Where Jewish Scholars on Jesus Go Awry: Last Supper, Sanhedrin, Blasphemy, Barabbas

In: Shofar: a quarterly interdisciplinary journal of Jewish studies ; official journal of the Midwest and Western Jewish Studies Associations, Band 28, Heft 3, S. 70-77

Abstract

Is there a propensity by Jewish scholars to misconstrue as actual history Gospel "facts" that are purely fictional? Jewish studies on the historical Jesus need to give due regard to the operation of "gospel dynamics": those skillful techniques by which early Christians reconceptualized Jesus' image to resolve theological and political challenges not from Jesus' ministry but instead from the Evangelists' later day. Four "favorite" topics of Jewish scholars serve as apt prisms for revealing such underlying dynamics: Jesus' Last Supper as a Passover meal, his Sanhedrin trial, his "blasphemy" verdict, and his pairing with Barabbas.