Jesus and the Message of the New Testament

by Joachim Jeremias

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2002

Overview

Joachim Jeremias was one of the most innovative and productive New Testament scholars of the twentieth century. This volume brings together some of his best-known works on historical Jesus research and core issues concerning Gospel tradition.

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Key Features

• Examines the importance of understanding the historical Jesus
• Outlines the theology of the Kerygma to provide additional insight into the current debate
• Provides analysis of different foundations within the Christian faith

Contents

• The Search for the Historical Jesus
  • The Theology of the Kerygma
  • The Crucial Significance of the Historical Jesus
  • The Good News of Jesus and the Proclamation of the Early Church
• The Sermon on the Mount
  • The Problem
  • The Origins of the Sermon on the Mount
  • The Sermon on the Mount as an Early Christian Catechism
  • The Individual Sayings of Jesus
  • Not Law, but Gospel
• The Lord’s Prayer
  • The Lord’s Prayer in the Ancient Church
  • The Earliest Text of the Lord’s Prayer
  • The Meaning of the Lord’s Prayer
• The Central Message of the New Testament
  • ‘Abba’
  • The Sacrificial Death of Jesus
  • Justification by Faith
  • The Revealing Word

Top Highlights

“Every verse of the Gospels tells us that the origin of Christianity lies not in the kerygma, not in the resurrection experiences of the disciples, not in a ‘Christ-idea.’ Every verse tells us, rather, that the origin of Christianity lies in the appearance of the man who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, Jesus of Nazareth, and in his message. I must emphasize the last words: and his message.” (Page 6)

“It is clear that we cannot understand the message of Paul unless we know the message of Jesus. Whatever statements of the kerygma we may care to examine, their origins are always to be found in the message of Jesus. That the earliest church was clearly aware of this is shown by the fact that it supplemented the kerygma (missionary preaching) with the didachē (instruction for the community), which is reflected not only in the Epistles and the Book of Revelation but also in the Gospels. At no time was there a kerygma in the earliest church without didache.” (Pages 7–8)

“We are now in a position to say why ’abba’ is not used in Jewish prayers as an address to God: to a Jewish mind it would have been irreverent and therefore unthinkable to call God by this familiar word.¹⁰ It was something new, something unique and unheard of, that Jesus dared to take this step and to speak with God as a child speaks with his father, simply, intimately, securely. There is no doubt then that the ’Abba’ that Jesus uses to address God reveals the very basis of his communion with God.” (Page 70)

“Thus when Jesus spoke of God as ‘my Father,’ he was referring not to a familiarity and intimacy with God available to anyone, but to a unique revelation that was bestowed upon him. He bases his authority on the fact that God has graciously endowed him with the full revelation, revealing himself to him as only a father can reveal himself to his son. ’Abba’, then, is a word that conveys revelation. It represents the center of Jesus’ awareness of his mission.” (Page 73)

Praise for the Print Edition

Joachim Jeremias was the acknowledged twentieth-century specialist on the Semitic language of the Jesus traditions. His work on Jesus’ parables, prayers, and Eucharistic words, as well as Jesus’ social contexts, are still much consulted. The shorter essays collected here are excellent distillations of his key ideas. They are models of simplicity and clarity and deserve to be read and re-read by scholar and student alike.

—Dennis Duling, emeritus professor, Canisius College

Product Detail

• Title: Jesus and the Message of the New Testament
• Author: Joachim Jeremias
• Editor: K. C. Hanson
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress
• Publication Date: 2002
• Pages: 144

About Joachim Jeremias

Joachim Jeremias (1900–1979) was a German Lutheran theologian. He was a scholar in Near Eastern studies and professor of New Testament at the University of Goettingen, Germany. He is author of several books, including Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus.