Jesus as Moral-Kingmaker: Gatekeeper for a Co-Owned Dual Kingdom
If we know anything about Jesus of Nazareth, we know that he had a message about the “kingdom of God.” The synoptic Gospels confirm this, if they confirm anything. A challenge arises, however, in our identifying what Jesus thought of the arrival of this kingdom, especially regarding its timing and i...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2020
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| In: |
Biblical theology bulletin
Year: 2020, Volume: 50, Issue: 4, Pages: 216-226 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Jesus Christus
/ Kingdom of God (motif)
/ King
/ God
/ Rule
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| IxTheo Classification: | HC New Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
Kingdom of God
B Jesus B Conflict B Reconciliation B Peace B kingmaker |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | If we know anything about Jesus of Nazareth, we know that he had a message about the “kingdom of God.” The synoptic Gospels confirm this, if they confirm anything. A challenge arises, however, in our identifying what Jesus thought of the arrival of this kingdom, especially regarding its timing and its role for divine judgment, and what he considered its intended impact on a person’s experience, beyond talk about it. If the kingdom in question is just talk, with no intended impact on human experience, it will lack (a) needed supporting evidence (for its reality) and (b) motivational power (for its being compelling). This article examines (a) and (b) in order to arrive at Jesus’s core understanding of the kingdom of God. It contends that Jesus presented a dual, two-phased kingdom, with the first phase anchored in a distinctive human experience, but that this dual status prompted widespread misunderstanding among his audience. The article identifies a neglected self-understanding of Jesus as a moral-kingmaker and gate-keeper for God who portrays divine judgment as postponed for the sake of God’s redemptive reign. |
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| ISSN: | 1945-7596 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Biblical theology bulletin
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0146107920959000 |