The Political Aims of Jesus

Douglas E. Oakman

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9780800638474
• eBook ISBN:
  9781451424317
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Amid competing portrayals of the "cynic Jesus," the "peasant Jesus," and the "apocalyptic Jesus," the "political Jesus" remains a marginal figure. Douglas E. Oakman argues that advances in our social-scientific understanding of the political economy of Roman Galilee, as well as advances in the so-called "Third Quest" for the historical Jesus, warrant a revivaland a critical revisionof H. S. Reimarus's understanding of Jesus as an instigator of revolutionary change.

1

Appendix 1: The Parables Database

There are thirty-three parables in the database drawn up by John Dominic Crossan and the Jesus Seminar, but not all of these offer good historical Jesus information. The thirty-three parables are listed in the following table under Crossan’s enumeration and titles (columns 1 and 2).^[1] In approaching the political meaning of Jesus’ parables in this book, I have considered the Jesus Seminar ratings (columns 3 and 4), but have also factored in my own criteria to garner social information as seen in columns 5 and 6. That is, in addition to the criterion of Jesus’ ipsissima verba (Jesus Seminar’s red), I have also factored in the criterion of social coherence (parables that may have been modified by the first level of interpretation but can still have good information consistent with the political aims of Jesus). The abbreviations in the Social Domain column are as follows: d-e, domestic-economy; p-e, political-economy; d-r, domestic-religion; p-r, political-religion. The Social Domain column provides the basis for my Evaluative Comments.

No.	Parable Name	Text	Jesus Seminar	Social Domain	Evaluative Comments
1	The Sower	Gos. Thom. 9; Mark 4:3b-8	Pink	p-e	The point may have to do less with the harvest than with the untaxed, useless seed available for gleaning
2	The Planted Weeds	Matt 13:24b-30	Gray	p-e	The wildness of the Power
3	The Mustard Seed	Gos. Thom. 20:2; Mark 4:30-32	Red; Pink	p-r	The wildness of the Power
4	The Leaven	Q 13:20b-21	Red	p-e; p-r	Passover? power of the Power to liberate
5	The Treasure	Matt. 13:44	Pink	p-e	See also Entrusted Money
6	The Pearl	Matt. 13:45-46	Pink	p-e	Commerce? luxury? where do pearls come from? is this a critique of the anti-subsistence mentality?
7	The Fishnet	Matt. 13:47-48	Black	p-e	Sorting of fish a metaphor for tax collection? the likely success of the resistance of “small fries”?
8	The Lost Sheep	Q 15:4-6	Pink	d-e	The healing of the Power, the reach of the Power
9	The Unmerciful Servant	Matt. 18:23-34	Pink	p-e; d-e	Debt forgiveness
10	The Vineyard Laborers	Matt. 20:1-15	Red	p-e	Conflict is the necessary result of agrarian civilization under conditions of wage labor; does the story expose the nasty nature of agrarian exploitation and the arbitrariness of patronage?
11	The Tenants	Gos. Thom. 65; Mark 12:1b-11	Pink; Gray	p-e	On one level, the story invites contemplation about the deadly conflict built into the Herodian agrarian order. On another level, perhaps there is here some political allegory to offer critique of the situation. The man is Herod the Great; the son is Herod Antipas; the tenants are the disgruntled vineyard workers of Galilee. Furthermore, if “foxes” in 9:58 indicates Herod Antipas, the “birds” the elites of Sepphoris, and “holes” the urban storehouses, more allegory is in view. Luke 13:31 permits identifying Herod Antipas as “that fox.” Foxes are known in Palestine as being grape thieves. The attitude of the village, given limited good assumptions, is that current tenancy arrangements are thievery. Of course, Jesus is advocating a reverse thievery.
12	The Feast	Luke 14:16b-23	Pink	d-e; p-e	The Patron’s generosity and care for those outside, the carelessness of Mammon
13	The Good Samaritan	Luke 10:30b-35	Red	d-e; p-r	vs. Mammon, vs. purity
14	The Closed Door	Q/Luke 13:25; Matt 25:1-12	Black; Gray		[import unclear]
15	The Entrusted Money	Q/Luke 19:12b-27	Pink	p-e	Mammon, the threat to subsistence
16	The Harvest Time (Seed and Harvest)	Mark 4:26b-29	Pink	p-e	Like the Sower
17	The Returning Master	Mark 13:34-36	Gray	p-e	Like the Entrusted Money
18	The Rich Farmer	Gos. Thom. 63:1	Pink	p-e	Attitude of Herodians, Mammon, wealth based on commerce
19	The Barren Tree	Luke 13:6b-9	Pink	p-e	Mammon’s deadly touch upon subsistence
20	The Tower Builder	Luke 14:28-30	Black	p-e	Consider the costs of estate-building
21	The Warring King	Luke 14:31-32	Black	p-e	[import unclear]
22	The Lost Coin	Luke 15:8-9	Pink	d-e	The wrong subsistence priorities?
23	The Prodigal Son	Luke 15:11b-32	Pink	d-e	Healing, re-inclusion
24	The Unjust (Dishonest) Steward	Luke 16:1-8	Red	p-e; d-e	Jesus’ aim, to convince the accountant to help the village
25	Rich Man and Lazarus	Luke 16:19-31	Gray	p-e; d-e	The heartlessness of Mammon
26	The Unjust Judge	Luke 18:2-5	Pink	p-e	Hillel’s prozbul, widows in court over debt
27	Phari...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table Of Contents
• Copyright
• Preface
• Revisiting Reimarus
• Conceptualizing Roman Imperial Patronage Politics
• Power and Imperium
• The Tables and the Table
• Worldly Power and Cosmic Powers
• Revising Reimarus
• Appendix 1: The Parables Database
• Appendix 2: Did Jesus Lead a Movement?
• Appendix 3: The Peasant Artisan Jesus and Israelite Traditions
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Concluding Postscientific Postscript