A Theological View of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God (3)

Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God – a view from the Gospels

In Luke 4:16 – 30, Jesus identifies himself with the text regarding His mission. Jesus is the ‘anointed one’ to bring happiness to the poor. (Luke 4:18) He is the poor ‘anointed prophet’ who “has nowhere to rest his head” (Luke 9:58).^[1] Jesus is the One who criticized the lack of compassion and the foolishness of the wealthy, such as, the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19 – 31) or the rich fool (Luke 12:16 – 21). The evangelist Luke focuses on the important teaching of Jesus relating to our relationship with goods. Jesus proposed the sharing our possessions (Luke 14:33), and our goods, like Zacchaeus, the tax collector (Luke 19:8). In short, these parables teach us a new approach to our goods, one of solidarity and sharing with the neediest, of having a simple style of living, of behavior that comes from our inner being to the others. This, then, is the best praxis to transform us and our environment.

Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God – a view from Sobrino

First, Sobrino affirms that the concept of the Kingdom is confirmed by the historical hope of the Hebrew people. This affects the transformation of the entire nation. On the other hand, the news of the Kingdom of God comes into a suffering reality. It comes out as a dialectical and dualistic reality, excluded and opposite to the anti-Kingdom.[2]

Second, the target of the Kingdom is the poor, according to Sobrino.[3] He mentions the partiality presented by the Scriptures as a dialectical partiality because Scriptures tell what “God and Jesus are against in order to show what they are for.” This describes two groups of persons, “some accepted by God and others rejected by God.” [4]

The eschatological concept of the Kingdom of God is life, dignity and liberation for all those who suffer injustice and oppression. These victims are the poor; therefore, the Kingdom of God belongs to them. Then, even though Sobrino recognizes that the Kingdom of God is universal, he introduces the principal of partiality:[5] “It is rather in and through his partiality toward the oppressed that God reveals his own identity.”[6]    

Sobrino’s Christological Reflection and Emphasis on the Kingdom of God

There are biblical texts where poverty is presented, not as accumulation but as possible encounters with the Spirit, as a liberation. Instead, Sobrino considers the coming kingdom as a gateway to appreciating the activity of Jesus as Liberator. The signs of liberation include miracles and forgiveness of sins as part of the arrival of the kingdom of God.[7] The reality of the Kingdom of God is an activity to shape the behavior, options and decisions of Jesus. Sobrino, in his Christological reflection, shows the importance of the centrality of the Kingdom of God. He will emphasize this in three aspects: gratitude and joy, the poor as target of the Kingdom (principal of partiality), and the principal of mercy.

The notification says that Sobrino “by affirming that the possibility of being mediator belongs to Christ from the exercise of his humanity, he excludes the fact that his condition as Son of God has relevance for Jesus’ mediatory mission.”[8] Therefore, it is not clear that Christ is the only mediator between God and people.

The balance between the humanity and the divinity of Christ is related to the struggle that exists between Christology from above and from below. Sobrino seems to argue that theology starts ‘from below’ with the historical Jesus. According with the notification, Sobrino’s perspective related to Christ’s role in salvation was not clearly discussed.[9]

[1] O’Collins 23-24

[2]Vásquez 589

[3] Sobrino, 107. Loc. 1950

[4] Ibid., 108. Loc. 1988

[5] Vásquez 590

[6] Ibid., 107. Loc1962

^[7] Kärkkäinen 243

[8] Notification, 7

[9] Ibid., 10