Who Did Jesus come to Save? Kenneth Bailey

Some thoughts from Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes, by Kenneth Bailey ~~~


In Matthew 1:20-21 Joseph is told,

"Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

In Hebrew or Aramaic these words provide a word play that is lost in Greek and English. "Jesus" in Hebrew is Yesua and the verb "to save" is yasa.

If Hebrew and English are combined in a single sentence, it can be translated, "His name will be called Yesua for he will yasa his people."

[He will be called Savior, because he will save his people.]

During Jesus' time the Jewish community in the Holy Land was occupied and oppressed by the Romans. Before the Romans, the country had been ruled by the Greeks, and before that by the Persians.

At the time of Jesus much of the land was owned by foreigners who controlled large estates. Local farmers were obliged to rent land and were often treated unfairly.

In a situation of political and economic oppression people naturally want salvation, but from what? The salvation they seek is deliverance from their oppressors.

...In a situation of oppression it takes enormous courage to tell the oppressed community that all are sinners and all must repent, for everyone is in need of grace for salvation.

The angel affirms this theology to Joseph before Jesus is born by announcing, "and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Their primary problem is their sin -- the Roman occupation is an important concern, but it is secondary.)




In Zechariah's prayer praising God for the promised birth of John the Baptizer, he says  (Luke 1:68-77)


     Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
     for he has visited and redeemed his people...
     that we should be saved from our enemies,
     and from the hand of all who hate us...

     For you will go before the Lord to prepare his
     way, to give knowledge of salvation to his
     people in the forgiveness of sins.


Suddenly the tables are turned. Now the community's problem is not merely "those who hate us," but that they are declared to be in need of deliverance from their own sins.

The oppressed are also sinners! A Savior for sinners is a Savior for all, because all are sinners.

This perspective is present as early as Ecclesiastes 4:1 which reads:


     Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced
     under the sun. And behold, the tears of the
     oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them!
     On the side of their oppressors there was power,
     and there was no one to comfort them.


In such a text both the oppressors and the oppressed are trapped in prisons from which they cannot escape.

Each needs grace from outside the prison.

The text in Luke speaks of salvation from "our enemies" and of the bigger problem -- the internal problem of "our sins."