Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS §13.7
in the kingdom of God? Not necessarily. For in the eschatological hopes of earlier
prophets and seers, there was scarcely any thought of a mission to the
Gentiles; Isa. 66.19 is a unique exception. 236 At the same time, however, we saw
that a strong strand of Jewish expectation envisaged Gentiles coming in pilgrimage
to Zion to pay tribute or to worship God there ('eschatological proselytes').
237 That Jesus may have shared this hope is suggested by a number of episodes
and passages. 238
For one thing, when Jesus did encounter Gentiles, he is remembered both
as responding to their requests and as impressed by their faith. 239 Matthew incorporates
into his version the Q saying which envisages many coming from east
and west and reclining with the patriarchs in the kingdom (Matt. 8.11/Luke
13.29). 240 Jesus' warnings of eschatological reversal (§12.4c), that confidence
based solely on descent from Abraham (not forgetting Matt. 3.9/Luke 3.8) was
misplaced, carried with them the implication that Gentiles (including even
Nineveh, Tyre, and Sidon) 241 might well be the beneficiaries of Israel's failure.
242 And Mark includes the full quotation from Isa. 56.7 in his account of the
purging of the Temple — 'my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'
(Mark 11.17) — one of the classic texts in Jewish expectation of a Gentile
eschatological pilgrimage. 243 Nor should we forget that in telling the parable of
the Good Samaritan Jesus must deliberately have intended to shock his hearers
counterbalance 10.5-6, 23 and 15.24 by adding references to the 'Gentiles' at other points in his
tradition (10.18; 12.18-21 [Isa. 42.1-4]; 21.43; 24.9, 14; 25.32; and of course 28.19) to indicate
that the restrictions imposed by Jesus were limited to the contexts where they occur.
236. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism 214.
237. See above, §12.2c(7).
238. Jeremias, Jesus' Promise to the Nations ch. 3; Lohfink, Jesus and Community 17-
20; Rowland, Christian Origins 150-51.
239. Matt. 8.5-13/Luke 7.1-10; Mark 7.24-30/Matt. 15.21-28. According to Mark 7.27
Jesus, by implication, refers to Gentiles as 'dogs', presumably a traditional term of abuse (cf.
Phil. 3.2). It is noteworthy that the Greek uses the word kynarion, 'little dog' (house dog or lapdog),
rather than kyön, a dog of the street (BDAG kynarion); whether such a distinction was
possible in Aramaic is disputed (discussion in Davies and Allison, Matthew 2.554). And if Jesus
referred to Gentiles as 'sinners' (Luke 6.34; cf. Matt. 5.47) he would simply be reflecting
characteristic usage of the time (details, e.g., in my Partings 103). See also Keck, Who Is Jesus?
57-58.
240. See above, particularly chapter 12 nn. 173 and 442.
241. Matt. 11.22/Luke 10.14; Matt. 12.41/Luke 11.32.
242. McKnight suggests that reference to 'fish of every kind' in Matt. 13.47 'lends credence
to the view that Jesus anticipated a universal kingdom' {New Vision 105; parable cited
above, chapter 12 n. 218).
243. Matthew and Luke omit the key phrase 'for all nations' (Matt. 21.13/Luke 19.46),
but the clear allusion to Isa. 56.7 remains and with it the evocation of the larger hope of eschatological
pilgrimage.
538