
In order to truly understand the message of Jesus, we must first learn to hear him as his original audience would have. And to a first-century, Palestinian Jew, there was no mistaking the mold Jesus fit – that of a Hebrew prophet of old (think Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah…). Indeed, Jesus is the culmination of the Hebrew prophets, and the fulfillment of their proclamations. He comes to announce, and and to embody the in-breaking reign of God in creation. But the arrival of a new king, means allegiances to the old realms must be severed. To live as a citizen of the kingdom of God is to surrender one’s passport to old age. I means a revolution is underway and Jesus is calling us to join the rebellion. What will we say…?