Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS
§12.5
so, even though the temptation among performers of the tradition to bring the
story to a more satisfactory closure must have been strong (cf., e.g., Matt.8.13b/
Luke 7.10). 308
The real interest focuses in Jesus' answer and deserves some attention. The
language of the answer seems to be borrowed in large part from Isaiah. 309 Three
features are worth noting. First, the striking echo of 4Q521, which came to light
only with its publication in the early 1990s. Column 2 reads
i. . . [the heajvens and the earth will listen to his messiah . . . 5 For the Lord
will consider the pious (hasidim) and call the righteous by name, 6 and over
the poor his spirit will hover, and he will renew the faithful with his power.
7 For he will glorify the pious upon the throne of an eternal kingdom. 8 He
who liberates the captives, restores sight to the blind, straightens the
b[ent]. . . . 11 And the Lord will accomplish glorious things which have never
been as [ ]. !2[For] he will heal the wounded, and revive the dead and preach
good news to the poor.
The passage is remarkable. It talks of a future Messiah and an eternal kingdom in
almost the same breath (2.1, 7), perhaps the latter in echo of 2 Sam. 7.13. 310 And
in that connection it echoes the same range of passages in Isaiah — sight restored
to the blind, cripples healed (2.8), the dead revived, and good news preached to
308. See also my earlier analysis in Jesus and the Spirit 55-60. Davies and Allison, Matthew
2.244-45, and Meier, Marginal Jew 2.132-36 argue similarly. Note Leivestad's hesitations
at the use of the passage (Jesus 92-93); and contrast Gnilka who finds it 'advisable to attribute
this text, which radiates scribal reflection, to a later context' (Jesus of Nazareth 131).
309. Blind seeing Isa. 29.18 ('The eyes of the blind shall see');
Isa. 35.5 ('The eyes of the blind shall be opened');
Isa. 42.7 ('To open the eyes that are blind');
Isa. 42.18 ('you that are blind, look up and see');
Lame walking Isa. 35.6 ('Then the lame shall leap like a deer');
Deaf hearing Isa. 29.18 ('The deaf shall hear');
Isa. 35.5 ('and the ears of the deaf unstopped');
Dead raised Isa. 26.19 ('Your dead shall live ...');
Good news Isa. 61.1 ('He has sent me to bring good news to the
preached to poor'),
the poor
See further D. C. Allison, The lntertextual Jesus: Scripture in Q (Harrisburg: Trinity, 2000)
109-14, and further ch. 4.
310. 2 Sam. 7.13 God promises David a son: 'I will establish the throne of his
kingdom for ever';
4Q521 7 'He will glorify the pious upon the throne of an eternal
kingdom'.
448