A Biblical Vision, Part II: Mastering the New Testament Witness to Christ

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A B i b l i ca l Vi s i on, Par t I I : Mas ter i ng the New Tes tament Wi tnes s to Chr i s t

The Modern Critical View, continued

III. Did community needs dictate the message?

“Jesus of Nazareth is the historical base for the Christian claim to be the community of the new covenant. Yet, as we have observed, our documentary evidence about him was written long after his death, probably in the last half of the first century. Our records are a series of responses to Jesus by those who saw in him the agent of God, not the reports of detached observers . In the process of analyzing these documents of faith we learn about Jesus, but we also learn about the communities in which the tradition about him was treasured and transmitted. ” The death of Christ was itself identified with the Passover in the Pauline churches (1 Cor. 5.7); and in Johannine circles [that is, in the churches of John], Jesus was regarded as the Lamb of God (John 1.29; Revelation 5). . . . But just Mark was content to affirm only that the death of Jesus was necessary, without explaining why or how, so he simply states that Jesus’ death is in behalf of others. This is what the community of Mark celebrates in the communion, while looking for ward to the completion of the number of the elect in the new age.

~ Understanding the New Testament , p. 78, 121