The Ministry Of Jesus And The Relationship Of Justice And Worship

Jesus' ministry portrays for us a radical vision of the kingdom of God, where God is known through forgiveness and the human community is united in love and peace. Christian liturgy points us to this vision and must be shaped according to it. The most radical and distinctive thing about Jesus' ministry was, indeed, his vision of a universe where God alone is ruler. This was not the typically eschatological vision common to many preachers and prophets in first-century Palestine-an eschatology which predicted an impending apocalyptic catastrophe that would overturn both nature and the political order, and result in victory and vindication for God's chosen elect (the land and people of Israel). Like John the Baptist before him, Jesus had "existentialized" eschatology, shifting its focus away from cosmic cataclysms and military victories to concern for the individual's relation with God. But unlike John, Jesus saw this relation "not as the harsh judgment of a terrifying God but as the in…