The Apocalyptic Jesus

Jesus was not an apocalyptic prophet in the sense that he believed the physical world would end soon, but in the sense that somehow His life would drastically change how everyone else lived. As defined in the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, an apocalyptic is, "one who refers to any doctrine concerning an imminent end of the world and an ensuing general resurrection and final judgment (54)." Using this definition and analyzing Jesus' actions and words, there are two different interpretations of an apocalyptic: eschatological and sapiential.

To look at Jesus as an eschatological apocalyptic would be to consider him as someone who believed in a rapidly approaching end of the physical world when the kingdom of God would be fulfilled on earth (Lewis 31). If Jesus is regarded as a sapiential apocalyptic, then it means he was not expecting a physical end of the world, but hoped that those around him would change how they lived, thus creating a destruction of the world's morals and ushering in a new way to go about life (MacClymond 134). Also, it must be remembered that the question up for debate is not if Jesus referred to the end of the world, because it's obvious he did on numerous occasions, but it's whether or not he meant he meant what he said to be taken literally (eschatologically) or figuratively (sapientially).

To understand the reason why Jesus used apocalyptic dialogue, one must first understand Jesus' mindset and ideas he had about the Roman civilization. Jesus claimed he was sent from God to help people live a way conforming to the kingdom of God. The perfect quote to sum up Jesus' mission comes from the twenty-eighth saying of the Gospel of Thomas:

"...I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts and do not see, for they came into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty. But meanwhile they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, then they will change their ways." (Miller and Funk 310)

To accomplish this mission, Jesus went after the Pharisees, the rich and powerful rulers of Rome, and told them that their morals and way of life is so far from what God had intended for humanity. Jesus approached the sick and exiled, ate with the lowlifes of society, and spoke of a kingdom that was nothing like the one that currently ruled the world. All this was part of Jesus' attempt to model the way he wanted everyone else to live.

We must also remember that the kingdom of heaven is not a place, but a process. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus explains the idea of the kingdom of heaven:
"If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) imperial rule is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, it is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) imperial rule is inside you and outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty." (Miller and Funk 305-306)

Here, Jesus is telling his disciples to not look for the kingdom of heaven, because it's not something that's going to fall out of the sky one day. Jesus tells them it's something to seek out because it's already present, and not something to wait around for. Like Jesus says later in Thomas 18 after his disciples have asked him how they can see their end come: "Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death (Miller and Funk 308)." In this saying, Jesus is speaking about the Gnostic notion of creation, and how they believe that the world is entirely evil because it is the result of an evil deed by a fallen angel. The Gnostic's goal, or end, is to break away from the world and then obtain a righteousness that existed before the world, in the beginning. Thus, Jesus teaches his disciples that the kingdom of Heaven is nothing to look for, but something to obtain (Miller and Funk 308).

With all this in mind, a believer of the eschatological apocalyptic Jesus should look at Jesus' apocalyptic sayings differently. Some may wonder why Jesus even spent time speaking on the apocalypse if he didn't think it would be relevant to anyone around him. But, if Jesus' goal was to get people to live different lives, then it makes sense he would speak as if the world would end soon. This would have created a sense of urgency among those who heard Jesus, and maybe make them listen to him more. Far fewer people would listen to someone who claimed the world had a long time to live, but you should still lead a better life (Crossan 227).

One set of verses worth analyzing is the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12). In these verses, Jesus claims a number of things. For example, he says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth...Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God...Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Zondervan 1476-1477)." By preaching these things Jesus is trying to show those around him how they should live. MacClymond says this about the Beatitudes:

"...the coming kingdom will not be the kind of world we now live in...He offered not only the hope of a coming kingdom but a wisdom to be practiced in everyday life." (133)

This quote sums up the true essence of the idea of Jesus being a sapiential apocalyptic. He spoke of a backwards world, where those that were truly blessed were the meek, the persecuted, and peacemakers, not the rich and powerful. Jesus hoped that his teachings would lead those around him to change their lives and begin to follow him rather than the Pharisees. If he was successful, the old way of doing things would die away, and a new type of world would have been born. This, in a sense, would have been an apocalypse of Roman law, and the beginning of a new way to live, fulfilling Jesus self-proclaimed mission in his life (MacClymond 133-134).

There are many instances in the Bible where Jesus addresses the topic of the end of the world. For example, in Mark 9 verse 1, Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power (Zondervan 1543)" Many use this verse to defend the idea of the eschatological apocalyptic Jesus, believing Jesus meant that his disciples would still be alive when the apocalypse occurred. However, if we look back at Mark 8, we could get a better picture of the context of Jesus' message.

Mark didn't write his gospel numbering chapters and verses, so we can assume that the last part of Mark 8 and the first verse of Mark 9 was said in one breath. In Mark 8, Jesus talks about those who choose to follow him, what they must do, and what they'll gain by obeying him. Jesus claims that his followers must give up their worldly desires, and in losing this life on earth, they'll gain one that's even better in heaven. Then in Mark 9:1, he goes on to say that some of the people around him will still be alive to, "see the kingdom of God come with power." However, Jesus has just given those around him a new definition of life. According to Jesus, life is not what you do on earth, but what you end up doing after you die in the afterlife. He claims that those who drop everything of worth on earth will be rewarded with life, or the kingdom of heaven. Thus, it is possible that when Jesus refers to those who won't taste death, he's talking about those that enter in the kingdom of heaven, because they have not died, but gained life, and have therefore never tasted death (Fredrickson 48).

Matthew had a different interpretation of what Jesus had said. In his gospel, chapter 24 verse 34, Matthew writes, "Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened (Zondervan 1510)." Many interpret this verse as Jesus saying to his disciples that the end of the world would come before the current generation passed away. Obviously, if this were the case, Jesus is wrong, because the world still exists. However, it's important to know that the original word that is used instead of "generation" was "genea." Though "generation" means, "the entire body of individuals born and living at around the same time," genea has a variety of different definitions. Throughout the gospels, the word has been used as a synonym to words like, descent, birth, race, and generation (Kittel 114). It was also usually used bearing a negative connotation.

With so many definitions, the word, "genea" brings about many possibilities of what Jesus could have meant in this verse besides the assumed meaning. First of all, it's possible that Jesus could have been referring to the Jews in general, believing that the entire Jewish race would not pass away until the apocalypse occurred. Many believe this because genea could also be defined as, "race." Secondly, it's possible Jesus could have been speaking about all mankind in general. Since Jesus believed every human is caught in a state of depravity, like he mentioned in the twenty-eighth saying of Thomas, it would make sense to use, "genea," since it was used with a negative connotation. Jesus could have also meant that the apocalypse would occur before the entire human race ceased to exist.

Another approach to looking at the Matthew 24 verse is described by Steven Paul in his book, The Apocalypse-Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation. Paul takes a grammatical look of the book's Hebrew syntax:

"However, the phrase ë genea autë [the generation itself], did not refer to the apostles or their generation; rather, it referred to the generation of those last signs or events before the end of age. The adjective autë, in the postpositive, has the reflexive meaning of "-self"; hence, the phrase, ë genea autë, conveys the idea of "the generation itself," i.e., "the selfsame generation" or "that very generation."" (Paul 67-69)

With all of these different interpretations of this verse, it seems like most of the confusion stems from a loss in translation. Thus, it's impossible to use this verse to support either side of a sapiential apocalyptic or eschatological apocalyptic Jesus.

Even throughout Jesus' parables there is evidence that he did not believe that the world was going to end soon. This is because, "many parables and sayings present the kingdom of God as undergoing a process of growth and development through time (MacClymond 134)." For instance, there's the parable of the mustard seed found in Luke 13:18-19, and of the wheat and weeds in Matthew 13:24-26. In both parables, Jesus makes the comparison of the kingdom of heaven to seeds that grow into crops or trees. Using plant metaphors to explain the kingdom of heaven shows that Jesus understood this is a process that takes time, as does a seed when it turns into any type of plant.

The teachings of Jesus should be regarded as teachings from a sapiential apocalyptic, rather than an eschatological apocalyptic. The verses that seemingly sound as if Jesus is saying he believes the world will end soon can easily be interpreted to show that he meant something else. Jesus did not believe the physical world would end soon, but believed he could change the way the world was run (back then the world was just the empire of Rome). Through the gospels and any other biblical literature, Jesus should be looked at as someone who was extremely wise and bold rather than someone who wanted everyone to repent because of a fear of the world ending.