Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§16.2 How Did Jesus See His Own Role?
ready noted that such an eschatological reading of 2 Sam. 7.12-14 provides a
plausible rationale for the High Priest's question in Mark 14.61. 22 Alternatively,
had Jesus been linked to the Wisdom tradition of the suffering righteous, the term
might equally have been regarded as appropriate. A point of some significance,
however, is that in the Wisdom tradition the term seems to have been more selfchosen
by the righteous, expressive of his or her own confidence in God, than a
description applied by others. Is this a pointer towards what we might expect?
The common denominator in all these cases is that 'son of God' denoted
someone specially related to or favoured by God. With the king, the status was
more formal; he represented God to his people. But in its broader reference the
phrase seems to have denoted someone who was intimate with God, who closely
reflected God's character, who fully did God's will. The theological logic is clear
from Sir. 4.10 and Matt. 5.45/Luke 6.35: 23 to be compassionate to the orphan and
widow is to be like a son of God; to act with uncalculating generosity and love
even to the enemy is to model oneself on God, is to be(come) a son of God. Is this
the context of meaning which would have informed any initial usage of the phrase
in reference to Jesus? If so, we should simply note that initially to call Jesus God's
son was a far cry from the subsequent Christian usage — Christ as the 'onlybegotten'
. It is true that in the earliest post-Easter phase, Christians were thought
to share in Christ's sonship. 24 But even then, the divine sonship of Jesus was seen
to be quite distinct and unique, with Christian sonship dependent on and derivative
from Christ's. So the question still remains when this sense of Jesus' sonship
as something quite distinctive first emerged and whether it has pre-Easter roots.
As usual we must look to the Jesus tradition for any answers that might be
forthcoming. And as with 'Messiah', the task is difficult, since the term is not bandied
about (like 'teacher') or repeatedly evoked (like 'prophet'). But one feature
of the tradition has captivated questers and provided amazingly positive results.
b. Jesus' Abba Prayer
The Jesus tradition is quite clear that Jesus addressed God as 'Father' in his
prayers. Jeremias pointed out that all five strata of the Gospel material are unanimous
on the point. 25 But the case hangs primarily on two instances — Matt.
11.25-26/Luke 10.21 and Mark 14.36 pars.
22. See above, § 15.3a.
23. Sir. 4.10: 'Be a father to orphans, and be like a husband to their mother; you will
then be like a son of the Most High, and he will love you more than does your mother'; Matt.
5.45/Luke 6.35 has already been cited in § 14.5b.
24. Rom. 8.14-17, 29; Gal. 4.6-7.
25. Mark 14.36/Matt. 26.39/Luke 22.42; Matt. 11.25-26/Luke 10.21; Matt. 26.42; Luke
23.34, 46; John 11.41; 12.27-28; 17.1, 5, 11, 21, 24-25 (Jeremias, Proclamation 62).
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