Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS §14.1
14.1. Subjects of the King
If the main emphasis of Jesus' preaching was 'the kingdom of God', then a major
corollary of that emphasis is that God was being understood as King. 1 Rather
surprisingly, however, this aspect of Jesus' message is little touched on. 2 The reason,
no doubt, is that Jesus is almost never recalled as referring to God as 'king'
in any of the streams of Gospel tradition. 3 In contrast, as we have already seen, in
the worship of Jesus' time God would have been regularly addressed as 'king'. 4
Quite why Jesus is remembered as speaking so little of God as king is another
quandary to which we will return in §14.2. Part of the answer may be that the
fuller phrase 'the kingdom of God' was so dominant in Jesus' teaching that there
was little need or occasion to speak expressis verbis of God as 'king'. 5 Be that as
it may, the implication remains, and cannot have escaped Jesus' hearers, that in
'the kingdom of God' God is 'king'.
The ancient rationale of kingship is clear. Above all, the king was the
pivotal and representative figure in ensuring the protection of his people
against military threat from without and in administering justice within. 6 The
'down-side' of the system was already signalled in Samuel's response to Israel's
request for a king in 1 Sam. 8.10-18 — the king's arbitrary power to requisition
individuals and resources for his service. But the authority to command
and the power to enforce compliance were no doubt accepted as the
necessary corollary to the king's key functions as military leader and judge.
Presumably it was the same logic which was at work in hailing Yahweh as
1.1 follow Manson in giving first attention to Jesus' teaching on 'God as king' and 'God
as Father' (Teaching chs. 4-8): 'the whole religion of Jesus centres round the twin conceptions
of the heavenly Father and the heavenly King' (284).
2. Cf. McKnight, who notes how strange it is that so little has been written in scholarship
about the God of Jesus, even though scholars like Manson have emphasized that 'in the
teaching of Jesus his conception of God determines everything' (New Vision 15, citing Manson,
Teaching 211).
3. Only in Matt. 5.35, where the Jesus tradition calls Jerusalem 'the city of the great
king', in immediate echo of Ps. 48.2. Otherwise the nearest examples are two parables in Matthew
which feature a king (Matt. 18.23-35; 22.1-14) and one in Luke (Luke 19.11-27). In contrast,
the issue of the title's applicability to Jesus himself features quite regularly, particularly in
the trial before Pilate (Mark 15.2, 26 pars.; Mark 15.9, 12; Mark 15.18/Matt. 27.29; Mark
15.32/Matt. 27.42; Luke 23.2, 37; John 18.33, 37, 39; 19.3, 12, 14, 15, 19, 21; also Matt. 2.2;
21.5; 25.34, 40; Luke 1.33; 19.38; John 1.49; 6.15; 12.13).
4. See above, § 12.2b. The data are summarized in Seybold, TDOT 8.365-66.
5. We may note that Jesus is also recalled as assuming both the Shema and God's unique
goodness as givens (Mark 12.29; 10.18).
6. See especially K. W. Whitelam, 'King and Kingship', ABD 4.40-48 (here 42-43, 44-
45); also Seybold, TDOT 8.360-64.
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