Jesus and The Victory of God, for non-dispensationalists only

I read N.T. Wright's book Jesus and The Victory of God a couple weeks ago. I've been going through his "Christian Origins and The Question of God" series backwards for some reason. Not exactly the best way to understand someone's train of thought, is it? It's actually just because I'm cheap. The library got The Resurrection of the Son of God last year, then I requested Jesus and The Victory of God and it came in this summer. Now I guess I'll have to request New Testament and The People of God and read it next summer.

Maybe I'll go all out and cough up 50 cents for an Inter Library Loan!

Now that I've read Jesus and The Victory of God, I feel like I've finally heard a believable explanation of Mark 13:24-31 and its corollaries. "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory... I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened."

I've always kind of mentally skipped over that last sentence. I've heard several explanations but none has struck me as especially believable. Wright draws out what meaning these words would have had for a first century Jew, primarily from the prophets, but also from other sources. Although we read those words and automatically think Jesus is talking about the end of the world, he shows that first century Jews used language like this to refer to "earth-shattering" events which could only be adequately expressed in apocalyptic language like this. Nothing indicates Jews were expecting the end of the space-time universe, nor did they read Daniel 7 as if it meant the "Son of Man" would literally float down from the sky on a cloud.

They did expect God and/or the Messiah to conquer their enemies (pagan Rome), come to dwell again in the Temple with shekeinah glory, and rule the nations through Israel. Throughout the book, he shows how Jesus saw himself as the culmination of this story, only with key differences. For example, in Jesus's view the true enemy was not Rome but Satan.

His point is that in Mark 13 Jesus is referring to the destruction of the nation and especially of the Temple in A.D. 70. Jesus is saying that if this takes place before his generation passes away, it will mean that God has vindicated him as a prophet and as the Messiah. When you think about it, that explanation does fit better with the context of Mark 13. This is how the chapter begins:

"As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, 'Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!' 'Do you see all these great buildings?' replied Jesus. 'Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.' As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 'Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?'"

I also like his explanation of the significance of his cleansing of the Temple. He wasn't just upset because the money-changers were corrupt or because there was financial activity taking place on holy ground. Instead, by forcing Temple activity and sacrifice to briefly stop, he symbolically predicted its permanent cessation. It's his prophetic and messianic judgment on the entire Temple system, similar to the way prophets symbolically acted out predictions of judgment on Israel in the Old Testament. It ties in better with his overall message to Israel.

Although I know that as a conservative Anglican N.T. Wright believes Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, he doesn't think Jesus knew that about himself, at least before his resurrection. He does think Jesus saw himself as a prophet and as the promised Messiah. I'm not sure how we could ever know the answer to that question to be honest.

Well, there's no way I'll be able to recapitulate the entire book. I guess I'll just say that if the stuff coming out of the Jesus Seminar ever makes you wonder what's true, pick up one of his books for a thoroughly argued alternative.