Abstract

The majority of scholars maintains that Jesus’ preaching was only religious: the kingdom of God, whose arrival he deemed imminent, was a heavenly kingdom. The political problem of Roman rule was excluded from the picture. But how then do we explain Jesus’ royal entry into Jerusalem; and his promise to the Twelve that they would share with him in governing Israel? A small minority of scholars claims that Jesus’ preaching was indeed political. Jesus was fighting for a social revolution which would result in the disappearance of Roman rule. But how then do we explain the episode of the tribute where Jesus seems to admit the legitimacy of Caesar’s power? The author argues that the kingdom of God announced by Jesus was an earthly kingdom. Jesus was not a political revolutionary, but his preaching was both religious and social. The clash with the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem led him to understand that he would have to die. He, therefore, announced the coming of a heavenly kingdom which would be preceded by the judgement of the Son of Man.