Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS §13.3
the point has evidently been elaborated by Matthew. But whatever is to be made
of the particular focus on Peter in 16.18 (see below, n. 251), the confidence that
Yahweh's assembly would never be finally defeated by evil ('the gates of hell')
would be very Jewish in character 119 and consistent with Jesus' eschatological
assurance regarding the kingdom. 120
g. A New Temple?
If I may draw on a conclusion to be argued for later, it is also likely that Jesus
was remembered as saying something about the Jerusalem Temple being destroyed
and rebuilt again (Mark 14.58). 121 Here again we recall that the building
of a new temple was part of Jewish expectation. 122 The point to be noted here is
the possibility that a renewed temple may have served as an image for a renewed/
sanctified community. 123 We know that Qumran understood itself as a priestly
community, functioning as an alternative to the corrupted cult in Jerusalem. 124
And it is possible that the first Christians understood themselves in a somewhat
similar manner — as the beginning or base of a rebuilt house of God. (1) Paul's
reference to James, Cephas, and John as 'pillars' (Gal. 2.9) evokes the picture of
the Temple 125 and suggests that these three leading apostles were regarded as
'pillars in the (eschatological) temple' (as in Rev. 3.12). 126 (2) The idea of a
group of believers as a 'temple or house of God' was evidently familiar within
119. Cf. Meyer, Aims of Jesus 192-95. Davies and Allison compare particularly Isa.
28.15-19 and 1QH 14[= 6].19-31 (Matthew 2.630, 632-34). See also above, chapter 12 n. 79.
120. K. Berger, Formgeschichte des Neuen Testaments (Heidelberg: Quelle und Meyer,
1984) 182-84, raises the question whether Jesus' talk of 'entering the kingdom' is a deliberate
echo of the requirements for entry to the assembly (particularly Deut. 23.2-8); see also Horn,
'synoptischen Einlasssprüche' 197-200. Meier concludes that Matt. 16.16-19 first emerged in a
post-Easter setting (Marginal Jew 3.226-35).
121. See below, §15.3a.
122. See above, chapter 12 n. 66.
123. Horsley, Jesus 292-96.
124. See particularly CD 3.12-4.12; 4QFlor. 1.1-7 and further B. Gärtner, The Temple
and the Community in Qumran and the New Testament (SNTSMS 1; Cambridge: Cambridge
University, 1965) chs. 2 and 3; G. Klinzing, Die Umdeutung des Kultus in der Qumrangemeinde
und im NT (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1971) II. Teil; Newton, Concept
of Purity ch. 2, especially 34-36.
125. 'Pillar' (stylos) is most frequently used in the LXX in reference to the supports of
the tabernacle and pillars of the Temple. Particularly notable are the twin pillars set up in front
of Solomon's temple (1 Kgs. 7.15-22; 2 Chron. 3.15-17), named Jachin and Boaz, which evidently
had a covenant significance (2 Kgs. 23.3; 2 Chron. 34.31) now lost to us.
126. C. K. Barrett, 'Paul and the "Pillar" Apostles', in J. N. Sevenster, ed., Studia
Paulina, J. de Zwaan FS (Haarlem: Bohn, 1953) 15-19.
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