of the promises of Isaiah 61.1–2. Even though ‘the word “kingdom” is not used . . . many of the main points of this passage are related to “kingdom” sayings which Luke includes elsewhere’ (Stanton 1989, pp. 189–90).
Hooker, in The Signs of a Prophet: The Prophetic Actions of Jesus (1997) shows that the symbolic actions were an integral part of Jesus’ identity as a prophet. For the vast majority of times that he was called a prophet – Mark 6.4, 15 and parallels; 8.28 and parallels; Matt. 21.11; Luke 4.24; 7.16 and 24.19; John 6.14 and 9.17 – refer to or are juxtaposed with accounts of what Jesus did. Jesus was regarded as a prophet, not simply because he spoke like a prophet, but because he acted like a prophet (Hooker 1997, p. 16).
Other recent scholarship has supported this view of Jesus (see Powell 1999, for an informative introduction to the whole field). One example is the historian E. P. Sanders, who concludes his penetrating study of the Gospel evidence by describing Jesus as a prophet of the end-time:
Jesus saw himself as God’s last messenger before the establishment of the kingdom. He looked for a new order, created by a mighty act of God. In the new order the twelve tribes would be reassembled, there would be a new temple, force of arms would not be needed, divorce would be neither necessary nor permitted, outcasts – even the wicked – would have a place, and Jesus and his disciples - the poor, the meek, and lowly – would have the leading role. (Sanders, quoted in Powell 1999, p. 123)
Another well-known example is N. T. Wright (1996), who surveys the historical evidence surrounding Jesus’ ministry and draws the following conclusions:
How then was Jesus perceived by the villagers who saw and heard him? All the evidence so far displayed suggests that he was perceived as a prophet. His speech and action evoked, even while they went beyond, contemporary pictures of prophetic activity. Furthermore we must conclude that Jesus was conscious of a vocation to be a prophet . . . it is possible to explain a good deal of his career, not least its dramatic conclusion, from this basis. (Wright 1996, pp. 196–7)
Wright also shows how Jesus’ messiahship and his message about the inauguration of the kingdom of God were part of this prophetic vocation:
Jesus saw himself as a prophet announcing and inaugurating the kingdom of YHWH; he believed himself to be Israel’s true Messiah; he believed that the kingdom would be brought about by means of his own death at the hands of the pagans. (1996, p. 612)
This conclusion is important for our purposes because it allows us to clarify the type of role Jesus called his followers to continue after the resurrection. It is, as argued, the role of a prophet, one who ‘forth tells’ God’s purposes for the world in word and action and who calls on people to respond in their hearts and lives. This is not to deny that he was also Messiah and Son of God but these were not roles that could be passed on to the disciples: they describe what was unique about Jesus, rather than what was transferable to others. A different title, the one most commonly used by others of him in his own day and the one scholarship today uses to sum up the generic character of what he was doing, is that of prophet. If we are to characterize the kind of ministry Jesus lived and bequeathed to his followers, it is that of prophecy.
Mission principles
Mark 1.14–45 also reveals a number of other practical principles within Jesus’ Galilean ministry:
1. His mission arises out of the 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, which was a time of listening to the silence, to his own thought and temptations, to Scripture and to his Father. He returns to such places at various subsequent points (e.g. 1.35). Also it is noticeable how, more often than not, he listens to those who come to him with their needs and requests and pays close attention to what they say (e.g. 1.30–1). Contemplative listening therefore frames the action of his ministry and is a key part of all that follows.
2. The manner in which Jesus moves around Galilee is significant. There is no mention of any retinue or court following, let alone security guards or militia or army. He comes simply as a wandering preacher, in the clothes he is wearing, at the mercy of the people he is addressing. This shows he was vulnerable – he comes with no wealth or status or arms. He is powerless, relying simply on the message he is preaching. (This vulnerability would later have drastic consequences for Jesus, showing how profound it was.)
3. Jesus calls a band of helpers – the disciples – to live, work and assist him in proclaiming the kingdom of God (Mark 1.16–20; see also 3.14). He is not undertaking this ministry on his own but in a dedicated community of men (and women, according to Luke) who share the burden and support each other (as well as have their disagreements). Furthermore he calls both the kind of fisherman who do not have boats and must cast their nets, and the wealthier kind who not only have boats but hired servants as well. He even calls an outcast tax collector (2.14). It is clear from these invitations that a shared or collaborative type of ministry is to be fundamental to the whole enterprise.
4. Jesus goes to where people are, where they live, work and gather for worship in their synagogues (1.21, 38–9). He does not wait for them to come to him. He becomes immersed in their life, speaking their language, and talking to them at the time of the week, on the Sabbath, when they will give him a hearing. The fact that they do give him a hearing shows that he has gained their respect as one of their own with the right to address their community. He even follows the custom of requiring a cleansed leper to go to the priest for verification (1.44). This shows the principle of identification with the community and that his ministry was locally rooted or incarnational.
5. The proclamation of the kingdom involves not just preaching and teaching, but surprising and powerful signs as well, in this case the exorcism of a possessed man in the synagogue at Capernaum (1.21–8). Words are combined with unexpected actions to show that the reign of God is breaking into people’s lives. So the proclamation of the kingdom is through signs that help to effect what they are pointing to. In different language it can be said that his proclamation is sacramental, where a sacrament is defined as an ‘effective sign’ (as in Article 25 of the Articles of Religion in the The Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England, for example).
6. But who initiates the powerful signs? It is important to note that Jesus does not approach the possessed man but the other way round (1.23): Jesus is almost forced to release him from the possession. So this powerful and saving sign is not planned or sought out by Jesus – it just seems to happen when another comes to him with their need. This happens time after time during the Galilean mission: it is the principle of surprise. While his own imperative is to get around as many villages as possible with the message about the kingdom of God (1.38–9), unexpected and wonderful things start to happen within this mission, which he then accepts and works with.
7. At many points Jesus seeks to stop news of the spectacular aspect of his work spreading beyond his followers. He tells those he heals not to publicize the great healings but to keep quiet (1.25, 34, 44). He openly proclaims the kingdom but also tries to suppress the spread of news about the miraculous ways that that arrival is taking place. This shows a principle of secrecy about the spectacular at work in his mission. The interpretation of this feature of his ministry has been debated extensively among scholars and it is not possible here to open up that debate again: only to note that there is a determined attempt by Jesus to keep the focus of his mission on the proclamation of the kingdom rather than on the mighty acts taking place through him.
8. The releasing from possession is not the only sign that takes place. These verses show that all manner of different kinds of healing and release take place through Jesus: the cure of a fever, healing of ‘various diseases’, making a leper clean, raising a paralytic to his feet (e.g. Mark 1.29–34). Jesus seems to respond to different needs in different kinds of ways, bringing whatever type of healing is most appropriate. His is a multiple or varied kind of ministry which addresses many kinds of physical and mental need. It is, in other words, all-inclusive: every kind of ailment from every kind of person is included within its scope. This is confirmed in Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus, referring to his own ministry, tells John’s disciples to ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them’ (Matt. 11.4–5). (Bosch