God's Final Envoy: Early Christology and Jesus' Own View of His Mission (Studying the Historical Jesus)

Rating:
Summary: Superb study of Jesus' own "Christology"
Review: This book is volume III in an ongoing series called "Studying the Historical Jesus", edited by Bruce Chilton and Craig Evans. It's not very innovative, which will unfortunately turn away sensationalists who are simply craving something new and exciting to say about Jesus. Novelty is not necessarily a mark of merit, nor does a lack thereof automatically signal a lack of progress. This book is a refreshing reminder of that. Marinus de Jonge offers a cautious and plausible study of how Jesus saw himself on earth, and thus of his own "Christology", focusing on the earliest sources available -- Paul, Q, and Mark. He shows that Jesus' earliest followers were dominated by the conviction that he was an eschatological figure who had inaugurated the long-awaited era of God's dealings with Israel and the entire world. While he may not have publicly announced his future coming as the Son of Man from heaven, he nonetheless believed he would return as such, and that he would rule and judge as God's viceroy in the Kingdom. He likewise probably thought of himself as the Son of David, and the title Son of God should be understood in light of various Old Testament texts linking the term to messianic beliefs. But Jesus went a step further on this point, seen in the way he used "abba" in addressing God. From all of this, the author adduces that Jesus himself had a "Christology", in that he spoke and acted as the Son on whom the Father had bestowed everything to be his servant at the crucial turning point in Israel's history. Eschatology is thus inextricably tied to Christology -- much as it galls so many academics to acknowledge this -- though this Christology must be seen as fundamentally theocentric, relating to God's initiative (not Jesus') and his own supreme will in establishing the Kingdom on earth.

De Jonge's thesis is that Jesus saw himself as "God's final envoy", just as his followers did. This belief dominated right from the get-go, before the first Easter. This short and cautious book draws sane and sensible conclusions. . .but it probably won't be read as much as it deserves to be.