Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was

So the proclamation of the reign of God and the (possible) announcement of judgment are internally connected, and therefore they belong together from the beginning. The reason for this is that the reign of God that Jesus proclaims and has his disciples proclaim sets every hearer face-to-face with an ultimate decision: for or against God, for or against Jesus, in whom and through whom God himself is now definitively acting. This radical decision does not happen only at the end of Jesus’ public activity. It is happening from the beginning onward. And for that very reason the proclamation of the reign of God brings about a krisis from the outset, that is, division, separation, judgment. This appears in a Jesus saying that applies to his whole activity: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt 10:34).

I will address this saying at length later on (see chap. 19). At this point let me say only that the “sword” here has nothing at all to do with a call for violence. It is a sign of the division Jesus brings to the world. Those who hear his words and see his mighty deeds are brought, willy-nilly, into a situation in which they have to decide. Their decision will become for them either salvation or judgment; it leads to the reign of God or to a state of opposition to God that is pure destruction. As John the Baptizer had said before, so Jesus says now: Israel is in a final crisis, and therefore the whole nation and every individual within it is like someone being led before a judge:

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny [

quadrans:

the smallest copper coin]. (Matt 5:25-26)

The metaphor presumes the institution of imprisonment for debt: someone who owes money will be held in prison (sometimes with his or her whole family) until the whole debt is paid. There is thus a distant similarity to today’s practice of imprisoning people to obtain their cooperation. We know from ancient sources that, once someone fell into the machinery of this system of justice, the procedure was rigorously carried out. The metaphoric saying advises that one should avoid getting involved in it, but instead come to an agreement with the opponent beforehand, if necessary at the last minute, on the way to the judge.

Matthew interpreted the metaphor in terms of reconciliation with the brother or sister in faith, which is a possible and meaningful actualization. But Jesus himself intended something far more fundamental. He wanted to say that now every individual in Israel is like someone on the way to appear before a judge. Each is in a situation that will decide his or her whole life. Therefore, it is important to act decisively and wisely in this eschatological hour—and to do so immediately. Once one stands before the judge, it is too late.

Marius Reiser considers it possible that in this image Jesus—indirectly and ironically—saw himself as the accuser.⁵ That would certainly fit with his skillful use of images and parables and with the concealed presence he repeatedly adopts in his parables. He would have taken up the Old Testament motif of the legal case God has against his people, and he himself would then be standing in the place of God—in a legal case against Israel. There is still time to accept his words and turn around, but the time is short. Soon it will be too late.

God’s Banquet

So from the beginning there is a close connection in Jesus’ proclamation between the reign of God and judgment. But there must have been a time when the theme of judgment emerged more sharply and urgently for him. This was the period when resistance formed against him and it became evident that even his mighty deeds effected very little repentance among the people. The invitation to Israel had long since been issued—would it in the end be refused? Jesus interprets this situation in a parable that still leaves everything open but expresses an emphatic warning and is formulated as pointedly as possible: