Understanding Jesus Today JESUS' CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP Understanding Jesus Today Edited by Howard Clark Kee Growing interest in the historical Jesus can be frustrated by diverse and conflicting claims about what he said and did. This series brings together in accessible form the conclusions of an international team of distinguished scholars regarding various important aspects of Jesus' teaching. All of the authors have extensively analyzed the biblical and contextual evidence about who Jesus was and what he taught, and they summarize their findings here in easily readable and stimulating discussions. Each book includes an appendix of questions for further thought and recommendations for further reading on the topic covered. Other Books in the Series Howard Clark Kee, What Can We Know About Jesusl Pheme Perkins, Jesus as Teacher David Tiede, Jesus and the Future John Riches, The World of Jesus: First-Century Judaism in Crisis Jesus' Call to Discipleship JAMES D. G. DUNN CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK http: //www.cup.cam.ac.uk 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA http: //www.cup.org 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia © Cambridge University Press 1992 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1992 Reprinted 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999 Typeset in Trump Mediaeval A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is available ISBN 0 521 42481 X paperback Transferred to digital printing 2003 To the memory of I W. Meiklejohn, M.B.E. (1910-1989) known to generations of Scripture Union in Scotland as "The Boss" who called many to the discipleship of the Jesus he served so faithfully Contents Preface page ix 1 Introduction 1 2 The Call of the Kingdom 6 3 Good News for the Poor 32 4 The Boundary Breaker 62 5 Would Jesus Have Been Disappointed with the Church? 92 6 Concluding Reflections 121 Selected Bibliography 129 Questions for Discussion 131 Index 135 Vll Preface These chapters began life as a series of four public lectures delivered in November 1987 on the theme of "Jesus and Disci- pleship" for the Durham Council of Churches. By that time I was already committed to contributing on the same theme to the Understanding Jesus Today series, and it seemed wisest to use the lectures as a first draft (as it were) for the book. The constraints of the lecture format were thus a major factor in determining the content and order of the material. When it came to writing up the lectures (delivered from notes), the temptation to break out of the four-lecture/chapter format was considerable, but the lectures had been well re- ceived and proved pleasingly coherent, and I had promised that they would be published. I therefore stayed with the four- chapter format (with the addition of an introduction and con- clusion), since any ordering of such material is bound to be artificial in one degree or another. In view of the nature of the subject I have not hesitated to pose questions for discussion that go beyond issues of merely historical interest. I wish to express my gratitude to the Durham Council for the invitation to give the lectures and to the original audiences for the feedback and stimulus which the open discussion period following each lecture contributed to the subsequent write-up. IX