The most important development in recent historical Jesus studies is the attempt to understand the ministry of Jesus in “political” terms. In calling the nation of Israel to repentance, Jesus served as a national prophet concerned with the salvation of Israel. This book by Scot McKnight furthers this line of inquiry by showing how Jesus' teachings are to be understood in relation to his role as a political figure. McKnight looks closely at Jesus' teachings on God, the kingdom, and ethics, demonstrating in each case how Jesus' mission to restore Israel brings his teachings into a bold new light.
For those interested in the quest for the historical Jesus, reading this book is like sitting at the Master's feet in a dusty synagogue in Capernaum or Nazareth. Writing with a creful eye to scholars and students alike, McNight judicously exposes how much of Jesus' teachingts was directed to the nation of Israel in it's role as God's holy peeopl in the first-century Mediterranean world. Providing as an added bonus a lucif and comprehensive guide to recent scholarship on the subject, McKnight gives us on of the freshest and most compelling contributions to the continuing question, 'Who really was this Jesus?' Bravo!
—L.D. Hurst, University of California
Scot McKnight is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University in Chicago, Illinois. He is the author of thirty books, including The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others, which won the Christianity Today book of the year for Christian Living.