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Jesus of Nazareth was a mostly traditional Jewish healer with a mostly traditional eschatological prophecy. “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines…. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death…. 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.”23 The “days of distress” will be followed by the kingdom of God, which is described as a feast for those who have not feasted before. The only definite thing about the new order is that social roles will be reversed: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied…. But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.”24
None of this is meant for another world, another time, or another generation. In Mark’s account, Jesus’s first words are: “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” And the good news—the news that suffuses the prophet’s message and his followers’ lives—is that “this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” “Some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”25
As in most prophecies, predestination and free will are finely balanced. The End is ineluctable, but its nature and, possibly, its timing depend on human actions. Jesus, human or not, is both the messenger and the agent, and some of his listeners may still be able to affect the course of the divine juggernaut. “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.” Nor is it too late now: “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” Jesus’s closest disciples, in particular, will be rewarded for their loyalty and sacrifice. Providence is, in part, the result of their efforts. “At the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”26
What could one do in order to inherit eternal life? How was one to welcome, and perhaps help bring about, the days of distress and the kingdom of the Lord? First, one had to leave one’s house and brothers and sisters and father and mother and children and fields—the way Jesus himself had done.
Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”27
To ensure salvation, one had to renounce one’s family and join a new one. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” Membership in the sect promised the ultimate reward in exchange for the ultimate sacrifice. It meant accepting a world in which all strangers were “neighbors”; all neighbors were brothers; and all brothers were the eternal children of one all-powerful Lord. According to Jesus, the two main commandments were: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The only people to be hated (at least at first, during the trial period for new members) were one’s erstwhile father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—and yes, even oneself.28
It was a universal message that allowed for multiple distinctions. Some—the weak, the meek, and the humble—were more likely to join and more deserving of membership (“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children”). Those who did join were more deserving than those who did not. Ideally, all neighbors from among the chosen people were to become brothers (Jesus was not talking to Gentiles). In the meantime, the rich were trying to squeeze through the eye of the needle, while those who had abandoned their families were looking forward to judging the twelve tribes of Israel.29
“Repenting” meant “changing and becoming like little children.” Changing and becoming like little children meant submitting fully and unreservedly to God the Father. God the Father was to become more consistent in his total claim on his people:30
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment….”
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart….”
“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all…. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’”31
The Hebrew God tended to dilute his totalitarian claim—an absolute, undivided, unmediated, and randomly capricious domination of individuals in exchange for a guarantee of collective triumph—by multiplying legal regulations and occasionally emphasizing the contractual nature of his relationship with his subjects (some of whom might be excused for concluding that they were living in an ethical Rechtsstaat). Jesus would have none of that. He was a radical fundamentalist and a consistent enemy of the “Pharisees and the teachers of the law”: “‘You hypocrites!’ [he railed at them for insisting on the observance of kosher rules.] ‘For Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”’ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen and understand. What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him “unclean,” but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him “unclean.”’”32
It is not what you eat—it is what you say. It is not what you say—it is what you think (because your no is a no, and because “your Father knows what you need before you ask him”). It is not about your lips—it is about your heart. It is not about loving your “loved ones” (“are not even the tax collectors doing that?”)—it is about loving the tax collectors. It is not about forgiving someone you are angry with—it is about not being allowed to be angry. It is not about not sleeping with your neighbor’s wife—it is about not being allowed to have the desire. It is not between you and the law (as interpreted by the Pharisees and other would-be mediators)—it is between your Lord and your thoughts, all of them, all the time. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both.” The Big Father is watching you, and the only way to escape punishment is to be watching, too—and yes, even yourself. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”33