EXPLORING THE NEW TESTAMENT Volume | | A Guide to the | Gospels and Acts David Wenham and Steve Waltontheir present slavery: his death will bring forgiveness of sins (Mart, 26:28; cf. Isa. 40:2 part ofa key passage speaking of the return from the Babylonian exile a a ‘new exodus’, He identifies the bread as symbolizing bis body hich willbe killed, and the eup of wine as symbolizing his blood which willbe shed (1 Cor: T:24F; Luke 22:196), And this is for many (Mark 14:24), likely echoing the langu the servant's seri (Isa, 53:12) again, eof The ‘covenant’ language which Jesus uses echoes Exod. 24:8 and Jer 31:31-34, passages speaking of the Mosaic covenant and God's promise of a new covenant ~ again shoving that Jesus intention in going to die was to bring about a new exodus, a new deliverance But for Jesus the real enemy is not the Romans, but sin andl evil, which are the fundamental causes of hulma imprisonment, Jesus will ‘Ye up the strong man’ who is Satan (Mark 8:27) by engaging him in hanelto-hand ‘combat on the cross. Doing and saying these things in the context ‘of a meal centred on a Passover lamb which had died in place ofthe firstborn of the household (Exod. 12:21-27), the disciples ‘would come to think of Jesus staking the role of the sacrificial lamb, dying so that the people did not have to die. Th implication, taken with the demonstration in the temple, is that it would no longer be through the temple sacrifices that people would approach Yahweh, but through the broken body of Jesus JESUS AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD ‘We now step back into the minisy of Jesus to listen to his teaching, which will add to our sketch of his aims and purpose. There is very wide agreement in scholarship that the kingclom of God is central to Jesus teachin (Matthew normally speaks of ‘the kingdom of heaven’, using heaven’ to avoid speaking the name of God, a common practice among 221) To see how Jesus Jews: ef, Luke used the phrase, we first look at Jewish expectations (GOD'S REIGN IN THE OT AND JUDAISM, Within the OT, although the phrase ‘the kingdom of God’ is not found, two cer themes about Yahweh's kingship recur. First and foremost, Yahweh is king ofthe whole world, an implication of ereational ‘monotheism (Pss 97:1; 991; 95:3; see pp. 27). Thus he rules the world for the good ofits people sin But second, Yahweh is king of particular and rules with the good ofthis nation in mind (Num. 28:21; la. 43:15; see pp. 286). Hence he calls upon Pharaoh to let Israel go because Yahweh alone isthe nation’s true king and the Egyptian king eannot claim to rule the people (note the use of my people’ in Exod. 3:7, 10, 5:1) At the time of Jesus the Jews hala sense of God's rule having been hijacked, for they were not free in their own land, and they looked forward to Seen over the whole earth, God's rule being These two themes come together at the end of the OF period, when Daniel prophesies that a kingdom set up by God will overcome the pagan nations (Dan. 2, esp. w. 3: The creator God will bring the whole of his world under his rule. By the time of Jesus this led to a variety of Future expectations af God's rile among different groups within Judaism, Nevertheless there was a common core of expectation, which had wo major components First, the day will come when 160 ‘Yahweh's rule over the whole world will be lear for allo see (Isa. 45:23; Zech, 14:5 Dan. 7:186), Second that day will inaugurate the ‘age to come’, atime when the world wil be 3s Ged intended. This hope involved the renewal of creation, rather than its removal and replacement (hence Jews at the time of Jesus would have been very unlikely to have spoken ‘of ‘going to heaven), The precise form of this hope vatied among the Jewish groupings. Generally it was seen as atime of great upheaval when the rightoous would be vin- dicated (ether Israel or the righteous within israel) and the unrighteous would be punished by God (ef Dan. 19:1-3). The Pharisees saw it asa time when the law would be fully obeyed The revolutionaries believed that God's rule ‘would be established by military means. The (Qumran sectarians, in common with many ht there would apocalyptic writers, also thou be a battle, but held that God would initiate itand bring it toa suecessful conclusion. Frequently a messianic figure was involved as a key agent in God bringing in the new age { ae ee The ‘kingdom of God’ is sometimes a reain where God reigns ~ especially Israel ~ but also it sums up te fat that God reigns. Some express the second ofthese themes by translating as ‘the kingly rule of God! (see Luke 11:20, where that rendition makes more sense than a ‘realm’ view). The focus in both cases is on Yahweh as the ruler who will be obeyed. Thus in the Lord's prayer your kingdom come’ i parallel o and interpreted by ‘your will be done’ (Matt 6:10): God's rule is seen when he is obeyed. JESUS AND THE KINGDOM Against this backeloth Jesus arrived on the scene announcing, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come neat’ (Mark 1:15; ef, Matt 4:28). Where does his view of God's kingdom fit within Jewish thought The varied expectations that we outlined ahove show the need for Jesus to define his beliefs, so that he would be understood rightly by his contemporaries ~ hence a ‘number of his parables begin, "The kingdom of Godyheaven is ike...” (eg. Matt 18:31 88,4, 45, 47,59). Jesus’ use offlllment language links with his widespread use of OT Seripture asa major source for understanding his own ministry (see pp. 175! and suggests that he saw his ministy as God aeting to bring bout promises made by the prophets, particularly since he then speaks of the kingdom) those concerning God's reign boeing seen overall the world, and the vindication and restoration of Israel, Some of this teaching seems to assume that the kingdom is already present in Jesus" ministry, while elsewhere he teaches that the Kingdom is yet to come, We shall examine these two aspects to his message before analysing scholy debate on this varie Got reign in Joss ministry A number of sayings, actions and parables point co Jesus’ belief that God's reign was active in his ministry. Follow these passages ina Bible as we study them, Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20 In response to the ‘claim dhat he casts out demons by demonic power (by Beelzebul’, Jesus speaks of his ‘exorcism as demonstrating that ‘the king: dom of God has come upon you" (f. Jesus claim that his exorcisms show that he is the 161