Chapter 3 of Jesus and the Victory of God (pp. 83-124) covers the Third Quest for the Historical Jesus, which is where Wright lands. For help in orienting yourself in the quests, here is my chart of the quests, drawn from the first 3 chapters of this book.
This Third Quest is characterized by “placing Jesus within apocalyptic Jewish eschatology.” (p. 84) I had previously understood these end-like terms to be the end, as in ‘end of the world,’ but Wright (and others) argue this is not how Jewish people understood eschatology. If God is to bless the world through His people, destroying this one and creating an entirely new one is quite foreign to first-century Jewish thought! They looked for an ‘end of an age,’ a new ‘phase’ in God’s plan, but would describe this in ways that, if taken literally, would seem to be complete destruction, but were God’s activity and changes made within this world (as an example, the destruction of the temple to a Jew would have been as if the sun stopped shining and the stars fell from the sky). We will return to this more later in the book.
There may be a question as to why I have the Dead Sea Scrolls on a chart full of names. This discovery of Second Temple and second+third-century Jewish literature was a gold mine for understanding the first century. As a parallel, it would be like discovering the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers millennia after America’s founding for those studying the Constitution (these papers were published prior to ratification of the Constitution); the Scrolls added historical depth to the study of the New Testament by providing much more cultural background and detail to the Jewish context. These discoveries have helped feed the conversations in both second and third quests.
Wright proposes five questions that must be answered in a historical study of first-century Christianity. “How does Jesus fit into the Judaism of his day? What were his aims? Why did he die? How did the early church come into being, and why did it take the shape that it did? and Why are the gospels what they are?” (p. 90) The rest of this book is his answer to most of these, although the latter two questions will also spill over into his third book on the resurrection.
Recall that the third question, “Why did he die?” has been very thoroughly answered across the centuries, although the answers have tended towards the theological. ‘He died to save us for our sins’ is not helpful as a historical answer.
For question 1 (“How does Jesus fit…?” pp. 91-8), Wright will argue for “a very Jewish Jesus who was nevertheless opposed to some high-profile features of first-century Judaism.” (p. 93) Jesus is “the last in the line” of Israel’s prophets, calling them to “national repentance,” because “Israel’s history is drawing to its climax.” (p. 97) Consider a broad sketch of Jesus’ life. After his birth, he travels to Egypt (Genesis/Exodus), then returns and is baptized (Re[e]d Sea crossing/Exodus) and goes into the wilderness for 40 days of temptation (Numbers), but unlike the wilderness generation, he is faithful. He then proceeds to walk through the land of Israel announcing the kingdom of God (think of the ‘conquest’ of Israel in Joshua). He is Messiah, the ‘anointed one’—king—as the genealogies of Matthew and Luke present, of the line of David (Samuel/Kings/Chronicles). And in one of the strangest twists of all (for a first-century Jew), Jesus is proclaiming that their exile is ended through His ministry, but His ministry isn’t a military/violent response to Rome. (‘How can our exile be ending under you if Rome is still ruling over us?’)
Question 2 (“What were Jesus’ aims?” pp. 99-105) is a complex one and Wright’s approach will take us through his worldview approach (NTPG chapters 8 and 9) and overlay what Jesus said and did to challenge or alter this first-century Jewish worldview.
Question 3 (“Why did Jesus die?” pp. 106-9) is answered by Jesus “regarding.. himself and his followers as a counter-Temple movement.” (p. 108) Imagine a counter-Constitutional movement in the United States; would this not eventually be seen, especially if gaining traction, as potentially treasonous? Now throw in strong religious commitment and elevate that charge to blasphemy!
Question 4 (“How did the early church…?” pp. 109-112) will necessarily push us towards the resurrection, for Wright will argue in his third book, The Resurrection of the Son of God, you cannot get the early church without the resurrection. Originally, it appears Wright intended to have resurrection included in JVG, but his thorough detail of Jesus’ life meant that for the sake of space, he had to move it to a separate book (JVG is about 740 pages; RSG is 817).
Question 5 (“Why are the gospels…?” pp. 112-13) will also be the focus of another book. Since his fourth volume is on Paul, there may be yet another book (or two) in the series. ‘The writing [Wrighting?] of many books is endless…’ (Eccl. 12:12a).
Since the quests for the historical Jesus began, there has been significant questions about the historicity of Jesus presented in the gospels and how we can make sense of what we read in the gospels. Scholars have weighed in and found history wanting. Will we end up in Lessing’s ugly ditch, unable bridge the gap between history and theology? Wright thinks not, instead arguing “Authentic Christianity, after all, has nothing to fear from history.” (p. 123) Perhaps the gospels seem unhistorical to some because they are over two-thousand years old and we need to read Jesus in context! Which is what we begin in earnest in the next chapter.
Chapter 1: Jesus Then and Now
Chapter 2: Heavy Traffic on Wredebahn: The ‘New Quest’ Renewed
Chapter 3: Back to the Future: The ‘Third Quest’
Chapter 4: Prodigals and Paradigms
Chapter 5: The Praxis of a Prophet
Chapter 6: Stories of the Kingdom (1): Announcement
Chapter 7: Stories of the Kingdom (2)
Chapter 8: Stories of the Kingdom (3): Judgment and Vindication
Chapter 9: Symbol and Controversy
Chapter 10: The Questions of the Kingdom
Chapter 11: Jesus and Israel: The Meaning of Messiahship
Chapter 12: The Reasons for Jesus’ Crucifixion
Chapter 13: The Return of the King
Chapter 14: Results