A Handbook on the Jewish Roots of the Gospels ed. Craig A Evans and David Mishkin (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2021) 370 pages.
Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to live in first century Israel during the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry? The great Apostle to the Gentiles reminds the Romans of the importance of their roots in Judaism:
11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree,
11:18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. (NKJV—Romans 11:17-18)
How does Judaism influence our faith in Christ today? What are our Jewish roots? Editors, Evans and Mishkin have brought together an interesting and helpful series of expositions by scholars discussing the Jewish roots of the Gospels.
Clearly, if the gospel accounts, so fundamental to our Christian faith, are not rooted firmly in Judaism, then our faith lacks the essential watermark of authenticity. However, as with any scholarly work, you and I must exercise discretion and carefully weigh each exposition looking not so much for answers, but for questions. This book is no exception. For example, Daniel M. Gurtner acknowledges that “the earliest manuscripts of John typically testify to Alexandrian readings” (1.1 The Manuscript Traditions of the New Testament, 15), and easily dismisses the evidence from the Majority family for the pericope adulterae (John 7:53-8:11). Of particular interest in some of the Majority family texts “the scribes mark the texts with indications that they questioned the veracity of the reading” (Ibid, p. 17). So, even though some of the scribes from the Majority family may have questioned the authenticity of the pericope, they, nonetheless, faithfully recorded the pericope… did other less faithful scribes simply remove the pericope from the text?
Regarding Jesus’ relationship to the Holy Spirit in the gospel accounts, Cristian S. Ile writes: “An important aspect of ancient Jewish eschatology is the coming of the Spirit-filled Messiah (Isaiah 11:1-2; 42:1; 61:1-2)” (4.2 The Triune God in the Gospels, 212). Most scholars agree Isaiah 11:1-2 is uniquely fulfilled in Messiah’s first coming
11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
11:2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
Though our Lord will fulfill verses 3-5 in the future at His second coming, the question arises regarding Jesus’ very unusual response, both looking away from and not hearing the woman’s accusers (John 8:6), whether He is purposefully manifesting the miraculous seven-fold manifestation of the Holy Spirit as a witness to His audience that He is Israel’s Messiah… the light of the world (John 8:12)? Consider verses 3-5:
11:3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
11:4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
(NKJV—Isaiah 11:1-5; underlining added)
Ironically, that the pericope adulterae graphically demonstrates an “important aspect of ancient Jewish eschatology” namely “the coming of the Spirit-filled Messiah” indicates to many modern scholars that logic compelled the transcriber to add this pericope to the original account. But does this kind of thinking ring true, especially in light of the Majority text evidence that some of “the scribes mark the texts with indications that they questioned the veracity of the reading” (1.1 The Manuscript Traditions of the New Testament, p. 17) and yet faithfully recorded the pericope?
A Handbook on the Jewish Roots of the Gospels , like its predecessor, A Handbook on the Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith, is a delightful and very helpful book for those brothers and sisters searching for questions… not answers.