'l'he phrase "kingdcm of God" occurs four times in Matthew, fourteen times in Mark, thirty-two times in Luke.
The usual Matthaean periphrasis, "kingdom of heaven," occurs thirty-t~ee times. 122 Manson's analysis of the occurrences of this phrase in the teaching'of Jesus shows that in Q, there are eleven certain references and three doubtful ones;
in Mark, thirteen references; in III .. twenty-five and in L ..
f o 123 1.ve.
Nowhere in the recorded teaching of Jesus is there a
12°'l'his convenient term is used here in spite of the objection of Cadoux,
££.
cit., p. 195, note 2.121F • J. Foakes-Jackson and Kirsopp Lake .. The
Beginnin~ of Christianity (London: Macmillan &
cO:;
1942), I, 321fr.
122W. F. Moulton and A. S. Geden .. A Concordance to the Greek Testament (3d ed.; Edinburgh:
T7
& T. Clark, 1953), pp. 141 f .123T• W. Manson, Teaching, pp. 118-128.
definition of this favorite expression. 124 It is generally agreed that there is no difference between the Matthaean
"kingdom. of heaven," and the Marcan and Lucan "kingdom of God. ,,125 The expression meant for Jesus and for the Jews of His day, the rule or the reign of God. 126 There are several aspects to this definition. In the first place, God rules, indep endent of what His creatures think or do. His rule is transcendent. "It is a standing claim made by God on the loyalty and obedience of man.,,127 In the second place, God's rule can be made the determining factor in the lives of
people. These people acknowledge Him and do His will. God's rule becomes real on the histo~ical plane. 128 In the third place, there are those who do not, in history, acknowledge the rule of God. There will be a final consummation when all things in heaven and in earth will own His sovereignty, when history will be wOlll1d up, and when God will be all in all. 129 These various aspects of the teaching of Jesus confron t a reader of the Gospels.
124Martin Dibelius, Jesus, trans. Charles B. Hedrick and Frederick C. Grant (Philadelphia: The -Nestminster Press, 1949), p. 66.
125Ibid ., p. 65; Dodd, Parables, p. 34.
126Dibelius, ~. cit., p. 64; T. W. Manson, Teaching, p. 135.
127Manson, Teaching, p. 135.
128I bid., p. 135-136. 129~.
OONCLUSION
In this chapter some of the most involved aspects of the teaching of Jesus have been discussed. For clarity of presentation, some key expressions were defined. The reference to the" acceptable year" in the reading at the Nazareth synagogue was eschatological. A distinction had to be maintained between "apocalyptic" and "eschatology." The latter was the more inclusive term. 'The former was essen- tially a decadent form whose merit was derived from prophetic insight. Though a distinction could be maintained between
"apocalyptic eschatology" and "futuristic eschatology," such a distinction would of necessity be thin.
The character of the message of Jesus was essentially pr ophe ti c r ather than apocalyptic. However, element s of both types of ideas abound in the records of His teaching. The examination of the relationship of Jesus to the apocalyp- tists did not engage the attention of this investigator since it was beyond the scope of the study.
The dominant eschatological picture in Luke is that the new age had dawned in the life and ministry of Jesus.
The examination of some representative passages indicating the kingdom as a present reality and the kingdom as a future event revealed the complexity of the question of eschatology.
But it is clear that the emergent portrait of Christ in Luke
could by no means be that of a "Schwlirmer.,,130 The picture is essentially that of a prophet in whom God's purposes and will were being exposed in the eschaton.
The advent of the new age was closely associated with the outburst of the Holy Spirit •. This phenomenon was
prominent in the introduction to the ministry of Jesus.
The burden of the message of Jesus was the kingdom of God, the rule or sovereignty of God. This cardinal theme
comprised several phases: the transcendent rule of God, the rule of God on the historical plane, and the rule of God in
the final consummation beyond history.
What bearing has this discussion on the subject matter of this thesis? Much in every way. In the first place, the eschatological note struck at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus in the synagogue reading is maintained throughout the Third Gospel. One passage after another
becomes meaningful only as seen in its eschatological setting.
In the second place, the decisive eschatological "today" in the basic account for this study appears as a persistent note
130The general idea of this untranslatable German word is that of an enthusiast, a visionary. See Beasley- Murray, ,2£. ci t., p. 23. Cf. the remark of Manson on the story of Jesus as told by Albert Schweitzer. T. W. Manson,
"Present-day research in the life of Jesus, Ii The Background of the New Testament and Its.Eschatology, ed.-w7 D. Davies and D. Daube (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1956), p. 216.
throughout the work. Even when the author reproduces material which, if alone, implies the totally futuristic aspect of the kingdom, the reader "never loses the sense of an eschatology in the process of realization. In the account of the Nazareth episode, therefore, the author has indicated his line of development and has remained true to it, both in the development of the motif of the Holy Spirit and in the development of the eschatol~gy. How he has treated another aspect of what he promises in this opening key passage, that the ministry of Jesus would be to the despised, the next chapter unfolds.
THE GOSPEL OF THE DESPISED
THE GOSPEL OF THE DESPISED
The concept of the gospel that is dominant in the minds of most Christians has been strongly moulded by the Gospel According to Luke. He, more than any other New Testament author, has assembled material showing God's
concern for those for whom no one else cared. This recogni- tion of the nature of the Third Gospel is a commonplace of New 'I'estament study. In this chapter will be found suffi- cient instances to justify this concept.