//Today’s topic stems from N. T. Wright’s new book, How God Became King. Daniel actually says “Seventy weeks” in his prophecy, but most people (such as the NIV translation quoted above) recognize this to mean seventy times seven (490) years. That’s how long it will take, according to Daniel, before the Messiah arrives and sets things right.

Today’s readers may recognize seven as a sort of special number, but it meant far more to Bible readers in Daniel’s day. The seventh day is the Sabbath. The seventh year is a sabbatical year. Every seven-times-seven years is declared a jubilee; slaves are freed, land sold off by the family is restored to its original owner, everything returns to the way it belongs.

Daniel’s promise sounds very much like a jubilee of jubilees! Wait four hundred ninety years, says Daniel, and God will set things right once and for all!

Now, let’s carry this topic a little further than Wright does. If we count 490 years from the date the Jews returned from exile and began rebuilding the temple according to the decree of Artaxerxes (457 BCE) we arrive at the year 33 CE … the year many believe Jesus died. Pretty amazing, huh?

We’ll look at this from another angle tomorrow, and see if it’s really as amazing as it appears.

★★★★★

This one gets off to a bit of a slow start, but finishes strong. With an enigmatic subject like Paul, and a provocative title like this one, I expected a more pointed discussion. It’s only when we reach the midpoint that the really controversial topics emerge: women’s role in the church, slavery, homosexuality, marriage and divorce, etc. 

Kirk begins his book by confessing his early ambivalence toward Paul. Only after much study, and by recognizing that Paul’s teachings and Jesus’ teachings do steer toward one another, did he come to appreciate Paul’s slant. This acceptance appears to have come at a cost: Kirk began to realize that not only did Paul tend toward Jesus in his teachings, but Jesus tended toward Paul! 

For example, Jesus says we should not judge one another. But is that the whole story? Worry about the log in your own eye, and ignore the speck of dust in your neighbor’s? Hardly. Jesus says get the log out of your eye so that you can see to help your brother get rid of his problem. If we condemn Paul for encouraging what looks like strict judgment of others (1 Cor. 5:12-13), we should remember Jesus’ admonition to recognize others by their fruits and beware.

Paul may best be understood under the lens of Storied Theology. By telling the story of mankind, from Adam and Eve through Paul’s day, he fits the Gentiles into the cosmic plan of God. He brings non-Jews into the fold, makes them feel like they belong, and defines their role as full participants.

Kirk writes as a studied believer, meaning his perspective is most definitely that of a practicing Christian, yet he’s been around the block long enough to realize that every question about the Bible has a dozen scholarly answers … half of them legitimate. For example, Kirk acknowledges that many of the Pauline letters may be pseudonymous, and he focuses more intently on the universally recognized authentic letters, yet he doesn’t press the issue.

Kirk doesn’t sit on the fence when it comes to interpreting the words of the Bible, though. Paul doesn’t pull punches, and neither does Kirk. Still, this is a respectful and thought-provoking book.

//Today’s verses conclude Jesus’ parable about the nobleman who went away into a far county, and left silver pieces to ten slaves. One of them was unfaithful, and didn’t invest the money to earn more. From this unfaithful servant, the nobleman takes even the one silver piece that he has and gives it to another.

Then Jesus concludes the parable with this lesson: If you don’t want me to be king over you, then come here and die in front of me.

Harsh, eh? What is Jesus talking about? The answer lies just a few verses later, when we realize this parable has been a lead-in to Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. As Jesus tops the Mount of Olives and looks down on Jerusalem, he weeps over what is to be their fate:

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” –verses 41-44.

This, of course, happened 40 years later in the war of 67-70 CE when the Romans overran Jerusalem. In Luke’s parable, Jesus is looking ahead to the destruction of Jerusalem and warning his listeners that if they cannot accept him as king, they will soon be slaughtered.

Shall we give[tribute to Caesar], or shall we not give? But [Jesus], knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s.

//One theme running through the New Testament is the contrast between the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of Caesar. In today’s verse, Jesus is asked whether it is appropriate to pay taxes to Rome, and he requests a coin. Holding up the penny, Jesus asks two questions: Whose image is on the coin, and whose inscription?

All Jews knew full well the commandment to avoid graven images, yet they were carrying the image of Caesar around in their pockets. They also knew full well how the inscription on the coin declared Caesar to be the “son of god.” The criticism in Jesus’ lesson is unmistakable.

But then, Jesus throws them for a loop. Unexpectedly granting approval for the Jews to carry such coins, he tells them to render to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and to God that which belongs to God.

The Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus seems to be saying, has nothing to do with the politics of this world, and is not at all in conflict with Roman occupation. Lift your eyes above your mundane dreams of political redemption from the Romans, and recognize the reign of God where it truly lives.

//Every Christian knows about the Suffering Servant passage in Isaiah chapter 53. This became an important theme for New Testament writers in describing a new kind of Messiah. Jesus, Christians insist, died as prophesied by Isaiah. As a suffering servant.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. … he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. … He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. –excerpts from Isaiah 53.

But you’re unlikely to find a Jew who interprets Isaiah chapter 53 the way Christians do. The suffering servant, they say, is a picture of Israel. Not of a man. Before Jesus arrived on the scene, not a single Jewish text interpreted the passage messianically. 

In my upcoming book about John’s Gospel, I rely heavily upon this image of a suffering Messiah. This is, I feel, true to the teachings of John. See John 12:35, where John quotes word-for-word the very verses in Isaiah leading up to the Suffering Servant passage, and concludes that “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.”

So who’s right? Jews or Christians? The 53rd chapter of Isaiah is imbedded within a long discourse, as God pleads: “Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation.” (Isaiah 51:4). “Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called.” (Isaiah 48:12). And, of course, today’s verse, which names the servant. It is Israel.

While by no means conclusive, the Jewish interpretation of their own scripture does seem most logical.