II.
PRAXIS - For Jews, all misfortunes, sicknesses
This part is concerned of Jesus’
works of liberation: i.e., works of
healing, forgiveness, etc. of the poor
and the oppressed.
Chapter 3: THE POOR AND THE
OPPRESSED
Economically Poor
- We can’t talk about Jesus and his
ministry (i.e., of proclaiming the
kingdom…) without talking about
the poor and the oppressed, or
those who suffered in the
society, because they were the
overwhelming majority in
Palestine at that time
- They served as Christ’s audience
or recipients of His wonderful
deeds (as we shall see in the
next chapters…)
- Who are the poor and
oppressed?
o Beggars, Widows, Orphans,
Unskilled day-laborers,
Peasants, Slaves
- What or how do they suffer?
o Principal suffering: shame
and disgrace
o This is so because in the
Middle East, prestige and
honor are more important
than food or life itself
Poor In Spirit
- the word ‘poor’ can be extended to
those who rely upon the mercy of
God the poor in spirit, or the
sinners:
o prostitutes, Tax-collectors,
Robbers, Herdsmen,
Usurers, gamblers, am ha-
arez,
- their suffering was in the form of:
frustration, guilt, and anxiety
In General
- those who belong to the poor and
the oppressed were all those who
depend upon others for their life…
and disorders, were evil…or
afflictions sent by God…
- Hence, they were all at the mercy
of scribes who never helped them…
- Jesus chose to mix with them
socially…
- Why did he make such a choice?
o Because he was moved to
compassion for them…
o Compassion passages: Mt.
14:14; Mt. 9:36; Lk 7:13, etc…
Chapter 4: HEALING
Healing thru Faith
- Jesus healed the sick by having a
sort of physical contact
- But Jesus can only heal as long as
the sick person has faith…(Mt
21:22)
- The use of faith as criterion for
healing is something unique only to
Jesus
- What is faith?
o It is the conviction that God is
good to the world and
humanity and that He can and
will triumph over evil…
- Opposite of faith: Fatalism
o Loss of faith and hope…
o Unbelief and despair
- Jesus’ success in his healing activity
is seen as: the Triumph of faith and
hope over fatalism
- This faith could not be taught, only
caught
Faith and Miracles
- Where there is faith, miracles
happened, especially when He
heals…
- What is a miracle?
o Biblical miracle is an unusual
event, understood as an
unusual act of God
o A mighty work
o This has nothing to do with
the modern day interpretation
 of breaking the laws of nature
since they never knew what
are the laws of nature
- Greatest miracle for Jews: Exodus
- a.k.a ‘sign’ in the Bible
- Gospel account on Jesus’
Miracles…?
o Jesus indeed performed
miracles
o They also write His extreme
reluctance to perform
miracles
- Jesus’ motive for performing
miracles:
o Compassion
o He was resolved to liberate
people from their suffering
and their fatalistic resignation
to suffering…
o Not to prove he was the
Messiah or Son of God
- N.B. Miracles happened only
because Jesus caused faith in
them…
Chapter 5: FORGIVENESS
This chapter is very much
connected with the previous one.
Jesus Identified with Sinners
- What are Sins?
o Sins are debts owing to God
- Forgiveness cancellation or
remission of these debts to God
- Thus, forgiveness means:
o To remit, release, or liberate
- Social context: an upright Jew must
not socialize with sinners
- Who were the sinners (cf. ch.3)?
- Criterion of embarrassment: Jesus
mixing socially with sinners (Lk.
15:2; Mk 2:15; Lk 7:34)
- Jesus dined, laughed, and talked
with them
- In other words, Jesus became a
friend to these sinners
- This caused scandal, esp. to the
Pharisees and scribes who were
very particular with the law…
Jesus forgave them
- By accepting them as His friends
and equals, Jesus took away their:
o Shame, humililiation, guilt
- Jesus, as mentioned, triumphed
over their fatalistic attitude of being
cursed forever by virtue of their
being sinful
- By overlooking their past, Jesus
treated them as people who were
no longer indebted to God
- They were forgiven…
Consequences of forgiveness
- One consequence of forgiveness:
Healing
- Context:
o Sickness was thought of as
punishment for sin
o Hence, to be cured means to
be liberated from one’s debt
to God
- Jesus’ motive for healing:
Compassion
- Another consequence of this
liberation or healing: grateful love
and uncontrollable Joy
- Another consequence: Safety and
Security
o Jesus not only healed and
forgave them, he also
dispelled their fears and
relieved them of their worries
- Examples of healing and
forgiveness: Mk 2:1-12; Lk 7:48, 50
III. GOOD NEWS
CHAPTER 6: THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Proclaiming the Good News, the
“Kingdom”
- This is understood as a form of
liberation
- Jesus brought the good news to
them in order to liberate them with
the spoken word
- Cf. Is 35:5-6; and Is 61:1-2
- The news Jesus brought to them
was good news ; one that is hopeful
and encouraging
- It is a prophecy: the coming of the
Kingdom of God
- This kingdom comes for those who
are poor and oppressed, not for
those who are enjoying their riches
and wealth
Nature of “Kingdom”
- This “kingdom” of God is:
o Future state of affairs on
earth
o It is when the poor would no
longer be poor, the hungry
satisfied, the oppressed no
longer miserable
o Cf. The Our Father, Mt 6:10
- Mistranslation: Lk 17:21: “ The
kingdom of God is within you.”
- Greek word ‘entos’: within or
among
- It must be: “…among you” or “in
your midst”
- It is something within which the
person can live; it must be outside
of him
Kingdom of God vs. Kingdom of
Satan
- Opposed to the values of this world,
- Satan
- To Jesus, the power of Satan rules
the world;
- political leaders, were puppets of
Satan
- Sinful structure of government was
evil
- God’s kingdom will replace Satan;
God will end Satan’s dominion over
the earth
- Hence:
o Kingdom of Satan: a
community where evil reigns
supreme
o Kingdom of God: a community
where goodness reigns
supreme
- For Jesus, his liberating activity was
a power struggle with Satan
- This was only possible because He
was convinced of a greater power
at work
- Ending Question: How do the values
of the Kingdom of God differ from
that of the kingdom of Satan?
CHAPTER 7: THE “KINGDOM” AND
MONEY
- Pursuit of wealth is opposed to
pursuit of God, or ‘kingdom’ of God
- Mammon and God are like two
masters
- That is why for Jesus, only the poor
can enter the kingdom
- The rich can only do so if there’d be
a miracle, i.e. giving up all their
wealth
- Poverty is not what Jesus idealized,
but a community that there would
be no poor and no rich
CHAPTER 8: “THE KINGDOM AND
PRESTIGE”
- Social Context: Prestige was the
dominant value
- Status and prestige were based
upon ancestry, wealth, authority,
education, virtue
- Hence, constant recognition of
status was essential
- People who had no social status
were not given rights and privileges
- It is this practice of having social
distinctions among the people that
Jesus criticized.
- Jesus criticized the Pharisees not for
their teaching but for their practice;
 they lived for prestige and
admiration from others
- The kingdom is for all those who be
like children:
o They symbolize those who
have the lowest places in the
society, the poor and the
oppressed, the sinners, the
people whom Jesus often
called the little ones of the
least
o Those who can enter this
“kingdom” must be willing to
change and become like
children
- …also for the women who also did
not have status in the community
- This is an indication that Jesus
valued humanity more than
prestige or status.
- Hence, the kingdom of God will be a
society in which:
o there will be no prestige and
no status,
o no division of people into
inferior and superior
o Everyone must be loved and
respected by their being
persons (not because of any
other reasons)
CHAPTER 9: THE “KINGDOM” AND
SOLIDARITY
- Solidarity:
o Satan’s kingdom: based on
exclusive and selfish
solidarity of groups
o God’s kingdom: based upon
all-inclusive solidarity of
human race
- The basic attitude therefore is:
o Solidarity with humankind
- Everyone is a neighbor to everyone
- Even one’s enemies can be
considered neighbor
- There must be no exclusivity, but
only inclusiveness; one that is for all
and not just for a certain group
- Jesus helped the Samaritan woman,
and the Roman centurion (Mt 15:26,
and Lk 7:3-5)
o Solidarity of the family should
not stand against this
solidarity among all human
persons
- This solidarity is practically is a
basic love for all human persons
- Basis of this is Compassion, which is
the only thing that can teach a
person about solidarity with other
human beings.
CHAPTER 10: THE “KINGDOM AND
POWER
- In Satan’s kingdom:
o Power of Domination and
oppression
- In God’s kingdom:
o Power of spontaneous loving
service, this consists of
freedom and service
- Jesus was aware that most of the
Jewish leaders were oppressors
- They used the law (torah) to
exercise their power to dominate
and oppress
- Jesus objects not to the Law per se,
but to the way in which the law is
being used against people.
- He cited that the Sabbath was
supposed to free people from the
burden of labor, but it evolved into
something that prevented them
from doing good…
- Therefore, He is against any
interpretation of the Law that would
make people suffer
- The Kingdom of God will abolish
every form of domination or
oppression.
CHAPTER 11: A NEW TIME
 - Context:
o Time in the Jewish
mentality is not
quantitative or
chronological
o Instead, it is qualitative
- Jesus announced a new time.
‘New’ in the sense that the
kingdom of God is imminent or
very near.
- Vs. John:
o This is new compared to
that of John’s
pronouncement of
Metanoia, or conversion,
which was about fasting
and penance
o Jesus’ metanoia involves
joyful expectation, one
that is likened to accepting
an invitation to a feast
- Signs of Time:
o Jesus saw his successful
liberating praxis as the
signs of time that the
kingdom of God has come
upon the people (Lk 11:20)
o the kingdom of God is
gaining ground against
that of Satan.
- Vs. OT view of God
o Jesus image of God is
something new in that He
was a God who has been
moved with Compassion
o Sinners are now treated
with love and care
o God is now willing to
forgive anyone freely and
unconditionally
o ABBA, a very personal God
CHAPTER 12: THE COMING OF
THE KINGDOM
- The Kingdom can only come when
there is heartfelt compassion and
hopeful faith;
- Or, faith, hope, and love
- Kingdom of God depends upon the
faith of the people
- Faith is the conviction that the
“kingdom” will truly come…and it is
this conviction will make the
kingdom com
- There was the threat of the
imminent Catastrophe…which can
provide an opportunity of appealing
for an immediate and radical
change…
- Believing in the coming of the
‘kingdom’ will avoid the coming of
the great catastrophe
- There was no guarantee of the
coming of the kingdom will be very
soon;
- What was certain for Jesus was that
either the catastrophe or the
kingdom would come in the near
future…
- The eschaton, or imminent act of
God, was an either-or event…
- There was a theme of urgency…
hence, preachers must do as fast as
possible in spreading the good
news…
- There was urgency because
o Israel was heading for
destruction…and that there
will be great tragedy that
might happen
o Or, if the kingdom would
come instead of the
catastrophe, those who did
not belong to the “kingdom”
would have personal
catastrophe, which is is
depicted as being thrown into
the fire of Gehenna, a valley
outside Jerusalem, which is
the image of complete
destruction, extreme opposite
of life
- In the event, it was the catastrophe
that came and not the ‘Kingdom’
[70 CE and 135 CE]
- Jesus message, indeed, was not
timeless—it really was referring to a
concrete happening, or tragedy that
awaited them…It was prophetic,
and not apocalyptic
- Nolan says that it was only when
the message was taken out of
Palestine that it was adapted to
another situation…it was
apocalyptized, or applied as
something connected with the end
of times, by the evangelists