Winter 1984 - 1985 - Quarterly Review

QUARTERLY REVIEW, WINTER 1984
Jews know that as long as the world is not redeemed, and the image of
God has not yet become visible in the whole of humanity, they have to
remain faithful to the Torah. Thus is the Jewish people a constant
reminder to the church that we still live in an unredeemed world. This
means that their enmity toward the gospel is an enmity for our sake,
to speak with Paul (Rom. 11:28).
Jews know that as long as the world is not redeemed, and
the image of God has not yet become visible in the whole of
humanity, they have to remain faithful to the Torah.
The church is often inclined to evaluate the significance of cross and
Resurrection so highly that it falls into the temptation of a "realized
eschatology." The light which it has seen in Jesus Christ is so shining
that it often blinds its eyes for the darkness and the evil that still exist
in the world. The German New Testament scholar, Peter von der
Osten-Sacken 10
has drawn our attention to a process that already
started in the New Testament: Since the consummation of history did
not take place within the expected span of time of, at the most, one
generation, the conclusion drawn by the early Christian community
was not that the struggle of the risen Jesus against the powers of evil
was much more laborious and tiring than originally expected. Instead,
the response was often to ascribe to Jesus in heaven more and more
power and might, and to make him more and more equal to God and
to minimize the subordination of Christ to God at the end of time (see
I Cor. 15:28). This has led to a triumphalistic attitude in the church
ignoring the struggle to be waged for justice and peace on earth. It has
also led to a tendency to look away from the earth and expect salvation
in heavenly, transcendental spheres. The claim to possess the
invisible salvation led further to authoritarian and intolerant attitudes
to those (e.g., the Jews) who were not prepared to accept this claim.
The "no" of the Jews to the elevated claims made by the church for
Jesus is the reverse of their faithfulness to the Torah, their hope for the
world's redemption. This "no" that Paul could not but describe as "a
hardening that has come upon part of Israel" (Rom. 11:25), is now,
after nearly twenty centuries, to be valued positively by Christians as
the hard shell to preserve the love for the Torah in a world that is still
awaiting redemption.
Let us be honest and recognize that both Israel and the church are
62