CHAPTER X

SUMMARY OF THE LIFE OF JESUS

THE “Life of Jesus” is limited to the last months of his existence on earth. At the season of the summer seed-sowing he began his ministry and ended it upon the cross at Easter of the following year.

His public ministry may be counted in weeks. The first period extends from seed time to harvest; the second comprises the days of his appearance in Jerusalem. Autumn and winter he spent in heathen territory alone with his Disciples.

Before him the Baptist had appeared and had borne emphatic witness to the nearness of the Kingdom and the coming of the mighty pre-messianic Forerunner, with whose appearance the pouring out of the Holy Ghost should take place. According to Joel, this among other miracles was the sign that the Day of Judgment was imminent. John himself never imagined that he was this Forerunner; nor did such a thought occur to the people, for he had not ushered in the age of miracles. [pg 254] He is a prophet,—that was the universal opinion.

About Jesus’ earlier development we know nothing. All lies in the dark. Only this is sure: at his baptism the secret of his existence was disclosed to him,—namely, that he was the one whom God had destined to be the Messiah. With this revelation he was complete, and underwent no further development. For now he is assured that, until the near coming of the messianic age which was to reveal his glorious dignity, he has to labour for the Kingdom as the unrecognised and hidden Messiah, and must approve and purify himself together with his friends in the final Affliction.

The idea of suffering was thus included in his messianic consciousness, just as the notion of the pre-messianic Affliction was indissolubly connected with the expectation of the Kingdom. Earthly events could not influence Jesus’ course. His secret raised him above the world, even though he still walked as a man among men.

His appearing and his proclamation have to do only with the near approach of the Kingdom. His preaching is that of John, only that he confirms it by signs. Although his secret controls all his preaching, yet no [pg 255] one may know of it, for he must remain unrecognised till the new æon dawns.

Like his secret, so also is his whole ethical outlook ruled by the contrast of “Now and Then.” It is a question of repentance unto the Kingdom, and the conquest of the righteousness which renders one fit for it,—for only the righteous inherit the Kingdom. This righteousness is higher than that of the Law, for he knows that the law and the Prophets prophesied until John,—with the Baptist, however, one finds oneself in the ages of the Forerunner, immediately before the dawn of the Kingdom.

Therefore, as the future Messiah, he must preach and work that higher morality. The poor in spirit, the meek, those that endure suffering, those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers,—these all are blessed because by this mark they are destined for the Kingdom.

Behind this ethical preaching looms the secret of the Kingdom of God. That which, as performed by the individual, constitutes moral renewal in preparation for the Kingdom, signifies, as accomplished by the community, a fact through which the realisation of the Kingdom in a supernatural way will [pg 256] be hastened. Thus individual and social ethics blend in the great secret. As the plentiful harvest, by God’s wonderful working, follows mysteriously upon the sowing, so comes also the Kingdom of God, by reason of man’s moral renewal, but substantially without his assistance.

The parable contains also the suggestion of a chronological coincidence. Jesus spoke at the season of seed-sowing and expected the Kingdom at the time of the harvest. Nature was God’s clock. With the last seed-sowing he had set it for the last time.

The secret of the Kingdom of God is the transfiguration in celestial light of the ethics of the early prophets, according to which also the final state of glory will be brought about by God only on condition of the moral conversion of Israel. In sovereign style Jesus effects the synthesis of the apocalyptic of Daniel and the ethics of the Prophets. With him it is not a question of eschatological ethics, rather is his world view an ethical eschatology. As such it is modern.

The signs and wonders also come under a double point of view. For the people they are merely to confirm the preaching of the nearness of the Kingdom. Whosoever now does not believe that the time is so far advanced, [pg 257] he has no excuse. The signs and wonders condemn him, for they plainly attest that the power of ungodliness is coming to an end.

For Jesus, however, there lay behind this affirmation the secret of the Kingdom of God. When the Pharisees wished to ascribe these very signs to the power of Satan, he alluded to the secret by a parable. By his acts he binds the power of ungodliness, as one falls upon a strong man and renders him harmless before attempting to rob him of his possessions. Wherefore, in sending out his Apostles, he gives them, together with the charge to preach, authority over unclean spirits. They are to deal the last blow.

A third element in the preaching of the Kingdom was the intimation of the pre-messianic Affliction. The believers must be prepared to pass with him through that time of trial, in which they are to prove themselves the elect of the Kingdom by stedfast resistance to the last attack of the power of the world. This attack will concentrate about his person; therefore they must stand by him even unto death. Only life in God’s Kingdom is real life. The Son of Man will judge them according as they have stood by him, Jesus, or no. Thus Jesus at the conclusion of the [pg 258] Beatitudes turns to his own Disciples with the words “Blessed are ye when men persecute you for my sake.” The charge to the Apostles turns into a consideration of the Affliction. The embassage to the Baptist about the imminence of the Kingdom concludes with the word “Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.” At Bethsaida, the morning after he had celebrated the Supper by the seashore, he adjured the multitude to stand by him, even when he shall become an object of shame and scorn in this sinful world,—their blessedness depends upon this.

This Affliction meant not only a probation but also an atonement. It is foreordained in the messianic drama, because God requires of the adherents of the Kingdom a satisfaction for their transgressions in this æon. But he is almighty. In this omnipotence he determines the question of membership in the Kingdom and the place each shall occupy therein, without himself being bound by any determining cause whatsoever. So also in view of his omnipotence the necessity of the final Affliction is only relative. He can abrogate it. The last three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer contemplate this possibility. After beseeching God that he would send the [pg 259] Kingdom, that his name might be blessed and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven, men beg him to forgive them the transgressions and spare them the Temptation, rescuing them directly from the power of evil.

This was the content of Jesus’ preaching during the first period. He remained throughout this time on the northern shore of the lake. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum were the principal centres of his activity. From thence he made an excursion across the lake to the region of the Ten Cities and a journey to Nazareth.

Precisely in the towns which were the scenes of his chief activity he encountered unbelief. The curse which he must utter over them is proof of it. The Pharisees, moreover, were hostile and sought to discredit him with the people, on account of his very miracles. In Nazareth he had experience of the fact that a prophet is without honour in his own country.

Thus the Galilean period was anything but a fortunate one. Such outward ill[ ]success, however, signified nothing for the coming of the Kingdom. The unbelieving cities merely brought down judgment upon themselves. Jesus had other mysterious indications for measuring the approach of the Kingdom. By [pg 260] these he recognised that the time was come. For this reason he sent forth the Apostles just as they were returning from Nazareth, _for it was harvest time._

By means of their preaching and their signs the reputation of his mighty personality spread far and wide. Now begins the time of success! John in prison hears of it and sends his disciples to ask him if he is “he that should come,” for from his miracles he concluded that the time of the mighty Forerunner whom he had heralded had arrived.

Jesus performed signs, his Disciples had power over the spirits. When he spoke of the Judgment he laid stress upon the fact that the Son of Man stood in such solidarity with him that he would recognise only such as had stood by him, Jesus. The people therefore opined that he might be the one for whom all were looking, and the Baptist desired to have assurance on this point.

Jesus cannot tell him who he is. “The time is far advanced”—that is the gist of his reply. After the departure of the messengers Jesus turned to the people and signified in mysterious terms that the time is indeed much further advanced than the Baptist dreamed in asking such a question. The era of the Forerunner had already begun [pg 261] with the appearance of the Baptist himself. From that time on the Kingdom of God is with violence compelled to draw near. He himself who asks the question is Elijah—if they could comprehend it. Men were not able to perceive that the man in prison was Elijah. When he began his preaching, they knew not the time. That was due not alone to the fact that John performed no miracles, but to the hardening of their hearts. They are unreasonable children that do not know what they want. Now there is one here who performs signs,—but even on his testimony they do not believe the nearness of the Kingdom. So the curse upon Chorazin and Bethsaida concludes the “eulogy upon the Baptist.”

The sending of the Twelve was the last effort for bringing about the Kingdom. As they then returned, announced to him their success, and reported that they had power over the evil spirits, it signified to him, _all is ready._ So now he expects the dawn of the Kingdom in the most immediate future,—it had seemed to him, indeed, already doubtful whether the Twelve would return before this event. He had even said to them that the appearing of the Son of Man would overtake them before they had gone through the cities of Israel.

[pg 262]

His work is done. Now he requires to collect himself and to be alone with his Disciples. They enter a boat and sail along the coast towards the north. But the multitude which had gathered about him at the preaching of the Disciples, in order to await the Kingdom with him, now follow after them along the shore and surprise them at their landing upon a lonely beach.

As it was evening the Disciples desired that he would send the people away to find food in the neighbouring hamlets. For him, however, the hour is too solemn to be profaned by an earthly meal. Before sending them away he bids them sit down and celebrates with them an anticipation of the messianic feast. To the community that was gathered about him to await the Kingdom, he, the Messiah to be, distributes hallowed food, mysteriously consecrating them thereby to be partakers of the heavenly banquet. As they did not know his secret, they understood as little as did his Disciples the significance of his act. They comprehended only that it meant something wonderfully solemn, and they questioned within themselves about it.

Thereupon he sent them away. He ordered the Disciples to skirt the coast to Bethsaida. [pg 263] For his part he betook himself to the mountain to pray and then followed along the shore on foot. As his figure appeared to them in the obscurity of the night they believed—under the impression of the Supper where he stood before them in mysterious majesty—that his supernatural apparition approached them over the turbulent waves through which they were toiling to the shore.

The morning after the Supper by the seashore he collected the people and the Disciples about him at Bethsaida and warned them to stand by him and not to deny him in the humiliation.

Six days later he goes with the Three to the mountain where he had prayed alone. There he is revealed to them as the Messiah. On the way home he forbade them to say anything about it until at the Resurrection he should be revealed in the glory of the Son of Man. They, however, still remark the failure of Elijah to appear, who yet must come before the Resurrection of the dead can take place. They were not present at the eulogy over the Baptist to hear the mysterious intimation he let fall. He must therefore make it clear to them now that the beheaded prisoner was Elijah. They should take no offence at his fate, for it was so ordained. He also who [pg 264] is to be Son of Man must suffer many things and be set at naught. So the Scripture will have it.

The Kingdom which Jesus expected so very soon failed to make its appearance. This first eschatological delay and postponement was momentous for the fate of the Gospel tradition, inasmuch as now all the events related to the mission of the Twelve became unintelligible, because all consciousness was lost of the fact that the most intense eschatological expectation then inspired Jesus and his following. Hence it is that precisely this period is confused and obscure in the accounts, and all the more so because several incidents remained enigmatical to those even who had a part in the experience. Thus the sacramental Supper by the seashore became in the tradition a “miraculous feeding,” in a sense totally different from that which Jesus had in mind.

Therewith, too, the motives of Jesus’ disappearance became unintelligible. It seems to be a case of flight, while on the other hand the accounts give no hint how matters had come to such a pass. The key to the historical understanding of the life of Jesus lies in the perception of the two corresponding points at which the eschatological expectation [pg 265] culminated. During the days at Jerusalem there was a return of the enthusiasm which had already showed itself in the days at Bethsaida. Without this assumption we are left with a yawning gap in the Gospel tradition between the mission of the Twelve and the journey to Jerusalem. Historians find themselves compelled to _invent_ a period of Galilean defeat in order to establish some connection between the recorded facts,—as if a section were missing in our Gospels. _That is the weak point of all the “lives of Jesus.”_

By his retreat into the region of the Genesareth Jesus withdrew himself from the Pharisees and the people in order to be alone with his Disciples, as he had in vain tried to do since their return from their mission. He urgently needed such a retreat, for he had to come to an understanding about two messianic facts.

Why is the Baptist executed by the secular authority before the messianic time has dawned?

Why does the Kingdom fail to appear notwithstanding that the tokens of its dawning are present?

The secret is made known to him through the Scripture: God brings the Kingdom [pg 266] about _without the general Affliction._ He whom God has destined to reign in glory accomplishes it upon himself by being tried as a malefactor and condemned. Wherefore the others go free: he makes the atonement for them. What though they believe that God punishes him, though they become offended in him who preached unto them righteousness,—when after his Passion the glory dawns, then shall they see that he has suffered for them.

Thus Jesus read in the Prophet Isaiah what God had determined for him, the Elect. The end of the Baptist showed him in what form he was destined to suffer this condemnation: he must be put to death by the secular authority as a malefactor in the sight of all the people. Therefore he must make his way up to Jerusalem for the season when all Israel is gathered there.

As soon therefore as the time came for the Passover pilgrimage he set out with his Disciples. Before they left the north country he asked them whom the people took him to be. For reply they could only say that he was taken for Elijah. But Peter, mindful of the revelation on the mountain near Bethsaida, said: Thou art the Son of God. Whereupon Jesus informed them of his secret. [pg 267] Yes, he it is who shall be revealed as Son of Man at the Resurrection. But before that, it is decreed that he must be delivered to the high priests and elders to be condemned and put to death. God so wills it. For this cause they are going up to Jerusalem.

Peter resents this new disclosure, for in the revelation on the mountain there was nothing said to such an effect. He takes Jesus apart and appeals to him energetically. Whereupon he is sharply rebuked as one who gives ear to human considerations when God speaks.

This journey to Jerusalem was the funeral march to victory. Within the secret of the Passion lay concealed the secret of the Kingdom. They marched after him, and knew only that when all this was accomplished he would be Messiah. They were sorrowful for what must come to pass; they did not understand why it must be so, and they durst not ask him. But above all, their thoughts were occupied about the conditions that awaited them in the approaching Kingdom. When once he was Messiah, what would they then be? That occupied their minds, and about it they talked with one another. But he reproved them and explained why he must [pg 268] suffer. Only through humiliation and the meek sacrifice of service is one prepared to reign in the Kingdom of God. Therefore must he, who shall exercise supreme authority as Son of Man, make now an atonement for many by giving up his life in meek sacrifice.

With the arrival upon the Jewish territory begins the second period of Jesus’ public ministry. He is again surrounded by the people. In Jericho a multitude gathers to see him pass through. By the healing of a blind beggar, the son of Timæus, the people are convinced that he is the great Forerunner, just as they thought already in Galilee. The jubilant multitudes prepare for him a festal entry into Jerusalem. As the one who according to prophecy precedes the Messiah they acclaim him with _Hosanna. Hosanna in the highest,_ however, is their acclaim of the Kingdom about to appear. Therewith the same situation is reached again as in the great days near Bethsaida: Jesus is thronged by the multitudes expectant of the Kingdom.

The instruction contained in the parables which were uttered at Jerusalem has to do with the nearness of the Kingdom. They are cries of warning, with a note of menace as well for those that harden their hearts [pg 269] against the message. What agitates men’s minds is not the question, Is he the Messiah, or no? but, Is the Kingdom so near as he says, or no?

The Pharisees and Scribes knew not what hour had struck. They showed a complete lack of sensibility for the nearness of the Kingdom, for else they could not have propounded to him questions which in view of the advanced hour had lost all significance. What difference does it make now about the Roman tribute? What do the farfetched Sadduceean arguments amount to against the possibility of the resurrection of the dead? Soon, with the advent of the Kingdom, all earthly rule is done away, as well as the earthly human nature itself.

If only they understood the signs of the times! He proposes to them two questions, which should cause them to ponder and hence take note that the time they live in is pregnant with a great secret which is not dreamed of in the learning of the Scribes.

_By what authority did the Baptist act?_ If they but knew that he was the Forerunner, as Jesus had mysteriously suggested to the people, then they must know too that the hour of the Kingdom had struck.

_How is the Messiah at one time David’s [pg 270] Son—that is, subordinate to him; at another, David’s Lord—that is, his superior?_ If they could explain that, then would they understand also how he who now labours lowly and unknown in behalf of God’s Kingdom shall be revealed as Lord and Christ.

But as it is they do not even suspect that the messianic indications harbour _secrets._ With all their learning they are blind leaders of the blind, who, instead of making the people receptive for the Kingdom, harden their hearts, and instead of drawing out from the Law the higher morality which renders men meet for the Kingdom, labour against it with their petty outward precepts and draw the people after them to perdition. Hence: Woe to the Pharisees and scribes!

True, even among them are such as have kept an open eye. The scribe who put to him the question about the great commandment and welcomed his reply is commended as “having understanding” and therefore “not far from the Kingdom of God,”—for he shall belong to it when it appears.

But the mass of the Pharisees and scribes understand him so little that they decree his death. They had no effective charge to bring against his behaviour. A disrespectful word about the Temple—that was all. [pg 271] _Then Judas betrayed to them the secret._ Now he was condemned.

In the neighbourhood of death Jesus draws himself up to the same triumphant stature as in the days by the seaside,—for with death comes the Kingdom. On that occasion he had celebrated with the believers a mystic feast as an anticipation of the messianic banquet; so now he rises at the end of the last earthly supper and distributes to the Disciples hallowed food and drink, intimating to them with a solemn voice that this is the last earthly meal, for they are soon to be united at the banquet in the Father’s Kingdom. Two corresponding parables suggest the secret of the Passion. For him, the bread and wine which he hands them at the Supper are his body and his blood, for by the sacrifice of himself unto death he ushers in the messianic feast. The parabolic saying remained obscure to the Disciples. It was also not intended for them, its purpose was not to explain anything to them,—_for it was an enigma-parable._

Now, as the great hour approaches, he seeks again, as after the Supper by the seashore, a lonely spot where he may pray. He bears the Affliction for others. Therefore he can say to the Disciples beforehand that in the [pg 272] night they shall all be offended in him—and he does not need to condemn them, for the Scripture had so determined it. What endless peace lies in this word! Indeed, he comforts _them:_ after the Resurrection he will gather them about him and go before them in messianic glory unto Galilee, retracing the same road along which they had followed him on his way to death.

It still remained, however, within the scope of God’s omnipotence to eliminate the Affliction for him also. Wherefore, as once he prayed with the believers, “And lead us not into the Temptation,” so now he prays for himself, that God may permit the cup of suffering to pass his lips by. True, if it be God’s will, he feels himself strong enough to drink it. He is sorrowful rather for the Three. The sons of Zebedee, to gain the seats upon the throne, have boasted that they can drink with him the cup of suffering and receive with him the baptism of suffering. Peter swore that he would stand by him even if he must die with him. He knows not what God has ordained for them,—whether he will lay upon them what they desire to undertake. Therefore he bids them remain near him. And while he prays God for himself he thinks of them and twice wakes them up, bidding [pg 273] them remain awake and beseech God that he may not lead them through the Temptation.

The third time he comes to them the betrayer with his band is near. The hour is come,—therefore he draws himself up to the full stature of his majesty. He is alone, his Disciples flee.

The hearing of witnesses is merely a pretence. After they have gone the High Priest puts directly the question about the messiahship. “I am,” said Jesus, referring them at the same time to the hour when he shall appear as Son of Man on the clouds of heaven surrounded by the angels. Therefore he was found guilty of blasphemy and condemned to death.

On the afternoon of the fourteenth of Nisan, as they ate the Paschal lamb at even, he uttered a loud cry and died.

[pg 274]

POSTSCRIPT

THE judgments passed upon this realistic account of the life of Jesus may be very diverse, according to the dogmatic, historical, or literary point of view of the critics. Only, with the _aim_ of the book may they not find fault: _to depict the figure of Jesus in its overwhelming heroic greatness and to impress it upon the modern age and upon the modern theology._

The heroic recedes from our modern “Weltanschauung,” our Christianity, and our conception of the person of Jesus. Wherefore men have humanised and humbled him. Renan has stripped off his halo and reduced him to a sentimental figure, coward spirits like Schopenhauer have dared to appeal to him for their enervating philosophy, and our generation has modernised him, with the notion that it could comprehend his character and development psychologically.

We must go back to the point where we can feel again the heroic in Jesus. Before that mysterious Person, who, in the form of his time, knew that he was creating [pg 275] upon the foundation of his life and death a moral world _which bears his name,_ we must be forced to lay our faces in the dust, without daring even to wish to understand his nature. Only then can the heroic in our Christianity and in our “Weltanschauung” be again revived.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

I have used scans of two copies of the original version of the book: one from the New York Public library (scanned by Google) and one from the University of Princeton. This was necessary because both books had considerable hand-written additions/changes that obscured the original text. Both are available from the Internet Archive.

The formatting of both the .htm and .txt files has followed that of a similar book, The Quest of the Historic Jesus, already in Project Gutenberg. Evidently this was a poor choice since several of the problems identified in my first submission were copied from that book.

I have included page numbers in the format [pg xxx] for both .htm and .txt.

I have made several changes to the printer’s text, which are listed below. Each change has been surrounded with [] characters, if the change was only an addition of some characters. If some characters have been changed, the correct word is placed after the incorrect word and surrounded with [] characters. Scripture references in the original book are formatted as (chapter)(verse). In the .txt version I have used the more common form (chapter):(verse).

Within the printed book both ill success and illsuccess appear. The two-word version seemed the better choice. (see 4. below)

Several terms appear in both two-word and hypenated forms: high-priest, morning-glow, world-clock, modern-historical, far-reaching, passion-idea, coming-one, jesus christ. I left all these as they are in the book. I decided to harmonize fore-ordained (see below).

1. page 5: self-(line break)consciousness becomes selfconsciousness (as on page 138). 2. page 64: Mk 2:23-3, 6 becomes Mk 2:23-[3:6] 3. page 67 (twice), 152, 157, 167: ff) changed to ff[.]) 4. page 68, 69, 87, 116, 259, : illsuccess changed to ill[]success 5. page 89: comission changed to com[m]ssion 6. page 90: Corazin changed to C[h]orazin 7. page 117: [not] inserted into Mt 10:5, 6 8. page 120: dominination changed to domination 9. page 140: scripture reference corrected from Joel 3:28 to 2:28 10. page 213: casual changed to causal 11. page 236: Isaiah 40:66 changed to Isaiah 40-66 12. page 242: changed fore-ordained to foreordained

In the .txt version I have used utf8 encoding and the following markers:

1. italic text surrounded by _ 2. footnote references in the form _(_number_)_