This is a book which attempts to take you back to the time of Jesus using the metaphor of a "perfect storm" ... with a "Roman Storm" of the new age of emperors who claimed a godlike designation, thus Augustus Octavian Caesar was referred to "the son of god" (son of Julius Caesar). Rubbing up against this storm was the Jewish storm or in the book, called "high pressure system" of the Jews waiting for the messiah to come and allow them to take their "rightful place" as the empire that ruled the earth.
Thirdly, he talks of the "hurricane" ... God's agenda, which would be his own, not matching either the Roman or Jewish world view, but of course the "irresistible force". On page 56, Wright summarizes the "hurricane" as "He commands his hearers to give up their other dreams and to trust his instead. This at it's simplest is what Jesus is all about. I cover my view of that "simplest" in my old blog ... a stolen from Karl Barth, "Jesus loves me, this I know". That entry also links to "The Divine Conspiracy", a book that covers a good deal of the same ground as this one -- which one is better comes down to personal taste. This one is more historical, "Conspiracy" is more spiritual practice focused.
Being raised a Baptist, it has taken me a long time to realize the critical nature of "amillennialism" meaning we are IN the "millennium" which is a metaphorical / spiritual "1k years", rather than an actual 1k year period in the future believed by the premillennial folks. Redemption to being loved by God is the bedrock of Jesus ministry. The "story" of how this happens follows the "Exodus template" (p64):
- Wicked Tyrant -- Pharaoh / Rome or Herod
- Chosen Leader -- Moses / Jesus
- Victory of God -- Passover / Resurrection
- Rescue by Sacrifice -- lamb, blood on doorpost / Jesus shed blood
- New life -- Israel Freed / Sins forgiven
- God with us -- Cloud, Pillar of Fire, Ark of Covenant / Holy Spirit
- Promised Land -- Palestine / Kingdom of God on Earth
Jesus not only cleansed the physical temple in Jerusalem (throwing out the moneychangers), he BECAME the living temple of God on earth -- he IS the "holiest place". (Chapter 11, p 131). Much like is covered in "The Secular Age", **THIS** ... our earth, HERE AND NOW is "God's Kingdom". It came with Jesus ... p 140. "We can see the material world itself being transformed by the presence and power of Israel's God, the creator."
Acclaiming Jesus as Lord plants a flag that supersedes the flags of the nations, however "free", or "democratic" they may be. It challenges both the tyrants who who think they are in fact "divine", and the "secular democracies" that have effectively become, if not divine, at least ecclesial, that is, communities that are trying to do and be what the church was supposed to do and be, but without recourse to the one who sustains the church's life...
This appears near the end of the book ... the fact that to the extent we allow ourselves to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, we are encouraged to "reign" (through prayer) in God's Kingdom that is present here and now. As we are transformed, we become more aware of the presence of God in everything, and the illusion of matter/material being supreme. All but spirit will pass away, that is truth, even though the material world and our material senses cry out to us that material "stuff" is all there is.
A worthy read.
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