Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS §13.5
Francis of Assisi heard again Jesus' rebuke to the rich young man and call to
leave all as God's word to themselves. Nor did Jesus idealize poverty or call for
the abolition of private property or preach an absolute egalitarianism. He did indicate
that the poor, who could trust in no possessions, were close to the heart of
God. At the same time, however, it should not be forgotten that his teaching on
the subject was predicated on the Deuteronomic assumption that the poor, as also
part of the covenant people, had a rightful share in the nation's prosperity and
that a just system should safeguard that right. 175 The new note he brought was
the renewed assurance that God's kingdom is precisely for the poor, and not just
as a future hope. The poor could even now experience the good news, could already
experience a security before God, a comfort and satisfaction which was not
dependent on their financial security. By implication, in the company of Jesus'
followers, that security, comfort, and satisfaction were already being realized. 176
13.5. To Sinners
The Synoptic tradition contains only a few sayings of Jesus in which he articulates
a specific sense of personal commission. We have already noted two of
these. One comes in Matthew's elaboration of Jesus' response to the
Syrophoenician woman: T was sent (apestalen) only to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel' (§13.3). 177 Another in Luke's elaboration of Jesus' preaching in
Nazareth: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to
preach good news to the poor...' (§13.4). But the saying with the strongest credibility
— that is, remembered as said by Jesus, rather than an elaboration of his
remembered attitude — is Mark 2.17 pars.: 'I came (elthon) not to call the righteous
but sinners (hamartöloi)', 178 The saying comes in response to criticism
from Pharisees that Jesus ate with 'toll-collectors and sinners' (Mark 2.13-17
pars.) and as the climax to Jesus' call of Levi/Matthew, the toll-collector, follow-
175. Kaylor overstates his case when he argues that 'Jesus advocated the cause of the
poor and powerless against the wealthy and powerful elites that governed under Roman rule',
but he is on sounder ground in noting that 'the real choice is not between a timeless ethic or an
ethic related to Jesus' contemporary situation, but between an ethic that engages the social
world and one that does not' (Jesus 92-93).
176. Cf. Becker, Jesus 158.
177. To the same effect is Luke's conclusion to the Zacchaeus story: 'for the Son of Man
came to seek and save the lost' (Luke 19.10). The saying has been added to some mss. at Matt.
18.11 and a similar saying by a few mss. at Luke 9.55.
178. For other elthon sayings attributed to Jesus in the Synoptic tradition (Matt. 5.17;
10.34-35) see below, chapter 15 nn. 224, 237. The motif is more extensive in the Fourth Gospel
(John 5.43; 7.28; 8.42; 10.10).
526