Scholars have generally agreed that the parables and aphorisms of Jesus refer to something called the realm of God or God’s domain. In view of the history of that symbolic representation of God, his reference may well be ironic. In any case, there is an anomaly in the juxtaposition of the kingdom of God and the realm of Jesus.and a nice little melody from Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols, God Save the Queen
The authentic parables and aphorisms do not make use of the royal epic of Israel in their subject matter. The kingdom of the parables is not the kingdom of David and Solomon. On the contrary, the sayings of Jesus demote the royal line, assign the powerful and wealthy to an inferior position, and promote the poor, the tearful, and the dispossessed to the status of a privileged class. It is a kingdom of nobodies.…
….For Jesus, the realm of God is the unkingdom of the unGod.
--Robert Funk, A Credible Jesus
Sunday, November 21, 2010
For Christ the King Sunday...
Here's a little something from Robert Funk...
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Well OK then!
ReplyDeleteI had to google the lyrics to get the full monte.
Talk about an alternative youth service . . . was that your 9 a.m.? I think Bob Funk would approve. Certainly Matt Fox would.
You go, John. I'll hold up the fusty old intellectual end!
Ha! I didn't play this song in church although I did put the Funk quote in the bulletin. I did preach the sermon on the previous post, though!
ReplyDeleteThat song by the Sex Pistols is something special for blog readers.
Hard to believe that it came out 33 years ago when I was 16!
I wonder (seriously) if Jesus was the Johnny Rotten of his day...
Jesus as the Johnny Rotten of his day - that's a great thought! Makes me like the Guy even more!
ReplyDeleteAnd definitely preferable to Sid Vicious. Gross.