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1 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry

Chapter 3: Jesus’ Life & Ministry

Christ in House of Mary & Martha

Jan Vermeer, 1632-1675

This painting (1654-55) is a renaissance celebration of Jesus' humanity. His relationship with Martha and Mary, something that possibly caused scandal during Jesus' earthly life, is represented in a manner that celebrates warmth, intimacy, friendship. Vermeer also captures something of the relative youthfulness of the characters. Beyond

that, historical realism is strained: the characters are European in skin-colour and costume rather than Semitic. Also noteworthy in the painting is the depiction of Christ's divinity symbolized by the halo, pointed finger and evident dignity. It is still a high Christology but one in which the humanity of Jesus is celebrated in true renaissance style. It will take at least another century before there is significant focus on Jesus' historical life.

• Faith and History • Teacher & Prophet • The Reign of God • Jesus the Parabler • The Reign of God in Parables • Miracle Worker • Eschatological Prophet


Faith and history

We have already seen that the Christian Scriptures do not present us

with a straight biography of Jesus. Nonetheless, they do present us with

valuable historical information on the life of Jesus that can be discerned

with the aid of historical research, biblical scholarship and sound

common-sense. This enables us to construct a portrait of Jesus of

Nazareth with which historians, scripture scholars and believers alike

can reasonably agree.

This historical approach does not bypass

Christian faith; nor is it solely dependant on

faith. In this sense, it is meaningful to make a

distinction between the Jesus of history and

the Christ of faith. We are speaking about the

same Jesus, but we do not assume that the

Jesus who is portrayed in the gospels as Lord

and Saviour was experienced precisely this

way by his disciples during their time with him

in Palestine. The developed New Testament

christologies are post-resurrection accounts

which witness to post-resurrection belief in Jesus as the Christ, the

Anointed One of God.

Literalist or fundamentalist readings fail to take into account the ways

in which resurrection-belief transformed the disciples' understanding of

who Jesus was. They assume, for example, that throughout his earthly

existence, Jesus was always fully aware of his own divine status and,

therefore, knew everything there was to know including the future

events of his own earthly life and death. Such a fundamentalist reading


of the Scriptures denies Jesus' full humanity; it also fails to appreciate

that the gospels are complex faith-documents rather than simple

biographies or straightforward histories.

On the other extreme are the

rationalists who assume there

is a total rupture between the

Jesus of history and the

Christ of faith. For them,

Jesus of history is depicted as

an ethical teacher, a moral

reformer or even as a deluded

fanatic who mistakenly preached that the world was coming to an end.

In one rationalist account, the whole post-Easter Christ tradition is

purported to have been made up by the apostles who were able to get

away with the resurrection story by stealing Jesus' body. In another

account, Jesus survived the crucifixion and married Mary Magdalene

with whom he lived many years in Rome prior to dying a natural death.

These approaches are not able to account for the transformation in the

lives of Jesus' disciples nor in the fact that these first believers, who had

known Jesus during his earthly life, now acclaimed this same Jesus to

be Christ, Lord and Saviour.

Our approach is to adopt the centrist position which recognizes both

continuity and development in the gospel accounts of Jesus of Nazareth.

This is a matter of affirming that the gospels are based on real memories

of what Jesus said and did. Accordingly, the stylized gospel accounts are

grounded in the historical events of Jesus' earthly life now seen through

the eyes of resurrection-faith. Without this continuity between faith and


history, Christianity would not be based on historical reality but in a

groundless myth.

The historical reality is that the person of Jesus impacted so profoundly

on his followers that the encounter itself became integral to the

interpretation of his identity. This is not dissimilar to our knowledge of

living persons: we come to know others in depth to the extent that we

encounter them in a living relationship. It becomes important, therefore,

to keep the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith together as the full

expression of the saving encounter with the mystery of Jesus' unique

personhood. One writer expresses it this way:

'Jesus Christ' refers to an interpersonal event initiated by Jesus of Nazareth and received by the people he encountered. In relationship to Jesus people contacted the transformative power of divine reality. One response to this mediated encounter with God was to call Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One. It is interesting to note that Jesus did not call himself the Christ. Although Jesus had a definite consciousness of himself and his mission, it is difficult to tell if he ever used any titles for himself. But where he was reluctant, others were eager. It was the people who were saved through Jesus who bestowed the titles. 'Jesus Christ' designated a relational flow between Jesus and his followers. It is a Christian code, a compressed way of talking about an experience which the Gospel of John suggests could not be compressed into all the books ever written.1

1 John Shea, An Experience Named Spirit (Chicago: Thomas More Press, 1983)


In this way, faith and history coalesce. Consequently, we need to

approach the Scriptures with both the eyes of faith and the tools of

historical research if we are to appreciate with any depth the mystery

of the personhood of Jesus Christ.

Teacher and prophet

The most common term applied to Jesus is that of 'teacher' or 'rabbi'

(thirty times in the gospels). Most likely, Jesus began his public teaching

ministry as a disciple of John the Baptist. Like John, Jesus teaches the

importance of faith and repentance; like Hillel, he teaches compassion

and love; like other Jewish teachers, he is inspired by profound respect

for the Scriptures. However, as we have indicated, Jesus developed his

own specific style of ministry that differed from John and other teachers

of his day. This is evident in the way that he teaches fidelity to the

Scriptures while being opposed to strict interpretations on fasting, ritual

purity and the Sabbath.

Jesus teaches a radical

form of Judaism, but he

does not see himself as

starting a new religion. It

is also important to

recognize that Jesus was

neither a professional

teacher nor an ordained

scribe. Like them, he does teach in the synagogues; unlike them, he

also teaches by the lakeside and in the open fields. Especially distinctive

is the way that Jesus directs his teachings to all--including women,

children, sinners, the sick--and not just to the educated class or to a


particular religious group. His message is not secretive or esoteric but

is directed towards anybody 'who has ears to hear'. Moreover, Jesus

differs from conventional teachers or rabbis by choosing his own

disciples and drawing them into a relationship of friendship and

mutuality.

In many ways, Jesus combines the offices of teacher and prophet.

Prophets tend to arise in situations of cultural or religious crisis; they

appeal first and foremost to alienated groups within a society; they are

deemed to possess special gifts of insight into the nature of the present

reality; and they are unusually gifted with rhetorical powers of speech.

The ethical prophet is also noted for critiquing the unjust sufferings of

marginal groups and for playing a significant role in redefining the

tradition. Evidently, Jesus fulfils each of these criteria in his teaching

ministry.

Nonetheless, there is a

uniqueness to Jesus' ministry

which defies all attempts to

define him according to any

particular set of categories.

There is this unmistakable

'otherness' about him in his

manner of proclaiming the reign of God, his miracle-performances, his

addressing Yahweh as 'Abba-Father', his freedom in ministering to

social outcasts, and his consistent claim to forgive sins. In all these

actions, Jesus emerges as one who speaks and acts with great personal

authority, an authority that seems to surpass the traditional role of the

ethical Israelite prophet. Whereas these other prophets take upon


themselves the task of speaking in God's name ('Thus the Lord says'),

Jesus is recorded as speaking on his own authority ('I say to you').

Something of the uniqueness of Jesus' teaching and prophetic ministry

is captured in the following quotation:

Jesus spoke with an immediacy and directness that seemed to come from the depths of the divine Mystery, and not merely from the expert interpreters of the time. He could speak as a Pharisee, as an apocalyptic prophet, or as a wandering charismatic story teller. At times he sounds like the Socratic teacher, challenging his students to ask new questions and to think anew. At other times he seems to be the wandering Greek Cynic preacher, suffering for his teachings and standing up against the corrupt authorities of his time. Many parallels can be drawn, but, in fact, Jesus of Nazareth stands alone as a unique religious teacher who was beyond comparison.2

We can glean much about Jesus the religious teacher and ethical prophet

by focussing on central aspects of his ministry. First and foremost

among these is his teaching on God's kingdom or reign.

The reign of God

The notion of the reign of God is the central and recurring motif in Jesus'

public ministry. It arises from the unique and incomparable religious

experience of intimate union with God whom he dares to address with

2 Brennan Hill, Jesus the Christ (Mystic CT: Twenty-third Publications, 1991), 62.


the familial title 'Abba'. The accounts of Jesus' baptism and

transformation, all be they stylised post-resurrection accounts, witness

to Jesus' acceptance by God as a special envoy or messenger. In both

stories, the relationship between God and Jesus is marked by a

surprising tenderness and loving personal concern. Moreover, Jesus is

designated Son of God and spokesperson for God: 'This is my beloved

Son in whom I am well pleased--listen to him' (Mt 3:17; 17:25).

It is in this context of Jesus' religious experience--his 'Abba-experience'

and his sense of being chosen by God for a special mission to the world-

-that Jesus embodies and proclaims a new message for all people. It is

a message of justice, love and peace which is, in Jesus' own language,

expressed in the metaphor of God's kingdom or reign.

We have already stated that Jesus'

religious experience of a personal

and loving God needs to be

understood in the context of his

Jewish faith. It is equally true

that his experience and

understanding of the kingdom of

God draws from the best insights

of the Jewish tradition which understood God as king (Isaiah 52:17).

However, by the time of Jesus, the understanding of kingdom had been

largely distorted through people's experiences of various forms of

tyranny and misuse of power. Jesus brings a fresh approach to the

notion of kingdom by linking it to his own experience of a deeply loving

and caring God whose only concern is to liberate people from the forces

of evil and to empower them with a new life-vision.


In contrast to the more popular interpretations of his day, Jesus does

not identify the coming of the kingdom with apocalyptic destruction,

scribal legalism, sectarian withdrawal from society, nor revolutionary

uprising. Rather, through his words and actions, Jesus preaches a

message of God's coming reign which is to be marked by personal, social

and even cosmic transformation. However, for Jesus, the kingdom is not

just a future reality. It is also 'at

hand' in the here-and-now because

God's compassion and mercy are

available to all people at all times.

This is the message in many of

Jesus' parables and is proclaimed

in his radical sayings and healing

ministry. This coming/already-

present reign of God is especially

symbolized in the table-fellowship

that Jesus establishes with all

types of people including the

marginalized and outcasts of

society.

Jesus' preaching the reign of God is also linked to his call to conversion

and the invitation to experience the wonderful closeness of God. In this

way, the reign of God in Jesus' ministry emanates from his own religious

experience. He emphasises that it is only God's reign or God's doing that

is able to overturn evil and negativity in human life and history. Yet he

also stresses that human beings must respond to God's invitation and

so be converted to a new way of living if the reign of God is to become


real. Moreover, Jesus directly challenges social and religious attitudes

that act to keep the marginalized in their places of oppression. His

actions in the temple, his friendships with women, and his advocacy for

the poor, make it clear that his programme included a deep and fearless

challenging of the prejudices and injustices of his day.

There is no single meaning that we can

equate with this notion of God's reign as it

occurs in the ministry of Jesus. It stems

from the Jewish notion that God (Yahweh)

is Lord and King: all creation is subject to

its Creator (creation theology); and God's

kingship is evident in the life-events of

Israel's history (salvation theology). This

provided Israel with a sense of expectation

and hope that, just as God's reign manifested itself in past events such

as in the Exodus experience, so it would be manifested in the future.

Jesus radicalizes this message of the kingdom of God by indicating that

its future fulfilment is already happening now (Lk.11:20) and is, in some

way, associated with his own ministry and person (Mt.11:2ff.).

Consequently, the reign of God is not restricted to individual experience.

It overflows into social and political action--but only, and always, on the

understanding that God alone can enable the kingdom to happen. The

kingdom of God is God's doing and God's gift. This is why Jesus not only

ministers in the name of the kingdom; he also prays for it: "may your

kingdom come!" The reign of God is the central focus and controlling

horizon of Jesus' entire life and mission. In personal terms, it is a call to

a complete metanoia or change-of-heart. In social terms it calls for the


establishment of an alternative community based on the values of the

Sermon on the Mount. In cosmic terms, it recognizes that God will bring

the entire world and all creation to fulfilment. The reign of God is a

mystical or religious category with profound political and cosmic

overtones.

Jesus the Parabler

One of the most distinctive features of Jesus' teaching and prophetic

ministry is the manner in which he used ordinary stories to entertain

and challenge listeners to a new way of experiencing God in their lives.

These stories or parables are remarkable for their down-to-earth

character and their ability to tap into people's everyday experiences. For

example, they deal with meals and journies, sheep and goats, coins and

pearls, wheat and darnel, cloth and oil lamps, trees and birds. However,

what is evident in the telling of the parables is the way in which they

take an unexpected turn: the familiar becomes strange; ordinary values

are turned on their head; listeners are forced to make a decision

between two possible worlds or sets of values.

Take, for example, the parables of the Pharisee

and the Publican (Lk.18:9-14) and the Good

Samaritan (Lk.10:29-37). Good Jewish people in

Jesus' day had fairly clear ideas about prayer and

virtue: the prayer of good-living people

(pharisees) would be heard by God, whereas the

prayer of sinners (publicans) could not be

successful; certain types of people (priests and

levites) were good and virtuous, whereas low-

class foreigners (Samaritans) were not capable of


virtue. What we find, however, is that Jesus reverses the plots: it is the

sinner's prayer that is heard by God; it is the foreigner who acts with

virtue. More shocking still are the imputations that the prayer of the

religious pharisee is unsuccessful and the actions of the holy priest and

levite are sinful. Evidently, the initial hearers of these parables are led

to a point of decision with regard to their own value-systems, religious

judgments and moral actions.

We can recognize in these

parables a three-stage pattern of

advent (what people expect),

reversal of expectations (what

Jesus says) and the call to new

vision and action (how people

must change). This same pattern

applies to the reception of Jesus

himself in his mode of relating

with women, the poor, foreigners

and sinners. 1) Advent: good

Jewish people associated with

other virtuous people. 2) Reversal: Jesus associates and shares table-

fellowship with the wrong mob. 3) New Vision/Action: my presumed

religious virtues may be human prejudices. At the very least, one is

forced to make a decision with regard to Jesus and oneself. In this

sense, we can say that Jesus is himself a parabler: he proclaims the

reign of God through words and deeds which shatter people's accepted

world making them vulnerable to a new understanding of what it means

to be human and a new experience of God.


The Reign of God in Parables

The parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price

(Mt.13:44ff.) illustrate the relationship between the coming reign of God

and its present realization. There is an urgency about things requiring a

new way of seeing and acting. These stories challenge listeners to a

change of heart or reversal of priorities if the kingdom--here symbolized

as a hidden treasure or an expensive stone--is to be recognized and

received.

This new and urgent vision of the

kingdom, powerfully summed up

in the Sermon on the Mount, is

primarily a call to personal and

social transformation in the

name of the reigning God. The

social dimension is evident in the

parables of The Talents and the

Final Judgment (Mt.25:14ff.). It

is also at the heart of Jesus' own liberating praxis which is a further

manifestation or symbol of the reign of God--a reign of justice, peace,

forgiveness and love.

The intimate connection between present liberation and future salvation

is also conveyed in the parables of the Mustard Seed (Mk.4:30) and the

Leaven and the Dough (Mt.13:33). The God of Israel in Jesus' parables

is not a God of the status quo or the unknown future, but a God who

induces change in the here-and-now.


It is also helpful to read the radical sayings of Jesus as small but

poignant parables of the kingdom. As reported in the Gospels, Jesus

makes the following kinds of seemingly unreasonable demands on his

followers:

• Leave the dead to bury their own dead (Lk.9:60)

• If anyone strikes you on the right cheek . . . (Mt.5:39)

• Whoever tries to save his life will lose it (Mk.8:35)

• It is easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven (Mk.10:23)

• The first will be last; and the last will be first (Mk.10:31)

• The things that come out of a person are what defile (Mk.7:15)

• The kingdom of God must be received like a little child

(Mk.10:15)

Such statements as these are meant to shock or jolt the hearer, to bring

him or her to a deep form of self-questioning. Evidently, the reign of

God is closely allied to the response of the hearer who may find all this

too much and, like in the parable of the rich young man, walk sadly

away. However, if one truly receives the message, one must change. To

truly listen to Jesus' radical sayings is to already experience something

of God's kingship in the world of the here-and-now.


In these radical sayings of Jesus, the three-fold pattern of advent,

shock, new vision/praxis defies a merely rational or logical explanation.

It is much more like the raw experience we have when somebody we

love challenges our attitudes and behaviour. Initially we feel hurt and

betrayed; we had not expected this to come from you of all people! Our

life is thrown into turmoil. Then, we may just come to see that what the

person has said to us and about us is true. We see that we need to

change our ways, alter our very being, in order to be true to ourselves.

To take another example on a social level, Australians are beginning to

see and understand that, despite often

best intentions, 'white' Australia has

exhibited racist attitudes, or sexist

ones, that need to be overturned. This

is a hard truth to confront. Yet, only

when that truth is most deeply

acknowledged, can there be

forgiveness, growth and reconciliation.

In like manner, the parables and radical sayings of Jesus draw his

hearers to a moment of crisis and decision regarding their attitudes and

behaviours. They are also drawn to examine their assumptions about

God, the kingdom and Jesus himself. Either Jesus will be dismissed as

another religious crackpot or everything changes!

Miracle-worker

It is often with embarrassment or at least dim understanding that people

today approach the issue of Jesus the miracle-worker. Evidently, our

scientific understanding of the world finds it difficult to locate the


miraculous. On the one hand, we are confronted with the problem that

some of the miracle-stories seem a bit far-fetched. On the other hand,

there are those who want to take hold of the miracles of Jesus as some

kind of divine proof that he is God. Therefore, we need to look at the

question of the historicity of Jesus' miracles and then to ask what it is

that the miracles are meant to convey.

The miracles are post-resurrection

accounts. That is, they have

become somewhat stylized in their

reporting. Again, we need to recall

that the Gospels are first and

foremost faith-accounts rather

than straight histories. Moreover,

there is evidence to suggest that

some of the more far-fetched

nature miracles have been

borrowed from other traditions and

attributed to Jesus as a sign of belief in his messiahship. However, the

bulk of the miracles reported in the Gospels need to be seen as

historically based: they are part of the earliest strata of the Jesus-

tradition; they are certainly congruous with Jesus' overall mission of

proclaiming God's reign in the world; and there is no evidence to suggest

that the people of Jesus' time disputed the fact of such miracles (even

if they disputed their interpretation).

It is helpful to compare the reports of Jesus' miracles with the reports

of the magicians of his day. By contrast, Jesus' miracles are marked by

moderation and constraint. They do not seek to be spectacular, to


overpower the will of others, to be secretive, or to draw attention to

himself. It must be remembered that in the Judaism of the day, magic

was more often seen as a 'sign of the devil'. This means that the

disciples and evangelists would have been inclined to ignore this

dimension of Jesus' ministry unless they saw it as somehow central to

his mission. For them, at least, Jesus' miracles were a sign, not of the

devil, but of God.

Consequently, whatever the historical details of the miracle-stories, they

were recognized by those who believed in Jesus as 'signs of God'.

However, the miracles are not presented as proofs of Jesus' divine

status. They were far too ambiguous for that. In this regard, it is

interesting that Jesus is depicted on one occasion as 'refusing to give a

sign'. It is also significant that neither Paul nor any other post-Gospel

New Testament writer makes reference to the miracles.

As used by Jesus, the miracles

need to be seen in context of his

ministry of proclaiming the reign

and power of God. They do not

emphasize the notion of an

'extraordinary event' and, in one

way or another, the performance

of miracles is always related to

the faith of the people and the

wider community. Sometimes, Jesus' miracles are directed towards his

desire to challenge traditional prejudices and attitudes such as the false

notion that people's sickness is due to their sinfulness. Finally, it needs

to be stated that the central miracle with regard to Jesus is his


resurrection from the dead which is pre-eminently the act of God on and

through Jesus to the world. All miracle-stories need to be seen in this

light of the divine presence in the universe. Only with the eyes of faith,

can miracle-stories be placed in this proper perspective of God's abiding

presence in the cosmos.

Eschatological prophet

The Jews of Jesus' time were awaiting what they understood to be the

final or eschatological prophet who would usher in the 'last days'.

Images of this prophet varied. For some, this final prophet would be a

Moses-like figure or even an actual reappearance of a former prophet

(Elijah and Ezekiel were popular choices). For others, this eschatological

figure was associated with the formation of a political kingdom (people

remembered the glory days of old when Solomon and King David

reigned). For others again, the prophet was associated with the

apocalyptic destruction of the present world.

By the time of John the Baptist

and Jesus, Israel had been

without a significant prophet for

several generations. Moreover,

under the yoke of Roman

oppression, the sense of

expectation had sharpened. It was inevitable that at first John, and then

Jesus, were looked upon by many as this eschatological prophet for

whom the Jewish people had been waiting. However, as inevitably

occurs when people project their expectations onto others, there comes

the time when hopes are dashed. Disappointment and frustration set in.

Both the initial popularity of Jesus and the eventual animosity towards


him are partly explained in terms of his identification with the

eschatological prophet on whom Israel had pinned its hopes. When

people's hopes are dashed, irrational and violent forces are often

unleashed.

It is highly probable that Jesus

understood himself as the

eschatological prophet whose

mission was to inaugurate the 'last

days' of 'God's reign'. However,

Jesus did not understand the reign

of God in either narrow political

terms (establishing a new political

regime) or in traditional apocalyptic

ways (the literal destruction of the

universe). As we have seen, for

Jesus the reign of God was linked

to a new experience of the divine presence, something to be experienced

in the here and now and yet whose final fulfilment was yet to occur. On

the basis of the gospel portraits of Jesus, we can say that his

understanding of the reign of God was both mystical--a new experience

of God's presence in the here-and-now--and prophetic--the call to his

followers to a personal and social change of heart.

However, for reasons we must now explore, Jesus' message and mission

came to be interpreted as a threat to the religious and political status

quo. Jesus is reported as noting this himself when he states: "A prophet

is never accepted in his own country or among his own people" (Mark

6:4)


Further Reading

Gerard Hall, “Jesus’ Parables and Miracles” in M. Ryan (ed.), Reading

the Bible: An Introduction for Students (Tuggerah NSW: Social Science Press, 2003), 176-195.

Brennan Hill, Jesus the Christ: Contemporary Perspectives, Rev. ed.

(Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2004), Chpts. 3 & 4; pp. 42-87. Wilfred Harrington, Jesus our Brother: The Humanity of the Lord (New

York/Mahwah NJ: Paulist Press, 2010). Laurie Woods, “Jesus at home in Judaism” in D. Casey, G. Hall & A. Hunt

(eds.), Foundations of Christian Faith: An Introduction for Students (Southbank Vic: Social Science Press, 2004), 3-14.

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