“What the Gospels offer,” NT Wright tells us in Chapter 3, “is not a philosophical explanation of evil, what it is or why it’s there, nor a set of suggestions for how we might adjust our lifestyles so that evil will mysteriously disappear from the world, but the story of an event in which the living God deals with it.”
In essence, then, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus stands as God’s answer to the cries and questionings that come from the Old Testament. God, recognizing the seriousness of evil, and the helplessness of human institutions – even Israel – to deal with it, unmasks, and then takes on the brunt of evil himself.
What is the result of this event? A church forms, whose mission is to “implement the victory of God in the world” through the same suffering love that was exemplified by Jesus in his life and death. The suffering servant motiff of the Old Testament becomes a reality both in God’s messiah, and in those who later become his disciples. In this reality, a personal understanding of God’s redemptive work must be viewed side-by-side with the practical, political realities, which require us to continue to unmask and confront evil in authorities, nations, and institutions.
Too often, Christians tend to emphasize the personal nature of Jesus’ saving work, to the exclusion of the political nature of it – or vice, versa. Wright says that both must go hand in hand. Does this hand-in-hand view of the message of the Bible make sense to you?
man, this book sounds awesome.
I especially like the concept of the church’s mission to “implement the victory of God in the world”.
That is a REALLY invigorating and inspiring thought. Implementing victory!?!? Yes, please!