Document - Benedict XVI and Jesus of Nazareth

The Gospel of the
Kingdom of God
The kingdom of God, the purpose of the parables, the historical value of certain miracles, the Primacy of Peter… Traces begins a journey through some of the problematic themes dealt with by the Pope in his book. In a context generated by modern criticism, which denies the historicity of the Christian fact, we are offered a reasonable course for growing in knowledge and in affection for the person of Christ

by José Miguel García

Witnesses, not creators. Since the birth of modern criticism, academic circles have maintained an attitude of mistrust in the historical value of the Gospels. Over time, this mistrust has become a widespread attitude. The radical separation, and even opposition, which some historians impose between the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith, is born from a philosophical prejudice, but is generally based on the hypothesis that these books do not witness to historical events. The Gospel accounts, they say, do not testify to facts that really happened, but are only theological creations that express the Christian community’s faith in Jesus. In other words, the Gospels were not born of the witness of the encounter with an exceptional man, but by invention or by mythologizing.
On the contrary, it is not the faith that generated the facts narrated in the Gospels, but the facts which happened that generated the faith those men had in Jesus and the desire to communicate to everyone what they had encountered. These books were born of the passion to witness to all men the experience they had lived; so, even though they were written after the death and resurrection of Jesus, they transmit true facts about Him. As we read the Gospel accounts, we come into contact with the real Jesus, as Benedict XVI affirms in his book, Jesus of Nazareth.
We want to come closer to this historical character, Jesus, and get to know His personality, growing in awareness and affection for His person. To this end, we will look again from a more historical perspective at some of the speeches and events that the Pope comments on in his book. We are aware of the fact that among the aspects implied in the exegetical study of the Gospels, the most important and crucial challenge is to prove that the evangelists testify to facts that were lived, a story that really happened.
We will concentrate our attention on problematic points that the Pope refers to in his book, which touch on some words of Jesus regarding these arguments: the kingdom of God, the purpose of the parables, the historical value of some of the miracle accounts, and the institution of the Primacy of Peter. It will be a journey in episodes that we offer to everyone as an example of how to compare ourselves with the concerns that led Benedict XVI to write a book about Jesus. It is a help for approaching the Gospels with all the reasons, taking into account historical research, conscious of a situation that is dramatic for the faith. We are immersed in a context for which Christ is not a fact that happened at a given time in history, a situation in which-the Pope writes, “Intimate friendship with Jesus, on which everything depends, is in danger of clutching at thin air.”

 On the occasion of the Convention of the Diocese of Rome, the Pope commented in these words on the reason for the publication of his book, Jesus of Nazareth: “Only he who knows and loves Jesus Christ can introduce his brothers to a vital relationship with Him. Moved precisely by this need, I thought it useful to write a book that would help us to know Jesus.” The purpose of the book is therefore to make known Jesus as He is presented in the Gospels, not the interpretations of many scholars, which have shown themselves to be mere inventions. Benedict XVI affirms in the foreword, “I wanted to portray the Jesus of the Gospels as the real, ‘historical’ Jesus in the strict sense of the word. I am convinced, and I hope the reader will be, too, that this figure is much more logical and, historically speaking, much more intelligible than the reconstructions we have been presented with in the last decades. I believe that this Jesus–the Jesus of the Gospels–is a historically plausible and convincing figure.” For this reason, the historical sources used in the book are the Gospels themselves. The Gospel accounts, however, are not always immediate and simple; not all their content is clear. A times, we find words and accounts that are obscure, difficult to understand, such as verse 12 of Chapter 11 of Matthew’s Gospel, which the Pope himself considers “words difficult to understand.” Let’s try to find a possible clarification of the enigma contained in these words.

Matthew’s text
For a start, let’s recall Matthew’s text: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.” What violence is Jesus referring to? Who are these violent people? The answers of the scholars are various. According to some, with John the Baptist began a movement of moral renewal with the aim of anticipating the coming of the Kingdom; the violent who are taking it by force are those who accept the preaching of John the Baptist. They want to impose the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth by force. Against this interpretation can be quoted the request of the Our Father: “Thy Kingdom come.” With these words, Jesus explains that the coming of the Kingdom is exclusively the work of God; we can ask for it to be realized, but we cannot impose it by human action.
Other modern authors thought they saw in these words of Jesus an allusion to the zealots, a religious-political group of that time. The main characteristic was the violent struggle against the Roman power, with the aim of liberating the territory of Palestine, since the only lord of the land of Israel was God. In order to restore God’s sovereignty, the zealots went as far as declaring war on the Roman Empire in the years 66-70 AD. Two facts make this interpretation of Jesus’ words impossible: 1) The zealot movement began before John the Baptist began preaching repentance; 2) Jesus maintained a critical attitude toward the use of violence.
Others have seen here an allusion to the hostile position of the Scribes and Pharisees, who close the doors of the Kingdom of God to men and do not let those who wish to enter to do so (Mt 23:13). If this was the case, the first part of the saying becomes understandable, but the second remains completely obscure. In order to give it a meaning, these scholars are obliged to translate the phrase thus: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent are tearing it away [from the hearts of those who want to enter].” The fact that they have to add a gloss shows that this translation is forced. Moreover, in the original, what the violent are taking by force is the Kingdom of Heaven, and it is logical to suppose that they take it in order to own it, not just to take it away from others.

The solution to the enigma
In order to find a solution to this enigma, we have to go back to a historical fact: Jesus’ attitude towards tax collectors and sinners. According to Judaism in Jesus’ time, God was merciful toward sinners, but not toward pagans. Moreover, He did not have pity on the Jews who lived as pagans, because of their behavior or profession; a curse hangs over them. This group included, amongst others, the Jews who gambled, money lenders, shepherds, and tax collectors. Jesus announces to these “unpardonable” sinners the good news of divine mercy, in words and gestures. During His public ministry, Jesus proclaims that these men are accepted, forgiven by God, and are called to be part of the Kingdom of God, that is, invited to enter the ambit in which God definitively and unequivocally answers the desires of the human heart. So, Jesus’ proclamation that God wants to make these sinners sharers in happiness and that He Himself is the symbol of this salvation through His welcoming and sitting down at table with them, was a  scandal for the orthodox Jews and the cause  of hostility toward Jesus. The following words, quoted by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel,  are a clear witness to this scandal and this hostility: “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they said, ‘Look, He is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’” (Mt 11:18ff.). It is clear that in this saying, as in that which we have tried to explain, the Lord is quoting words of the Scribes and Pharisees who were scandalized.

Tax collectors and sinners
If Jesus affirms that tax collectors and sinners are welcomed by God into His Kingdom, that these, too, are invited to share in the benefits of salvation, that they are represented as being present in a space where God dwells, for the Scribes and Pharisees, this implied a violence toward the Kingdom of Heaven–those who were excluded came in violently, taking over or stealing what did not belong to them. In other words, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence because men who (according to the Jewish law) were excluded come in, and the violent who steal this Kingdom of God are the “unpardonable” tax collectors and sinners. Jesus says something similar in the parable of the Prodigal Son. The protests of the elder son, who did not want to join in the joy of his father at the return of the sinful son, seem to mean that, according to him, the brother has entered with violence into his father’s house, a house that he alone deserves to occupy, since he has been obedient to his father for the whole of his life, without every disobeying him (Lk 15:29ff.). Therefore, these words of Jesus, that echo the thoughts of his adversaries, are not a lament, but rather an exclamation of joy that consoles sinners, whom the Pharisees and the Scribes reject with so much contempt. It is a strong declaration of Jesus before their recalcitrant hostility.

A place to enter
As is well known, Jesus’ preaching revolves around the announcement of the Kingdom of God. In the Jewish tradition, the expression “Kingdom of God” is related to God’s lordship, His being King, and it is used to speak of His sovereignty. Without breaking completely with this conception, Jesus introduces a radical novelty, since, on His lips, this expression reflects a concrete image: the image of God as the ideal King, in whose dominions the deepest desires of man are answered, the desires that constitute the human heart. Sverre Aalen affirms, “In fact, the characteristic terminology used in the Gospels is completely different in phrases and expressions from that which we have noted as typically Hebrew. For example, in the Gospels, the metaphor of someone who ‘enters’ into the Kingdom is essential (Mt 5:20ff.; Mk 9:47; 10:15-23.) This idea of ‘entering’ is widely used in Jesus’ discourses, which form part of the nucleus of His expressive material. One also enters into (eternal) life (Mk 9:43; Mt 19:17). The good and faithful servant enters (partakes) into his master’s joy (Mt 25:23), or one enters through the narrow gate (Lk 13:24). No one can deny the fact that the Kingdom of God is considered a territory, an area, in these texts.” (“‘Reign’ and ‘House’ in the Kingdom of God in the Gospel”, New Testament Studies n. 8 (1961-62), 219f.) In the same category of special images are included Jesus’ words that indicate a banquet–which is celebrated in a closed space–the table of God’s Kingdom (Mt 8:11; Lk 14:15), the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 16:19), the closing of the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 23:13), people cast out of the Kingdom (Mt 8:12).
So if for Judaism the term kingdom (malkut) is used to describe the kingship, the sovereignty of God, in the Gospel tradition it generally does not describe a quality of God, but rather the good things that God’s salvation implies, conceded to man through Jesus Christ. A clear example of this conception is Jesus’ saying in Mt 11:12 (which we have just examined). In it, the Kingdom of God indicates a place that one enters in order to share in the fullness of life–which means that it cannot be reduced simply to God’s sovereignty. The image of the Kingdom of God revealed by Jesus in His words, we repeat, is that of a territory, an area one enters, or toward which one moves; a space in which God dwells, and to which He invites man in order to share with him the good things that satisfy completely and definitively all his needs, even the most radical.