Page 408 - ILIAS ATHANASIADIS AKA RO1

The context of Jesus’ career

Good historical information about Jesus can be acquired by establishing the

overall context of his public ministry.

As noted earlier, he began his career by being baptized by John, an
eschatological prophet, and an understanding of eschatology is pivotal to

interpreting Jesus’ world.

Although eschatology is the doctrine of last things, the Jews who anticipated
future redemption did not expect the end of the world. Instead, they thought that

God would intervene in human history and make the world perfect:

that is, the Jews would live in the Holy Land free of foreign domination and in
peace and prosperity.

Many Jews, including John, expected final judgment to precede this golden age,

and he taught that people should repent in view of its imminence (Matthew 3:1–
12; Luke 3:3–9).

Since Jesus accepted John’s baptism, he must have agreed with this message, at

least in part. After Jesus’ death and Resurrection, his followers believed that he
would soon return to bring in the kingdom of God.

The clearest expression of this belief is offered by Paul, whose earliest letter

indicates that the Lord will return before most of the people then alive die (1
Thessalonians 4:13–18).

If Jesus began his career by being baptized by an eschatological prophet and if

after his Crucifixion his followers expected him to return to save them (1
Thessalonians 1:9–10; 1 Corinthians 15:20–28), it is highly probable that he
himself shared the basic views of Jewish eschatology.

Many aspects of Jesus’ career support the view that he expected divine

intervention.

One of the most common beliefs of Jewish eschatology was that God would
restore the Twelve Tribes of Israel, including the Ten Lost Tribes.