What then is central to the understanding of the kingdom? That which we saw a moment ago: the Jewish expectation of the saving sovereignty of the covenant god, exercised in the vindication of Israel and the overthrow of her enemies....
If Pilate was still governing Judea, then the kingdom had not come. If the Temple was not rebuilt, then the kingdom had not come. If the Messiah had not arrived, then the kingdom had not come. If Israel was not observing the Torah properly, then the kingdom had not come. If the pagans had not been defeated and/or flocking to Zion for instruction, then the kingdom had not come....
Most modern scholars who have attempted redefinitions of the kingdom have considered such essentially Jewish ideas to be already moribund, and have passed them by on the other side, anxious to avoid contamination as they hurry to worship at the shrine of intellectual respectability.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
NT Wright prying into the mind of a 1st century Jew regarding the kingdom
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1 comment:
I think that is a really good point. To avoid the context in which Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom and which the disciples proclaimed the Kingdom is to misunderstand that which they proclaimed.
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