation in the death and resurrection of Christ as his
unique and preferred way of discussing what God has done in Christ. The legal
terminology he borrowed from earlier Christian preaching does not have the same
clarity of theological reflection as does that of participation in Christ.
Sharing in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ determines the
thrust of his discussion of the salvation far more than does legal terminology.
Acquittal before the judge and participation in Christ are not two different
subjects, but refer to the same experience of the believer. Righteousness by
faith and participation in Christ mean essentially the same thing. However,
Paul clearly gives more thought and attention to participation than he does to
acquittal. Freedom is being open for the genuine future and letting oneself be
determined by the future. Spirit is the power of that future in present life.
Freedom means that for the Christian, life in the flesh and life in the Spirit
remain possibilities. One fulfills Law through love done in freedom. Freedom
from death involves the victory of life, in this world passes away and the
future life is arriving. Paul appears to expect suffering because the future
age is present in faith and thus lives in tension with the present age. One can
now bear the marks of the suffering of Christ. Christians have a fellowship
with the suffering of Christ. This union is not just a figure of speech for
something else. It is viewed by Paul to
be a real union with Christ. This is the
time when he speaks of being "in Christ," as in II Corinthians
He
could also speak of guilt and the corresponding justification or righteousness
that one received as a gift. Paul inherited the term from early Christian
teaching received. The setting for the teaching is the worship and communal
life of the early church. He outlines his teaching in Romans 3:28, II
Corinthians,
Further,
Paul sees social implications of the message of justification. When Paul says
that Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, he does not make a point
that any modern humanist would make. Rather, the context is his explanation of
justification. One obvious example of this is the encounter with Peter at
What
we can see is that for Paul, justification is not a matter of individual
psychology. Rather, justification has an historical setting and social
implications. The same is true for ethical life. An individualistic
interpretation of ethics leads to perfectionism. Growth in Christian maturity
and values always implies relationship within a congregation, serving others on
the foundation Christ laid. This polemical and social implication that Paul
drew for his teaching on justification did not receive the same emphasis in the
second and third centuries. Augustine would be the next writer to take up the
theme and use it for a quite different polemical issue. What appears to happen
is that the polemical and social matters to which Paul addressed his teaching
on justification no longer related the second and third century Christians – or
at least, they did not think so. The gentile emerged as the predominate church,
no longer plagued by his relationship with Judaism. The result was that it
viewed itself as supplanting
The
only way out of the sinfulness of one’s own life was to turn to God receive the
gift of justification. Righteousness (dikaiosyne)
is the condition for salvation or life. This tight condition exists between
righteousness as the condition and life as the result of that condition because
the condition is already the gift of God. As condition, the word has a forensic
sense, a favorable standing to the one judging. In Judaism, it became an eschatological
term, in that they long for this pronouncement of a favorable standing with God
at the end of history. In Paul, righteousness is already imputed to humanity in
the present, as in Romans 3:21-5:1. God already pronounces the eschatological verdict
on the person of faith in the present because the eschatological event has
already happened. God already does not count our sin against us. What was for
Judaism a hope is for Paul both a hope and a present reality. This new
relationship with God has its center in justification. It is an interpretation
and application of his eschatology. What humanity requires to in order to go
free in the judgment of God and to know itself discharged from the divine
sentence has already occurred in Christ. This power for salvation accompanies
the believer as a constantly fresh and relevant thing.
For
Judaism, the condition for receiving this favorable standing with God at the
end of history depended upon observance of Torah. The situation of sin and
death in which humanity finds itself did not find relief through the Law.
Rather, the Law makes one sink down still more deeply into the morass of sin
and the corruption of sin. For Paul, favorable standing occurs in the present
and at the end of history through faith. Righteousness has its origin in grace
or gift from God. The only way to understand the reaction of Paul to Law is as
a means of salvation. Although Judaism and Paul differed in terms of their
concepts of sin, the primary place of disagreement was the strength of the Law.
For Judaism, the Law was the remedy for the predicament in which humanity found
itself. Paul could not abide this judgment. Judaism knew no other way of
salvation than that of Torah. It saw even the mercy and the forgiving love of
God lying in the fact that they enable the sinner to build for his or her
eternal future on the ground of Torah. The light that has arisen in the death
and resurrection of Christ reveals the inadequacy of the law as a means of
salvation. The Torah is now in the shadow of Christ and has become superfluous.
Humanity faces a new situation with the death and resurrection of Christ. One
can no longer boast in the works of Torah. Rather, humanity must face the
offense or stumbling caused by the cross. Instead of orienting humanity toward
God, Torah stirs up sin. This weakness of Torah can lead one to recognize the
insufficiency of human work and prepare one for the way of faith.
Salvation
is for both Jew and Gentile, and it must be based on the same ground. The Torah
cannot provide this foundation because that would exclude gentile. Further, if
Torah were sufficient, the death and resurrection of Christ would be in vain
and faith in it would be in vain. In countering Torah as the basis for
salvation, he places faith. Paul does not give righteousness by faith much
content by Paul, for he uses it as a contrast with righteousness through Torah.
As an apostle to the gentiles, Paul recognized that God saves both Jew and
Gentile. Since this calling to the gentile is central for Paul, the Torah
falls. Gentiles cannot live by Torah, since Torah is the possession of
Paul
could also write of the sense of alienation or estrangement, being enemies of
God, finding an answer in reconciliation, becoming partners and part of the
family of God. It originates in the social sphere and speaks of the restoration
of the right relationship between two parties. Although reconciliation brings
change of disposition in humanity, the responsibility of removing the obstacle
was on the part of God. Reconciliation is always a past event, and Paul speaks
only of receiving the gift of it, rather than repenting first. It deals with past sins. Reconciliation is a
term that Paul can substitute for righteousness. A reversal of the relationship
between God and humanity has taken place. The reversal takes place because of
activity on the part of God. Grace is a judicial act. Grace is an end-time
deed. Paul speaks of the individual as being sanctified, justified, and being
made righteous. These terms also relate
to past sins that God deals with through Christ.
For
Paul, new life in Christ brings a restoration of the whole of human life to
what God intended. What occurs between God and humanity in terms of a new
relationship brings a change in humanity that brings wholeness and fullness to
human life. This wholeness has the eschatological perspective that Paul brings
elsewhere into this thinking, in that the wholeness of individual and communal
human life always lies ahead of humanity, even while to some degree actualized
through the gift of the Spirit. The point of departure for the reflections of
Paul on new life in Christ is the future new creation, and not what actually
changes in the believer. The solidarity humanity has in sin has its corollary
in the participation of humanity in the new creation that God has revealed in
Christ. The church participates metaphorically in the death and resurrection of
Christ. The presentation of this view in Romans 6 suggests several instructive
points. One is that the participation of the church in the death and
resurrection of Christ means that the church participates in the intention of
God to bring fullness and wholeness to humanity and to creation. Two is that
baptism is the sacramental incorporation of the individual into this divine
intention. Three is that the church views faith from the perspective of this
divine intention that lays ahead of humanity. Four is that its effect is in the
manifestation of its life as obedience to God. Participation in the death of
Christ symbolizes the passing of the old age, symbolized in sin, death, and
law. Participation in resurrection of Christ symbolizes the coming of the new
age, symbolized in righteousness, life, and the Spirit. We do not gain
confidence in this new life because of what occurs in personal or corporate
life, but because of what occurred in the death and resurrection of Christ as
the prolepsis of the intent of God in the future for humanity and all of
creation. Torah and Spirit stand over against each other, with new life in
Christ effected through the presence of the Spirit as the source of life. The
letter of Torah was powerless to effect life, while the life-giving power of
the Spirit becomes a reality for believers.
Paul will speak of the new life of believers in Christ in
an indicative mood in terms of language, thereby indicating the foundation for
new life is already present in the church and in the believer. His use of the imperative
mood to therefore have churches and individuals behave in accordance with who
they are reflects the tension of the present between the passing away of the
old age and the arrival of the new. He could also speak in organic categories,
referring to the shift from deformity to transformation. The new creation is
seen in II Corinthians 5:17. The old
nature can be seen in II Corinthians 4:16.
The transformation takes place through the renewal of the mind in Romans
12:2. The situation or orientation of
the believer toward what God has done and will do in Christ requires
encouragement to live out of that orientation today. The new orientation of
lives of believers is only possibility until believers individually and
corporately live in accordance with that new orientation. Believers need
constant awakening to bearing fruit like freedom, peace, love, and joy. They
need awareness that they are now belonging to Christ and servants of
Christ. This can be seen in I Corinthians
6:12-20,
Christianity is a new covenant that functions something
like the covenantal nomism dominant in Palestinian Judaism. Those within the
covenant have salvation, and those outside have condemnation and death.
Remaining in it requires obedience, and disobedience leads to expulsion and
condemnation. Paul views Christianity as a covenantal religion in which one
enters by baptism, membership in which provides salvation, which has
commandments, obedience to which keeps one in the covenant, while repeated or
heinous transgression removes one from membership. Yet, these categories appear
inadequate for what Paul intends. He seems to transcend covenantal categories
by referring to a new creation. Further, the concept of covenantal nomism does
not account for Paul’s conception of union and participation in Christ, the
most significant term uses for explaining the salvation humanity has in Christ.
His eschatology also suggests that Christ is Lord, and those who believe will
be saved on the day of the soon arrival of judgment.
Paul
never views this individual salvation apart from the new community that he knew
to be established. The ekklesia or assembly of God refers to
local gatherings and to the church across the empire. He continues to use terms
applied to
The
church is also an edifice, temple, and house. The church is the dwelling of God
that is presently under construction. This construction reflects the commitment
of God to work with the people of God. The foundation laid by the Christ and
the apostles continues in history. This construction occurs through the gifts
and fruits of the Spirit, as well as other offices and ministries in leadership
within the church. This mutual construction involves right relationship of
community and individual, and the incorporation of individuals into the construction
of the church. This construction includes the missionary activity of the church
to witness to the gospel and include others in the building. Continuing
construction of the church involves increase in knowledge and wisdom, as well
as in love. The gifts of the Spirit and the various ministries of the church
serve the same purpose. Paul had concern for the continuing institutional life
of the church because he had concern for the continuing construction of the
church in numbers of members and in quality of internal life. The various
counsels Paul gave for church discipline and training also serve the continuing
construction of the church.
In
all of this, Paul does not refer to social and political issues of the day or
to Roman imperialism. When he speaks of evil, he speaks of it a theological
way. We might guess that such belief symbols proved attractive to people who
had experienced the hopes and fears of occupying an ambiguous position in Roman
civilization. They may have brought their sense of isolation and loneliness
generated by rigid social class structure into the Pauline community. The
upward mobility of some in the Pauline community may have suggested some
self-confidence and willingness to break out of the ordinary social structures.
His churches would have experienced the tension between the unity symbolized by
rituals like baptism and the Supper of the Lord on the one hand and the rigid
social class structure on the other. These small communities existing in
possibly a dozen cities by the time of the death of Paul had begun constructing
a new world that would eventually dominate the empire. They would not have
thought of themselves as doing this or as having this impact upon future
civilization.
I
would now like to share one way of relating the history of Paul. We can give
the outline of the life of Paul with some certainty. However, we must remember that chronology is
not exact. What I present here is my understanding of the best of modern
scholarship. What I want to share in
this section is the particularity of the gospel message. We might see in the
process the unique and individual situations in the life of Paul that led him
to reflect upon his life and the life of his churches in the way that he did.
He was a Jew, taught be Gamaliel, one of the most
recognized rabbis of this period. He was connected with the persecution of Christians, including their death.
Paul
became a Christian around 33 AD. Paul
rescued the Jewish sect called Christians from extinction. However, the victory of his message of a
community based upon the covenant established with God through Jesus would not
be assured until the destruction of
In 48 AD, the church at
By 50 AD, Paul returned to
Because of a disagreement with
Barnabas, Paul would recruit Silas and begin another missionary journey. As he entered
It is likely that Paul wrote I and II Thessalonians from
Paul then returned to
He wrote I Corinthians in the fall of 54 AD from
He went on to
II Corinthians 10-13 was written in the spring or summer
of 56 AD, from Thessolonica.
Galatians and Romans were written early in 57 AD from
somewhere in
Paul arrived in
Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians while in prison
in
Paul writes the letter to the Colossians, with Tychius
and Onesimus bringing the letter with them.
This letter seems to be motivated by concern for the spread of Jewish
speculation and mysticism in the area.
Onesimus is a slave who apparently became a Christian,
while Philemon had been his master. Paul
designed the letter to Philemon to free the slave from his obligation to the
master, while at the same time committing Onesimus to be with Paul.
Paul wrote a now lost letter to
If Paul wrote Ephesians, which most scholars seem to
doubt, it would have been at this time.
Tychius brings the letter, and thus Paul would have written it at the
same time as Colossians and Philemon.
Again, the concerns of Colossians are given deeper interpretation here,
as Paul is concerned with the spread of Jewish speculation, showing that the
powers of the universe are subordinate to Christ, that the message of salvation
is not just for individuals but for the whole universe. However, 80 words are not found in other
Pauline letters, some favorite Pauline words are not used, and the meaning of
some words is changed from earlier letters.
In addition, the long stay at Ephesians that we know occurred does not
show up in a personal way in this letter.
Markus Barth (Ephesians in the Anchor Bible) makes a strong case
that Paul wrote to gentiles within the congregation who joined the house
churches after Paul left. The language
is so different because Paul is quoting hymns, confessions of faith, and
prayers which were known to the people, and through which Paul hoped to remind
people of their faith in Christ and not be persuaded by this new teaching.
Paul dies between 64 and 66 AD, at the order of Nero,
close to the same time that Peter died.
Throughout these texts, there are pre-Pauline
formulations which scholars have been able to identify. This means that Paul himself built upon
existing structures of organization and theology. He was himself passing on tradition as he
experienced in the church of his day.
Some of these traditional formulations are as follows:
Paul does not spend much time with the saying tradition
of the gospels. However, this does not
mean that Paul had no awareness of the life of Jesus. Unfortunately, the isolated statements that
Paul makes along these lines are not given enough weight in discussions about
Paul and the early church. of course, Paul could have gotten these comments
from other sources than a sayings source of Jesus. However, he appears at least somewhat aware
of what Jesus taught, whether through a written source or through oral
tradition. These references are as
follows:
Referring to the death of Jesus in I Thessalonians 2:14,
based on Matthew 23:29-37. He is aware of a tradition concerning the burial and
appearances of Jesus in I Corinthians 15:1-8.Eschatology of I Thessalonians
4:15-15 is said to be based on the teachings of Jesus, which in fact have some
similarity with Matthew 24:3031, and I Thessalonians 5:6-7 are similar to
Matthew 24:42. He is aware of an
independent saying of Jesus in I Corinthians 7:10-11 (on divorce). He is aware of an independent saying of Jesus
concerning the Lord's Supper, which is of course similar to the synoptic
accounts, in I Corinthians 11:23-27. He
reflects knowledge of a saying of Jesus in I Corinthians 13:2, (from Matthew
17:20 on faith removing mountains), in II Corinthians 13:1 (from Matthew 18:16
on the evidence of two or three witnesses), in Galatians 5:14 and Romans
13:8-10 (loving the neighbor as oneself, from Matthew 22:34-40), Romans 14:4
(passing judgment, similar to Matthew 7:1), Romans 14:14 (he received
instruction from Jesus concerning unclean food, based on Matthew 15:10-20),
Philippians 4:6 (don't worry about anything, based on Matthew 6:25-34),
Colossians 2:22 (Matthew 15:9 also speaks of human commandments), Colossians
4:6 (with Matthew 5:13 and its reference to salt). He seems aware of the character of Jesus in
II Corinthians 10:1 (gentleness and forbearance).
There can be little doubt that this activity of
establishing churches, writing letters, forging new thought to express the
Christian faith to the Greek and Roman world, and his tireless devotion to the
cause, makes Paul the primary leader of the first generation of the
church. Were it not for Paul it is
likely that the Christian movement, if it existed today at all, would be little
more than another synagogue tradition within Judaism. Instead, he helped the early church mold its message for
a new day. He liberated the message of
Jesus from its ethnic center and brought the universal offer of salvation
through Jesus to new people. It might be
helpful to spend some time looking at the core of that message.
A letter which tradition attributed to Paul, but which
everyone agrees Paul could not have written, is Hebrews. The fact that it survived the battle between
the Romans and the Jews is remarkable.
It appears to be a sermon based upon Psalm 110. 1:1-4:13 discuss the revelation of God in the
Son exceeds any other revelation,
The original readers may have been Jews who had begun
training in the Christian faith. They
had been courageous in early days, but now they are beginning to wonder if
Christianity is worth it. There appear
to be some connections with the Essenes, and possibly with pilgrims who came
from other lands. The community is a
strict one, possibly monastic, around
The portion of the New Testament after 70 AD takes on a
decidedly different character. We have
made the point that apocalyptic determined much of the literature until this period. This was true for both and Jewish and
Christian writings. After 70 AD and the
council of Jamnia in 90 AD, mainstream Judaism left apocalyptic behind,
replacing it with an interest in the law and the synagogue. The destruction of
James is a text that many scholars do not respect as a
theological text, as Martin Luther famously stated. This judgment is a matter
of perspective. It represents Jewish Christianity, with its emphasis upon
ethical conduct, concern for the poor, and good works. In this
regard, it may be rabbinic method of teaching based upon the Sermon on the
Mount, along with some other isolated sayings of Jesus. Of course, if this is
the case, it further reflects some knowledge of the sayings of Jesus. How this
might be is shown below:
1:5, with Matthew 7:7 on asking of God.
1:8, with Matthew 6:22 on being of two minds.
1:19-21 with Matthew 5:22 on anger.
2:8, with Matthew 22:39 on loving the neighbor as yourself.
4:5, with Matthew 6:24 on God or mammon.
James seems to be aware of the
argument of Paul concerning Abraham that is used in Galatians and Romans, while
making precisely the opposite point that Paul makes. That appears to be intentional. 2:14-26 is decisive for determining the
theological position of James. He refers to the Pauline position and criticizes
it. If someone has only faith and no works, faith is in vain. Faith without
works is dead faith. He does not give consideration to the position of Torah
within the framework of the letters of Paul. Further, the eschatology, while
holding on to the traditional expectation of the return of Christ, no longer
has theological significance. The ceremonial law is no longer finding for
Christians. The ethical norms retain their value. The law has become the way of
salvation, for the regard for works is at the same time the recognition of the
law. The letter has many similarities with two other early Christian works at
the beginning of the second century, Hermas and I Clement.
I
Peter is written to new gentile converts in
Most of Jude is contained in II
Peter. Most scholars think that II Peter incorporates Jude in order to correct
some misconceptions Jude presents. Parallels
are the following:
Jude II Peter
v. 2 1:2
v. 3 1:5
v. 5a
v. 5b-19 2:1-3:3
v. 24
One of its unique features is
that it quotes from the Book of Enoch and the Assumption of Moses, apocryphal
books of the period, as if they were scripture.
The purpose is to denounce false teachers, which seem to be similar to
those rejected in Colossians, the Pastoral Epistles, and Revelation. Their appearance is a sign that the end is
near. The letter views the apostles as long past in v. 17, the faith is a fixed
tradition in v. 3, and the author is acquainted with Paul's letters. It is probably intended for a Jewish
Christian audience. It adopts the tactic of the Pastoral epistles in that
although it has concern for false teaching, it has little direct theological
discussion through which the reader can discern the nature of the false
teaching.
II Peter has concern primarily with
false teachers and with anxiety about the return of Christ. There is a clear desire to avoid conflict
with state authorities. The author refers
to Paul in
A disciple of Paul, unknown to history, adjusts the
message of Paul for the new situation facing the church, sometime between 80
and 100 AD. The letters would be in the
order of I Timothy, Titus and II Timothy.
Though they do not reflect the level of church organization in the
letters of the second century church leader Ignatius, they do seem to assume
the apostolic ministry is the past of the church, and that bishops, elders, and
deacons have rather clearly defined roles.
There are doctrinal concerns that again have Jewish characteristics, and
seem to lead either to an ascetic practice or to a libertarian practice. There were especially interests in
genealogies that led to speculation about origins. They practice spiritualism, a retreat from
the world, and gnosis. Yet, they also demand conformity and they seem to be
intensely occupied with myths and genealogies. The pastorals oppose them by
saying that this is a sign of the end, and therefore one must counter them with
tenacity. The world is the creation of God, and for that reason Christians can
associate with the things of the world. Proper tradition is the decisive
criterion in the evaluation of heresy. II Timothy has a different character, in
the form of a testament of Paul to his child Timothy to motivate to endure even
as Paul has done. There is again some awareness of the sayings of Jesus.
I Timothy 2:6 and Titus 2:14,
with Matthew 20:28 on Jesus being a ransom.
I Timothy 4:1, with Matthew
24:23-24 on some people deserting.
I Timothy
II Timothy
I will now begin with the gospel material and focus
upon the unique theological and ethical perspective that each gospel writer
offers to the church. I am interested in considering the theological, moral,
and ethical influence these writings have upon Christian reflection. Numerous
introductions to the New Testaments can provide matters of date, authorship,
audience, and so on. Most modern scholars do not think that Matthew, Mark, or
Luke wrote this material in its final form. Most scholars agree that the author
wrote Mark between 67 and 70 AD, that the authors of Matthew and Luke wrote
between 85 and 95 AD, and that they used Mark and a common source called Q.
Most agree that the same author wrote Luke and Acts. This latter source
consists of the sayings that Matthew and Luke hold together, around 200 verses.
One can use these gospels to arrive at the nearest historical picture of Jesus
modern historical method will allow, to discover the needs of the Christian
communities addressed by these gospels, and to discover the unique perspective
on theology that these gospels may contribute. At this stage, my interest is in
the latter. I want to pursue the theological, Christological, moral, and
ethical perspectives that these writings bring to light for us. I assume that
if God was at work in the events to which the New Testament directs us, God was
at work through the life experience of individuals and communities of faith to
give us the documents we have. The assumption, which I think reasonably safe,
is that the bible did not drop down out of heaven. This means reasonable people
can read the text and understand the text, even if they ultimately cannot agree
with the text.
The Gospel of Mark has the purpose of meeting the urgent
needs of the Palestinian community, on the verge of a Jewish-Roman war. The suffering of the Christians, pressured by
Jews and Romans, made urgency ad conflict all the more central. Thus, his gospel shortness material, focuses
on events, and arises out of the suffering of the people. He faced a community that doubted, wondering
about its own legitimacy and the ability of Jesus to save.
Theodore J. Weeden suggests that Mark has the purpose of
combating triumphalist Christology that had arisen the community of Mark. These
false Christ’s have created a problem, and the approach of Mark is to present a
divine man Christology until the first prediction of the suffering in chapter
8, in which the triumphalist understanding gives way to the image of Jesus as
one his way to suffering and death, and calling followers to adopt the way of
the cross. Werner Kelber suggests that the disciples represent Jerusalem
Christianity. In writing in
The theological themes Mark raises have some implications
for the theological reflection of the church today.
Beginning with
The center of the gospel is
the confession by Peter that Jesus is the Christ. The moral universe of the
gospel is divided between insiders and outsiders. Insiders are those who
believe in the reign of God Jesus preached. The outsiders are those who do not
believe or see the presence of the reign of God. An interesting dimension of
this is that the disciples to do see, lack understanding, and generally do not
exhibit characteristics of people of faith. He emphasizes that people can enter
the rule of God now, meaning to live under the rule or influence of God,
whether now or in the future. The distinctive aspect of the preaching of Jesus
lays in the present aspect of the kingdom. The rule of God is already making
its appearance in his life and ministry. At present, the reign of God is hidden
and only faith can perceive it. The hidden reign of God will be revealed in
power, and on that day, everyone will acknowledge the rule of God. To enter the
sphere of the rule of God, one must receive this reign with childlike faith,
and guard against temptations and attachment to possessions that distract one
for the rule of God.
Mark structures his gospel so that one can perceive the
strangeness of affirming the Messiah is crucified. Thus, while the reader is
aware at the beginning that this story about the Son of God, we do not find the
phrase again until on the lips of the outsider Roman soldier at the foot of the
cross. The first part of the gospel has Jesus arriving on the scene doing
wonderful works like healing and casting out demons, feeding multitudes, and so
on. The disciples simply do not understand, even in the presence of such mighty
deeds. Mark invites the reader to identify with the struggle of the disciples
at this point, vicariously experiencing failure through them, receiving
forgiveness, and receiving encouragement to act faithfully. The failure of the
disciples to comprehend even in the midst of such mighty deeds ought to cause
us to re-evaluate power. Power alone does not bring divine authenticity. Mary
Ann Tolbert suggests that as a narrative, it arouses emotions on behalf of
Jesus. The narrative also offers powerful encouragement to Christians facing
persecution.
The secret is that this Messiah will be crucified, rather
than revealed in power. The way of Jesus is actually the way of suffering,
rejection, and death. How can this be good news? The way of following is the
way of the cross. Faith describes the moral and ethical life of those who
embrace the reign of God. Faith is perceiving and understanding, whereas the
lack of faith is blindness and incomprehension. Those who believe, perceive,
and understand, what Jesus says and does can see the presence of the reign of
God in his ministry, even though the manifestation of the reign of God is
presently hidden and seemingly insignificant. Some minor characters have faith:
the paralytic and those who bring him Jesus for healing in 2:5, the woman with
a hemorrhage in 5:34, Jairus in 5:36, the father of a boy possessed in 9:24,
and Bartimaeus in 10:52. The disciples are a more complicated example in that
their faith is weak and faltering. The religious leaders are examples of
non-belief. Faith leads people to see the hidden presence of the reign of God
already active in the ministry of Jesus. In light of the reign of God, those
who believe find the power to adopt the divine point of view. The disciples
argue over who is the greatest, while Mark lifts up the vision of Jesus that
they live as a community of disciples in which the greatest is servant and
slave of all. Mark provides the reader with a sobering account of human
weakness. The closest followers of Jesus fall away at the time of trial.
Mark raises several Christological questions. The Christology of Mark is complex. Is Mark a conservative reaction to Paul’s Christology? “Son of God,” at 1:1. “Sonship” at baptism. “Son of Man” is usually connected with
suffering. Mann believes Jesus used it
of himself and understood it in light of suffering. He would have gotten this from the
Essenes. Note that Jewish literature
separated Son of Man from kingdom. It
could mean either an ideal man or a representation of the community. Thus, the community did not create the title. Jesus avoids the title Messiah, probably
because Jesus preferred Son of Man. Paul
reverses this, using Christ far more.
Jesus regarded his own ministry was identified with the
totality of
The gospels portray Jesus as an historical figure and the
church cannot accept the view that there is no relationship between the Jesus
of history and Christ of faith. In any
case, the first nine chapters occur in
With the kingdom in Mark, miracles are to be viewed as
sacramental signs of the kingdom, which is dawning but invisible. Healings on the Sabbath are new creation
activity. Jesus challenges the
entrenched power of evil in the healing and exorcisms.
Parables in general are for those outside the inner
circle, while explanations are for the disciples. The
Mark also contributes to moral reflection. The ethical challenge Jesus presents is to
repent and believe because the hidden reign of God is already present in the
ministry of Jesus, and will soon be obvious to all as it comes in power. The
response of faith presupposes the comprehensive break with the past and the
reorientation of life in both its ethical and religious dimensions connoted by
repentance as in changing one’s ways. Faith completes the work begun by
repentance. Faith is repentant faith.
Mark juxtaposes the announcement of the theme of the
preaching of Jesus as the soon arrival of the reign of God with the call of the
disciples, who then give up their former way of life in order to follow Jesus.
In this sense, the disciples become models of what following Jesus is about.
However, their repentance and faith is far from complete. The disciples are
cowardly, lacking comprehension, concerned for social status, and disloyal to
Jesus at the crucial time of arrest and trial. If the purpose of Mark is to
encourage Christians to remain faithful during the time of trial, his gospel
does not hold out much hope that this will happen, for not even the disciples
can remain faithful.
To be a disciple is to adopt a new way of thinking
concerning what one values. Peter simply could not get this, as after his
confession that Jesus is the Messiah in Mark 8 he is also called a Satan for
his failure to understand what it mean that Jesus is the Son of Man who must suffer.
Jesus is not interested in saving his life (as Peter is), but in surrendering
his life. Jesus is not interested in being the first of all or great in the
eyes of others, but rather willingly becomes last of all, the servant and slave
of all. Peter can see things from only a human perspective, and he needs to
understand the perspective that God has on these matters.
The soon arrival of the reign of God radicalizes the
demand for discipleship, leaves little room for compromise, relativizes Torah,
and the church will need to live out its own suffering in union with the
suffering Jesus experienced. Those in privileged positions of religious
authority do not accept the message. Even the disciples accept it only to a
degree, and continue to struggle. Suffering reflects the end-time suffering of
those who follow Jesus, suggesting that power needs to be re-evaluated in the
light of the suffering and death of the cross. An ironic dimension appears in
that those who think they have the will of God firmly in hand because of Torah
in actually blind themselves from the will of God as shown in Jesus. The gospel
closes with fear on the part of the disciples, inviting the reader to respond
either with fear or with witness.
Mark portrays Jesus as in debate concerning Torah with
religious leaders. Mark notes that all foods are clean. Jesus does not go into
extended critique of the sacrificial system. He appears to distinguish between
the purity code of Torah and the moral code of Torah. We find in Mark 2:1-3:6
the opposition of the religious leaders to Jesus, standing in sharp contrast to
the response of the crowds. There is no explicit mention of the law in these
controversies over forgiveness of sin, the table fellowship of Jesus with tax
collectors and sinners, his lack of fasting, and the Sabbath law. Yet, the
question of Torah is behind these controversies. Mark recognizes that Jesus
relativizes the claim of Torah in light of the arrival of the reign of God in
his ministry. A provocative way of saying this is that obedience to Torah no
longer automatically reflects faithfulness to God, and may in fact reflect lack
of obedience to the will of God in light of the new situation introduced by
Jesus. One might suggest that, from the perspective of Mark, either what Jesus
says about himself is wonderfully true and demands allegiance, or he is
terribly arrogant. We see another purity debate in Mark 7. Jesus says that the
traditions of the rabbis are not binding upon people and that purity laws
concerning foods are no longer binding, leaving open the possibility of table
fellowship with Gentiles and others. Jesus has fed both in his table
fellowship, so one can no longer separate them. Jesus makes extraordinary
demands upon his disciples in light of the soon arrival of the reign of God,
including becoming like children, selling possessions, and that divorce is not
permitted. The dialogue concerning the coin with the image of Caesar, Jesus
suggests that everything belongs to God, whereas all Caesar receives is the
coin. Since Jesus envisions a time without temple, land, or Torah, the love of
God and neighbor as guiding norms for the followers of Jesus becomes
increasingly urgent.
The motivation for moral conduct is the will of God. He
also describes a system of rewards and punishments. One is now part of the
family of God as defined by Jesus. His ethics is teleological in that Mark
calls people to act today in light of a specific goal or end. Disciples who do
the will of God now will receive vindication in the final judgment God brings
to the world. Jesus becomes a model of moral behavior in his doing of the will
of God, in his faithfulness to God in the midst of trial, and in his
compassion.
The ending of Gospel of Matthew draws together the
threads of the story he tells and commissions the disciples. Matthew ends with
the immediate presence of the risen Lord, who promises to remain present
always, until the end of the age. This reassuring word grounds the life and
mission of the church on solid rock. Matthew creates an ordered, symbolic
world, in which Jesus possesses all authority in heaven and on earth, and
defending it against rival worldviews. We see the say in which he constructs
that world in his representation of Jesus as teacher, his account of
discipleship as community formation, and his adaptation of eschatology as a
warrant for ethics.
Matthew was less concerned with the historical events of
Jesus' life than with his teaching. The
historical events of Jesus' life fulfill all the promises of salvation made by
God. He moves the teaching of Jesus into the foreground, while the deeds of
Jesus confirm the validity of that teaching. Matthew also has six major
discourses that Matthew has produced by using texts from the sources available
to him.
Several passages appear significant to the development of
the theology of Matthew. 6:9-13 is the Lord’s Prayer, which he expands for use
in the worship of the church. 13:24-30, 36-43, where the church is not yet a
gathering of the elect, but has a mixture of good and evil in it. 16:17-19, in
which he reflects the concept of church in the early Palestinian community.
25:31-46, the portrait of the last judgment. As the coming Son of Man, Jesus
judges all nations, the criterion being the conduct of individuals in their
lives. The apocalyptic scene he essentially reduces to an exhortation to living
in a Christian way in the world. 28:18-20, the Great commission, a summary of
the gospel.
One approach to the text is that Matthew intends to
portray Jesus as a new Moses. Some indications of this theme are in the opening
chapters. In addition, the Sermon on the Mount is an arrangement Matthew gives
to the teaching of Jesus as if Jesus provides his own interpretation of Torah.
He does not structure the sermon in such a way as to offer new legislation, but
to teach accurately Torah.
Matthew has several themes that separate him from other
gospels. The title Son of God becomes increasingly important. Matthew does not
accept the Markan messianic secret, but rather wants his gospel to point to the
paradox of his revelation that takes place in lowliness. An example is the
triumphal entry, in which the lowly Jesus entering on a donkey others openly
acknowledge as Messiah. He also provides a different self-understanding of the
church. The church has the character of permanence. The anticipation of the parousia recedes. Instead, he places
greater emphasis on the problem of false teachers who will appear in the last
days. Rather than unbelief, Jesus chastises the disciples for little faith.
The Christology involves Jesus as authoritative teacher
of the people of God. He shows the basis of this authority by relating birth
and resurrection. Rather than beginning with John the Baptist, he begins with
the genealogy of Jesus, his birth, and early childhood. By birth, he is
Messiah, son of David, son of Abraham, and conceived by the Holy Spirit. The
difficulties surrounding the birth of Jesus remind one of the difficulties
surrounding the birth of Moses. To know Jesus rightly is to acknowledge his authority
by obeying his teaching. His formula quotations suggest the scripted character
of salvation history.
First of the discourses in Matthew is the Sermon on the
Mount, 5-7, a catechism-like digest of paraenesis. In light of the presentation
by Matthew in his whole gospel, this sermon at the beginning of the ministry of
Jesus places further weight upon Jesus as teacher. It also emphasizes the
ethics of those who live in the light of the reign of God. Matthew shaped the
sermon, so we should not assume that its structure comes from Jesus.
Is it possible to meet the demands of this sermon? The
Reformation teaching on this point was that the intent was to point out how
sinful we are, since no one can fulfill the teaching of the Sermon on the
Mount. Albert Schweitzer suggested that he intended its fulfillment, but only
in the context of an interim ethic. The problem with the latter interpretation
is that the sermon is not set in an eschatological context. The demands of the
sermon serve as abiding ethical directives for Christian living in the world.
This also means that he expected Christians to live them out in the realm of
the Christian life, for they bear on the meaning and content of the Ten
Commandments. Betz sees Jesus here as the authoritative interpreter of the
Torah for the law-abiding community. The home of this sermon is Jewish piety
and theology, and an ethic of obedience t the Torah. The sermon does not
reflect any of the theological reflection that Paul offers concerning the
structure of sin that works against fulfillment of right conduct. People have
the ability to do what God requires. The human predicament is not so much
indwelling sin as it is rebellion against the will of God as interpreted by
Jesus. The sermon represents an impossible ideal when we separate it from the
gracious gift of the reign of God on the one hand and from the community of the
faithful on the other.
If law and righteousness in the theology of Mathew are
placed in juxtaposition to the teaching of Paul on justification, we might note
substantial differences. Mathew does not say that God gives righteousness as a
gift. However, if we examine the structure of both authors, we find that
righteousness in Paul corresponds to “kingdom of heaven” in Matthew, both
designating the unconditional saving action of God and the demonstration of the
grace of God. Robert Mohrlang suggests that the underlying structure in Matthew
is provided by the gracious gift of the reign of God that results in the fruit
of righteousness in one’s life. The saving work of God in Christ demands the
response of the fruits of righteousness. Separate from the gracious gift of the
reign of God and from Christian community, the righteousness that exceeds that
of scribes and Pharisees is impossible. In that light, the Sermon on the Mount
becomes a blueprint for Christian discipleship. Ethical conduct does not bring
the saving work of God into effect. However, one does not appropriate that
saving work without the fruits of righteousness.
What is the relationship to the Ten Commandments? The
intent of Matthew appears to be the presentation of Jesus as bringing to light
the original intent of the Ten Commandments.
What meaning can they possibly have?
Matthew no longer reckons with the imminence of the parousia, which is why Matthew compiles
the sermon from his sources in the way he did.
In 5:3-16 we have the introduction to the sermon, in
which Jesus pronounces a blessing upon those who live a consistent with the
qualities of life presented in them. The metaphors of the disciples being salt
and light suggest that other people need to see their good works and praise
God.
In 5:17-20, the law and the prophets as interpreted by
Jesus remain valid for Christians.
The sermon continues with three ways in which those who
follow Jesus can have righteousness that exceeds that of scribes and Pharisees.
The first is in the form of six antitheses in
The second example of righteousness that exceeds that of
scribes and Pharisees is that of practical piety in 6:1-18, focusing on
almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Performing such acts to impress others is to
do them with a divided heart and in the manner of the hypocrites.
The third example of righteousness that exceeds is in
The sermon concludes with an exhortation that reminds one
of the two ways in wisdom literature, warning of false prophets and encouraging
people who trust his interpretation of Torah build their lives on a solid
foundation. In the final judgment of God, it will not be sufficient to call him
Lord, for one must do the will of God.
The second discourse in Matthew is the commission of the
disciples in Chapter 10. The bulk of the discourse is concerned with preparing
the disciples for the opposition their message will encounter when the full
ramifications of the radical demands of Jesus' proclamation of the
The basic authority Jesus gives the Twelve mirrors the
scope of his own ministry activities - the disciples will be able to cure all
disease, all sickness. Before continuing with the content of the mission,
however, Matthew takes time to list the names of all 12 of the officially
commissioned disciples. Taking seriously this apostolic mission helps us
understand Jesus' limiting instructions in 10:5-6. The disciples are assistants
to Jesus, the messianic shepherd of
Jesus stipulates exactly what the disciples are to
accomplish during their missionary excursion. Not surprisingly, since the
Twelve are to be extensions of Jesus' own mission, he directs them in 10:7-8 to
do exactly the same things he himself had been shown doing in Matthew 8-9.
Completely empowered by his authority, Jesus calls the disciples to do no less
than Jesus did. As Jesus further details the particulars of these commissioned
ones, again the focus is on only the "lost sheep," which Matthew's
text now clarifies as those who are "of
The third discourse in Matthew is a collection of
parables in Chapter 13. The parable in 13:1-9, 18-23 concerning the one who
sows seed suggests that one needs to listen to the word with discernment,
because appearances are deceiving. The final judgment will make clear the
distinction between good and evil. One must listen today with the total
commitment required, because the reign of God is the highest good at which one
can aim. Matthew 18:21-35, the parable of the unforgiving servant, and 20:1-16,
the parable of the vineyard, are parables that invite one to consider that the
reign of God brings mercy and forgiveness. The parables also emphasize the
importance of doing the will of God. The parable contrasting the behavior of
two sons in
The fourth discourse in Matthew concerns church order in
Chapter 18. Matthew views the Christian community as a learning community or as
a community of students taught by Jesus. Jesus is the founder of the church. To
join the movement is to join the community of disciples that he has expressly
called, taught, and authorized. One cannot follow Jesus except by becoming part
of the community he trained to carry out his mission in the world. One element
of that community is its rigorous life. Speech and action are the outward
manifestations of what is in the heart. In the parable of the final judgment,
the sheep do not even know that their actions were serving Jesus. They were
simply bearing fruit, giving expression to the goodness of their character.
Action flows from character, but character is a matter of training in the ways
of righteousness. Although similar to the wisdom tradition, the primary concern
of Matthew in this presentation of the teaching of Jesus is the formation of
the community. However, a second element of the character of the community is
mercy, a quality that lives in tension with that of rigor. He states twice,
based on Hosea 6:6, that God desires mercy and not sacrifice. Matthew is citing
a passage rabbinic Judaism accepted as key after the destruction of the temple.
The teaching of Jesus provides a dramatic new
hermeneutical filter that necessitates a rereading of everything in the Torah
in light of the dominant imperative of mercy. While the Pharisees tie up heavy
burdens, Jesus, in the spirit of wisdom, offered a different reading of Torah:
11:28-30
(NRSV)
28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying
heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest
for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Further, Matthew adds to the
two great commandments: Matthew
Matthew writes of some community guidelines for
discipline and forgiveness:
Matthew
18:15-20 (NRSV)
15 “If another member of the church sins against you, go
and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to
you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to,
take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by
the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to
listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen
even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again,
truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will
be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three
are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
The community does not ignore
sin. This approach would end the rounds of gossip that most churches
experience. The focus is upon repentance and restoration. We also need to
remember that gentiles and tax collectors are the ones to whom Jesus went, and
so this instruction does not mean sunning, but that the person becomes the
object of the missionary efforts of the church. The church also receives
enormous authority in that it has the power to bind and loose. Since Jesus in
the midst of any group of two or three, Matthew is confident that wise
decisions will arise even with this authority. 18:21-35 deals with how many
times one should forgive. The parable of the unforgiving slave in
The fifth discourse of Matthew is sayings against the
Pharisees in Chapter 23. His community has recently experienced expulsion from
the synagogue and is in vigorous debate with rabbinic Judaism, the only form of
Judaism that survived the destruction of the
Is this a Jewish-Christian Gospel or a Gentile-Christian
Gospel? Many scholars conclude that this gospel reflects Jewish-Christian
concerns. Yet, many of the elements of the gospel that do reflect concerns in
the debate with Judaism appear incorporated into a main body of material that
has a larger vision. The recipients of his gospel are Gentiles, while the
anti-pharisaic polemic concerns the
The strategy of the rabbis was to circle the wagons,
establishing strong group boundaries defined in terms of orthopraxy. Matthew
represents an originally Jewish-Christian community that chose to spiritualize
the meaning of the Torah by means of a hermeneutic of love and mercy to create
an inclusive community that reached out to Gentiles. Subsequent history shows
that Matthew was successful in formulating a foundational narrative for Gentile
mission and almost completely unsuccessful in keeping that mission grounded in
Judaism. This division occurred because of Christology, in which he accepted
Jesus as the authoritative teacher of Torah. The destruction of the temple was
the definitive judgment on a corrupt and faithless generation of Jews who had
rejected the Messiah. He creates a conciliatory platform for a pluralistic
church. This hypothesis would explain some of the unresolved tensions in
Matthew, such as the tension between rigor and mercy.
Jesus becomes a model of righteousness that exceeds that
of scribes and Pharisees. His birth is in the power of the Spirit, his baptism
declares his being Son, and the temptation verifies his course of life as that
of Son. Jesus is the obedient Son who obeys the Father. At the end of his life,
he endures insults by people who say more than they know about Jesus. Jesus
does show his obedience to the Father by enduring the suffering of the cross.
Throughout his ministry, Jesus looks with compassion upon the crowds, and that
compassion motivates his behavior and teaching toward them. Far from abrogating
the law, Jesus views mercy, love, and compassion as the hermeneutical keys that
unlock the original intent of the Torah. Matthew also presents the religious
leaders of the day as hypocrites with divided loyalties who seek the approval
of people. They observe the traditions of the elders, while Jesus remains true
to the original intent of God in giving Torah.
The sixth and final discourse concerns last things in
Chapter 24-25.
What is the relationship between eschatology and ethics?
The theology of Matthew is not legalistic. He exhorts toward a better
righteousness is made possible because of the love commandment which he
precedes by the saving act of God. Righteousness involves the conduct expected
of those who live in light of the reign of God. The law and the prophets as
interpreted by Jesus represent the content of that ethic.
Matthew has much material relating to reward and
punishment. The prospect of judgment by God provides a powerful motivation for
the followers of Jesus to behave in certain ways. The present situation in
which good and evil exist side by side will not last forever. One needs to make
decisions upon the values that will last into eternity. If one’s life is a
narrative or story, we are accountable for the story we construct, first to
each other, and then to God.
Matthew encourages reflection upon behavior today in
light of the coming judgment of God. The followers of Jesus are in a situation
of waiting. In the meantime, they are to act with compassion toward those in
need, the standard of judgment God will use at the end of time. The parables
suggest the reign of God is a gracious gift. To enter that rule of God, one
must bear fruits of righteousness, have vigilance, be enterprising, be
compassionate, and be merciful. The future judgment of God will bring the
separation of good and evil. The present confronts us with the ambiguous
situation of discerning the difference between good and evil. The reign of God
is the highest good at which one can aim. The norm of moral living corresponds
to vigilance, mercy, and compassion. The presence of the reign of God in the
ministry of Jesus, and the certainty of future judgment rendered by God, one
must live out the present in light of the reign of God.
Matthew makes most of its ethical contributions through
compiling the Sermon on the Mount. His basic ethical perspective derives from
Mark: the centrality of the reign of God, doing the will of God, and a system
of reward and punishment. The reign of God has drawn near. Mark has 14
references to the reign of God, while Matthew has 50, 32 of which are unique to
him. Matthew includes many of these references in parables, and thus invites
the reader to consider the world from the perspective of the reign of God.
The parables describe a world in which people make
ethical decisions in light of the reign of God. In the moral world they create,
the norm for good and evil is how acts in relationship to the in-breaking rule
of God. A subtle shift occurs in the way Matthew relates an ethical use of
eschatological themes. Matthew settles into the expectation of a protracted
historical period prior to the eschatological consummation. Jesus established a
church built on the confession of Peter. The church has a mission to proclaim
the gospel to the whole world, a project that will take time. Further, his
conviction that the risen Lord is present in and with his church allows Matthew
to settle in for the long haul. Immanuel, God with us, is the theme, in which
he envisions a powerful spiritual presence in the worshipping community. The
gospel ends with the disciples worshipping him. The disciples who witness the
calming of the sea worship him. The context of the reign of God provides a
powerful warrant for ethical behavior.
One question is whether the compromise Matthew seems to
aim toward actually works. His Jesus proclaims the reign of God, while at the
same time demands radical ethical obedience and teaches mercy toward sinners, a
Jesus who commissions the church strictly to teach and obey his commandments
and yet at the same time remains present with the community to enable more
flexible discernments.
In terms of the context for moral reflection, Matthew
offers several possibilities. First, he offers a symbolic world that
experiences the world with the authoritative presence of Christ. Second, the
present age has significance in that the church has a mission to fulfill of
making disciples of all nations. Third, the future judgment of God has its
foundation in works of love and mercy. Fourth, we simply note the bitterness
between Christian community and synagogue, the vigorous debate, and the
difficulty of bringing all this into the context of loving enemies. Fifth, he
envisions a humble and patient Christian community. Sixth, obedience is real
possibility for individuals and for the community.
Luke-Acts carefully connects what God does in Jesus
through the church to the promises made to
Besides writing his gospel, Luke also wrote a brief
history of the early church. Yet, Acts
is hardly just history. It is an
apologetic in that it tries to demonstrate that the Christian mission is now a
violation of Roman law. Theopholus, to
whom the book is addressed, may have been a member of the Roman court who
received such a document and from Luke hoped to get a favorable hearing. Luke wrote the book around 70 AD, given the
familiarity with the conditions in Paul's day, and the prominence of Paul.
There are sources, mostly from histories from local communities, the “we” passages,
and the speeches. However, Luke shaped
this material for content and for his own purposes.
He speaks of the divine plan for salvation of humanity
that is being realized in the activity of Jesus: see
The outline of Luke derives from Mark:
1. John the Baptist setting the stage for Jesus
2. Jesus' baptism, temptation, announcement of his message, and gathering of disciples
3. teaching
and healing in
4. journey
to
5. preaching in the temple, culminating in an eschatological discourse,
6. arrest, trial, and crucifixion
7. discovery of the empty tomb.
Luke then extends this
outline both directions. At the
beginning, he adds a birth narrative and at the end, he adds appearance
stories. He also greatly expands the
narrative of the journey to
There has been a negative attitude toward Luke's theology
among modern interpreters. Some suggest that Luke waters down the theology of
the cross, that it is no longer the "scandal" mentioned by Paul. In Luke, preaching focuses upon repentance
and forgiveness of sin, but he never states that this forgiveness comes through
atonement. Others suggest that salvation is different from Paul, though one
might wonder what is so wrong about that.
Paul's theme of justification ought not to be criterion for judging all
other early Christian writings. Further,
Luke and Paul undoubtedly agree on much more than they diverge. Luke does speak of a suffering Messiah, and
of the Messiah who "must suffer." The question is whether salvation
is realized despite the suffering or through the suffering. He alone calls Jesus “savior” among the
gospel writers. He speaks of forgiveness
of sin and of peace and of life as the effect of the cross.
Some suggest that Luke has a strong anti-Jewish bias in
that Jews are fully responsible for the death of Jesus and the first martyrs.
However, we must balance this view with the fact that many Jews also become
Christians. Luke also appears to have a theology in which the church supplants
We can discern the theology of Luke in the unique way he
presents the kerygma, the structure of the gospel, the geographical
perspective, the historical perspective in which Jesus is placed, the salvation
history presented, the treatment of eschatology, discipleship as a response to
the word of faith, repentance and conversion, and baptism, and the overall
portrait of Jesus. Jesus proclaims the
fact of God's eschatological salvation, the decisive intervention in human history,
proposing to
Luke seems to have a conception of the plan of God that
begins with creation and ends with the final judgment. In between are the
periods of
In his Christology, Luke makes it clear that Jesus, as
the Son is the center of history. The exalted Lord is at the side of the
Father. The Spirit is the continuing gift of the Father to the church. Jesus is
the instrument of the Father, who alone is the source of history of salvation.
Jesus fulfills the role of the suffering servant, and thus accomplishes the
deliverance promised in Isaiah 53.
Luke presents the virginal conception through the power
of the Spirit. This birth inaugurates the age of salvation. The effect is a
reversal of fortune; those exalted by this world God will humble, while those
humbled by this world God will exalt. Those who humble themselves now, God will
exalt. The Spirit guides the ministry of Jesus, and Jesus has a special
relation to the heavenly Father, his resurrection from the dead and his
ascension. Luke calls him Messiah,
derived from Palestinian Judaism. Jesus
was a suffering Messiah, which is unique to Luke. Luke calls him Lord, which we can trace back
to Yahweh in the Hebrew Scriptures. In
this sense, Father and Son receive the same name. This transfer probably took
place in
The Sermon on the Plain is a good a good example of
reversal: the sinner responds to the message, and the self-righteous reject it.
The age of salvation inaugurated in the ministry of Jesus calls for reversal of
behavior and thinking. Jesus has come to call the sinner to repentance. Yet,
Galilean cities rejected this invitation. He even calls the crowds an evil
generation. Jesus also tells stories about those who repented: the parable of
the prodigal son, the Pharisee and Publican, and the thief on the cross. They humble
themselves, trusting the love and forgiveness of God. The result is that God
exalts them.
The Sermon on the Plain has as a central theme of loving
one’s enemies, an implicit criticism of any ethic based solely on reciprocity.
He suggests the reversal fortune in the beatitude and woe section. He urges
disciples to refuse judging each other. True morality has its root in the
heart; from it good and evil flow. Since God is merciful and compassionate,
disciples must extend mercy and compassion.
The narrative that involves the journey to
Luke pays special attention to the company Jesus keeps:
sinners, lepers, women, children, and a tax collector. In doing so, Jesus
exemplifies the reversal fortunes. He also dines with a Pharisee, opening
himself to criticism, but also opening his message to those least likely to
accept it. His example foreshadows the inclusive nature of the church.
In terms of the cross, the suffering and death of Jesus
he views as a necessity of the plan of God, the guilt belonging to Jews, and
the innocence of the Romans. At the same time, we cannot take this too far.
After all, Luke does not portray Pilate, Felix, or Festus as persons of courage
and strength.
The resurrection of Jesus provides vindication for the
ministry of Jesus that his life was in fact lived in obedience to the Father,
and an assurance to the world of future resurrection and judgment. The
resurrection provides assurance of future destiny to individuals. It suggests
the accountability of each individual for the life one lives in light of that
resurrection. In particular, this means living as repentant, converted, and
forgiven people.
His concern is to connect Christ to the historical
process. He sees far-reaching
connections between Christ and the Christian proclamation of Christ. He does this by connecting the story of Jesus
to Roman history, to Palestinian history, and to church history. Luke does have Jesus say to the thief on the
cross, "Today, you shall be with me in paradise." That shows an
interest in salvation, though he does speak of it differently than Mark or
Paul. The call to repentance and
conversion in Luke's gospel and his concern for discipleship suggest he is no
less demanding.
Just as the Spirit anointed Jesus to preach the gospel,
the promise of the Father was that the church would receive the power of the
Spirit to bear witness to what God had done in Jesus. The over-emphasis of some
scholars on the first sermon Jesus gave leads them to put aside the fact that
Jesus did not limit his good news to the poor. He entered the home of wealthy
Zaacheus and did not demand that he give all he had, although he did ask for
fifty percent given to the poor. Jesus also has a wealthy Samaritan assist an
injured Jew on the road to
In any case, the promise of the power of the Spirit to
the church is not just for the disciples. Rather, the Father grants the power
to bear witness to all of those gathered in the upper room, including sons and
daughters, young and old, and slaves, as the prophecy of Joel suggests. Here is
a continuation of the theme of reversal with which Luke begins his gospel.
The church continues the preaching of repentance that
Jesus began. The call continues to reform individual and communal life in the
spirit of Jesus. Peter brings this message to the Jews. Philip brings it to the
Ethiopian, fulfilling the charge to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth.
One wonders if this incident should not have the same stature as that of the
conversion of the centurion through Peter. However, the focus of Luke-Acts on
Acts continues the story of the early church on a
parallel with the story of Jesus in other ways as well. Stephen, the first
martyr, suffers and dies on a pattern with Jesus. Paul resolves to go to
Some have found traces of early Catholicism here. However, though he does trace a church
dotting the
Salvation is extended to the Jew first, and then to
Greek, in this outline. In Luke’s
perspective, this was part of God's plan.
He wants to show the continuity between
Luke envisions a new community, and not simply the
salvation of individuals. The early formation of that community we find in Acts
2:42-47 and
The Apostolic Council in Acts 15 is both the literary and
literal center of the book. Acts 1:8 determines the structure of the book as
witnessing to Christ in
The church transmits the message of salvation to which
the first witnesses bore witness. Although individuals are remote in time, this
transmission of the message in the Christian community brings the individual
and the saving work of God in Christ together. The Spirit is present to guide
that process. The church today always stands in a mediated relationship to the
saving action of God in Christ. However, the church through the gift of the
Spirit stands in a contemporary relationship with Christ. Individuals receive
assurance of salvation, grow in faith, persevere in prayer and sacrament, which
then makes one independent of any particular length of time between present and
end of history. The proclamation of the way is the responsibility of the church.
Humanity then has the responsibility of response. The situation humanity faces
is the prospect of future accountability before God for one’s life. Since
preaching Luke leads to repentance and conversion, one assumes that part of the
theology of Luke is the sinfulness of humanity. Vital Christianity flows out of
this sense of accountability to God and the responsibility of facing issues of
human life in the present. The thinking of Luke about discipleship does not
revolve around either imitating Christ or imitating the apostles, but in
continuing to be disciples, or learners, under the guidance of the Spirit.
Discipleship is the subjective reaction of human beings
to the gospel. The proper response of
the disciple is that of faith,
repentance and conversion, and baptism.
There are demands of the Christian life.
Following Jesus is primary, as is giving testimony and prayer. Right use of material possessions, which was
rooted in Jesus' own teaching and example but expanded by him. Christian community, an organized way of
being the church, a Spirit guided community.
In Luke's view, Christianity is both an international
membership and indefinite in duration.
Luke-Acts can be seen as a charter document for a church taking stock
for the long haul. It shows how to
understand its Jewish roots and how to live in an open-ended present, by
following the teachings of Jesus as modeled by the earliest disciples in Acts,
and by a continual openness to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The mission to
the gentiles was no aberration nor a desperate alternative for the mission to
Luke offers a picture of the origin of Christianity in
The relationship of the church with the Empire has a
confusing cast to it. In one sense, the Jews appear as the trouble-makers in
the community, absolving Roman authorities from any complicity in the
persecution of Christians. On the other hand, the fact that Christianity causes
disturbances may suggest the political and economic implications of the church
became a threat the Empire. In one sense, the ethic of Jesus (love enemies,
turn the other cheek) and the ethic of Paul (live peaceably with all) suggest
that the best way for Christians to get along in an oppressive structure like
that of Rome is to do nothing to draw attention to oneself. On the other hand,
a totalitarian structure like that of
In terms of eschatology, time itself becomes on object of
theological reflection. Luke downplays the nearness of the return of Jesus and
the end of the world. By its nature, if
the anticipation of the end as near is vital and present to believers, one can
hardly think of handing down that anticipation through tradition, which implies
endurance in time. He even takes events interpreted as signs of the end, such
as the destruction of the
The gift of the Spirit replaces eschatology. The Spirit
brings salvation into the present experience of individuals and the community
of believers. The Spirit makes it possible for Christians to continue living in
the world, to endure persecution, and to bear witness. The fact of future
judgment remains real for Luke, and remains important for ethical exhortation.
His presentation of Christ and the Spirit are attempts to supplant the early
Christian conception that the end would occur soon. The Spirit defines the
relationship between Father and Son. The Spirit helps us to see the
individuality of Jesus and to see the positive connection between Christ and
the church. From the point of the view of the church, the work of the Son and
Father are identical, since the church refers both as Lord. The risen Christ
left behind both the Spirit and the remembrance of the word and deed of Jesus.
[1] TDNT refers to such references. It goes on to make a strong difference between the sending in this text and that of the Cynic.