Bryan Steven M. Jesus and Israel’s Traditions of Judgement and Restoration

Cambridge University Press, 2004. - 296 p.Jesus and Israel’s Traditions of Judgement and Restoration examines the eschatology of Jesus by evaluating his appropriation of sacred traditions related to Israel’s restoration. It addresses the way in which Jesus’ future expectations impinged upon his understanding of key features of Jewish society.
Scholars have long debated the degree to which Jesus’ eschatology can be said to have been realized. This book breaks new ground by considering Jesus’ expectations regarding key constitutional features of the eschaton: the shape of the people of God, purity, Land and Temple. Steven M. Bryan shows that Jesus’ anticipation of coming national judgement led him to use Israel’s sacred traditions in ways that differed significantly from their use by his contemporaries. This did not lead Jesus to the conviction that Israel’s restoration had been delayed. Instead he employed Israel’s traditions to support a different understanding of restoration and a belief that the time of restoration had arrived.
Steven M. Bryan is Dean of Studies and Instructor of New Testament at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology. He has been involved in theological education in Ethiopia since 1992.