1 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
Chapter 3: Jesus’ Life & Ministry
Christ in House of Mary & Martha
Jan Vermeer, 1632-1675
This painting (1654-55) is a renaissance celebration of Jesus' humanity. His relationship with Martha and Mary, something that possibly caused scandal during Jesus' earthly life, is represented in a manner that celebrates warmth, intimacy, friendship. Vermeer also captures something of the relative youthfulness of the characters. Beyond
that, historical realism is strained: the characters are European in skin-colour and costume rather than Semitic. Also noteworthy in the painting is the depiction of Christ's divinity symbolized by the halo, pointed finger and evident dignity. It is still a high Christology but one in which the humanity of Jesus is celebrated in true renaissance style. It will take at least another century before there is significant focus on Jesus' historical life.
• Faith and History • Teacher & Prophet • The Reign of God • Jesus the Parabler • The Reign of God in Parables • Miracle Worker • Eschatological Prophet
2 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
Faith and history
We have already seen that the Christian Scriptures do not present us
with a straight biography of Jesus. Nonetheless, they do present us with
valuable historical information on the life of Jesus that can be discerned
with the aid of historical research, biblical scholarship and sound
common-sense. This enables us to construct a portrait of Jesus of
Nazareth with which historians, scripture scholars and believers alike
can reasonably agree.
This historical approach does not bypass
Christian faith; nor is it solely dependant on
faith. In this sense, it is meaningful to make a
distinction between the Jesus of history and
the Christ of faith. We are speaking about the
same Jesus, but we do not assume that the
Jesus who is portrayed in the gospels as Lord
and Saviour was experienced precisely this
way by his disciples during their time with him
in Palestine. The developed New Testament
christologies are post-resurrection accounts
which witness to post-resurrection belief in Jesus as the Christ, the
Anointed One of God.
Literalist or fundamentalist readings fail to take into account the ways
in which resurrection-belief transformed the disciples' understanding of
who Jesus was. They assume, for example, that throughout his earthly
existence, Jesus was always fully aware of his own divine status and,
therefore, knew everything there was to know including the future
events of his own earthly life and death. Such a fundamentalist reading
3 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
of the Scriptures denies Jesus' full humanity; it also fails to appreciate
that the gospels are complex faith-documents rather than simple
biographies or straightforward histories.
On the other extreme are the
rationalists who assume there
is a total rupture between the
Jesus of history and the
Christ of faith. For them,
Jesus of history is depicted as
an ethical teacher, a moral
reformer or even as a deluded
fanatic who mistakenly preached that the world was coming to an end.
In one rationalist account, the whole post-Easter Christ tradition is
purported to have been made up by the apostles who were able to get
away with the resurrection story by stealing Jesus' body. In another
account, Jesus survived the crucifixion and married Mary Magdalene
with whom he lived many years in Rome prior to dying a natural death.
These approaches are not able to account for the transformation in the
lives of Jesus' disciples nor in the fact that these first believers, who had
known Jesus during his earthly life, now acclaimed this same Jesus to
be Christ, Lord and Saviour.
Our approach is to adopt the centrist position which recognizes both
continuity and development in the gospel accounts of Jesus of Nazareth.
This is a matter of affirming that the gospels are based on real memories
of what Jesus said and did. Accordingly, the stylized gospel accounts are
grounded in the historical events of Jesus' earthly life now seen through
the eyes of resurrection-faith. Without this continuity between faith and
4 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
history, Christianity would not be based on historical reality but in a
groundless myth.
The historical reality is that the person of Jesus impacted so profoundly
on his followers that the encounter itself became integral to the
interpretation of his identity. This is not dissimilar to our knowledge of
living persons: we come to know others in depth to the extent that we
encounter them in a living relationship. It becomes important, therefore,
to keep the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith together as the full
expression of the saving encounter with the mystery of Jesus' unique
personhood. One writer expresses it this way:
'Jesus Christ' refers to an interpersonal event initiated by Jesus of Nazareth and received by the people he encountered. In relationship to Jesus people contacted the transformative power of divine reality. One response to this mediated encounter with God was to call Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One. It is interesting to note that Jesus did not call himself the Christ. Although Jesus had a definite consciousness of himself and his mission, it is difficult to tell if he ever used any titles for himself. But where he was reluctant, others were eager. It was the people who were saved through Jesus who bestowed the titles. 'Jesus Christ' designated a relational flow between Jesus and his followers. It is a Christian code, a compressed way of talking about an experience which the Gospel of John suggests could not be compressed into all the books ever written.1
1 John Shea, An Experience Named Spirit (Chicago: Thomas More Press, 1983)
5 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
In this way, faith and history coalesce. Consequently, we need to
approach the Scriptures with both the eyes of faith and the tools of
historical research if we are to appreciate with any depth the mystery
of the personhood of Jesus Christ.
Teacher and prophet
The most common term applied to Jesus is that of 'teacher' or 'rabbi'
(thirty times in the gospels). Most likely, Jesus began his public teaching
ministry as a disciple of John the Baptist. Like John, Jesus teaches the
importance of faith and repentance; like Hillel, he teaches compassion
and love; like other Jewish teachers, he is inspired by profound respect
for the Scriptures. However, as we have indicated, Jesus developed his
own specific style of ministry that differed from John and other teachers
of his day. This is evident in the way that he teaches fidelity to the
Scriptures while being opposed to strict interpretations on fasting, ritual
purity and the Sabbath.
Jesus teaches a radical
form of Judaism, but he
does not see himself as
starting a new religion. It
is also important to
recognize that Jesus was
neither a professional
teacher nor an ordained
scribe. Like them, he does teach in the synagogues; unlike them, he
also teaches by the lakeside and in the open fields. Especially distinctive
is the way that Jesus directs his teachings to all--including women,
children, sinners, the sick--and not just to the educated class or to a
6 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
particular religious group. His message is not secretive or esoteric but
is directed towards anybody 'who has ears to hear'. Moreover, Jesus
differs from conventional teachers or rabbis by choosing his own
disciples and drawing them into a relationship of friendship and
mutuality.
In many ways, Jesus combines the offices of teacher and prophet.
Prophets tend to arise in situations of cultural or religious crisis; they
appeal first and foremost to alienated groups within a society; they are
deemed to possess special gifts of insight into the nature of the present
reality; and they are unusually gifted with rhetorical powers of speech.
The ethical prophet is also noted for critiquing the unjust sufferings of
marginal groups and for playing a significant role in redefining the
tradition. Evidently, Jesus fulfils each of these criteria in his teaching
ministry.
Nonetheless, there is a
uniqueness to Jesus' ministry
which defies all attempts to
define him according to any
particular set of categories.
There is this unmistakable
'otherness' about him in his
manner of proclaiming the reign of God, his miracle-performances, his
addressing Yahweh as 'Abba-Father', his freedom in ministering to
social outcasts, and his consistent claim to forgive sins. In all these
actions, Jesus emerges as one who speaks and acts with great personal
authority, an authority that seems to surpass the traditional role of the
ethical Israelite prophet. Whereas these other prophets take upon
7 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
themselves the task of speaking in God's name ('Thus the Lord says'),
Jesus is recorded as speaking on his own authority ('I say to you').
Something of the uniqueness of Jesus' teaching and prophetic ministry
is captured in the following quotation:
Jesus spoke with an immediacy and directness that seemed to come from the depths of the divine Mystery, and not merely from the expert interpreters of the time. He could speak as a Pharisee, as an apocalyptic prophet, or as a wandering charismatic story teller. At times he sounds like the Socratic teacher, challenging his students to ask new questions and to think anew. At other times he seems to be the wandering Greek Cynic preacher, suffering for his teachings and standing up against the corrupt authorities of his time. Many parallels can be drawn, but, in fact, Jesus of Nazareth stands alone as a unique religious teacher who was beyond comparison.2
We can glean much about Jesus the religious teacher and ethical prophet
by focussing on central aspects of his ministry. First and foremost
among these is his teaching on God's kingdom or reign.
The reign of God
The notion of the reign of God is the central and recurring motif in Jesus'
public ministry. It arises from the unique and incomparable religious
experience of intimate union with God whom he dares to address with
2 Brennan Hill, Jesus the Christ (Mystic CT: Twenty-third Publications, 1991), 62.
8 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
the familial title 'Abba'. The accounts of Jesus' baptism and
transformation, all be they stylised post-resurrection accounts, witness
to Jesus' acceptance by God as a special envoy or messenger. In both
stories, the relationship between God and Jesus is marked by a
surprising tenderness and loving personal concern. Moreover, Jesus is
designated Son of God and spokesperson for God: 'This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased--listen to him' (Mt 3:17; 17:25).
It is in this context of Jesus' religious experience--his 'Abba-experience'
and his sense of being chosen by God for a special mission to the world-
-that Jesus embodies and proclaims a new message for all people. It is
a message of justice, love and peace which is, in Jesus' own language,
expressed in the metaphor of God's kingdom or reign.
We have already stated that Jesus'
religious experience of a personal
and loving God needs to be
understood in the context of his
Jewish faith. It is equally true
that his experience and
understanding of the kingdom of
God draws from the best insights
of the Jewish tradition which understood God as king (Isaiah 52:17).
However, by the time of Jesus, the understanding of kingdom had been
largely distorted through people's experiences of various forms of
tyranny and misuse of power. Jesus brings a fresh approach to the
notion of kingdom by linking it to his own experience of a deeply loving
and caring God whose only concern is to liberate people from the forces
of evil and to empower them with a new life-vision.
9 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
In contrast to the more popular interpretations of his day, Jesus does
not identify the coming of the kingdom with apocalyptic destruction,
scribal legalism, sectarian withdrawal from society, nor revolutionary
uprising. Rather, through his words and actions, Jesus preaches a
message of God's coming reign which is to be marked by personal, social
and even cosmic transformation. However, for Jesus, the kingdom is not
just a future reality. It is also 'at
hand' in the here-and-now because
God's compassion and mercy are
available to all people at all times.
This is the message in many of
Jesus' parables and is proclaimed
in his radical sayings and healing
ministry. This coming/already-
present reign of God is especially
symbolized in the table-fellowship
that Jesus establishes with all
types of people including the
marginalized and outcasts of
society.
Jesus' preaching the reign of God is also linked to his call to conversion
and the invitation to experience the wonderful closeness of God. In this
way, the reign of God in Jesus' ministry emanates from his own religious
experience. He emphasises that it is only God's reign or God's doing that
is able to overturn evil and negativity in human life and history. Yet he
also stresses that human beings must respond to God's invitation and
so be converted to a new way of living if the reign of God is to become
10 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
real. Moreover, Jesus directly challenges social and religious attitudes
that act to keep the marginalized in their places of oppression. His
actions in the temple, his friendships with women, and his advocacy for
the poor, make it clear that his programme included a deep and fearless
challenging of the prejudices and injustices of his day.
There is no single meaning that we can
equate with this notion of God's reign as it
occurs in the ministry of Jesus. It stems
from the Jewish notion that God (Yahweh)
is Lord and King: all creation is subject to
its Creator (creation theology); and God's
kingship is evident in the life-events of
Israel's history (salvation theology). This
provided Israel with a sense of expectation
and hope that, just as God's reign manifested itself in past events such
as in the Exodus experience, so it would be manifested in the future.
Jesus radicalizes this message of the kingdom of God by indicating that
its future fulfilment is already happening now (Lk.11:20) and is, in some
way, associated with his own ministry and person (Mt.11:2ff.).
Consequently, the reign of God is not restricted to individual experience.
It overflows into social and political action--but only, and always, on the
understanding that God alone can enable the kingdom to happen. The
kingdom of God is God's doing and God's gift. This is why Jesus not only
ministers in the name of the kingdom; he also prays for it: "may your
kingdom come!" The reign of God is the central focus and controlling
horizon of Jesus' entire life and mission. In personal terms, it is a call to
a complete metanoia or change-of-heart. In social terms it calls for the
11 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
establishment of an alternative community based on the values of the
Sermon on the Mount. In cosmic terms, it recognizes that God will bring
the entire world and all creation to fulfilment. The reign of God is a
mystical or religious category with profound political and cosmic
overtones.
Jesus the Parabler
One of the most distinctive features of Jesus' teaching and prophetic
ministry is the manner in which he used ordinary stories to entertain
and challenge listeners to a new way of experiencing God in their lives.
These stories or parables are remarkable for their down-to-earth
character and their ability to tap into people's everyday experiences. For
example, they deal with meals and journies, sheep and goats, coins and
pearls, wheat and darnel, cloth and oil lamps, trees and birds. However,
what is evident in the telling of the parables is the way in which they
take an unexpected turn: the familiar becomes strange; ordinary values
are turned on their head; listeners are forced to make a decision
between two possible worlds or sets of values.
Take, for example, the parables of the Pharisee
and the Publican (Lk.18:9-14) and the Good
Samaritan (Lk.10:29-37). Good Jewish people in
Jesus' day had fairly clear ideas about prayer and
virtue: the prayer of good-living people
(pharisees) would be heard by God, whereas the
prayer of sinners (publicans) could not be
successful; certain types of people (priests and
levites) were good and virtuous, whereas low-
class foreigners (Samaritans) were not capable of
12 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
virtue. What we find, however, is that Jesus reverses the plots: it is the
sinner's prayer that is heard by God; it is the foreigner who acts with
virtue. More shocking still are the imputations that the prayer of the
religious pharisee is unsuccessful and the actions of the holy priest and
levite are sinful. Evidently, the initial hearers of these parables are led
to a point of decision with regard to their own value-systems, religious
judgments and moral actions.
We can recognize in these
parables a three-stage pattern of
advent (what people expect),
reversal of expectations (what
Jesus says) and the call to new
vision and action (how people
must change). This same pattern
applies to the reception of Jesus
himself in his mode of relating
with women, the poor, foreigners
and sinners. 1) Advent: good
Jewish people associated with
other virtuous people. 2) Reversal: Jesus associates and shares table-
fellowship with the wrong mob. 3) New Vision/Action: my presumed
religious virtues may be human prejudices. At the very least, one is
forced to make a decision with regard to Jesus and oneself. In this
sense, we can say that Jesus is himself a parabler: he proclaims the
reign of God through words and deeds which shatter people's accepted
world making them vulnerable to a new understanding of what it means
to be human and a new experience of God.
13 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
The Reign of God in Parables
The parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price
(Mt.13:44ff.) illustrate the relationship between the coming reign of God
and its present realization. There is an urgency about things requiring a
new way of seeing and acting. These stories challenge listeners to a
change of heart or reversal of priorities if the kingdom--here symbolized
as a hidden treasure or an expensive stone--is to be recognized and
received.
This new and urgent vision of the
kingdom, powerfully summed up
in the Sermon on the Mount, is
primarily a call to personal and
social transformation in the
name of the reigning God. The
social dimension is evident in the
parables of The Talents and the
Final Judgment (Mt.25:14ff.). It
is also at the heart of Jesus' own liberating praxis which is a further
manifestation or symbol of the reign of God--a reign of justice, peace,
forgiveness and love.
The intimate connection between present liberation and future salvation
is also conveyed in the parables of the Mustard Seed (Mk.4:30) and the
Leaven and the Dough (Mt.13:33). The God of Israel in Jesus' parables
is not a God of the status quo or the unknown future, but a God who
induces change in the here-and-now.
14 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
It is also helpful to read the radical sayings of Jesus as small but
poignant parables of the kingdom. As reported in the Gospels, Jesus
makes the following kinds of seemingly unreasonable demands on his
followers:
• Leave the dead to bury their own dead (Lk.9:60)
• If anyone strikes you on the right cheek . . . (Mt.5:39)
• Whoever tries to save his life will lose it (Mk.8:35)
• It is easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven (Mk.10:23)
• The first will be last; and the last will be first (Mk.10:31)
• The things that come out of a person are what defile (Mk.7:15)
• The kingdom of God must be received like a little child
(Mk.10:15)
Such statements as these are meant to shock or jolt the hearer, to bring
him or her to a deep form of self-questioning. Evidently, the reign of
God is closely allied to the response of the hearer who may find all this
too much and, like in the parable of the rich young man, walk sadly
away. However, if one truly receives the message, one must change. To
truly listen to Jesus' radical sayings is to already experience something
of God's kingship in the world of the here-and-now.
15 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
In these radical sayings of Jesus, the three-fold pattern of advent,
shock, new vision/praxis defies a merely rational or logical explanation.
It is much more like the raw experience we have when somebody we
love challenges our attitudes and behaviour. Initially we feel hurt and
betrayed; we had not expected this to come from you of all people! Our
life is thrown into turmoil. Then, we may just come to see that what the
person has said to us and about us is true. We see that we need to
change our ways, alter our very being, in order to be true to ourselves.
To take another example on a social level, Australians are beginning to
see and understand that, despite often
best intentions, 'white' Australia has
exhibited racist attitudes, or sexist
ones, that need to be overturned. This
is a hard truth to confront. Yet, only
when that truth is most deeply
acknowledged, can there be
forgiveness, growth and reconciliation.
In like manner, the parables and radical sayings of Jesus draw his
hearers to a moment of crisis and decision regarding their attitudes and
behaviours. They are also drawn to examine their assumptions about
God, the kingdom and Jesus himself. Either Jesus will be dismissed as
another religious crackpot or everything changes!
Miracle-worker
It is often with embarrassment or at least dim understanding that people
today approach the issue of Jesus the miracle-worker. Evidently, our
scientific understanding of the world finds it difficult to locate the
16 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
miraculous. On the one hand, we are confronted with the problem that
some of the miracle-stories seem a bit far-fetched. On the other hand,
there are those who want to take hold of the miracles of Jesus as some
kind of divine proof that he is God. Therefore, we need to look at the
question of the historicity of Jesus' miracles and then to ask what it is
that the miracles are meant to convey.
The miracles are post-resurrection
accounts. That is, they have
become somewhat stylized in their
reporting. Again, we need to recall
that the Gospels are first and
foremost faith-accounts rather
than straight histories. Moreover,
there is evidence to suggest that
some of the more far-fetched
nature miracles have been
borrowed from other traditions and
attributed to Jesus as a sign of belief in his messiahship. However, the
bulk of the miracles reported in the Gospels need to be seen as
historically based: they are part of the earliest strata of the Jesus-
tradition; they are certainly congruous with Jesus' overall mission of
proclaiming God's reign in the world; and there is no evidence to suggest
that the people of Jesus' time disputed the fact of such miracles (even
if they disputed their interpretation).
It is helpful to compare the reports of Jesus' miracles with the reports
of the magicians of his day. By contrast, Jesus' miracles are marked by
moderation and constraint. They do not seek to be spectacular, to
17 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
overpower the will of others, to be secretive, or to draw attention to
himself. It must be remembered that in the Judaism of the day, magic
was more often seen as a 'sign of the devil'. This means that the
disciples and evangelists would have been inclined to ignore this
dimension of Jesus' ministry unless they saw it as somehow central to
his mission. For them, at least, Jesus' miracles were a sign, not of the
devil, but of God.
Consequently, whatever the historical details of the miracle-stories, they
were recognized by those who believed in Jesus as 'signs of God'.
However, the miracles are not presented as proofs of Jesus' divine
status. They were far too ambiguous for that. In this regard, it is
interesting that Jesus is depicted on one occasion as 'refusing to give a
sign'. It is also significant that neither Paul nor any other post-Gospel
New Testament writer makes reference to the miracles.
As used by Jesus, the miracles
need to be seen in context of his
ministry of proclaiming the reign
and power of God. They do not
emphasize the notion of an
'extraordinary event' and, in one
way or another, the performance
of miracles is always related to
the faith of the people and the
wider community. Sometimes, Jesus' miracles are directed towards his
desire to challenge traditional prejudices and attitudes such as the false
notion that people's sickness is due to their sinfulness. Finally, it needs
to be stated that the central miracle with regard to Jesus is his
18 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
resurrection from the dead which is pre-eminently the act of God on and
through Jesus to the world. All miracle-stories need to be seen in this
light of the divine presence in the universe. Only with the eyes of faith,
can miracle-stories be placed in this proper perspective of God's abiding
presence in the cosmos.
Eschatological prophet
The Jews of Jesus' time were awaiting what they understood to be the
final or eschatological prophet who would usher in the 'last days'.
Images of this prophet varied. For some, this final prophet would be a
Moses-like figure or even an actual reappearance of a former prophet
(Elijah and Ezekiel were popular choices). For others, this eschatological
figure was associated with the formation of a political kingdom (people
remembered the glory days of old when Solomon and King David
reigned). For others again, the prophet was associated with the
apocalyptic destruction of the present world.
By the time of John the Baptist
and Jesus, Israel had been
without a significant prophet for
several generations. Moreover,
under the yoke of Roman
oppression, the sense of
expectation had sharpened. It was inevitable that at first John, and then
Jesus, were looked upon by many as this eschatological prophet for
whom the Jewish people had been waiting. However, as inevitably
occurs when people project their expectations onto others, there comes
the time when hopes are dashed. Disappointment and frustration set in.
Both the initial popularity of Jesus and the eventual animosity towards
19 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
him are partly explained in terms of his identification with the
eschatological prophet on whom Israel had pinned its hopes. When
people's hopes are dashed, irrational and violent forces are often
unleashed.
It is highly probable that Jesus
understood himself as the
eschatological prophet whose
mission was to inaugurate the 'last
days' of 'God's reign'. However,
Jesus did not understand the reign
of God in either narrow political
terms (establishing a new political
regime) or in traditional apocalyptic
ways (the literal destruction of the
universe). As we have seen, for
Jesus the reign of God was linked
to a new experience of the divine presence, something to be experienced
in the here and now and yet whose final fulfilment was yet to occur. On
the basis of the gospel portraits of Jesus, we can say that his
understanding of the reign of God was both mystical--a new experience
of God's presence in the here-and-now--and prophetic--the call to his
followers to a personal and social change of heart.
However, for reasons we must now explore, Jesus' message and mission
came to be interpreted as a threat to the religious and political status
quo. Jesus is reported as noting this himself when he states: "A prophet
is never accepted in his own country or among his own people" (Mark
6:4)
20 Gerard Hall: Jesus’ Life and Ministry
Further Reading
Gerard Hall, “Jesus’ Parables and Miracles” in M. Ryan (ed.), Reading
the Bible: An Introduction for Students (Tuggerah NSW: Social Science Press, 2003), 176-195.
Brennan Hill, Jesus the Christ: Contemporary Perspectives, Rev. ed.
(Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2004), Chpts. 3 & 4; pp. 42-87. Wilfred Harrington, Jesus our Brother: The Humanity of the Lord (New
York/Mahwah NJ: Paulist Press, 2010). Laurie Woods, “Jesus at home in Judaism” in D. Casey, G. Hall & A. Hunt
(eds.), Foundations of Christian Faith: An Introduction for Students (Southbank Vic: Social Science Press, 2004), 3-14.