In the previous chapter, I examined the way in which a particular element within Jewish hopes for restoration – the expectation of a sign – was subverted by Jesus' declaration that the coming sign would be one of national judgement. I have argued that in doing so Jesus countered a particular stream of Jewish reflection on Israel's sacred traditions with a quite different understanding of those traditions. In this chapter, I continue to develop the idea that sacred traditions which had been developed in service of an expectation of national restoration were taken up by Jesus in his proclamation of impending national judgement and a new understanding of the meaning of Israel's election. The particular motifs to be examined are the vineyard, the eschatological banquet, and Jesus' polemic against ‘this generation’.

Prophetic criticism in the parables

A recent emphasis in parable studies has been to highlight the way in which Jesus' parables subvert conventional wisdom. My intent in this section is to show that in some parables, at least, the subversion takes a particular shape. I have referred above to J. A. Sanders' description of ‘prophetic criticism’, that is, the prophets' use of Scripture to subvert accepted use of sacred tradition. Of particular importance is the fact that in their critique of views substantiated from Scripture the prophets often appealed to alternative sacred traditions. My contention is that the subversive element in a number of Jesus' parables is precisely this sort of prophetic criticism cast in narrative form.