Albert Nolan JESUS BEFORE CHRISTIANITY i ———— Twenty fifth Anniversary Edition Maryknoll, New York 10545 Chapter 6 THE “KINGDOM” oF Gop ‘There ar certain pasages from Isiah which Jesus probably seo explain his work of berating the poor and the oppressed (Lk 416-21; 722 pa, Mé 167-8). Te seems that Lake foond in his soures a sory about Jesus reading Isaiah inthe synagogue atNazareth He tok history and, inserting one ofthe stages from Isiah which describe Jess’ actvy so spy, Lake placed it atthe beginning of Tess ministry as a kind of programmatic text (Lk 416-21), Even if Jesus didnot actually fea thi ext nd eamment oni nthe smagogue, Luke's astessment af the importance ofthese passages for understanding Jesus’ pri is surely coret. “Three pastages from Isiah shouldbe noticed: wil Bea the words of took nd, alter shadow and darkness the eyes of the Bind wl se. But the lowly wll eoie in God even moce tnd the poorest exult inthe Holy One of Ise (2918-19) “Then the eyes of the lind shal be opened, the eas of the deaf unsealed, s56 coon news ‘hen the lame sal ep ike a deer and the tongues ofthe dmb sing fr jo. 655-6) “The spirit ofthe Lord has boem given to me, {or he has anointed me He has sent me to bring good news tothe poor, to heal the olen heared to prota erty to capes, {teed ta thee bx prison {orto procsim new sight to the Blind, test the downrondden fre] ‘to proclaim the Lord's year of favor cor) ‘The deaf, dumb, blind, ame, poo, broken-hearted captives and downtrodden ae simpy diferent ways of referring tothe oor and the oppressed. I follows that the verbs in each ofthese Sentences are simply eiferent wayn of describing the action ‘which Gnd promise in elation tothe poor and the oppressed. “Thus healing, restoring sight and hearing, bringing je, sting fie, proclaiming ibery of fator and bringing good news are sitferent ways of deserbing lheradon tis particulary signif ‘ant that proclaiming or Bringing good news has been under- Stood as a form of liberation. Jesus” preaching must be Understood i this light. It was part of his liberating activity oF Prax. To cranglize of bring god news tothe poor means to Tterate them with the spoken word Tish and Tess himtelf made use ofthe verb “evangelize” (cuagglionu Is 409; 32:7; 61:1; Lk 7.22 pat. Twas the early ‘Cinsans who fist used the noun "gospe” oF “good news” (cuoggton: eg. Mc 11,14)! as away of referring tothe content ‘or message which Jesus proclimed to the poor and the op- prested. We call something “news” when it tell of a new ‘vent an event which has taken place recent ran event Which ‘we can now fel sre wil ake place in the near fare. We say it is "good news" when the news is hopeful and encourasing, when. it tends to make people happy. Good news fr the poor would then mean news that is hopeful and encouraging to the poor. ‘He -voDOM" oF GoD 57 “The gospel or good news which Jesus brought tothe poor and the oppressed as prophesy. He prophesied a future event ‘which would be ablsting to the poor. This event was not merely ‘he coming of God's “kingdom but the coming of Goss "ing- ‘tom’ forthe poor and the oppresed. "Yours is dhe Kingdom of God” (Lk 620, ‘Tess’ Basle prophecy is contained in thse passages of the sowpe which we cll the Beatitudes Ilewed ae the poor hocatse yours isthe kingdom of Ged. ‘Blossed ave you who are hungry now boeause you shall be stised Bowed are you who weep now cause you shall aug (Lk 620-21 It is Lake who has preserved for us the more egal form ‘ofthe prophecy. Here it stl addressed to Jesus contempo- Tari you who age poor, hungry and mserabe. Matthew has Adapted the prophecy tothe needs of his readers who were not in fact poor, hungry and miserable. He has extended the bless- ings and promises fo anyone who is por at Rear or one in spt with the poor, anyone who hungers and thir for justice, any- ‘ne ho imitates the meeknesso lowlines of the poor, anyone ‘who sal sad and depressed, anyone who is persecuted fr his faith in Jesus, in fac anyone who i tly virtuous (51-12). “Matthew has fumed s prophecy into an exhortation, reat hopes forthe future were awakened in the poor by Jesus" ety even eater hopes must have been awakened by his prophetic words But these hopes had originally nothing ‘whatsoever fo do wth Reaven at least not a8 place Of Rape pines and rewards inthe after life. Heaven in the time of Jess ‘asa synonym for God The “kingdom” of heaven means the “ingdom” of God. Having rewards or treasures in heaven means being in the god books of God. Literally heaven was the ‘ky, the place where God and all oter spirits vel. There was na thought of people going up into heaven after death All dead ‘people gp into shea .e, the underword oF the grave. Even ‘hose who believed in rewards and punishments inthe afterlife58 00D news Chfoe he general sure pcre ths somethig at ‘opened nto diferent cepartnents of san The ea ‘te inthe boom of Aba i te, ada eat cha SSpnted them fom the wks, who wee ane peo shot ompare Lx 168-25) Tae Catan beet even rite ser the death of Sees withthe en tht he a ‘en en up nt bese or oxide re hand of Goa But the gond ews of he “Linon! of God wat nos obo afte sate alas o cod wen the poor wold no ng Beton the hung woud be sad and tc oprese wel tongs be mea To) "Ty ago come the sane {Ssayng “Thy wil be done onan kin heme a0 ve) any Chriss hav Been miedo cents abou he sutte Gas "Ragan he mel tc met UL IT2t The gd of Gd non Tole al sos ‘hola and anton ape that het sold eat Te {ingaom ofGod amar yo or yo mia” The Gres nord ‘nay eu ean "ni “among i inte presen comet ‘cane whi” wod ete tha i anche Pars cv question tu when th “non” of Gd sou ae (17.20 en tla them ta te “ng Gd way a Yom Tht wuld contact Sromng he Jens Ser ad About he "ingdo r abo he Phutaes. Moree see fxer) ater relerence tthe “enon presupposes it 8 {eto cme and sce the verb in ery oe nei th Passage (112-3) fein the tre tone ths vee at be odestond to mean that on 6 they wlan that fe “kn ‘amo Go suddenly snd aexpevey in he Th "hngdn” of Gs. ke sy her Unga, conc be ih a penon: iti somthing awh Spero can iv Somewbee inthe tackgound behind Tse tn othe ete ‘nado ot Gd there poral mage. He sped pos nlecnteringer aot cheing th “kingoon" (e971 28.2438 pare Me Sy al ty Seda 3 Ty an i dom nd ext and ink n te 1835, Mt BT {2pars Le 2230). The Anglo” ardor or agate M71, T4FL4 1320 on with on san koe (ME 278 par 2610-13 pa ao bas hes (a To, Le 180) ad an be eked ‘THE aNeDoM" oF GoD 59 (M2313, Lk 13:25). The pictorial image behind this is obviously ‘hat of @ house oF a wale city? “Tis is further conimed by the fat thatthe “kingdom of Satan, which opposed tothe “kingdom” of God, is explicitly referred to a6 4 house and a 9 iy “Howe cam Satan east out Satan? If kingdom is divided agaist isl, hat angdom cannot stand. And ia howe is “vided agaist ts, that howe wil not be able to stand.” (Hk 325"25 RSV) But ao one cam make his way into a strong man’s house and burg is propery... (Mk 3:27) “Every kingdom divided against itself said waste, and no iy or house divided against itself wil stand” (MU 12:25 RSV) ‘The most common figure in the parables is the houscholder. ‘Who features in soven diferent parables An in ao lee than six parables what takes place in the hous isa festive meal “There is als a parallel berween the “kingdom” and the tem le? The temple which Jesus wil buildin thee dys (4, 000) {sot a temple but with human hands (Mi 14:58), a new ‘community. The discovery ofthe Dead Sea Scroll has reveled ‘hat the community of Qumran saw self 3s a new temple, @ now house of God This must surely also be the meaning of ‘esus' prophetic promise to build & new temple “The fact that hs way of speaking about the “Riagdon” based upon a pictorial image of house, ety or a commity leaves no doubt about what he had in mind potcllyetuce tured society of people here om cart. A kingdom is thor. oughly politcal notion. Te isa society in which the political Strtur is monarchial, that ir say, it ruled and governed tyra king. Nothing that Jesus eer said would lead one to think ‘hat he might have used this tem in non-political seas. “The much quoted text, "My kingdom is not ofthis work” in 18:36) doesnot mean thatthe “kingdom” snot, or wll not be, ‘inthis world or on ths earth. The phrases Johannine and mst60 cooonews be understood in tems of John’s use of words. In John 17:11, 16, when Jesus and his disciples are suid to be in the world but not ofthe word, the meaning is clear enough, Although they ive inthe world they are not worldly, they co mot subseibe io the present values and standards ofthe world If inthe sre gospel it abo said that he "kingdom" snot of thi world we ‘must interpre it inthe same way. The values ofthe "kingdom tre diferent fom, and opponed to, the vce of this weld ‘There is no reason for thinking that it means the “kingdom” will oat inthe at somewhere above the earth o that twill be {mn abstrac entity without any tangibe socal and pics “That iti spoken of st God's “kingdom” doce not make it ny the less political, it merely opposes i othe human “King dom’ or better sil he “kingdom” of Satan, ’As Jesus understood Satan ruled the wold It was a per ‘verse and snfl generation (M838 pare 9:19 parr; Mit 1259— 4 par, 2833-36 and compare Act 20), a world in which evil ‘igned supreme. This was evident not only inthe sufleings of ‘he poor and the oppressed and in the power which evil spits Ina over thems was alo evident nthe hypocrisy, earlssness and blindness ofthe religous leaders the Srbes ane the Phat= ‘es) and in the meres svarice and oppresion ofthe ruling slases. This was tue not ony ofthe society in which Jesu lived, ‘twas true ofall the kingdoms of the wold al the principalities tnd powers. They were alin the hands of Sata, who gave them ‘ver to humans to rule, provided they worshiped and obeyed Satan (Mt 8-10 pa). They worshipped Stan by ruling in such 2 ay that they served the purposes of ev. Satan is a spirit who rules indrety and invisibly. Casa, Herod, Caiaphas, the chit rests, elders seribes and leading Pharzecs wore Satan's pup- ‘ets. Jesus condemned al the political and social structures of the world as it was in his dsj. They were all evil. They all belonged to Satan, ‘When God's “kingdom” comes, God wil repce Sata. God wil rule oer the whole common of humankind and confer the “kingdor or ring power upon those who wil ere Goes purposes in society, All ev willbe eliminated and people ‘vl be’ filed with the Spirit of Go, ‘HE“KNGDOW" OF GoD 61 “The difference is between a community of hums Which etl reigns supreme and a community of humankind in Which goodness reigns supreme. It isa question of power and {he strbctures of power. There maybe many good people inthe ‘word now, but ei sil has the Upper hand, Satan i sll in ove “esis saw his berating activity a8 kind of power strugle with Satan a warfare aginst the power of ev nal ts shapes and forms. Fis healing activity was a kind of bursary of the house or "ikngtom” of Satan (Mk 3:27 par). This was possible because something stronger than Satan was at work In the last analy goodnest is more powerful than ev Jesus Was con- ‘ined thatthe “kingdom” of God would eventually triumph ‘over the “kingdom” of Satan and replace that "kingdom here on earth ‘What then of John's and Jesu’ prophecy of an unprece- dented catastrophe? Did Jesu expect the “kingdom” of God 10 Some ah th et eto o tad of the aap, fa hopeful aleratve ‘We need to understand more about what this “Kingdon” ‘ental before we can venture am aniwer to this question. The ‘ceutof the matters the canrete practical meaning of good and evil The measure of Jesus insight & the measure of his under- Standing ofthe structures of ein society and his understanding ‘ofthe values which would structure the “kingdom” of Go. How do the values ofthe "kingdom of God fer from the valves ‘ofthe “kingdom” of Satan?Chapter 16 ‘THE ROLE OF SUFFERING AND DEATH. ‘The Jews had hada long tradition of persecution and suffer- ing, Theoretically the righteous person always suffered on account of his or he righteousness and every faithful Jew was ‘ling to di rather than disobey the law. In Macrabean tines (ovo centuries before Jesus) many young Jews suffered and died ‘armaris forthe lav. When the Romans fst took the Temple in 63 et the priests died at thei posts, earying onthe routine ‘of sare rather than running for their ives! The Zealot, in “Jesus time, were wing to endure any amount of torture rather than all Caesar thei lord and thoasands of them were crucified by the Romans? On Masada in 73 c they commited suicide rather than submit o a Gentle euler "The prophets on te other hand had been persecuted by Jew inh lenders Jerusalem for ther ertcsm of nrael. By tbe time ‘of Jesus the figure ofthe prophet was being merged with that ‘of the martyr, and legends had arisen about the sufferings and ‘martyrdom of almost every prophet (Me 23:29-37 pa Acts Bead ‘eathin such cizcunstances was widely regarded as an tone- ‘ment for infor one's own sins and for the sins of others. The ‘uly Christiane dd not invent the idea of martyrdom nor the ‘den of am atoning snd redemptive death; it vas par of their Jewish heritage." Tut what was Jesus” attitude to suffering and death? 137138° conrnowrarton Like the righteous, ne and his disciples would have to expect persecution. Like the Zealots, they would have tobe willing fake up their oss and be eruiied (MK 8:34 par). Like the ‘prophets. they would bave to reckon with martyrdom. But there ‘asmore to itthan that Jesus hada new teaching and, in terms ‘tthat new teaching, suffering and death were closely asccited with the coming of the “king.” Blesed are the pooe Bleed are those who are persecuted theirs the kingdom of beaven. ‘Blesed are you when people insult you and persecute you fod speak al inde of calumny against yous. for the Same wey they perected the prophets before yeu. (Mf 53, 10-12") ‘The Dlenng crip intended for te poor andthe oppose bt ls and hin dcpln, sre o ee oma RErSpd etary withthe Sowtroaen, eta came te erected and efted hemsches norton henge {Grn win he pour and the oppressed ne woul hve 0 Be {pa one's posesong, be hing teste ome a fmiy Raucci hope of prestige, obi etcm and retest Inter words ones doy onset (ME B34 pr) ane be sling ler "There prado her, the pada of compasion, The one shiny tat Seto we detemined to etoy wes sling the Sens ofthe poor andthe oped, he uerigs ofthe SUL th sterag tar wold conc tte xtatopbe ners sons hacthe ony my to desu stag Be oy ll “Tyas dur he eomeuensn Only the ings ‘o'sucr can sonuersucing the world? Compassion “sys fering stein wh ad on blo se no Ser’ A jay wi the por that ning to share hit “Stone neta be'a wees emotion, One cont share the ‘sag of te por unl ne ling shat ht ster "But Jesus went ch further than thst. Deaths paradox iach he me mya safrng. Thre le aout ie {ME ROLE OF SUFFERING AND DEATH 139 snd death which occurs inal the teins in several paces in ‘he gospels and ina variety of forms (Mx 8:35 parr Mt 109; [ie 142; Jn 12:28). I, without doubt, based pon the word of Jesus himsel*A careful comparison of each of the ters ena- bles one to conclude that the orginal dale or paradox must Inve Deen simply this: Amone who saves hit or her if wl ese 1 anyone who loses her rhs fe willows Ove must remember ‘har is meant to be 2 dale. To qualify i in such a way that it refers to losing one's life in this word to save it inthe next. ‘orld eto cease to treat tas a riddle” Whit then does mean? "To save one's life means to bold onto it, to lve it and be ‘ached to st and therefore to feat dent, To lose one "let gp oft tobe detached from it and therefore tobe willing 'o de. The paradon it thatthe peron who fears eth i arendy ead’ whereas the person who has ceased to fear death has at ‘thatmmoment begun ‘olive. Af that is genuine and worthwhile is ony posible ance one i wing to de. ‘We are let withthe question of what one shouldbe prepared to die for. The Maceabean martyrs died forthe aw; the Zealots ied to defend the sovereignty of srael’s Gods eter people have ‘nen wiling to defor ether causes. Jesus dd ot die fora cause, [As he understood i one shouldbe willing 1 give up one's lf for erally the same reason as one gives up possessions, prestige, amy and power, namely for others. Compassion and love com pl people to do everything for others. But the person who says oor she lies for others but i ot wiling to suffer and die for them iar and is dead. Jesus was fly alive Because he was vilingt suffer and die not fora cause but for people. The willingness to dle for others should be further qualified Ieinot a wilingnes to defor someone or for some peoples it ‘sa willingness to die forall people. The wilingness to die for ‘ome people would be an expression of group solidarity, The ‘wilingnes tdi for humankind is an expression of universal lay. Jesus wilingness to die fo all people is therefore a sence Justa everything ese in his if 8 seve, a service rendered to all people” “For the som of man di not come to be served but ta seve and to offer his life asa ransom for many” (Mk 10:45*)-Arashom i gen to redeem or berte others, Tooter140 comnowranon one's le ransom a be wilting no tach might the “Poe many" Heenan Ane ees sch eel ter eene eran ie Eleoces Sau peared te orn oi ood or ay” 102 Maen : So ar ne have cased ot Jem ingest de we have not yet cosierd ist exh ay enough fo neta wi teat be ing for hana Sevunder wit ctw weldon say er aman Xin Are tee exons in Sch one od sme he ‘tery jing fr than by conning fT fo Teo mo fave teen tare of he danger oes of wat he es Clg and sping, Heed td enced J te Spt set nowrmored athe we a sees Joa co (UE 1391, Ater toe neat ne Temple en ie wasn sun dampen ff tga ee ing ta tie hate ded ogo lrmalem 1 dk 831 a sais 3a). Wye Tut seams wife been faced withthe strates of ceening bg os dent or oming ot of ng 0 ther cet Te fone hosand es oer wih eer {le does ated him osm oto ng oe Me Sth han by sme tes Spey f power at co gue rppone nels Bit a wagon wah ot es wee a they had aves Bet, 1 inthe "tnglom” He col ot os very ies ayy ean nn at cao oF Ng trie pea ke weld scone or ltr cng tn “ined Sncs hi eth tld Reome 9 way af ava ‘nig i i the “tng” eset which thot hs ie Jens ad rendered a ch eke pon tne an hi lr and wich he ed {> vende owes and Phares andes he, west ‘Soo of kein fata “ngs” Per a ther ‘Syst setng ron fm i tli sd he cao ne Tore wn no oter way of ean he “ga 0 Sle naead of the etstope. Bt eta peverte fom Cling th, prevented rm preaching or wang ath nord Sd Sed oat ws be? THE ROLE OF SUFFERING AND DEATH! 141 He was not wing to compromise by accepting the Messch- Ship and resorting to vieleace nor wat he willing to tailor his ‘words to suit the autbortes (tat not already to late for that). The only alternative was to de. In these cumstances ‘death was the only way ofcotining o sere humankind: the ‘only way of speaking to the world (In 7:4, the only way of witnessing tothe “kingdom.” Deeds speak louder than words bt death speaks louder than deeds Jess ded sothat the “king. im” might come" All the gospels consistently portay Senos as aman who went to is death knowingly and wilingly The word and expresions which they use, especially in the socalled “pasion predic ‘ions* may indeed come from later reflection after his death, bout the base fact that he did go knowingly and willingly is beyond dow. Tis alo significant that these “predictions” occur during the etod of withdrawal and hing, tha the frst “prediction” is © response to Peters decaration that Jesus was the Messiah (Mk ‘829-33 pare) and that each of the tree main “prediction” is ‘followed by instructions about self-denial, the wilingnes tod, being servant and taking the ast pace (ace MK 834-37, 931 37; 1033-48 par). ‘The evidence does not allow us to desde to what extent Jesus foresaw the detailed circumstances of his death. Would his di. ciples be arrested or he alone? Several authors heve maintained that Jesus spoke as if he expected (ora least dd not exclude ‘the possibly) that he and his disciples would be crecuted together. Would he be stoned or erutled that tos, would lie be executed by the Sanhedia or by Pate? Would they arrest him during the festival or after i? Would he have much of sn opportunity to preach inthe Temple before they caught hin? Perhaps he Gi foresee some of thee details He certainly sccm to have suspected that Judas would inform om hi. But in none of these cases sit necessary for us to resort to explar nations based upon divine frelmowledge or specal revelations shout future evens. The parables alone would suffice to show us what a clear insight Jesus had into the motives of people and ow wel he could predict what they were likey 10 do and sy. remains for us to consider whether Jesus foresaw his Ye142 coxrmowranon urreton or net. Some of the “pasion predictions” conclude witha resurrection prediction” “and after three days the son fof man wll rise agin” (Ml 851 pare 9:31 par, 10:34 parr; see bo Mi 93), That Tess should have sid this not impose “Aer three days” x 2 Hebrew and Aramaic way of sing ‘soon of “not long afterwards." Most Tews at the time beloved in the resurrection of the dead the last day, and af all Jews the martyrs were most assured of ring oa that €ay. ‘Tesus could not have pred that he would ise before the Jest day, otherwise al the confusion, doubt and surprise when ‘he did re would make to sense at all In other word all hat this “prediction” could mean s that Jesus as kind of prophet ‘arte expected to rise again on the last day and thatthe lst ay would come soon "This interpretation spot incompatible with Fey’ btifs and concerns ut itis certainly iretevant eo all that he had been tying to do and soy i his time. He probebly did agre with the Phasces against the Sadducees about the resurrection, the gospels tellus (Me 1218-27) But iis surely signiiane what Sutsde of these “sesutection predictions” the oaly tine Jesus ‘ven mentions the reirrecton in answer 9 the Sadie ‘question about the resurtection "He never rises the mater of Ts own accord, I isnot an integral part of what he wanted £9 ‘iy to Isao at that time ain tose ereumstances, Why would fe talk about resurrection when people are suffering and a ‘itastophe ie iuminent and there i every hope that the “Hinge ‘dm of God might come on earth within afew years? We may therefore wonder whether Jesus did infact make any "rest rection predictions.” This not to say that Jesus di mot believe in the resurrec- ion He 90 doube beloved ini along with many other things ‘hat the Jews of his tie belcved in just asthe prophets no ‘dul believed in many things which were no immediately re ‘xan! to their message tothe people of ther tine. For Jest, in I time, esurection, lke the paving of taxes to Caesar or the series inthe Temple, was simpy not the iste. "The situation after desu desth was completely diferent, ‘Then, as we shall ee, resurection became the cena sue