Jonathan Knight provides a useful overview and guide to the main issues in current research into the historical Jesus, making a major contribution to this topic of international debate. Whereas some scholars think that Jesus' journey to Jerusalem was a funeral march to victory, Knight argues that Jesus travelled there inspired by eschatological hope. On his arrival, Jesus performed symbolic acts such as the Triumphal Entry, the Cleansing of the Temple and the Last Supper as part of the eschatological process which he thought would herald the arrival of the Son of Man and thus yield dramatic change. While the mindset of Jesus remains obscure to us (not least because of the nature of the sources), this book represents a new and creative attempt to set Jesus in the context of apocalyptic Judaism and to restore eschatological hope to the centre of his message.

Author Biography

Jonathan Knight is Research Fellow of the Katie Wheeler Trust and Visiting Fellow in New Testament and Christian Ministry at York St John University. Previous appointments include Lecturer and Research Fellow in Biblical Studies at Sheffield University, Chaplain and Research Assistant to Stephen Sykes and Chaplain of Worcester College, Oxford. He is the author of "Jesus: An Historical and Theological Investigation "(T&T Clark, 2004), "Luke's Gospel "(Routledge, 1998) and "The Ascension of Isaiah "(Sheffield Academic Press, 1995), and editor, with Stephen Sykes and John Booty, of "The Study of Anglicanism "(SPCK, 1998).