[ p. 133 ]
WE DO not know how long Jesus’ work in Galilee lasted, nor does the question matter greatly. What is important is the final issue of his work and teaching. It led to a crisis, with men ranged for and against him; disciples so transformed that they could be said to be “in” the Kingdom; enemies so desperately hostile that they were plotting his destruction.
A peculiarity of Jewish law, however, embarrassed these enemies. In their eyes Jesus was a false prophet, to be denounced, tried, and executed as such, but there was in Galilee no orthodox court that could hear the case. Heretical teaching or false prophecy was an offense that lay within the exclusive jurisdiction of the supreme court in Jerusalem—“the Great Sanhedrin”— but in Galilee Jesus was out of the jurisdiction of this court [1] and there was no extradition law. As long as Jesus remained in Galilee he was legally safe.
The only other possibility was to arouse Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, to take action; he would not be likely to worry about the correct legality of anything he cared to do. But Antipas proved difficult. He was intensely superstitious, and his experience [ p. 134 ] with John the Baptist was one he had no desire to repeat. He realized, nevertheless, that Galilee was becoming inflamed and that the situation was charged with the gravest possibilities. His Roman overlords left him a fairly free hand as long as his country remained quiet, but at the first hint of an insurrection he might be exiled without ceremony. Something had to be done, therefore; not to accommodate the Jews, but to save the situation politically. A man of his type always thinks first of devious measures, so he instructed certain Pharisees to tell Jesus: “Leave the country immediately; Anti pas is planning to kill you.”
This sudden solicitude of the Pharisees for Jesus’ welfare was much too preposterous, and Jesus naturally saw through the trick. His scorn led him to use the only phrase of unmitigated contempt that ever passed his lips, “Go, tell that fox!” As it happened, however, Jesus was actually planning to do the thing that Antipas wished. As soon as he finished the little that still remained to be done in Galilee, he would leave the country—but not out of any fear of Antipas! Jerusalem, which had slain so many of the prophets, must have the grim privilege of martyring him, as well, if it would. [2]
The bitter irony of this saying fitly expresses the conviction that lay behind it: Jesus, with his unvarying sense of reality, recognized that his work could end only in death. Any thought of seeking safety by leaving Palestine—surely an easy matter—was dismissed [ p. 135 ] as impossible cowardice. His mission was to Israel, and Israel’s leaders must not evade the issue. To go to Jerusalem and face these leaders where they were all-powerful was the only course worthy of Jesus. He had no illusions about the outcome, but his duty was clear. Such a decision had far-reaching implications, and, when combined with a conviction of Messianic calling, it produced an unheard-of complication: The Messiah must die. How did this certainty of impending tragedy affect Jesus’ conception of his divinely appointed office?
He spoke very little about himself, but a few sayings are enough to show us that his sense of vocation remained unshaken. His message to the Baptist [3] was discreetly worded and contained nothing that his enemies could lay hold of, but behind it an unambiguous Messianic claim is obvious. Still more important is his triumphant reply to his successful disciples, [4] in whose company he could speak with less reserve. After words of mingled praise and warning to them, [5] Luke tells us that “in the very hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.” An ecstatic joy seized him. He said as he prayed:
I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
That thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding,
And didst reveal them unto babes:
Yea, Father,
For so it was well-pleasing in thy sight. [ p. 136 ]
All things have been delivered unto me by my Father,
And no one knoweth who the Son is, save the Father,
And who the Father is, save the Son,
And he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal it.
Or, to paraphrase:
“I thank thee, O Father, who disposes all things, that the learned have rejected me, and my unlearned disciples have accepted me. I accept it thankfully, Father, since such is Thy will. Now I see God’s whole plan! God alone knows what Messiahship truly is, and the Messiah alone knows what God’s plan truly is: the Messiah—and the disciples whom he has taught.”
From Jesus had suddenly been swept away an intolerable burden. His mission was to Israel, and, therefore, as any human judgment must hold, primarily to Israel’s religious leaders, who controlled in the largest measure the beliefs of the people. These leaders were recalcitrant; argument, teaching, pleading were all alike in vain. For a time it may very well have seemed to Jesus that his mission was a failure. And then from the humblest level of the nation came disciples who proved their faith victoriously. No one could have expected this. That the “babes” of Israel could outdo the “wise and prudent” was a wholly new conception. Yet it was a true conception. The facts proved it to be God’s will; as God’s will it was to be accepted, and for it God was to be rendered thanksgiving.
If only such “babes”—unprejudiced by preconceived ideas—could realize the truth, then there must have been a fatal error in the received teaching about the Messiah. Since the righteousness of the Kingdom was [ p. 137 ] so different from the righteousness taught by the Scribes and Pharisees, the Messiah, who was to bring a Kingdom based on such righteousness, must also be very different. His way to reign must be the way of his teaching; he, too, must be “poor in spirit,” “gentle,” “merciful,” “pure in heart,” “a peacemaker,” and, above all, “persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” There was no other way. Only God the Father had known the full truth; now Jesus saw it also—and his disciples were learning it as well, though seeing the truth but dimly.
These disciples had, in truth, been trained in a hard school. The first flush of their enthusiasm made them think that Jesus would soon take his power and reign. They expected much and they expected it at once. They even divided up the offices of the Kingdom among themselves—and quarreled in the process. Often they must have been puzzled and disappointed. At times the foundations must have seemed to them to be slipping. To continue to find the Messiah in one who had failed to win the nation, who antagonized its leaders, who discouraged national ambitions, turned away from those who asked of him political leadership —this would require trust indeed. For one of the Twelve—Judas—the strain was too great, and out of his disappointment came the beginnings of his downfall. Not so with the others; though they did not understand, they felt they could not have been mistaken. There could be no surer light than what they had had, no higher revelation. So, despite the shocks [ p. 138 ] of readjustment, they were slowly coming to a new understanding of the path the Messiah must tread.
It was the Twelve who were henceforth to be the center of Jesus’ efforts. He closed his work in Galilee and withdrew with them into the country ruled by Herod Philip—“the regions of Ctesarea Philippi”— where, undisturbed, he might train the faithful band with painstaking care. One night he spent in absorbed devotion, and then he asked a momentous question, “Who do you say that I am?” He could have had little doubt of the answer, and yet there must have been a moment of anxious expectancy: was their faith still unclouded? Peter, always impulsive, sometimes foolish, but never anything but loyal in all his weakness, was quick to voice the mind of all the rest— “Thou art Messiah.”
This was what Jesus had been waiting for; it made the next step in his teaching possible. First of all, however, he issued a stringent warning against disclosing his Messiahship to others; [6] men would misunderstand, and his enemies would find in their hand a fearful weapon. [7] Then came the new revelation, couched in the form of a prediction: “The Son of Man must suffer many things—but there are some of those who stand here who shall not taste of death until they see the Kingdom of God come with power.”
For the first time Jesus used explicitly of himself a [ p. 139 ] title of the deepest import: “Son of Man.” As we have seen, [8] the term when applied to the Messiah had only one meaning: a Heavenly Being, who could come from the supernatural realm, bringing the Kingdom of God. This, the highest conception of Messiahship, was the only one now left open to Jesus. As Messiah, he must carry his work on to completion, for a Messiah who left his task unfinished was no Messiah. Thus far, Jesus had given men his message and had pointed the way to God; an achievement of infinite value, but a prophetic, not a Messianic achievement; to call it “Messianic” is simply to misuse words. He had felt and had seen the first forces of the Kingdom in the world; this was a truly Messianic work, but it was only preliminary. If he was Messiah, it was not enough that his work should go on; he personally must briny it to consummation. Since he must die, he could not complete his work in this world; therefore he must complete it from the world to come. His approaching death meant to Jesus the means that would raise him from the earthly to the heavenly realm, where, as Messiah, he would be recognized as the celestial Son of Man.
His death would have another result. All that teaching could accomplish by itself, he had accomplished. The results were real and weighty, yet the great majority of the nation had not accepted his message. The seed would grow, assuredly, the leaven would continue to penetrate, but the effect of the teaching must be hastened by an act. It was common [ p. 140 ] doctrine among the Jews that the undeserved death of any righteous person would avail for the good of the people; [9] how much more then must the death of the Messiah avail! Indeed, in the Old Testament itself, Isaiah had predicted: “He was despised and rejected of men… he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows… with his stripes we are healed… the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” [10] This passage could not fail to be in Jesus’ mind, even though he rarely quoted it. [11] His death would be “a ransom for many”; he would give his body for mankind; through his death he -would bring to men a reconciliation to God which his life could never accomplish.
In interpreting the closing words of Jesus’ prediction, we must remember that the nearness of the end of the world was a fixed belief among the Jews of the period, and the Baptist had made the expectation doubly tense. Jesus never interfered with a belief that did not definitely contradict his own message, and this particular belief he likewise left undisturbed. Moreover, within the next generation he could foresee [ p. 141 ] a catastrophe so terrific that only apocalyptic terms could picture it, perhaps even to his own mind. Upon the Jews who so persistently rejected his warnings there would fall a shattering disaster. When told of certain Galileans whom Pilate had cut down as they were carrying their sacrifices into the temple, the impending calamity made such an event seem insignificant: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse than others? Not at all! Unless you mend your ways, violent death will become the order of the day in God’s chosen land!” [12] The country would be devastated, Jerusalem laid in ruins, while of the temple not one stone would be left upon another. Then a new [13] spiritual force would sweep into the world—and at its center would be Jesus himself and in his own person. [14]
All this would come to pass within the lifetime of some of his disciples; [15] this much Jesus knew certainly, although the exact day and hour were not revealed [ p. 142 ] to him. [16] No one but the Father had this knowledge; hence constant watchfulness was imperative. The fact that the Day was approaching was obvious to anyone who could read the spiritual signs of the times; only the spiritually blind could fail to see them. Men who boasted of their ability to predict the weather ought to be able to see where nationalistic selfishness was leading. [17] Such signs were everywhere. But, on the other hand, what the apocalyptists called “signs” —falling stars, miraculous plagues, etc.—were a myth: “The Kingdom’s coming cannot be computed; men shall not be able to say, ‘Lo, here is a sign,’ ‘Lo, there is a portent’; the coming will be suddenly in men’s midst.” [18] Life will go on, more or less as usual, until the cataclysm: “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in that Day! They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the flood came and swept them all away!” [19]
Such was Jesus’ prediction, and in every spiritual essential it was more than fulfilled. But, many will ask, can these warnings have any meaning for us if they referred originally to an event now long past? As a matter of fact, indeed, no historical catastrophe ever had—and probably no similar event ever can have —the radical significance of the fall of Jerusalem. Yet every catastrophe in history has had a spiritual significance of its own; the depths into which national [ p. 143 ] pride and selfishness may lead a people are immeasurable, and careless mankind is never secure. “When they say, ‘Peace and safety,’ then destruction comes suddenly upon them.” In our own recent memory, who can doubt that the Great War could have been avoided had nations been willing to take the teachings of Jesus with any seriousness? Social conflicts, economic conflicts, class conflicts, race conflicts—the same is true of them all; men eat and drink, men buy and sell, men plant and build until the flame destroys them. [20]
What is true of nations and groups is equally true of the individual. Any crisis in a life is a judgment on that life, for good or for evil, according to the moral preparation. John expresses a profound truth when he constantly applies apocalyptic language to the spiritual reactions of every-day existence: “He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.” [21] “He that believeth not hath been judged already.” [22] At the end of every life, finally, comes the irreversible judgment of death. Here all the concepts of apocalyptics are true without qualification, for to the individual it matters not at all whether God’s judgment comes to him or he is taken to face God’s judgment. And no one at the beginning of any day can ever be certain that he will see its end.
[ p. 144 ]
Does any other meaning remain for us in apocalyptic prediction? Can we yet look forward to a final human crisis? Or will this world go on until, as astronomers tell us, the death of the sun, some millions of years in the distant future, will extinguish the last vestige of human life? The Christian thinker can only answer that he does not know. To use Bible passages literally’ - as predictions of what is yet to take place is futile; for over two thousand years, in Judaism and in Christianity, men have constantly tried to prophesy by such means—and have always failed. [23] When the disciples asked the risen Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore Israel’s kingdom?” they were told: Times and seasons are God’s affair, not yours. Go and preach the Gospel!” [24] No advice could be better. The remote future does not concern us. Our task is to do our present duty, morally prepared to meet each crisis when it comes—and to leave the rest to God.
Compare with Appendix I. ↩︎
St. Luke xiii : 31-33 ↩︎
Compare page 125. ↩︎
St. Luke x: 21-22. ↩︎
Compare page 128. ↩︎
In the past, no doubt, they had talked freely enough, but they had nothing but their own opinion to tell; now that Jesus had formally accepted the title, the situation was very different. ↩︎
If the Scribes had known certainly that Jesus claimed Messiahship, he would have been arrested the moment he set foot in Judea. ↩︎
Compare page 10. ↩︎
For example: In the Maccabean wars a woman and her seven sons were put to death for their refusal to break the Old Testament laws. When the last came to die, he declared: “But I, as my brethren, give up both body and life for the laws of our fathers, calling upon God that he may speedily become gracious to the nation… and that in me and my brethren may be stayed the wrath of the Almighty, which hath been justly brought upon our whole race” (2 Maccabees vii: 37-38). The slight crudity of the language does not obscure the general thought. ↩︎
Isaiah, chapter Lin. ↩︎
St. Luke xxii : 37 is the only explicit citation, although the language of the prophecy is echoed elsewhere. ↩︎
St. Luke xiii : 1-3. ↩︎
Closely linked, however, with the force already active in the ‘‘present Kingdom.” ↩︎
When Jesus’ words are explained from a Christian standpoint, all that was involved in the coming destruction of Jerusalem must be borne in mind. This was vastly more than an appalling civil tragedy. The sacrificial worship of the Old Testament was abruptly abolished, never again to be restored. Judaism was thrown completely into the hands of the Pharisees; the vigorous missionary religion of Jesus’ day was hardened into a narrow scribism, interested only in itself. Most important of all, Christianity was released from the last Jewish-Christian restraint, and instead of a “Way” within Judaism it became a religion for all mankind. ↩︎
As a matter of fact, the destruction of Jerusalem occurred in the year 70, about forty years later, when many of the disciples were still alive. ↩︎
St. Mark xin: 32. ↩︎
St. Luke xii: 54-56. ↩︎
St. Luke xvii : 20-21. The passage is difficult, but this seems the most probable translation. In any case the popular rendition, “The Kingdom of God is within your hearts,” is impossible. ↩︎
St. Luke xvii: 27. ↩︎
St. Luke xvii: 28-29. ↩︎
St. John v: 24. ↩︎
St. John iii: 18. ↩︎
By the middle of the second Christian century the Jews wearied so of such predictions that they prohibited them. One indignant rabbi went so far as to say, “Whoever writes a book about the world to come, shall have no share therein!” ↩︎
Acts i: 6-8. ↩︎