03_Biblica_Foster_Layout 1 08/07/13 12:56 Pagina 388 03_B 388 PAUL FOSTER rael. Indeed, the fact that a Gentile soldier is commended and con- trasted with corporate Israel illustrates that for Q, believers in Jesus are known by their faith and not by their ethnic origin. 4. Unbelieving Israel The story of the centurion’s servant has already raised the cate- gorization of Israel as unbelieving when contrasted with the faith exhibited by the centurion. The portrayal of unbelieving Israel is also prominent in Q 10.12-15; 11.30-32; 13.29, 28. In Q 10.13 the woes against Chorazin and Bethsaida do not necessarily show a positive attitude toward the Gentile cities of Tyre and Sidon; instead these are use hyperbolically to illustrate the degree of unbelief that is being exhibited by Jewish cities in the face of the wonders that are being performed by Jesus. Similarly, with the discussion con- cerning the sign of Jonah (Q 11.30-32), historic Gentiles, the Ninevites and the Queen of the South, are presented as being more responsive than contemporary Jewish hearers of Jesus’ message. Perhaps most positively, the in-gathering of the multitudes from the east and the west (Q 13.29) speaks of inclusion of the Gentiles at the eschatological banquet, whereas the plural “you” to whom the warning is addressed are told that they “will be cast out into the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Q 13.28). Such a critique of “unbelieving Israel”, however, fails to reveal the social location of the Q community. It is possible to envisage competing scenarios whereby the original audience of Q could ei- ther be seeking to reform and convince non-believing Jewish con- temporaries from within Judaism, or more critically castigating such opponents after having been excluded or having departed from synagogue society. This lack of transparency concerning the social situation is a prod- uct of a number of factors. First, Q is seeking to transmit traditions about Jesus rather than to overtly recount the contemporary socio- religious situation in which the document was written. Secondly, even with the most strident of these three sayings (Q 13.29, 28) the precise identity of the adversaries is veiled by the use of the ambigu- ous description of them as “the sons of the kingdom”. Obviously the contrast with those coming from “the east and the west” naturally evokes an implied comparison between Gentiles who will share the eschatological banquet and those who consider themselves to be © Gregorian Biblical Press 2013 - Tutti i diritti riservati