Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

512.5 The Kingdom of God
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a
merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding
one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that
he had and bought it.
76 The kingdom of the Father is like a merchant
who had merchandise (and) who found a pearl.
This merchant was prudent. He got rid of the
merchandise and bought the one pearl for himself.
Here it is the kingdom which is explicitly in view: one stumbles upon it with surprise,
the opportunity of a lifetime; it is of huge value; it is worth exchanging all
that one possesses in order to attain it. 293 More to the immediate point, it is being
discovered now; the transformation implied does not await some future consummation.
294 The fact that the parables are also attested by Thomas confirms that they
were more widely known than just in Matthew's circle, though, as in other cases,
the Thomas tradition seems to have been de-eschatologized. 295 In contrast, Matthew's
version is wholly consistent with what we have already reviewed in § 12.5.
These two parables contain the only explicit reference to the 'kingdom' so
far in §12.5, though, of course, the two parts of Mark 1.15a should be taken together,
and Luke no doubt understood the good news preached by Jesus as the
good news of the kingdom. More explicitly to the point is a saying which only
Luke attests, though Thomas provides further attestation (GTh 3, 113; cf. 51). 296
On being asked by Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus answered:
'the kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed
(paratereseös), 291 nor will they say, "Look, here it is!" or "There it is!" For, look,
293. Jeremias, Parables 198-200. To make his point memorable Jesus was evidently
prepared to cite an action of dubious morality (cf. Luke 16.1-8a) (Funk, Five Gospels 196-97;
Lüdemann, Jesus 186); on the legality of the action (failure to inform the owner of the field) see
Hultgren, Parables 411-12.
294. Becker, Jesus 239-40. Cf. J. D. Crossan, In Parables: The Challenge of the Historical
Jesus (1973; New York: Harper and Row, 1985) 34-35, though Beasley-Murray fairly cautions
against pressing the point as an attack on 'an idolatry of time' (Jesus and the Kingdom
112-13).
295. Note particularly the final sentence of GTh 109; on the Gnostic overtones see
Hultgren, Parables 410-11. In GTh 76 the contrast is softer: the pearl is not exceptional, and the
merchant parts only with his merchandise in order to buy it — a parable of prudent business
practice rather than a life-changing decision.
296. The Jesus Seminar give a positive judgment on both Luke 17.20-21 and GTh 113.2-4
(Funk, Five Gospels 364-65, 531-32), though Lüdemann for some reason refrains from a judgment
regarding the historicity of Luke 17.20-21 (Jesus 374). Merkel takes Luke 17.20-21 as one
of two 'absolutely certain words' (the other is Matt. 12.28/Luke 11.20) as the firm core round
which to gather traditions which cohere ('Gottesherrschaft' 142-47), and Keck thinks it is the only
saying in which Jesus asserted the kingdom's presence (Who Is Jesus? 76-77). Sanders, however,
in line with his conviction that the 'present' sayings are dubious, retains his opinion that Luke
composed the verses 'unaided by a transmitted saying of Jesus' (Historical Figure 177).
297. 'In this Lucan context it [parateresis] refers neither to the [Pharisaic] "observance"
of the Law nor to observance of cultic rites; it is to be understood instead in the Hellenistic
sense, of watching for premonitory signs (e.g., from heaven) or of an apocalyptic allusion to
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