Are You the One Who Is To Come? (Review – Lawrence Garcia)

Last updated on: November 26, 2011 at 9:39 am by Kurt Willems

Are You the One Who Is To Come? (Review – Lawrence Garcia) 2011-11-26T09:39:57-08:00 Kurt Willems

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

For one whose surname is essentially “Messiah”, it is quite startling that the historical Jesus never actually out-and-out stated, “I am the Messiah.” This curious silence on the part of Jesus has led some corners of scholarship to conclude that, in fact, Jesus never conceived of himself as Israel’s Messiah, and that the messianic portrait of Jesus in the Gospel’s is a post-resurrection invention of the early church. Thus, in the book entitled Are You the One Who Is to Come?: The Historical Jesus and the Messianic Question, Michael F. Bird (fellow Patheos blogger) sets out to make sense of Jesus’ seemingly messianic reticence while at the same time challenging this serious charge against the early church’s so-called invented Christology. Bird states:

What I am going to do, rather, is argue that Jesus saw himself in messianic categories, as enacting a messianic role or a messianic vocation as part of his aim to renew and restore Israel through his various activities (pg. 29).

What I immediately appreciated was that Bird did not fall into the apologetic pitfall of merely proof-texting for passages that prima facia validate his pro-messianic assertions. Rather, he sets out to demonstrate, from within a “critical analysis of the authentic traditions in the Gospels,” that Jesus’ “intentions and identity” can be properly labeled as “messianic.” After all, if Jesus deliberately set out to evoke messianic categories, then this should be easily traceable within our most uncontested sources for the historical Jesus. Before accomplishing this task, Bird judiciously examines and details the various messianic expectations throughout Second Temple Judaism—as found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the “messianic trajectory” of the Old Testament, Josephus, etc.—in order to reconstruct the proper register for hearing Jesus’ actions as consciously messianic. Bird concludes:

In Second Temple Judaism, messianic beliefs were diversified and perhaps even in the minority, but they were nonetheless recognizable and arose from a common pool of tradition (pg. 62).

Bird likewise drags out into the open the historical implausibility of an explicitly non-messianic Jesus who nevertheless manages to arouse the suspicion of the local authorities, spark messianic fervor from his followers, and land himself on a crucifix as a messianic pretender. Bird contends that this phenomena is best explained not by a non-messianic Jesus, but by a Jesus who intentionally sought out to evoke messianic hopes by way of his enigmatic use of Daniel’s “Son of Man,” his enactment of Isaiah’s “Anointed One,” his employment of the term kingdom, and the multiple allusions to David and Solomon that characterized his ministry. So, it’s not that Jesus repudiates any messianic identity, on the contrary, he sets out to “re-define” it while simultaneously allowing the aforementioned resonances to do their work. This thesis, in my opinion, has the ring of historical plausibility and therefore should be heard. He concludes rightly by stating:

Early Christianity has a testimony, that testimony is based on a memory, and the memory is of one who sought out to enact a specific vocation as Israel’s Messiah… I have chosen to speak of messianic claims, messianic actions, evoking messianic hopes, and a career that could be designated as performatively messianic (pg. 158).

Finally, Bird doesn’t step off the historian’s platform without drawing out the “theological implications,” namely, that Jesus as Messiah is the ultimate eschatological agent of deliverance, that as Christos he is inextricably linked to Israel’s sacred traditions and therefore to Israel herself, and the need to take serious how he as Christ functions between God and man. In sum, I whole heartily recommend this book that, despite its brevity, manages to deliver a convincing argument for a Jesus who clearly is responsible for the wide spread messianic suspicions, both positive and negative, that surrounded him before and after his death and resurrection.

———————————————

Lawrence is the Senior Teaching-Pastor of Academia Church in Goodyear, Arizona. He is a pastor devoted to the educational growth of his congregants, and the raising up of a new generation of disciples, who will think, tell, and live out the Christian story. Lawrence is currently attending Liberty University.

Books

Guest Contributors

Are you the one who is to come

Previous Post

November 25, 2011

Our Canadian Overlords

Next Post

November 26, 2011 Interview With NT Wright - We've Got Jesus Wrong!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category (Series) All Out War-Spiritual Warfare (Series) Church Plant Journal (Series) Dear Reader... (Series) Earthquakes...Signs of the Times? (Series) Entering the... Conversation (Series) Evangelical Culture Myths (Series) Everything is Meaningless [Pete Enns] (Series) Evolving Evangelicalism (Series) Hell Yes. Hell No! Who Cares? (Series) Hidden Worldviews (Series) If Evolution is Right, what about Adam? (Series) in less than 300 words (Series) Jesus and Nationalism (Series) Liberating Women for Ministry? (Series) Life-Changing Books (Series) Markers of Church Plant Movement (Series) Nonviolence 101 (Series) Philemon - Reconciliation (Series) Quote to Ponder (Series) Red Letter Dialogues (Series) Resource of the Week (SERIES) Revelation Sermons (Series) Share Something Sundays (Series) Simplicity in the Burbs: $2 a day (Series) The Binding of God [Open Theism] (Series) The Creed: Anabaptist Reflections (Series) Values for Church Leadership (Series) Video to Ponder Anabaptism Animal Advocacy Books Church Ministry Church Planting Community Culture Eschatology Eucharist Evangelical Reject Evolution Fundamentalism Greek Greg Boyd Guest Contributors Hell Holy Spirit Israel/Palestine Kingdom of God Lent Missional N. T. Wright Nationalism New Creation Nonviolence Open Mic Open Theism Parenting Passover Paul Philemon Podcast Politics Restorative Justice Revelation (the book of) Rob Bell Ron Martoia Sermon Shane Claiborne Social Justice Speaking Engagement Spiritual Warfare Spirituality Temple Theology Tim Geddert Tribulation Uncategorized universalism Video Blog Women in Ministry Worship Music Youth Ministry

Select a Month August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 December 2016 October 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was Moses' wife?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Miriam Rachel Leah Zipporah

Support this
Column