This Jesus: Martyr, Lord, Messiah
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Overview
The twentieth and current centuries have paraded countless pictures of Jesus before an impressionable public. If we have learned anything of all this, it is that the available evidence, cautiously and sympathetically evaluated, will in all probability always lend itself to a range of possible views of Jesus: the Jewish martyr, the unworldly sage, the failed rebel, the messianic Son of God.
This problem has of course been with us from the beginning. Even in the first century there were various ways of interpreting Jesus of Nazareth. Nevertheless, it is also true that all the New Testament witnesses agree on the fundamental identity of the one about whom they speak. To the question, “Which Jesus?” apostolic Christian preaching gave the answer: This Jesus, the one who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, who is also the one whom God raised and thereby powerfully vindicated. “Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made Him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).
Different views of Jesus continue to be possible or even plausible, and on the historical level there can be legitimate disagreement about how best to interpret the evidence. But, although we cannot go back far enough to find a Jesus of history who is not already a Jesus of his interpreter’s faith or unbelief, we do have the pictures of Jesus as seen and experienced by apostolic Christianity. This book seeks to show that the Christ who emerges in the faith of the New Testament churches stands in a causal and organic continuity with Jesus of Nazareth.
Top Highlights
“Almost always he is a fully human figure, born of human parents although divinely anointed to be king” (Pages 49–50)
“Jesus probably did use sacrificial symbolism to interpret his impending death” (Page 76)
“At least in some circles, a glorious high priestly figure was also expected” (Page 46)
“Neither a virginal conception nor a birth in Bethlehem are normally anticipated, as we saw in Chapter One.” (Page 50)
“the prediction of the destruction of the Temple is closely connected with his demonstration in the Temple” (Page 75)
Dr. Markus Bockmuehl is Professor of Biblical and Early Christian Studies at the University of St Andrews, UK. He is also author of the volume on Philippians in Black's New Testament Commentary (13 Vols.).
Reviews
2 ratings
Sean
8/30/2024
A forgettable foray into historical Jesus studies, it does not actually engage critically with the Gospels. For such a short tome, the author spends an awful lot of pages looking at second temple Judaism and finding parallels with the record of Jesus in the Gospels--which isn't the flex in favor of historicity he thinks it is. The stated objective (or, one of them at least) of the work is to show how the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith align, but ironically, around page 161, he attacks the councils and throws shade on Trinitarianism, though not denying it. I know this is a mostly negative review; the book is below average but not terrible; it just won't help you much if you are trying to get into historical Jesus studies seriously .
Alessandro
10/18/2022
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