Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS
512.4
who forgets that his soul/life may be required of him that very night (Luke 12.16-
20/GTh 63). 220 Finally, we may recall that Luke 13.1-5 has Jesus warning that
death may strike at any time and catch the unrepentant unprepared. 221
Here again is a motif regarding future judgment which is widespread and
thoroughly rooted in the different strands of Jesus tradition (in several cases
where the tradition is attested in only one Synoptic Gospel we have noted that
Thomas also attests the tradition). In such a case it must be considered most unlikely
that the motif entered the tradition only in the early churches. That teachers
and performers extended and elaborated the motif is certainly probable; 222
that Q reinforced the motif by its compositional structure is also probable, 223 as it
is that the Thomas tradents omitted or softened the note of judgment (GTh 57 is
an exception). But that such a distinctive motif should be introduced, despite its
absence from the earliest recollections (that is, traditions) of Jesus' preaching, is
much less likely. 224 That Jesus reacted against the Baptist's preaching of judgment
and eschewed all such emphases is, of course, quite possible in principle.
220.
Luke 12.16-20
16 The land of a rich man produced abundantly.
17 And he thought to himself, 'What should I do,
for I have no place to store my crops?' 18 Then he
said, T will do this: I will pull down my barns and
build larger ones, and there I will store all my
grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul,
Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many
years; relax, eat, drink, be merry'. 20 But God
said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is
being demanded of you. And the things you have
prepared, whose will they be?'
GTh 63
There was a rich man who had many possessions.
He said, T will use my possessions that I may sow
and reap and plant and fill my storehouses with
fruit, so that 1 may lack nothing'.
These were his thoughts in his heart. And in that
night he died.
The parable is more a moralistic wisdom parable than distinctively eschatological in character
(Fitzmyer, Luke 971-72; Funk, Five Gospels 338-39); the echo of Sir. 11.18-19 is particularly
noticeable (see also Sir. 14.15 and 31.1-11) (Hultgren, Parables 105-108). Even so, the final
question (Luke 12.20b) has more a note of judgment than its Thomas parallel.
221. Reiser, Jesus and Judgment 245-49; Gnilka, Jesus 205-206; Keck, Who Is Jesus?
86-87. Becker regards the passage as paradigmatic of Jesus' announcement of judgment (Jesus
of Nazareth 53-54). On the issue of what historical episode Jesus/Luke may have had in mind,
see Fitzmyer, Luke 1006-7; the episode narrated by Josephus, Ant 18.58-59, is too remote from
what Luke refers to here to justify Lüdemann's conclusion that 'Luke has confused things' (Jesus
352).
222. There is a strongly held view that the 'this generation' sayings reflect negative experiences
in the later Christian mission; but see below, n. 397.
223. See, e.g., Kloppenborg Verbin, 'Discursive Practices' 164-69; and above, chapter 7
nn. 61-62.
224. See also Reiser, Jesus and Judgment 304; Theissen and Merz, Historical Jesus 268-
69.
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