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.

Davidic and Solomonic Parallels in Jesus' Ministry

"Challenged about his activity, Jesus responded with a parallel: when David was roaming the country with his group of followers, he had the right as the anointed (but not yet enthroned) king to override the normal code of practice. The parallel makes sense only if Jesus somehow believed himself to be in an analogous situation. He had anointed by YHWH in John's baptism; those hunting him were cast in the role of Saul and his men. The fact that the messianic implication is not drawn out more explicitly by the evangelists (who have no inhibitions about the idea) speaks strongly in its favour - as well as suggesting that the concluding phrase, ' the son of man is lord of the sabbath', may also be intended to carry cryptic messianic meaning.

The second saying compares Jesus and Solomon. The setting is an announcement of judgment on Jesus' contemporaries, comparing them unfavourably with characters from biblical history. The men of Nineveh will denounce this generation, because they repented at Jonah's preaching, and something greater than Jonah is here; the Queen of the South will denounce this generation, because she came from far off to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and something greater than Solomon is here. Solomon, the temple builder, is an obvious messianic model. To claim that Jesus is greater than him is to claim that he is the true Messiah; that he will build the eschatological Temple; that through him the Davidic kingdom will be restored. The context also suggests that this Messiah will be the one to whom the nations will come and bow in obedience: through his kingdom the prophecies of messianic worldwide restoration will be fulfilled."

-N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, 535.

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.

Wright on Salvation and Exile

"From the point of view of a first-century Jew, 'forgiveness of sins' could never simply by a private blessing, though to be sure it was that as well, as Qumran amply testifies. Overarching the situation of the individual was the state of the nation as a whole; and, as long as Israel remained under the rule of the pagans, as long as Torah was not observed perfectly, as long as the Temple was not properly restored, so Israel longed for 'forgiveness of sins' as the great, unrepeatable, eschatological and national blessing promised by her god. In the light of this, the meaning which Mark and Luke both give to John's baptism ought to be clear. It was 'for the forgiveness of sins', in other words, to bring about the redemption for which Israel was longing."

-N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, 271.

Wright on Colossians 1

The small house church I am apart of here is working through the book of Colossians (which I might add, was originally written to a small group of Christians not far from here, 2000 years ago) and this Friday it is my turn to teach. Whenever I have the opportunity to teach from the scriptures I always try to spend most of my time studying the actual source material. But after I think I have an idea of what the text is saying consulting commentaries can be really helpful. For Colossians, I especially love Peter O'Brien and N. T. Wright's commentaries (both are older than I am, but have stood the test of time!).

Here's a great application point from Colossians 1 from Wright's.

"The task... is therefore best understood as the proclamation that Jesus is already Lord, that in him God's new creation has broken into history, and that all people are therefore summoned to submit to him in love, worship and obedience. The logic of this message requires that those who announce it should be seeking to bring Christ's Lordships to bear on every area of human and worldly existence. Christians must work to help create conditions in which human beings, and the whole created world, can live as God always intended. There is a whole range of ethical norms which God built into his world: a respect for persons and property, maintenance of family life and of the ecological order of creation, justice between individuals and groups. Christians must be in the forefront of those working to promote such causes. Many opportunities to speak about Jesus will occur in the undertaking of such work, as it becomes clear that the gospel provides a coherent and satisfying underpinning for those standards which uphold and enhance a truly human life."

-N.T. Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 83-84.

Wright on the Prodigal Son

"Years of scholarship have produced many commentaries on Luke, and many books on the parables. But none that I have been able to consult has noted the feature which seems to me most striking and obvious. Consider: here is a son who goes off in disgrace into a far country and then comes back, only to find the welcome challenge by another son who has stayed put. The overtones are so strong that we surely cannot ignore them. This is the story of Israel, in particular of exile and restoration. It corresponds more or less exactly to the narrative grammar which underlies the exilic prophets, and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and a good deal of subsequent Jewish literature, and which must therefore be seen as formative for second-Temple Judaism. The exodus itself is the ultimate backdrop: Israel goes off into a pagan country, becomes a slave, and then is brought back to her own land. But exile and restoration is the main theme. This is what the parable is about."

"Exile and restoration: this is the central drama that Israel believed herself to be acting out. And the story of the prodigal says, quite simply: this hope is now being fulfilled - but it does not look like what was expected. Israel went into exile because of her own folly and disobedience, and is now returning simply because of the fantastically generous, indeed prodigal, love of her god. But this is a highly subversive retelling. The real return from exile, including the real resurrection from the dead, is taking place, in an extremely paradoxical fashion, in Jesus' own ministry... Israel's history is turning it's long-awaited corner; this is happening within the ministry of Jesus himself; and those who oppose it are the enemies of the true people of god."

N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, 126, 127.

Wright on Parallelisms in Luke and Acts

"The shape of the narrative in the closing chapters of Acts is also most instructive. A quick comparison with Luke's gospel reveals a close parallel: Paul, like Jesus, goes on a long journey, ending up being tried before both Jews and Romans. The equivalent of the crucifixion, however, is not Paul's own death. Luke has no intention of making Paul a second redeemer, dying for the sins of the world. The crucifixion narrative in the gospel is echoed by the storm and shipwreck in Acts; the resurrection, by the safe arrival of Paul and his party in Rome, leading to the open and unhindered proclamation of the kingdom of Israel's god, the god now revealed in the risen Lord Jesus. The gospel of Jesus advances by the same means as Jesus himself had done; the cross and resurrection are stamped upon the life of the church that bears witness to them. But the work of the church derives from that of Jesus, and is not merely parallel to it."
-N.T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, 375.

Wright on New Creation

"the Jews who believed in resurrection did so as one part of a larger belief in the renewal of the whole created order. Resurrection would be, in one and the same moment, the reaffirmation of the covenant and the reaffirmation of creation... Creational/covenantal monotheism, taken together with the tension between election and exile, demands resurrection and a new world. That is why some of the prophets used gorgeous mythical language to describe what would happen: lions and lambs lying down together, trees bearing fruit every month, Jerusalem becoming like a new Eden. This, too, was simply the outworking, in poetic symbol, of the basic belief that the creator of the universe was Israel's god, and vice versa. When he acted, there would be a great celebration. All creation, in principle, would join in."

N.T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, p. 332.

Worldview and Symbols

"All cultures (that is) have a sense of identity, of environment, of a problem with the way the world is, and a way forward - a redemptive eschatology, to be more precise- which will, or may, lead out of that problem... the stories that express the worldview, and the answers which it provides to the questions of identity, environment, evil and eschatology, are expressed (as we saw in the previous chapter) in cultural symbols. These can be both artifacts and events - festivals, family gatherings and the like. In modern North America the New York victory parade after a successful way war brings together two of the most powerful symbols of the culture: the towering skyscrapers of business-orientated Manhattan, and the heroes of battle. Both in their own fashion, demonstrate, promote and celebrate The American Way. In first-century Palestine, celebrating the Passover functioned similarly, with Jerusalem and the Temple taking the place of Manhattan, and the Passover sacrifice and meal taking the place of the victory parade. The buildings. instead of speaking of economic/ethnic goals, spoke of religious/ethnic ones; instead of the celebration speaking of triumph achieved over the forces of darkness, it spoke of vindication yet to come."

-N.T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, 123-4.

Sojournings: 1 Peter 1:1-2

Today is my last day in America... at least for some time anyway. Although I am enthusiastically looking forward to life in Istanbul, there are a lot of conflicting emotions stirring around in my soul. Dozens of close relationships will be dramatically altered by the distance and all the comforts of routine and familiarity which I cherish so much are already evaporating. Coupled with the stress of moving and the uncertainties of a new culture, it is enough to overwhelm all excitement with anxiety.

In the midst of this emotional dissension 1 Peter 1:1-2 has been an encouragement.

1. Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 accoding to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May Grace and Peace be multiplied to you.

Peter is writing to the "elect exiles"; other translations say "temporary residents" or "sojourners". Peter is reminding his readers that wherever they may live, their citizenship is in the kingdom of God, and until this reality is fully realized in the new creation, they are exiles. The writer of Hebrew explores a similar theme when he writes "For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come."

However, this doesn't mean that Christians withdraw from society. The Prophet Jeremiah told the exiles in Babylon to "seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." (Jer 27:9) It seems counter-intuitive, but it is perfectly practical. Because we as believers are exiles who do not find our citizenship in nation-states we are free to invest in our communities even while we hope for something better.

So as I say goodbye to Louisville, which I have grown to love so dearly over the past 5 years, I am reminded that it is not where I look to for belonging or security. Instead I look to Jesus for my identity and his body, the church, for belonging.

One more cool thing: Bithynia, one of the places where some these exiles were dispersed, includes modern day Istanbul. This really personifies "grace and peace multiplied to you."

Bosch on Pauline Ethics

"The life and work of the Christian community are intimately bound up with God's cosmic-historical plan for the redemption of the universe. It most certainly matters what Christians do and how authentically they demonstrate the mind of Christ and the values of the reign of God in their daily lives. Since the forces of the future are already at work in the world, Paul's apocalyptic is not an invitation to ethical passivity, but to active participation in God's redemptive will. He is charged with enlarging in this world the domain of God's coming world. Therefore, precisely because of his concern for the "ultimate", he is preoccupied with the "penultimate"; his involvement is in what is at hand rather than in what will be.... It is impossible to believe in God's coming triumph without being agitators for God's kingdom here and now, and without an ethic that strains and labors to move God's creation toward the realization of God's promise in Christ."

-David J. Bosch

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.

Verse of the Day

Meant to post this yesterday, but never late than never.

To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.

1 Corinthians 7:8

Wright on Paul's View of the After Life

"Why then does Paul speak of the new body as being 'in the heaven'? Does this not mean that he thinks of Christians simply 'going to heaven' after their death? No. This is one of the passages which have supplied later tradition with the materials for an unwarranted platonizing of Christian hope. As with Philippians 3.20-21, and indeed 1 Corinthians 15.47-9, the temptation of the tradition has been to drive a steamroller through what Paul actually says, clearing his careful words out of the way to make room for a different worldview in which the aim of Christian faith is 'to go to heaven when you die'. The tradition has always found it difficult to incorporate 'resurrection'... 'Heaven' for Paul, here as elsewhere, is not so much where people go after they die - he remains remarkably silent on that, with the exception of Colossians 3.3-4 - but the place where the divinely intended future for the world is kept safely in store... If I assure my guests that there is champagne for them in the fridge I am not suggesting that we all need to get into the fridge if we are to have a party."

-N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, 367-68

WRL: Resurrection of the Son of God by Wright

Having polished off my first semester at SBTS, I now am free to pursue my now annual tradition of the Winter Reading List (WRL).

First up is finishing The Resurrection of the Son of God by N. T. Wright. I started this book some time ago, but sadly required reading invariably eclipses elective reading, at least when there's a grade involved, and Southern's work load doesn't permit a lot of spare time for further theological study.

Anyway, I am excited to dig back into this book, as the first 300 pages were very compelling, and I'm very interested to see what the remaining 450 pages have in store. The following quote on resurrection in 1 & 2 Corinthians is an excellent sound bite:

"Paul seldom addresses ... the question of what precisely happened at Easter, of what Jesus' own resurrection actually consisted in. However, since he uses Jesus' resurrection again and again as the model both for the ultimate future, and for the present anticipation of the future, we can conclude that, as far as he was concerned, Jesus' resurrection consisted in a new bodily life which was more than mere resuscitation. It was a life in which the corruptibility of the flesh had been left behind; a life in which Jesus would now be equally at home in both dimensions of the good creation, in 'heaven' and 'earth'." 310.

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