The Zion Traditions and the Aims of Jesus

This book provides an exciting reinterpretation of the sayings and actions of Jesus. Setting him firmly in the context of first-century Judaism, it asks how important the city of Jerusalem and the theological traditions centred on it were to Jesus. At this time, Zion had become 'the symbol of the life, beliefs and hopes of all Jews'. Those Jews who expected the coming of a messianic Davidic king assumed that it would be from Zion that he would reign. Dr Tan examines how Jesus viewed the significance of Jerusalem in relation to his own vocation, and asks why he went there in what proved to be the last weeks of his life. Skillfully integrating what Jesus is recorded to have said with what he is recorded to have done, the author argues that, as a prophet, Jesus was attracted inevitably to the city of Zion. His message concerned the establishment of God's sovereignty on earth, and this in itself impelled him to go to the city to bring it under the divine rule. Jesus' actions in Jerusalem can also be interpreted as part of a common theme of the restoration of God's people for the fulfillment of their promised destiny. An understanding of the importance to Jesus of the Zion traditions, therefore, not only helps us to understand the unifying aim behind his ministry, but can also provide us with the key to the riddle of who Jesus thought he was.