Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was

Historical criticism is indispensable to research on Jesus. It illuminates the world in which Jesus lived, and still more, it works out the relationships among the sources of the gospels, illuminates the various layers of tradition, and thus sharpens our perception of what the evangelists wanted to say about Jesus in their “final text.” Historical criticism inquires persistently about what happened, and thus it demonstrates that Christianity is about real history and not about myths or ideologies. But when biblical critics measure Jesus only by their own prior understanding, deciding ahead of time what is “historically possible” and what is “historically impossible,” they exceed their own limitations.

Nowadays Jesus is far too often made to be merely a prophet, a gifted charismatic, a radical social revolutionary, a successful healer, a benevolent social worker, or even only a pious rabbi. The real claim of what is shown and expressed in Jesus is set aside, and the inevitable consequence is the assertion that the early Christian communities “deified” him.

The present book refuses to join in such reductionism, which goes contrary to the perceptions of the first witnesses and those who handed on the tradition. Its method is altogether historical and critical—historical research must always be critical—but at the same time it agrees with Karl Barth’s statement in his commentary on Romans: “For me, historical criticism has to be more critical!”

This book intends to be serious about the fact that Jesus was a Jew and lived entirely in and out of Israel’s faith experiences, but at the same time he brought those experiences to their goal and fulfillment. Those who want to really understand Jesus and what he was cannot avoid allowing themselves to be drawn into this faith.

I desire nothing more than that this book will help many people today to approach the real Jesus by making critical distinctions and yet at the same time remaining open and full of trust.

Gerhard Lohfink

Bad Tölz

September 2011

Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to the memory of Father Heinrich Bacht, SJ (1910–1986), in gratitude. He was professor of fundamental theology at the St. Georgen College of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, and it was he who showed me the path to priesthood.

As I was writing this book there were four books on my desk that I repeatedly consulted: Peter Stuhlmacher, Biblische Theologie des Neuen Testaments, vol. 1 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1992), and Martin Hengel and Anna Maria Schwemer, Jesus und das Judentum (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007), as well as the two-volume book on Jesus by Pope Benedict XVI. Those four books were both an aid and a great joy to me.

My own book would not have come into being without the urging of my student and friend, Professor Dr. Marius Reiser. I thank him for many suggestions. Originally we intended a common project, but it may be as well that two different books came of it. They shed light on the same subject from different points of view. Marius Reiser’s book is titled Der unbequeme Jesus [The Inconvenient Jesus] and was published by the Neukirchener Verlag in 2011.

Heartfelt thanks for the English-language edition are due to my former doctoral student, the Rev. Dr. Linda Maloney. She contributed all her biblical scholarship skills and personal application to the translation. Without her and Mr. Hans Christoffersen, academic publisher of Liturgical Press, this English edition would never have seen the light of day.

I owe special thanks to my brother Norbert, professor emeritus of Old Testament at St. Georgen. He accompanied this book with his advice from the outset and constantly encouraged me. He continues to make Psalm 133 a reality.

Finally, my gratitude goes to Hans Pachner, faithful in fetching books for me, and to Hans Braun, my careful copyreader, as well as to my patient housemates Barbara Stadler and Manfred Lazar—and with these four also the great crowd of companions on the way in the Katholische Integrierte Gemeinde. I do not know how I could live without their friendship and their faith.

Gerhard Lohfink

Abbreviations

ACW

Ancient Christian Writers

ADPV

Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins

AnBib

Analecta biblica

Ant.

Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews

ANTZ

Arbeiten zur neutestamentlichen Theologie und Zeitgeschichte

BDAG

Bauer, W., F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago, 1999.

BDS

Bonner dogmatische Studien

Bell.

Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War

BET

Beiträge zur biblischen Exegese und Theologie

BibS(N)

Biblische Studien (Neukirchen, 1951–)

BThS

Biblisch-theologische Studien

BTZ