N.T. Wright on Jesus

"My proposal is that Jesus took his own story seriously- so seriously that, having recommended to his followers a particular way of being Israel-for-the-sake-of-the-world, he made that way thematic for his own sense of vocation, his own belief about how the kingdom would come through his own work. He would turn the other cheek; he would go the second mile; he would take up cross. He would be the light of the world, the salt of the earth. He would be Israel for the sake of the world. He would defeat evil once and for all. But the way in which we would defeat evil would be the way consistent with the deeply subversive nature of his own kingdom-announcement. He would defeat evil by letting it do its worst to him."
-N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, 564-65.

Wright on Mark 13

"Most popular Christian readings of the text, not least within fundamentalism, have shared Schweitzer's understanding that Jesus predicted the end of the world, but have said that, since this did not happen within a generation, Jesus must have meant something different by 'this generation'. Here we have the solution to the problem of the timing of the kingdom, which of course is also raised by such verses as Matthew 10.23 and Mark 9.1. Already present in Jesus' ministry, and climatically inaugurated in his death and resurrection, the divine kingdom will be manifest within a generation, when Jesus and his followers are vindicated in and though the destruction of Jerusalem. The generation that rejects Jesus must be the last before the great cataclysm. There can be no other, because if there were they would need another warning prophet; once the father has sent the son to the vineyard, he can send nobody else. To reject the son is to reject the last chance. "

N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, 365.

St. Patrick's Day

Here's an exert from the prayer of St. Patrick... somehow it neglects to mention any snakes or dyed-green light beer.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me.

Wright on Luke 24

"The first meal mentioned in the Bible is the moment when Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. The direct result is new and unwelcome knowledge: 'the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked'. Now this other couple, Cleopas and his companion (most likely his wife, one of the many Marys in the gospel story), are at table, and are confronted with new and deeply welcome knowledge: 'their eyes were opened, and they recognized him'. This, Luke is saying, is the ultimate redemption; this is the meal which signifies that the long exile of the human race, not just of Israel, is over at last. This is the start of the new creation. This is why 'repentance and forgiveness of sins are to announced to all nations' (24.47)."

-N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, 653.

Wright on Matthew 28:18-20

"The final promise, that Jesus will be with his people 'until the close of the age", belongs closely within the 'two-age' stream of Pharisaic/rabbinic Judaism, and also of early Christianity, particularly Paul. The point here is that the 'age to come' has now been launched with Jesus' resurrection, and that the risen Jesus represents and embodies this new age, and hence becomes the human bridge between it and the present one. His promise to be 'with you always' is thus at the same time the fulfillment of the Emmanuel promise, and with it of YHWH's promise to be with even a small group of worshippers as though they were actually in the Temple itself. It is also the sign that in him the eschaton has come to birth, so that his people are guaranteed safe passage through the present age and into the long-awaited age to come."

-N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, 645.

G.K. Beale on Christ and the Church as the True Temple

"To see Christ and the church as the true end-time temple is neither an allegorical spiritualization of the Old Testament temple nor of prophecies of an eschatological temple, but is an identification of the temple's real meaning. While it is true that Christ fulfills what the temple stands for, it is better to say 'Christ is the meaning for which the temple existed' (Clowney 1972:177). This is well expressed by Jesus himself when he says 'something greater than the temple is here.' (Matt. 12:6)"

- G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church's Mission 374-375.

Beale on Jesus as the New Temple

"This discussion of Jesus as the beginning of the new temple in replacement of the old in Matthew 21 may also be the best context within which to understand Matthew 27:40, where, in virtual repetition of 26:21, those mocking Jesus say, 'you who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross' (See parallels in Mark 14:58 and 15:29). Then, after Jesus 'yielded up his spirit' on the cross, Matthew discloses that 'the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split, and the tombs opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised' (Matthew 27:50-52."
Irony is neatly woven throughout this passage. Jesus is mocked because he said that he would tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days, and at virtually the same time Matthew tells us that Jesus actually was in the process of destroying the temple when he died.... Christ was recreating the temple in himself so that it would finally fulfil its world-encompassing purpose."

-G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church's Mission

Keller on Material Salvation

"Christianity... is perhaps the most materialistic of the world's faiths. Jesus's miracles were not so much violations of the natural order, but a restoration of the natural order. God did not create a world with blindness, leprosy, hunger, and death in it. Jesus's miracles were signs that someday all these corruptions of his creation would be abolished. Christians therefore can talk of saving the soul and of building social systems that deliver safe streets and warm homes in the same sentence. With integrity."

-The Prodigal God (112)

The Resurrection of the Son of God

Yesterday I bought this book. So far I have only read most of chapter one, but it has been baller. I especially liked the following quote.

"George Caird once pointed out, when a speaker declares 'I'm mad about my flat' it helps to know whether they are American ( in which case they are angry about their puncture) or British (in which case they are enthusiastic about their living quarters). (9)

Understanding the cultural context is not just for missiologists folks. In this area Wright seems to know what's up.