Reading Wright, NTPG, Chapter 13
This week I continue in The New Testament and the People of God with chapter 13 (pp. 371-417) as Wright starts a two-chapter discussion on stories in Christianity. This chapter focuses on the big-picture worldview of each of the Gospels, with a small commentary on Hebrews and Paul. Wright’s analysis of the NT texts in light of both OT and second-temple writings are where he shines the brightest, in my opinion. It is difficult in a short post to capture the depth of the chapter (not to mention it is long). But it is this strength that ‘captured’ my imagination when I read his second book in this series, Jesus and the Victory of God. Rather than trying to give the usual summary of the entire chapter, I am going to focus on one of the gospels and Wright’s approach in a bit more depth.
The chapter begins with a comparison of Josephus and Luke (pp. 373-8). The point that Wright is driving at—and this is true of all the Gospels—is that Josephus believes the story of Israel to be that of real history and he is telling the story with a different ending (or at least its present ending) than what was expected, but is historically accurate nonetheless. Josephus’ view that God went over to the Romans due to Israel’s disobedience and is now with Vespasian and Titus is his interpretation of real events. This isn’t some fantasy that Josephus cooked up, but a story adjustment to explain these events in history. The Gospels are doing the same in their writings. As Wright has taken us through the Jewish worldview, there was a belief that Israel was the chosen people of God and that God would act to vindicate His people, restoring to them their land, their temple, and their status. The Gospels tell how God has fulfilled this story, but like Josephus, different than what everyone expected! And the Gospels tell the Jesus stories so that Israel’s story is embedded within them.
Wright suggests that Luke should be read with an intentional link to the creation of the Israelite monarchy (p. 379). Luke begins with barren Elizabeth and Zechariah which brings to mind Hannah in 1 Samuel 1. The child, Samuel, will announce judgment on Eli; the child, John, will announce judgment on Israel. Samuel will anoint both Saul and David as king; John will baptize Jesus (the ‘anointing’ of Jesus). The song of Hannah is repeated, in part, by both Zechariah and Mary. After David’s anointing, we get the story of Goliath; after Jesus’ anointing, we get his temptations. David is persecuted and travels with his band of merry men until Saul’s passing; Jesus also travels with his disciples as the religious leaders are unhappy with his presence (p. 380). The parallels continue through Jesus’ death. In short, “Luke… told the story of Jesus as a Jewish story, indeed as the Jewish story, much as Josephus told the story of the fall of Jerusalem as the climax of Israel’s long and tragic history. But [Luke] told it in such a way as to say to his non-Jewish Greco-Roman audience: here, in the life of this one man, is the Jewish message of salvation that you pagans need.” (p. 381, emphasis original)
This purposefully subverts both the Jewish and Roman first-century stories! Salvation is not to be found in the might of Rome—the true creator God (in contrast to the multitude of pagan gods) is fulfilling his purposes and it is his world. Nor is it found through a future Messiah who will kick Rome out and establish a new nation and temple in, and of, Israel. Through the retelling of the Jewish story in Jesus, Luke (and the other gospels writers) emphasize that God’s purposes through Israel have been fulfilled through Christ, that this major “phase” of God’s plan is completed, and now the people of God are to be found in Christ indwelt by His Spirit, not in a small Middle-Eastern plot of land inhabited by one small chosen people. Yet God’s purposes remain: in Wright’s big three model of monotheism, election, and eschatology, each has been further ‘refined’, while remaining grounded. God is creator and ruler of the whole earth and it is all his (not just a small area of land); God now ‘elects’ and indwells all people, freely distributing His Spirit, not limited to a specific race; and God’s future purposes for the world are to be found in Jesus, blessing the entire world. The essential story remains, but it is now entirely centered around Jesus. In other words, we have moved from an “Israel-centered” story to a “Jesus-centered” story, but the Jesus story is told as the Jewish story!
This chapter has so much more, but I wanted to go deeper in one of the gospels rather than try to lightly touch on all of them. We will continue this next week in his next chapter for more on early Christian stories.