The Jesus Movement and Its Expansion: Meaning and Mission.

van Thanh, Nguyen

The Jesus Movement and Its Expansion: Meaning and Mission. By Sean Freyne. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014. Pp. xii + 383. $35.

Context is crucial in biblical interpretation. Context not only influences interpretation; it also determines its meaning. To really understand the Jesus movement and appreciate its rapid expansion, one needs to know the Galilean context where it all began. Freyne's book provides just that. More than simply examining the Galilean context or background for interpretation, however, F. attempts to highlight the underlying "matrix," suggesting "a living, dynamic environment that is constantly interacting with the various levels of human life and activity that are taking place" (3). F. is eminently up to this task.

F. devoted his life to the study of the early Jesus movement in its Galilean context and was recognized as a leading scholar in the field. This book, an expansion of his earlier work Jesus, a Jewish Galilean: A New Reading of the Jesus Story (2004), is the culmination of a lifelong passion and was completed shortly before his death in 2013. Besides the introduction and epilogue, the book contains eight chapters. The first three examine the matrix in which the Jesus movement emerged and developed. Chapter 1 deals with the influence and impact of Hellenization in Judea in general and Galilee in particular. Chapter 2 deals with the history of Roman presence in Judea from the middle of the first century BCE up to the second revolt against Rome in 132 to 135 CE. With archeological evidence, chapter 3 offers a reliable profile of the social and economic conditions of Palestine.

Chapter 4 focuses on the ministry of the historical Jesus. Since this is the central chapter of the book, it is worth examining it more closely. F. demonstrates that Jesus was greatly influenced by his own Jewish heritage as well as by the social and economic situation of Palestine in general and Galilee in particular. These contexts profoundly shaped his actions and responses to the situations he encountered. Many of Jesus' sayings challenged the prevailing assumptions of both the Roman worldview and the Judean priestly establishment. Furthermore, like other prophets who came from the countryside, Jesus came from an insignificant village in Galilee to challenge the authority and prosperity of Jerusalem. He was critical of the Temple, its personnel, and its rituals. Like Jeremiah, Jesus engaged in a combination of prophetic words and actions to challenge the temple hierarchy. The incident in the Temple (Mk 11:15-18) was the decisive act that led to his arrest, condemnation, and crucifixion. In the eyes of the religious authority, he not only undermined their authority but also contested the centrality of the Temple's role in the life of the people. In a nutshell, F. portrays Jesus as a Galilean eschatological prophet challenging Israel to immediate repentance or face imminent judgment. Although it is well done, F.'s portrait of the historical Jesus does not contribute anything significantly new to the quest, as many historical critics of Jesus have already provided this reconstruction--for example, E. R Sanders, John Meier, and N. T. Wright, to name just a few.

The final four chapters (5-8) deal with the mission and expansion of the Jesus movement in Palestine and beyond during the first hundred years of its development. Chapter 5 discusses the Jerusalem community, especially the distinction between the Hebrews and the Hellenists, with particular emphasis on their understanding of the mission to the Gentiles. F. also briefly treats the Samaritan mission. Chapter 6 examines the traces of Palestinian Jesus-followers in Galilee and its environs, corroborated in various sayings sources like the Q source, the Gospel of Thomas, and the Didache. Chapter 7 provides a close reading of the narrative accounts of Mark and Matthew against the backdrop of the Jewish revolt and the destruction of the Temple, as the movement left behind its originating matrix in Galilee and Jerusalem. Finally, chapter 8 traces the transition from the New Testament period to later generations as the Christian movement began to acquire a much higher profile.

The book is skillfully arranged into three distinct parts: matrix (chaps. 1-3), ministry (chap. 4), and mission (chaps. 5-8). While written with a "broader readership" in mind (2), the volume's language, style, and methodologies presume that, to fully appreciate the book's sophistication and presuppositions, the reader has more than a basic knowledge of the New Testament world. Graduate students willing to plow through this 355-page volume, in a small font, will surely acquire a comprehensive knowledge of Galilee and the early Jesus movement and mission.

DOI: 10.1177/0040563915593486

van Thanh Nguyen, S.V.D.

Catholic Theological Union, Chicago