Tuesday Tome - Simply Jesus (Part 2)

In an earlier post, I wrote about the first section of Simply Jesus by N. T. Wright.  I also mentioned that Simply Jesus would likely be the selection for my next book club at Valley Christian Church. Well, I've finalized that decision and the book is now available for you to purchase at our church's resource center. All the details about my upcoming book club can be found HERE.

In the second section of the book, Wright describes the message and ministry of Jesus. Here are a some excerpts from chapter 7 that should stir up your interest:

Jesus was going about declaring, after the manner of someone issuing a public proclamation, that Israel's God was at last becoming king. "The time is fulfilled!" he said. "God's kingdom is arriving! Turn back, and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15). "If it's by God's finger that I cast out demons," he declared, "Then God's kingdom has come upon you" (Luke 11:20). [p. 67]

Herod Antipas wasn't particularly powerful, but, though the Romans hadn't allowed him to keep his father's title of "king of the Jews," he was the nearest equivalent at the time. Indeed, it was he who had been rebuilding Sepphoris as his capital. In the south, there were the chief priests, with the (annually appointed) high priest at their head--a pseudo-aristocracy, kept in place, as was Herod Antipas himself, by Roman backing. The Romans liked to run their huge empire through local power brokers on whom they could rely to collect the taxes and keep the population under control. If either Herod or the high priest heard that someone was going around announcing that God was becoming king, they would smell trouble at once.

So when Jesus went around saying that God was now in charge, he wasn't walking (as it were) into virgin territory. He wasn't making his announcement in a vacuum. Imagine what it would be like, in Britain or the United States today, if, without an election or any other official mechanism for changing the government, someone were to go on national radio and television and announce that there was now a new prime minister or president. "From today onward," says the announcer, "we have a new ruler! We're under new government! It's all going to be different!" That's not only exciting talk. It's fighting talk. It's treason! It's sedition! By what right is this man saying this? How does he think he'll get away with it? What exactly does he mean, anyway? An announcement like this isn't simply a proclamation. It's the start of a campaign. When a regime is already in power and is simply transferring that power to the next person in line, you just announce that it's happening. But if you make that announcement while someone else appears to be in charge, you are saying, in effect, "The campaign starts here." [p. 69]