Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE CLIMAX OF JESUS' MISSION §17.6
pectation of the kingdom to come and his own destiny in future vindication. That
Jesus could have hinted at such a prospect is also confirmed by the expectation of
some of the twelve that they would share in that kingdom (Mark 10.36 par.) and
by Luke 22.29-30. 261 Both passages indicate in different ways that such a sharing
in kingly rule will be consequent on shared suffering, 262 and take us back into the
same circle of thought as the suffering-vindicated son of man.
(3) If Mark 14.24 recalls Jesus' talk of his death as covenant sacrifice
(§17.5d[3]), then we should also recall that 14.24 is attached to 14.25, the 'vow
of abstinence' in prospect of celebration in the kingdom of God (cf. Luke 22.18,
20). 263 Jesus may have seen his death as the sacrifice which renewed the covenant
or brought into effect the new covenant. But if so, he expected also to share
in its benefits, presumably in a post-mortem existence.
(4) Should it be the case that Isa. 53 also influenced Jesus (though the Jesus
tradition does not enable us to make a positive affirmation on the point), then we
need simply recall that Isa. 53 too holds out the prospect of vindication after
death for the suffering Servant. I need refer only to 53.10-11 cited above
(§17.5d). Here too we should recall that according to the Acts record of the earliest
Christian preaching, the earliest apologetic use of Isa. 53 in Christian circles
was in elucidation of the suffering-exaltation theme. 264
(5) Finally, there is the broader consideration that Jesus presumably correlated
in some way his proclamation of the good news of God's soon-coming
kingdom with his anticipated death. It is hardly likely that he saw his death as
marking the failure of God's predetermined purpose, much more likely as the
acting out of that purpose or embraced within that purpose. However daunting
the prospect, Jesus surely did not see his death as defeat and disaster; would he
have set his face to go to Jerusalem so resolutely in that case? Much more likely,
he saw his expected death as a prelude to the consummation of God's purpose,
the birth-pangs of the age to come, perhaps even the means by which the kingdom
would come. And if so, presumably he expected to be vindicated after death
and to share the continued joys of that kingdom.
Eduard Schweizer put the point well, even if in terms of his own thesis regarding
the Son of Man:
261. See above, chapter 12 n. 205 and §14.3c.
262. Mark 10.38-39; Luke 22.28. The fact that Luke has appended 22.28-30 to his version
of the rebuke to the disciples' overweening ambition (Luke 22.24-27/Mark 10.41-45) implies
his recognition of the same circle of thought.
263. See above, §12.4f; similarly Gnilka, "Wie urteilte Jesus?' 33-35; also Jesus 282-83;
Schürmann, Gottes Reich 210-13, 219-20; Becker, Jesus 341-42; Müller, Entstehung 42-46.
14.25 'indicates that Jesus viewed his death as part and parcel of the process whereby the kingdom
comes' (Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Kingdom 269).
264. See further Juel, Messianic Exegesis 119-33, and above, n. 228.
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