Hanna Stettler, «Sanctification in the Jesus Tradition», Vol. 85 (2004) 153-178
According to the Synoptic Jesus tradition, Jesus brings about the eschatological sanctification of Israel promised in Ez 36,22-32 and 37,28. He ushers in the time of the Holy Spirit, and gathers God’s eschatological people, which includes sinners as well as Gentiles. Moreover, he sanctifies people by healing and cleansing them, and teaches them to live a holy life. According to Jesus, the holiness of God’s holy people is no longer jeopardized by ritual impurity. This is not because ritual purity is irrelevant per se, but because in Jesus, the "Holy One of God", God’s holiness has come into the world. Jesus sanctifies people and time so completely that the intention of the ritual Torah is fulfilled. Holiness is now to be lived out through mercy and love, even for one’s enemy.
Sanctification in the Jesus Tradition 159
Zion which Jesus had looked ahead to (cf. Matt 8,11-12 with Isa 25,
6-9)†(17).
The Gospel of Luke emphasizes especially that the people of the
elect (18,7) will consist of Jews and Gentiles (24,47; cf. Mark 13,10
par. Matt 24,18), with Jerusalem at its centre (24,49.53). The mission
of Jesus is regarded as the eschatological fulfilment of the calling of
Israel, which from the promise to Abraham on included the Gentiles
(cf. Gen 12,3; Isa 49,6) (18). J. Jervell has underlined in several
contributions on this subject, that God has only one people, namely
Israel. The church therefore, “is the beginning of “the restored
Israel†(19).
Not only Gentiles, but also Jews who had hitherto been excluded
from the people of God, become part of the eschatological people of
God. All three synoptic gospels have Jesus dine with sinners and tax-
collectors. This leads us to our third point:
3. The Cleansing of the People of God
According to Ezekiel 36, God’s sanctifying action will entail the
cleansing of his people from all their impurities (36,25.29) and from
all their sins (36,33). Both elements feature in Jesus’ ministry.
a) Cleansing people from their impurities
Jesus drives out demons and heals the sick (Mark 1,32-34.39 parr.;
Mark 6,53-56 par. Matt 14,34-36; Matt 12,28 par. Luke 11,20 and
others), cleanses lepers (Mark 1,40-45 parr.; Luke 17,11-19), heals a
woman with a blood discharge (Mark 5,25-34 parr.) and raises the
dead (Mark 5,35-43 parr.; Luke 7,11-17; cf. John 11,39-44). Demons,
scale disease, continuous blood discharges and death, all involved
severe impurity and therefore excluded the people concerned from
Israel. By cleansing and healing the sick, Jesus overcomes what
separates them from God and reintegrates them in the holy people of
God.
In contemporary Judaism as well as in the Old Testament, impure
(17) Ibid.
(18) For the significance of Gen 12,1-3 as “a preface to a larger story of
salvation which reaches beyond Israel (yet through Israel) to the gentiles†see
J.B. WELLS, God’s Holy People. A Theme in Biblical Theology (JSOTSS 305;
Sheffield 2000) 206.
(19) J. JERVELL, The Theology of the Acts of the Apostles (New Testament
Theology; Cambridge 1996) 43 and 118.
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