Jesus of Nazareth Read online

  Jesus of Nazareth

  Gerhard Lohfink

  Jesus of Nazareth

  Gerhard Lohfink

  Jesus of Nazareth

  What He Wanted,

  Who He Was

  Translated by

  Linda M. Maloney

  LITURGICAL PRESS

  Collegeville, Minnesota

  www.litpress.org

  A Michael Glazier Book published by Liturgical Press

  Cover design by Ann Blattner. Illustrations by Br. Martin Erspamer, OSB, a monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey, Indiana. Used with permission.

  Scripture texts in this work are based on the New Revised Standard Version Bible © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  This volume was originally published in German as Jesus von Nazaret. Was er wollte, wer er war (Freiburg i.B.: Herder, 2011).

  © 2012 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, microfiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Lohfink, Gerhard, 1934–

  [Jesus von Nazaret. English]

  Jesus of Nazareth : what He wanted, who He was / Gerhard Lohfink; translated by Linda M. Maloney.

  p. cm.

  “A Michael Glazier book.”

  Includes bibliographical references.

  ISBN 978-0-8146-8058-2 — ISBN 978-0-8146-8059-9 (ebook)

  1. Jesus Christ—Historicity. 2. Jesus Christ—Person and offices.

  I. Maloney, Linda M. II. Title.

  BT303.2.L6413 2012

  232—dc23

  2012020860

  To the memory of

  Father Heinrich Bacht, SJ

  …ponder daily over death and life,

  if thou mightest find it,

  and let thy bearing be joyous

  and go not out of the world

  without first having publicly testified

  thy love and reverence

  for the Author of Christianity.

  —Matthias Claudius, Letter “To my son Johannes,” 1799

  Contents

  Preface

  Acknowledgments

  List of Abbreviations

  Chapter 1

  The So-Called Historical Jesus

  Chapter 2

  The Proclamation of the Reign of God

  Chapter 3

  The Reign of God and the People of God

  Chapter 4

  The Gathering of Israel

  Chapter 5

  The Call to Discipleship

  Chapter 6

  The Many Faces of Being Called

  Chapter 7

  Jesus’ Parables

  Chapter 8

  Jesus and the World of Signs

  Chapter 9

  Jesus’ Miracles

  Chapter 10

  Warning about Judgment

  Chapter 11

  Jesus and the Old Testament

  Chapter 12

  Jesus and the Torah

  Chapter 13

  The Life of Jesus: Living Unconditionally

  Chapter 14

  The Fascination of the Reign of God

  Chapter 15

  Decision in Jerusalem

  Chapter 16

  Dying for Israel

  Chapter 17

  His Last Day

  Chapter 18

  The Easter Events

  Chapter 19

  Jesus’ Sovereign Claim

  Chapter 20

  The Church’s Response

  Chapter 21

  The Reign of God: Utopia?

  Notes

  Preface

  There are innumerable books about Jesus. The reason is obvious: we can never finish with him, and every age must encounter him anew. Some of the many Jesus books are very good. Some are very bad. The bad ones are bad because they are far from understanding that the real “historical Jesus” cannot be grasped independently of faith in him. Which faith? That of the first witnesses and those who handed on the story, those who had to describe “accurately” or, better, “faithfully to the person” what had encountered them in Jesus.

  Historical criticism is indispensable to research on Jesus. It illuminates the world in which Jesus lived, and still more, it works out the relationships among the sources of the gospels, illuminates the various layers of tradition, and thus sharpens our perception of what the evangelists wanted to say about Jesus in their “final text.” Historical criticism inquires persistently about what happened, and thus it demonstrates that Christianity is about real history and not about myths or ideologies. But when biblical critics measure Jesus only by their own prior understanding, deciding ahead of time what is “historically possible” and what is “historically impossible,” they exceed their own limitations.

  Nowadays Jesus is far too often made to be merely a prophet, a gifted charismatic, a radical social revolutionary, a successful healer, a benevolent social worker, or even only a pious rabbi. The real claim of what is shown and expressed in Jesus is set aside, and the inevitable consequence is the assertion that the early Christian communities “deified” him.

  The present book refuses to join in such reductionism, which goes contrary to the perceptions of the first witnesses and those who handed on the tradition. Its method is altogether historical and critical—historical research must always be critical—but at the same time it agrees with Karl Barth’s statement in his commentary on Romans: “For me, historical criticism has to be more critical!”

  This book intends to be serious about the fact that Jesus was a Jew and lived entirely in and out of Israel’s faith experiences, but at the same time he brought those experiences to their goal and fulfillment. Those who want to really understand Jesus and what he was cannot avoid allowing themselves to be drawn into this faith.

  I desire nothing more than that this book will help many people today to approach the real Jesus by making critical distinctions and yet at the same time remaining open and full of trust.

  Gerhard Lohfink

  Bad Tölz

  September 2011

  Acknowledgments

  This book is dedicated to the memory of Father Heinrich Bacht, SJ (1910–1986), in gratitude. He was professor of fundamental theology at the St. Georgen College of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, and it was he who showed me the path to priesthood.

  As I was writing this book there were four books on my desk that I repeatedly consulted: Peter Stuhlmacher, Biblische Theologie des Neuen Testaments, vol. 1 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1992), and Martin Hengel and Anna Maria Schwemer, Jesus und das Judentum (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007), as well as the two-volume book on Jesus by Pope Benedict XVI. Those four books were both an aid and a great joy to me.

  My own book would not have come into being without the urging of my student and friend, Professor Dr. Marius Reiser. I thank him for many suggestions. Originally we intended a common project, but it may be as well that two different books came of it. They shed light on the same subject from different points of view. Marius Reiser’s book is titled Der unbequeme Jesus [The Inconvenient Jesus] and was published by the Neukirchener Verlag in 2011.

  Heartfelt thanks for the English-language edition are due to my former doctoral student, the Rev. Dr. Linda Maloney. She contributed all her biblical scholarship ski
lls and personal application to the translation. Without her and Mr. Hans Christoffersen, academic publisher of Liturgical Press, this English edition would never have seen the light of day.

  I owe special thanks to my brother Norbert, professor emeritus of Old Testament at St. Georgen. He accompanied this book with his advice from the outset and constantly encouraged me. He continues to make Psalm 133 a reality.

  Finally, my gratitude goes to Hans Pachner, faithful in fetching books for me, and to Hans Braun, my careful copyreader, as well as to my patient housemates Barbara Stadler and Manfred Lazar—and with these four also the great crowd of companions on the way in the Katholische Integrierte Gemeinde. I do not know how I could live without their friendship and their faith.

  Gerhard Lohfink

  Abbreviations

  ACW

  Ancient Christian Writers

  ADPV

  Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins

  AnBib

  Analecta biblica

  Ant.

  Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews

  ANTZ

  Arbeiten zur neutestamentlichen Theologie und Zeitgeschichte

  BDAG

  Bauer, W., F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago, 1999.

  BDS

  Bonner dogmatische Studien

  Bell.

  Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War

  BET

  Beiträge zur biblischen Exegese und Theologie

  BibS(N)

  Biblische Studien (Neukirchen, 1951–)

  BThS

  Biblisch-theologische Studien

  BTZ

  Berliner Theologische Zeitschrift

  BZ

  Biblische Zeitschrift

  CTM.PT

  Calwer theologische Monographien, Reihe C., Praktische Theologie und Missionswissenschaft

  Eccl. Hist.

  Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History

  EKK

  Evangelisch-Katolischer Kommentar

  EuA

  Erbe und Auftrag

  FB

  Forschung zur Bibel

  GTB

  Gütersloher Taschenbücher Siebenstern

  HNT

  Handbuch zum Neuen Testament

  HTKAT

  Herders theologischer Kommentar zum Alten Testament

  HTKNT

  Herders theolorischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament

  HTR

  Harvard Theological Review

  JSHRZ

  Jüdische Schriften aus hellenistisch-römischer Zeit

  KEK

  Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar über das Neue Testament

  LD

  Lectio divina

  LThK

  Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche

  NBL

  Neues Bibellexikon

  NRSV

  New Revised Standard Version

  NSKAT

  Neuer Stuttgarter Kommentar, Altes Testament

  NTS

  New Testament Studies

  ÖTK

  Ökumenisher Taschenbuch-Kommentar

  POxy

  Oxyrhynchus Papyri

  QD

  Quaestiones disputatae

  RST

  Regensburger Studien zur Theologie

  SANT

  Studien zum Alten und Neuen Testament

  SBAB

  Stuttgarter biblische Aufsatzbände

  SBS

  Stuttgarter Bibelstudien

  SBT

  Studies in Biblical Theology

  TGl

  Theologie und Glaube

  ThWAT

  Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Alten Testament. Edited by G. J. Botterweck and Helmut Ringgren. Stuttgart, 1970–

  TQ

  Theologische Quartalschrift

  TRE

  Theologische Realenzyklopädie. Edited by G. Krause and G. Müller. Berlin, 1977–

  TTZ

  Trierer theologische Zeitschrift

  UTB

  Uni-Taschenbuchkommentar

  WMANT

  Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament

  WUNT

  Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament

  ZAW

  Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

  ZNW

  Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft

  ZST

  Zeitschrift für systematische Theologie

  ZTK

  Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche

  Chapter 1

  The So-Called Historical Jesus

  Why is it that new books on the historical Jesus appear almost every year? Why aren’t the gospels enough for Christians? It must have something to do with the curiosity of Western people and their eagerness to know “the facts.” They want to know how it really happened. They want to illuminate the past to the last detail. They stand in line to see an exhibit that shows them the world of the pharaohs, the Celts, or the medieval court. When they finally get into the gallery they believe that they have reached the original: they see documented before their eyes the time and the people that are the subject of the exhibit.

  They are looking for the same kind of access to Jesus in the gospels, and yet the gospels are closed to their thirst for knowledge. They are silent about many details of Jesus’ life that would be of particular interest to the fact-hungry Jesus-seekers. And so they reach for the newest Jesus book…

  But there is something else as well: since the time of the Enlightenment the gospels have been dissected as no other text of the world’s literature has been. The people of the Enlightenment regarded what they said as having been inflated by dogma. The true figure of Jesus was painted over with ever-more glowing colors and his contours exalted to the level of the divine. Therefore it was thought necessary to remove the overpaintings and finally reveal the real Jesus, who would then emerge in his true colors and outlines.

  So here again—and especially here—we find the lust for facts. What can we really know about Jesus? Who was the “historical” Jesus? How much of his life can be reconstructed? Which of his sayings in the gospels are authentic? What are his “own words,” what are his “own original deeds”? Did Jesus and the apostles preach the same things, or did Jesus’ message about God become, after Easter, the apostles’ message about Jesus?

  In and of itself it would be quite all right that the thirst for facts that has gripped the West since the Presocratics and the first Greek historians should extend to Jesus. We should, in fact, say that in the case of Jesus that curiosity is thoroughly justified. If it is true that in Jesus the eternal Word of God became flesh—entered radically into history—then Jesus must be open to all the techniques of historical research. Then he should certainly be the object of historical scholarship. Then it must be permissible to analyze all the texts about him, to probe them, to determine their genre, and to pursue the history of their traditions.

  But the justified hunger for historical reconstruction has been associated for a long time with a radical critique of the gospels that seeks to discover the real Jesus not with the gospels but against them. In this very context there is constant talk about overpaintings and exaggerations of the person of Jesus by early Christian tradition. But this confuses two different things: what the gospel critics call dogmatic exaggerations are nothing other than “interpretations” of Jesus, and interpretation is not the same as exaggeration. Many Christians rightly reject such words as “exaggeration,” “overpainting,” “overdrawing,” “mythologization,” and “idolization.” They should not be defensive, however, against the word “interpretation.”

  For the gospels must not be regarded as mere collections of “facts” about Jesus. They are not an assemblage of documents from a Jesus archive in the early Jerusalem community. Obviously the authors of the gospels had a multitude of traditions about Jesus at their disposal, but they
used these traditions to interpret Jesus. They interpret his words, they interpret his deeds, they interpret his whole life. They interpret Jesus in every line, in every sentence.

  May we take texts that are interpretation from beginning to end and filter them through the sieve of criticism in the hope that the “facts” will remain behind? May we—like people panning for gold—wash away the useless sand of the interpretations to get at the heavy gold of the facts? May we derive strata from narratives whose whole purpose is interpretation, in order to get at the “original”? In the end, after the removal of all secondary layers, would we arrive at pure facts? The questionable nature of such an interpretive technique in reality is revealed by a simple question: where is the truth—in the facts or in their interpretation? Or, to use the image of the gold panner again: are the facts the gold, or is it the right interpretation of the facts?1

  Fact and Interpretation

  What, after all, is a “fact”? The word is usually used with great confidence and without reflection, as if its meaning were obvious. But so-called facts are not that simple.

  Of course the world is full of facts, and often we can speak of them as a matter of course. When, for example, an earthquake happens we can certainly call it a fact. But even such facts are already interpreted. The event of the earthquake is, of course, established by seismographs, its strength measured by the Richter scale, and the earthquake observers compare their measurements. But then geophysicists investigate the kind of quake it is, and distinguish between “collapse earthquakes” (when subterranean caves collapse), “volcanic earthquakes” (connected with volcanic eruptions), and, finally, “tectonic earthquakes” (when shifts take place within the earth’s crust). The “fact” of an earthquake is thus fairly clear. It can be described in straightforward terms. And yet even such a description already contains more than a fair amount of interpretation—correct interpretation, we may suppose.