Legitimacy
The authority of Jesus, part 1
‘In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. -Daniel 7:13-14
Every generation longs for a better world. In our twenties and thirties, the dream feels within our reach. All we have to do is give it our all. In our forties and fifties, a chasm forms between our dreams and our responsibilities. By our sixties and seventies, we long, not for the fantastic future of our youth but the good old days of our nostalgic past. Our desire for good far outstrips our ability to make good happen.
The deeper view of Jesus, afforded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, reveals a man journeying this well-worn path. He is in his late twenties and early thirties when he proclaims a better kingdom. He died before reaching his forties and fifties.
Yet, according to those who knew him best, he was prepared for his early death. For example, Jesus told his disciples:
He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed…. -Mark 8:31a
Not only that, but he reinterpreted his death. It would not be the end of a dream but a step in the coming of the kingdom.
‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.’ -Mark 9:31b
After Jesus’ death, his followers continued to share his vision with others. Many of them were killed in their fifties and sixties. Yet Jesus’ dream of a better world continued. When he died, his followers numbered in the 100s. By the time John of Patmos died in about AD 95, the number of Christians had grown to at least 10,000. Again, Jesus had prepared his followers for this.
‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. -Mark 4: 26b-27
Since Jesus’ time on earth, his kingdom has been:
attacked: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.” -Matthew 11:12
betrayed: You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life. -Luke 21:16-19
manipulated: At that time if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Messiah!” or, “There he is!” do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive… -Matthew 24:23-24a
and distorted: Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. -Acts 20:30
Yet today, 31% of humanity, or 2.6 billion people on the planet, claim an experience with Jesus’ kingdom:
What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.’ -Mark 4:30b-32.
As Richard Bauckham puts it in his book Jesus: A Very Short Introduction, Jesus is “…undoubtedly the best known and most influential human person in world history.”1 His kingdom is unique in its ability to find a place in so many diverse cultural contexts.
How did his kingdom succeed when so many other dreams fail?
In a word, legitimacy.
The nature of Jesus’ authority will be the subject of our next post.
Bauckham, Richard, Jesus: A Very Short Introduction, p.1.