Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was

On the other hand, these sacramental signs are visible and perceptible. As at baptism we can see and feel the flowing water, in anointing the stroking with oil, at the ordination of a priest the imposition of hands, in the Eucharist the meal, and in every sacrament we can hear the crucial words—so also the people of God is visible and perceptible in the world. We can hear the Gospel; we can see the people of God living together. And as one can not only see and hear but also receive a sacrament, so one can participate in the life of the people of God. It is communicable.

Every sacrament is also a sign that points to something. It indicates the existence of a deeper and greater reality. The people of God is also an indicative sacrament, precisely in this sense: it points to the reign of God insofar as it is still hidden and incomplete, yet at the same time it reveals essential features of what is to come.

But a sacrament is not only a sign that points to something. It is also an effective sign. It effects participation in Christ himself and thus in his work and his destiny. In the same way the people of God is also more than a mere pointer. It makes present the reign of God as “already and not yet.” It gives a share already in the reign of God. It makes its members already companions at table in the reign of God. It allows them to experience the power of the reign of God even now, through the Holy Spirit. And as church it links its members already to the risen Christ, in whom the reign of God has already become a perfected reality.

Thus the concept of sacrament seems to be a meaningful possibility for defining the correlation between the reign of God and the people of God more precisely. It secures the visibility of the reign of God and prevents it from drifting without a location. We can, for example, with the help of this model, interpret something like Luke 11:20 without incurring the usual problems: “If it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the reign of God has come to you.” As we can see, Jesus’ exorcisms of demons liberate deeply disturbed people from diseased compulsions that bind them and deprive them of freedom. Such liberation is a tangible and perceptible reality, not only for the sick people themselves, but also for their environment. A bit of the world has been changed.

What we can see is the reign of God itself. In the process of healing it remains hidden, but it is already present in the sign: the sign is the healing of mentally ill people. Those signs are so powerful that they attract attention. People are talking throughout the country about Jesus’ mighty deeds. The signs thus create space for the reign of God and allow it to come.

Nevertheless, the reign of God preserves its incognito status. It has to be believed, just as the hidden grace of the sacraments must be believed. One can take the sacraments to be empty signs with nothing behind them, and in the same way it was possible to regard Jesus’ exorcisms as trickery or the work of the devil. That is just what Jesus’ enemies did (cf. Mark 3:22).

So what is the reign of God? In New Testament exegesis it often remains remarkably ambivalent. It has no real place in the world. It is true that it was visible for a short while in Jesus, in his words and his deeds, but after that it apparently remains suspended like mist in the air. No one can grasp it. This book takes a different tack. It is meant, among other things, to show the deep connection between the reign of God and the people of God. That is the primary purpose of the next chapter.

Chapter 4

The Gathering of Israel

In the preceding chapters I have already spoken more than once about Jesus’ “gathering of Israel.” It is high time to take a closer look at that idea, because it is not at all clear what it means. “The gathering of Israel” is not one of the classic theological concepts. You can still search theological dictionaries in vain for it. The closest you will come is “collection.”

The Concept of Gathering

Still, “gathering” is a word that appears frequently in the Bible. From the time of the exile onward, the gathering of the scattered people of God was one of the fundamental ideas in Israel’s theology.¹ Deuteronomy 30:1-5 reads: