Jesus and His Death: Historiography, the Historical Jesus, and Atonement Theory

461 Pages·2005·1.92 MB·English

Jesus and His Death

Jesus and His Death
Historiography, the Historical Jesus, and
Atonement Theory
S M K
COT C NIGHT
Baylor University Press
Waco, Texas
©2005 by Baylor University Press
Waco, Texas 76798
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permis-
sion in writing of Baylor University Press.
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copy-
right 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
Book Design by Helen Lasseter
Cover Design by David Alcorn
Cover Image: Death, copyright Anneke Kaai (2003). From In a Word: See What
You Believe.Paraclete Press/Piquant Editions, 2003. Used with permission.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McKnight, Scot.
Jesus and his death : historiography, the historical Jesus, and atonement
theory / Scot McKnight.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-932792-29-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Jesus Christ--Historicity. 2. Jesus Christ--Person and offices.
3. Atonement. I. Title.
BT303.2.M43 2005
232'.3--dc22
2005021034
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
For Jon, Mark, Matt, and Sam

Contents
Preface ix
PARTONE:THEDEBATE
1 The Historical Jesus, the Death of Jesus,
Historiography, and Theology 3
2 Jesus’Death in Scholarship 47
3 Re-enter Jesus’ Death 77
PARTTWO:THEREALITYOFAPREMATUREDEATH
4 The Leading Foot in the Dance of Atonement 105
5 A Temporary Presence in God’s Providence 121
6 Jesus and the Prophetic Fate 139
PARTTHREE:ARANSOMFORMANY
7 The Authenticity of the Ransom Saying 159
Excursus: The Son of man 171
8 Jesus and Scripture Prophets 177
9 The Script for Jesus 189
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viii Contents
10 Jesus and the Servant 207
11 The Passion Predictions 225
PARTFOUR:JESUSANDTHELASTSUPPER
12 Pesahin Jewish History 243
13 Pesahand the Last Supper 259
14 This Bread and This Cup 275
15 Jesus and the Covenant 293
16 “Poured Out” and Eschatology 323
17 Conclusions 335
Works Cited 375
Preface
This book began when N.T. Wright asked me, as a member of the steering com-
mittee for the Historical Jesus Section at the Society of Biblical Literature meet-
ing in Nashville, to prepare a five minute introduction to the topic of that
session: the death of Jesus. When the program appeared, I discovered that I was
(a providential accident, so I believe) scheduled for a full paper, so I set out to
survey recent scholarship on how Jesus understood his own death. Four years
later I feel comfortable enough with the research to make it public.
I am grateful to my colleague Klyne Snodgrass for reading the entire
manuscript and offering valuable comments. Klyne is a fair-minded, theologi-
cally adept, and loving teacher who gives his life for others. I am also grateful to
my colleague and friend Greg Clark for our constant conversations about things
hermeneutical. Greg’s alert mind and compassion have been a source of joy for
a decade, and I look forward to our every conversation. I wish also to mention
that I received comments on presentations as well as on various sections and
chapters from David Koeller, Dale Allison, John Koenig, and Paul Copan, as
well as N.T. Wright.
This* book is dedicated to my four dissertation students who have now
gone on to be exceptional teachers and splendid friends. If you would like to
know what Aristotle meant by friendship, I suggest you become friends with
them as I have.
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