Jesus and the Land

The most important and surprising thing about Jesus's teaching about the land is the apparent lack of it. This lack is only apparent because Jesus is the supreme model of embracing landlessness as a posture of faith, and his conceptualization of the Kingdom of God is interpenetrated through and through by this same principle. But let us turn first to the apparent lack of teachings on the land.

The Land in New Testament Judea

Land was a burning concern for Jews during New Testament times, and espcially for those living in Judea and Galilee. Living under Roman—equated with "pagan'—rule grated against every Jewish sentiments. Early in Pontius Pilate's rule, e.g., he riled the Jews so badly with his introduction of the Roman standard, bearing the image of the emperor, into Jerusalem that thousands of Jews turned up in Caesarea in demonstration. When he threatened them with death unless they ceased their protest, to a man they offered themselves to be killed. They would not have their land, and especially their holy city of Jerusalem, desecrated again.

It is also significant that attempts to fight and cast off Roman rule of their land appear as frequently as they do in the Gospels. No less than ## such rebellions are mentioned: That the most famous Jewish work to have come down to us from and about 1st Cent Judea is Josephus' Jewish War is itself an indicator of how deep concerns for the land ran in Jewish blood of the time. This is true, no less, among the disciples of Jesus. Many had expected Jesus to be the promised messiah who would liberate Judea from the oppressive rule of the Romans. Some residue of this may be discerned behind the question the disciples put to the risen Christ, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6).

Against this background of pervasive Jewish nationalistic longings concerning the land, the lack of specific teachings concerning the land by Jesus becomes highly significant. Was Jesus not interested in the land at all?