Wright and McKnight (5)

The Holy Spirit is the kingdom builder. Of course, that answer raises another difficult question. If the Holy Spirit has all the power of God and none of the restrictions of being human, why has he been so unsuccessful in his ministry?

In my book Times and Seasons, I bring these questions and answers together to explain how the cross and the Spirit work together to bring the Kingdom of God come to fulfilment. I am a big picture guy who could not cope with the life of footnotes, so I switched from theology to economics, where the concerns and questions seemed to be much bigger (wrongly). My style is more polemic than McKnight and Wright and is intended for a lay audience, but I attempt to put all these things together.

The Holy Spirit is the Kingdom Builder, but his power has been constrained because Israel is missing from the body of Christ. The church has not achieved its full potential, because of the ream is missing. The truncated church has been unable to give the Holy Spirit the authority that he needs to operate freely in the world. The result has been a limited kingdom.

The next step in God’s plan is to graft Israel back into the vine. When that happens, the Church will have a new completeness. When the team is complete, the Holy Spirit will have much greater authority to work in the world. He will be free for the first time to do what needs to be done to bring Kingdom of God to a much greater fullness. Jesus will not just be a King of heaven, but will receive widespread recognition as Lord of Lords on earth.

The Old Testament promises highlighted by McKnight and Wright will come to fruition. The Kingdom of God will achieve the much greater fullness that Israel was promised by the prophets. Wright acknowledged that too much prophecy about the Kingdom has been pushed out to after the parousia. That is right. Times and Seasons explains how they can be brought back into the present and how they become a reality on earth (and not just into theological ideal.

Messrs Wright and McKnight say that the coming of Jesus was the climax of the story of Israel. I do not understand how they can make that statement and not go on to discuss the future of Israel, particularly in books about the Kingdom of God. Jesus said some fairly stanch words to the people of Israel in Matt 23 and 24, but in the midst of that he promised hope for the future (Matt 23:29). This suggests that the story of Israel goes on beyond Jesus ministry on earth. If the story of Israel is important, and I agree that it is important for understanding, the Kingdom of God, then some discussion about the future of Israel seems to be essential. This lack is a serious gap in their books.

There is another important implication. The grafting back of Israel (whether spiritual or physical) brings blessing to the world. I presume that that blessing means greater fulfilment of the Kingdom of God. This means that the Kingdom of God is constrained during the times of the Gentiles. When the team is complete, the Holy Spirit will have much greater authority to work in the world. He will be free for the first time to do what needs to be done to bring Kingdom of God to a much greater fullness. He will do that without reverting back to the ugly Kingdom that Jews of Jesus time dreamed about. This must be part of the good news of the Kingdom.

Wright and McKnight (4)

As a Kingdom nut from way back, I like the way that Tom Wright brings the cross and the Kingdom together. I have never been able to see the point of pushing them into opposition. However, I was surprised out how little emphasis he gave to the Holy Spirit, although he is seems to be an equally important part of the gospel. He simply says “And that theology of the Spirit is, of course, what the New Testament supplies, on page after page”, but leaves it at that.

Wright finds the cross and the kingdom together on every page of the gospels, but mostly ignores the increased activity of the Holy Spirit that runs along side. For example, in Luke’s gospel, John was full of the Spirit from birth (1:15), the Holy Spirit came upon Mary (1:35), Elizabeth (1:41), Zechariah (1:67) Simeon(2:25), and Jesus (3.22; 4:1; 4:14). The Holy Spirit was present to heal (Luke 5:17). Luke ends the gospel with the disciples being told to wait for the promised Holy Spirit. He begins the book of Acts with a repeat of the command to wait for the Sprit. The entire book is the story of the Holy Spirit and should more correctly be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit.

John the Baptist promised that Jesus would baptise his people in the Holy Spirit. All the gospels record the Holy Spirit coming on Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. During his ministry, Jesus rejected religious and political power, but embraces the power of the Spirit to heal the sick and cast out demons. The gospel writers repeatedly say that the Kingdom is near. Matthew explains what it means. The Kingdom coming near is the Holy Spirit doing stuff among the people (Matt 12:28). John recorded that Jesus needed to go away, so he could sent the Holy Spirit to get the job done on earth.

When I read the gospels, I see the cross, the kingdom and the Holy Spirit. We need all three brought back together.

The gap raises a serious question about the nature of Jesus kingship. Jesus might be king, but he has gone back to heaven, so how can his kingdom come on earth, and be more than just a nice theological idea. When the king is not here, his kingdom can be ignored, no matter what status, he has back in heaven. The key is the Holy Spirit. He is the Kingdom Builder. When Jesus ascended out of the earth, he sent the Holy Spirit to establish his Kingdom on earth. To understand how the Kingdom comes we must understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit on earth. Wright says, “All this demands, of course, a strong theology of the Holy Spirit as the one who dwell in Jesus’s followers and enables them in turn to be kingdom-bringers…..” but does not develop this further. That is a pity.

The fullness of the Spirit is an essential part of the gospel that makes the coming of the Kingdom on earth possible. The good news is that Jesus is King and is sending the Holy Spirit to bring his Kingdom into being.

McKnight and Wright (3)

McKnight and Wright explain how the story of Israel was fulfilled in Jesus ministry. They do not deal with the role of Israel in the New Testament age. With his second speaker, Wright emphasises that God has returned to Israel in Jesus. He does not discuss the fact that after Jesus ascended out of Israel, Israel was sent into exile. Now some of Israel seems to have returned to the promised land, but God has not returned with them. How does this fit within in God’s plan.

This leaves some big questions. What is happening to Israel now? How will they be grafted back into the vine? When will that happen? What will be the impact on the Kingdom of God, and how will it bring blessing to the world. How does Israel come into the Kingdom of God, without reverting to the militaristic version of the Kingdom that Jesus rejected?

The McKnight and Wright account of the gospel does not answer these questions, although they are an important part of the story of Israel. The gospel was good news for Israel, not just good news for the world. The good news for Israel is more than just some land defended with nuclear weapons and F16 jets. To fully understand the gospel, we must understand how it is good news for Israel.

I explain how the gospel is good news for Israel in my book Times and Seasons, and it is good news for the whole world.

McKnight and Wright (2)

I find the emphasis of McKnight and Wright that Jesus is the fulfilment of Israel’s story really helpful, but it does not provide a full explanation. An important question is left hanging. The big question is this. Why did God choose to work through Israel, if he knew it was going to fail to fulfil its calling, and that he would have to send his son to get the job done anyway.

The problem the gospels are resolving is the authority one. Who is in charge on earth. The Gospel message is that God will be back in charge again. Once we understand that the issue is authority on earth it becomes much clearer why the history of Israel is so important for the gospels.

I would couch the problem that the Gospels are resolving this way. When God created the earth, he delegated authority over it to humans, without recourse. When humans sinned, they handed authority over the earth to the forces of evil. We underestimate the significance of this authority shift. God was outlawed from his own world, by the people he created and empowered. He could only intervene in the world, if humans gave him permission, and not many did, because they were captivated by evil.

God chose Abraham and Israel, because he needed a people to give him authority to act on earth, and to provide him with a place where he could launch his plans to redeem the world, without the constant risk of being squeezed out, before he was finished. Abraham and his descendants provided him (intermittently) with the authority he needed. Israel provided a place from which he could expand out his work of restoration.

God needed a place where he could operate a bit more freely than he usually can. Israel was not ideal, but it provides something that he could work with (This is explained more fully at Gods Big Strategy). When Jesus came to earth as a baby, he came to a place where God had permission to intervene to support his life and ministry. Israel made the incarnation possible.

The church now gives God authority to operate on earth. I will explain the implications for Israel in the next post.