Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS §12.4
tween different strands of eschatological expectation in Second Temple Judaism
— between a hope for restoration of the dispersed to the land renewed in its
bounty, a hope for social justice (righteousness), 161 a hope to 'inherit the earth'
(world domination?), and a spiritualized hope for eternal life. 162
Eschatological reversal is a theme repeated elsewhere in Jesus' kingdom
teaching, particularly in Matthew. It is the child who typifies the kingdom participant;
only such will enter (Mark 10.14-15 pars.; Matt. 18.3). 163 In contrast, the
rich will find it exceedingly hard if not impossible to enter the kingdom (Mark
10.23-25 pars.). 164 Matthew also has a saying about toll-collectors and prostitutes
'preceding you into the kingdom of God' (Matt. 21.31). 165 Particularly
prominent is the great(est)/least motif: the kingdom is like a mustard seed,
smaller than all seeds, but when grown is greater than the other herbs (Mark
4.30-32 pars.); 166 the disciples argue about who is greatest (Mark 9.34 pars.),
that is, no doubt, in the kingdom (Matt. 18.1, 4); 167 in Matthew's version (Matt.
161. 'The Beatitudes call for a renewal of those social values derived from covenant traditions'
(Kaylor, Jesus 105).
162. See above, nn. 17 and 73.
163. The Jesus Seminar questioned whether talk of 'entering God's domain' could go
back to Jesus on the grounds that the saying 'had been drawn into the context of baptism (note
John 3) and thus had to do with the rites of initiation into the Christian community' (see below,
chapter 14, n. 39). Even if the link to baptism could be justified, the confusion of later use with
origin is obvious. It is worth noting that Thomas also speaks of those like children entering the
kingdom without any evident allusion to baptism (GTh 22). See further above, n. 24.
164. Funk notes that the 'eye of a needle' saying 'became a point of reference for the
Fellows [of the Jesus Seminar] in determining the authentic sayings of Jesus' — a graphic and
humorous aphorism (Five Gospels 223, 371).
165. This is one of Matthew's few 'kingdom of God' sayings, which could indicate that
he has drawn it from tradition and for some reason retained its traditional form. Its 'lack of fit'
with the preceding parable also suggests that Matthew has drawn it from elsewhere in the tradition.
See also Matt. 5.19.
166. Cited below (§12.5e). The Jesus Seminar concluded that the Thomas version is
closest to the original, but in treating the saying as a parody of great empire (an allusion to
Ezek. 31.2-9 and Dan. 4.9-12 is certainly possible, but in their retelling the Synoptics echo Ps.
104[103 LXX].12 more closely) the Seminar have missed the contrast between 'smallest seed'
and 'great branch/plant' (eschatological reversal) which is fundamental for the saying (Funk,
Five Gospels 59-60, 484-85; similarly Crossan, Historical Jesus 276-79); but see Bultmann,
Theology 1.8; Jeremias, Parables 147-49; Kümmel, Promise 131-32; W. Schräge, The Ethicsof
the New Testament (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988) 19-20; Scott, Hear Then the Parable 377-87;
Meadors, Jesus 204-206; Davies and Allison, Matthew 2.417; Lüdemann, Jesus 32; A. J.
Hultgren, The Parables of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000) 395-96; Liebenberg, Language
289-91, 296, 312. Similarly the parable of the leaven — also a kingdom parable (Matt.
13.33/Luke 13.20-21/G77i 96); Liebenberg points out that leaven is not universally seen as a
negative metaphor (Language 336-38).
167. Cited above, §8.4c.
414