id="ulink_149f14b0-8d8e-50e5-815b-6edf3e6b3074">In the previous chapter it was argued that the Bible must be read in light of Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the entirety of the narrative of God’s work of redemption and restoration. Now I wish to venture further and suggest that the coming of Christ must not only be understood in terms of the fulfillment of the OT story, but also in terms of the inauguration of the kingdom of God, which itself is the beginning of the eschaton (i.e., end times, last days, etc.). Thus, in contrast to many of the popular conceptions that suggest that the end times are future, it is my contention, which is widely acknowledged among the scholarly world, that they began with the coming of Christ, continue in the present through the work of the Spirit, and await the consummation at his return.51
The importance of understanding that the kingdom of God has come in and through Christ cannot be overstated. For the central thesis in this book is that eschatology matters. It matters because we are living in the eschaton. We are not waiting for it to come. We are not called to scour the newspapers and Internet to discern if the “signs of the times” are being fulfilled in our generation. Instead, we are to be busy living in the kingdom as agents of the kingdom! Thus, understanding the NT from the perspective that in Jesus the eschaton has arrived not only provides a needed clarity to the message of the NT, but it also more clearly delineates the nature and mission of God’s people. To say that Christ came the first time to be our Savior and to die for our sins and that he will return to become the king not only overly simplifies things, but also fails to understand the mission of Jesus and the nature of the kingdom of God.
The question I wish to investigate, then, throughout this chapter is: Does viewing the NT and the life of Jesus from an eschatological perspective provide the best foundation for understanding the NT? G. K. Beale, in fact, suggests, “Just as when you put on green sunglasses, everything you see is green, so Christ through the Spirit had placed eschatological sunglasses on his disciples so that everything they looked at in the Christian faith had an end-time tint.”52
Understanding the NT in Light of the End Times
I often ask my seminary students several questions that appear on the surface to be simple Bible trivia. The answers, however, are not straightforward. In fact, I would suggest that these conundrums are only solvable when one reads the NT from the perspective that Jesus was ushering in, and did usher in, the eschaton!
First, I will ask, “Why was Jesus baptized?” It is interesting to watch graduate students wrestle with what on the surface appears to be a very simple question—after all, the event must have been important since it is either described or referenced in each of the four Gospels.53 It doesn’t take long for the students to begin speculating: “He did so in order to be an example to us.” This is the most common assertion.
The problem is that the NT never says that Jesus was baptized as an example for us. If this were the reason, then one might expect Paul to reference the baptism of Jesus as a model for Christian baptism. But he does not. I would go so far, in fact, as to say that none of Jesus’ disciples would have even thought that he was baptized merely as an example for them. Furthermore, if Jesus’ baptism primarily served as an example for us, then we might suggest that the Gospel writers would have preferred to omit this event. For, the writers of the NT could well have challenged the first Christians to be baptized in light of the fact that they themselves were baptized, or they could have appealed to the fact that Jesus commanded them to be baptized (Matt 28:18–20). There was no real need to affirm that Jesus was baptized. After all, the baptizing of Jesus with a “baptism of repentance” only raises questions. Why was Jesus baptized with a baptism of repentance when he was without sin? It may well have been easier to simply omit references to Jesus’ baptism. Yet, all four Gospels mention John the Baptist, and the Synoptics54 all have Jesus being baptized by him.
Another conundrum in the NT is: Why does Matthew’s Gospel note that the angel tells Joseph to name the child Immanuel (Matt 1:23), yet two verses later they name him Jesus? And, in fact, Jesus is never called Immanuel in the NT! Even more problematic is the fact that Matthew cites Isaiah 7:14 and claims this as the first of his five famed “fulfillment passages.”55 Yet, if Jesus is never named Immanuel then does this really constitute a fulfillment?
Thirdly, why are the first words in the Gospel of John, “In the beginning” (John 1:1)? This is a clear allusion to Genesis 1. But why does John cite Genesis 1 when there appears to be no overt reference to the creation account in the Fourth Gospel?
Finally, why does Matthew begin his Gospel with a genealogy? For most of us genealogies are something found in the OT. Why, then, does the NT begin with one? Many have suggested that Matthew draws a connection to David in his lineage thereby demonstrating that Jesus is qualified to be the king. Such is indeed true. But a closer look at Matthew 1:1–17 confirms that Matthew explicitly draws up his genealogy into three distinct sections, each comprising fourteen generations: “Therefore all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the time of Christ fourteen generations” (1:17). Yet, a problem arises when one compares the genealogy of Matthew with the corresponding genealogies in the OT56; for Matthew, in order to have fourteen generations in each segment, has had to omit names.57 Why did Matthew do this? Why was it important that he classified Jesus’ ancestry into three groups? And why was it important that they be delineated into groups of fourteen generations?
Only after we have sufficiently understood Jesus as the end times prophet58 who was announcing in his presence and his ministry the fulfillment of all of God’s covenant promises, can we begin to fully appreciate these and many other aspects of the life of Jesus. Furthermore, with a focus on Jesus as the end times prophet, not only do many aspects of the Gospel come to life, but only then can we begin to look at our mission as the people of God in an end times context.
The Story Is About Jesus and the Inauguration of the Eschaton
That the coming of Christ in the opening of each of the Gospels is closely viewed in connection with the OT is beyond dispute. Matthew’s Gospel commences with a genealogy that clearly serves to identify Jesus with the story of the OT.59 The Gospel of Mark opens with a composite citation of Isaiah 40:3; Exodus 23:20; and Malachi 3:1 that serves to identify the coming of John the Baptist as the herald of the promise coming of Christ.60 Luke’s opening two chapters contain a plethora of OT citations and allusions.61 And the Gospel of John begins by quoting Genesis: “In the beginning” (1:1). In each instance, the Gospels are connecting the narrative of Jesus with the OT story.
Upon closer examination, we note that the Gospel writers intended us to see the coming of Christ both as the fulfillment of the entirety of the OT story and as the inauguration of the end times.62 It is too simple, then, to merely state that John 1:1 alludes to the creation narrative in Genesis. Instead, John wants us to not only see Jesus in light of the creation narrative of Genesis, but also in terms of a new creation. That is, “In the beginning” not only serves to connect the story of Jesus with Genesis and the OT, but also in an eschatological—forward-looking—sense. Thus, with the coming of Jesus we have “in the beginning” a reference to the New Creation.
One may
