Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE QUESTION OF JESUS' SELF-UNDERSTANDING §15.2
of neighbour included love of enemies (§ 14.5b), as most agree, then that alone
knocks a large hole in any thesis that Jesus sought a military solution. 41 And in
more general terms we have already noted how quiet Palestine was at this period,
with Roman detachments in Judea more for police duty, as we might say, than as
an oppressive military garrison. 42 Apart from the serious troubles at the death of
Herod (4 BCE) and subsequently in the first revolt (66-74 CE), what we hear of in
the intervening period amounts to little more than relatively minor (for the era as
a whole) civil disturbances and crowd control. 43
Even so, the other data listed above do raise serious questions which will
require fuller discussion, and we should recall the possibility that Jesus' movements
in Galilee were determined by political considerations. 44 So even if it is
the case that Brandon has greatly overstated his thesis, it remains an open question
as to whether Jesus was a focus of political agitation or was unaware of the
political overtones of his actions. It would be a mistake to treat the issue of Jesus
as royal Messiah too narrowly, as though only that role carried political overtones.
c. Jesus' Messiahship as a Post-Easter Affirmation
Other scholars are equally convinced that the issue of royal messiahship did not
arise during Jesus' mission; he was first designated as Messiah after Easter, in
consequence of his resurrection — as Acts 2.36 and 13.33 imply. Messiahship
was then read back into the life of Jesus; but wherever it arises in the Gospels, the
motif of messiahship is redactional.
This view emerged only with Wrede's thesis of 'the messianic secret' at the
beginning of the twentieth century (see above §4.5b). Prior to that the more or
less universal assumption had been that Jesus' messiahship was a central feature
of his mission, both in his own consciousness and as the reason for his death.
Hengel notes that Wrede himself was not so confident as to deny the older consensus
outright. 45 But it was Wrede's argument that the messianic secret was a
Markan motif, not a historical motif, which opened the eyes of the subsequent
sibility of defence on journeys which they called for' (Theissen and Merz, Historical Jesus
460).
41. McKnight also draws attention to the (lightly attested) theme of peace-making in Jesus'
teaching (Matt. 5.9; Matt. 10.12-13/Luke 10.6; Luke 19.42) (New Vision 229-32); though
note also Matt. 10.34/Luke 12.51 (see above, chapter 14 n. 242).
42. See above, §9.8.
43. Including the episodes during Pilate's prefecture (see above, chapter 9 n. 254).
44. See again §9.9a-f.
45. Hengel, 'Jesus, the Messiah of Israel' 16.
624