Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§8.2 The Tradition
And Käsemann did not hesitate to speculate that 'countless "I" sayings of the
Christ who revealed himself through the mouth of prophets gained entry into
the Synoptic tradition as sayings of Jesus'. 72 The most thorough study of the
topic, by Eugene Boring, 73 concludes that a substantial amount of the Jesus tradition
has been influenced by prophetic usage or stems directly from prophetic
utterances. For example, according to Boring, fifteen Q sayings probably originated
as prophetic utterances; though in Mark at most eleven 'sayings-units'
(excluding 13.5b-31, only five sayings units) are probably from Christian
prophets. 74
How well is this hypothesis founded? On the one hand, it should certainly
be accepted that there was a considerable prophetic vitality in the early churches,
much cherished by Paul in particular. 75 Specific prophetic utterances are attributed
to the inspiring Spirit (Acts 13.2; 20.23; 21.4, 11) and at least in some cases
are attributed to the risen Lord (1 Thess. 4.15[?]; 76 Revelation 2-3). This would
fit well with what we read in the Odes of Solomon 11 — presumably the risen
Christ being thought to speak through the Odist: 'And I have arisen and am
among them, And I speak through their mouth' (42.6). 78 We also know from
Celsus that prophets were accustomed to speak their prophecies in T terms
(Origen, contra Celsum 7.9). 79 Given this background, one might well acknowledge
the likelihood of prophetic utterances having been included within the Jesus
tradition. The most obvious example would probably be Matt. 18.20; but other
plausible examples could include Matt. 11.28-30 and Luke 11.49-51; 22.19b. 80
72. E. Käsemann, 'Is the Gospel Objective?', Essays on New Testament Themes (London:
SCM, 1964) 48-62 (here 60). The only formal category identified by Käsemann was 'sentences
of holy law' in his influential essay, 'Sentences of Holy Law in the New Testament'
(1954), New Testament Questions of Today (ET London: SCM, 1969) 66-81. But note the penetrating
criticism of D. E. Aune, Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Mediterranean World
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983) 166-68, 237-40.
73. M. E. Boring, Sayings of the Risen Jesus: Christian Prophecy in the Synoptic Tradition
(SNTSMS 46; Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1982).
74. Boring, Sayings 179-80, 196. He lists Q/Luke 6.22-23; 10.3-16, 21-22; 11.29b-30,
39-52; 12.8-12; 13.34-35; 16.17; 22.28-30; Mark 3.28-29; 6.8-11; 8.38; 9.1; 13.26.
75. Rom. 12.6; 1 Cor. 12.10, 28-29; 14.1, 3-6, 22, 24-25, 29-32, 39; 1 Thess. 5.20; see
further J. D. G. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit: A Study of the Religious and Charismatic Experience
of Jesus and the First Christians as Reflected in the New Testament (London: SCM, 1975)
225-33; Boring, Sayings 26-52; Aune, Prophecy 190-217.
76. But see n. 47 above.
77. Charlesworth dates the Odes to about 100 CE (Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2.726-
27).
78. Bultmann puts much weight on Od. Sol. 42.6 (History 127-28 n.).
79. See further Boring, Sayings 128-30.
80. J. D. G. Dunn, 'Prophetic "I"-Sayings and the Jesus Tradition: The Importance of
Testing Prophetic Utterances within Early Christianity', NTS 24 (1977-78) 175-98, reprinted in
187