Feb 15, 2009

The Son's Preexistence in the Synoptic Gospels - Part I

We have seen in the previous articles that the belief in the pre-human existence of the son of God was present among first century Christians, including writers of the New Testament. Most prominently among these writers is Paul, whose influence among the first century churches must have have been strong.

Considering that his writings and his ideas were so influential, one would expect to that the writers of the Synoptic Gospels would have been at least aware of this belief, and even share it themselves - at least Luke, who was a co-worker of Paul.

We will examine these Synoptic Gospels, Matthew's, Mark's and Luke's, for elements of this belief, and in particular, in this first part, the formula used by Jesus in these gospels regarding his coming:

the "I have come" + purpose formula

Here are the ten saying we will examine:

  • He said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for." (Mark 1:38; Luke 4:43)
  • "But go and learn what this means, 'I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matthew 9:13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32)
  • "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17)
  • "I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!" (Luke 12:49)
  • "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34; Luke 12:51)
  • "For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Matthew 10:35)
  • "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28)
  • "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)
And the sayings of the demons:
  • "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us?" (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34)
  • And they cried out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" (Matthew 8:29)

Jesus uses the "I have come" + purpose formula to sum up his earthly life and ministry as a whole. As Gathercole notes1, this formula was not used by people generally - or even by those specially commissioned by God - to sum up their lives' work.

As Gathercole notes further, this formula "is most closely and most abundantly paralleled in the announcements by angels of their coming from heaven". He attempts to provide a background for the Synoptic "I have come" sayings by listing ancient Jewish literature instances where angels do sum up their earthly activity for a particular visit, using this formula. An exception to the identity of these beings would be made in the case of the heavenly Elijah, who uses this formula while coming down on earth for a specific purpose, centuries after his ascension.

Why bring angels into this picture? As noted by Gathercole, Jesus uses this formula to refer to the mission he received from God in its entirety, just like angels do when they use it, summing up the entirety of their mission they were sent into the earthly realm to accomplish. The language used by them refers to their intrusion into the earthly, human realm, and Jesus is known to have himself referred to his mission in relation to this earthly realm (Matthew 9:6; 10:34; Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24; 12:49, 51). And so, the coming of the angels, to fulfill a divinely ordained function - which is the purpose of their mission - corresponds very well with Jesus' coming.

Of course, this does not make Jesus an angel, as it neither makes the angels to be the Messiah. As Gathercole notes, a common heavenly provenance and an analogous coming to the earthly realm do not imply any particular similarity in nature between Jesus and angels.


Angelic Beings using the "I have come" + Purpose Formula



There are many instances in ancient Jewish literature where it is said about angels that they have come to do something, after they have already penetrated the human realm, but where it is not the angel who says this. For example, here's a rabbinic exegetical solution to the puzzle of the identity of the three "men" who meet Abraham near the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18):

Who were the three men? - Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Michael came to bring the tidings to Sarah; Raphael came to heal Abraham, and Gabriel came to overturn Sodom. But is it not written, "And there came the two angels to Sodom in the evening"? - Michael came with him to rescue Lot. Scripture supports this too, for it is written, "And he overthrew those cities", not "And they overthrew": this proves it. (b. Baba Metzia 86b).
Gathercole also provides another example from Numbers Rabbah 1.112, where God says that:

"the Angel of Death, coming to slay Israel, ... will find the tribe of Levi mixed up with them and will put them to death with the rest of Israel"
Sometimes, not as frequent, there are references to angels coming down, a language similar to that of John's gospel in reference to Jesus. Gathercole provides an example from Exodus Rabbah3:

"Gabriel came down to deliver Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah"
Later the angel says:
"I went down to save Abraham"
Next we will explore the instances where the angels themselves use the "I have come" + purpose formula.

1-2. Daniel 9:22-23

Daniel 9:20-23 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.

3-6. Daniel 10:12, 14, 20; 11:2

Another angel comes to Daniel in a vision, and tells him in verse 12 that:

Daniel 10:12 Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.
While the angel says his coming is a cause of Daniel's words, it is clear that he has come in order to bring an answer to Daniel's prayers (compare the fact that this verse says Daniel has set his heart on understanding, with 9:2, and the prayers following afterwards), so the purpose of his visit is implicit.

Interestingly enough, this angel continues by saying that the prince of the kingdom of Persia has withstood him for twenty-one days, and so Michael came to help him:

Daniel 10:13 "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.
Then the angel adds:

Daniel 10:14 "Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future."
And later angel (possibly a different one, see v. 16) asks:

Daniel 10:20 Then he said, "Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come.
Obviously, this angel does not reveal the purpose of his coming because he asks Daniel if he knows it; nevertheless, he provides the answer to this question:

Daniel 11:2 "And now I have come to tell you the truth. Behold, three kings ..."
Note that the expression "I have come to tell you" (kai nun elthon ten aletheian hupodeixai soi) is only present in the Old Greek.

So here again in these instances, the angel is summarizing the purpose of the mission he has to accomplish in the human realm.

7. Tobit 5:5

Tobit tells his son, Tobias, that despite the fact that they have become poor, they still have ten talents of silver which he left in trust with Gabael the son of Gabrias at Rages in Media (Tobit 4:20). He is sending Tobias to get them, and tells him:

Tobit 5:3 "Find a man to go with you and I will pay him wages as long as I live; and go and get the money."
So Tobias went to look for someone acquainted with the roads who would travel with him to Media. He finds Raphael, who is in fact an angel, one who hides his identity from Tobias. The Old Greek text says:

Tobit 5:4-5 And he went out and found Raphael the angel, standing before him, and he didn't know that he was an angel of God; and he said to him [to Raphael]: "Where are you from young man?" And he [Raphael] said to him: "From the sons of Israel, from your brothers, and I have come here to work"
Although Tobias does not know this is the angel Raphael, the readers know this all along, and can readily associate this statement of "I have come" + purpose as an angelic one, of a kind used by other angels in other instances.

Later, Raphael discloses the fact that "God sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah." (12:14), and adds:

Tobit 12:18 As for me, when I came to you it was not out of any favor on my part, but because it was God's will.
Now Tobias knows what the reader has known all along, that the "man" who said "I have come here to work" was an angel. Indeed, Raphael came to "work": his is arranging the marriage between Tobias and Sarah, heals Tobit of his blindness and serves a guide to Tobias in order to guarantee the success of his mission, of finding the man with the ten talants.

We then have a case here where the mission of the angel is not merely to deliver a message or to give understanding to somebody. Raphael's mission spans over a considerable amount of time, which he sums up in 5:5 and 12:14.

8. The Sode Raza

Another example comes in the words of the angel named Raziel. This Hebrew text was published by A. Jellinek among others (Das Noah-Buch), who disproves Zunz's theory that the text was composed, not copied, by Eleazar ben Judah of Worms (ca. 1176-1238). Jellinek says the text is closely associated with the Book of Noah, which was written as a sequel to 1 Enoch. He therefore seems to imply that the text has its origins in the Esenne community.

After a prayer of Adam, the angel Raziel appears to him and reveals that his coming serves two purposes:

"I have come to make known to you pure words and great wisdom, and in order to make you wise by the words of this holy book"4

9. Apocalypse of Moses

This text is usually thought to have been composed around the 1st century A.D. Eve recounts for her children what has happened in paradise, how she came to sin. In XVI:3 she says that the devil came to the serpent and said:

"I hear that thou art wiser than all the beasts, and I have come to counsel thee"5
Again we have an angel coming to earth, using the formula we are examining.

10-11. 4 Ezra 6:30; 7:2

This text is usually dated to the end of the 1st century A.D. The angel Uriel says6:

I have come to show you these things tonight. If therefore you will pray again and fast again for seven days, I will again declare to you greater things than these, for your voice has surely been heard before the Most High; for the Mighty One has seen your uprightness and has also observed the purity which you have maintained from your youth. Therefore He sent me to show you all these things.
Later Uriel says:

"Rise Ezra, and listen the words which I have come to speak to you"
An angel uses again this formula which Jesus uses in the Synoptic Gospels.

12. 2 Baruch 71:3

The text is usually dated as 4 Ezra above. The angel Ramael tells Baruch:

This is the vision which you have seen, and this is its explanation. For I have come to tell you these things since you prayer has been heard by the Most High.

13. Testament of Isaac

This text's date of composition is uncertain. According to some, this text represents a Christianization of a Jewish text, though not a thoroughgoing one7. Gathercole says that "the "coming" saying ... is clearly dependent on the Jewish angel-tradition, whether this particular statement was written by a Jew or a Christian"8. The version preserved in the Ethiopic tradition says that Michael tells Isaac:

Be curageous in your spirit, for I come to you from the presence of God in order to bring you up into heaven, into the presence of your father Abraham and all the holy ones9.
So again, an angel saying he has come with a purpose.

14. The Jeremiah Apocryphon

This is a text10 that survives only in Coptic and Arabic versions. Harris argues in a 1927 book11 that this is a Christian text; later, Marmostein disagrees with him and argues for a Jewish origin, saying that the work could be explained only with reference to the Talmud and Midrash12. In a more recent work, Kuhn agrees with Marmorstein, saying that apparently, the Christian elements can easily be detached, and that the work is basically Jewish13.

Either way, this angelic tradition of using the formula we examine, is part of this text. In it, Michael speaks to Jeremiah saying in the Coptic version translated by Kuhn14:

"Jeremiah, chosen one of God, behold I tell thee: I have come to redeem this people and to take them to the land of their fathers"
The Arabic version15 says:

"I have come to you today to save your people, because for this God sent me. Here is what the Lord whom you serve says: 'I have taken pity on this people and I have decided to make it return in its country so that it might glorify me'"
Again, as in the case of Tobit, the mission of the angel is not only to deliver God's message; it is a mission spanning over quite a considerable amount of time, which the heavenly messenger introduces with the known formula, "I have come" + purpose.

15. Numbers 22:32

In Numbers 22:32, an angel stands in the way of Balaam and tells him:

"Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me"
As Gathercole notes, it is not absolutely clear if the text has a noun or a verb here, it could be both:

I have come here as an opponent
Or
I have come here to oppose
Either way, a purpose is clearly stated, therefore we have another instance of this formula being used by a heavenly messenger.

16. Targum of Joshua 5:14

Another example Gathercole examines is the Jewish interpretation of Joshua 5:14. An angel appears here to Joshua, and Joshua asks him:

Joshua 5:13-14 "Are you one of us or of our enemies?" He replied, "Neither. I am the captain of the host of the LORD and I have just arrived."
Gathercole notes that the Talmud supplies a reason for this angel's mysterious coming, saying that this being admonishes Joshua:

"this evening you have neglected the regular afternoon sacrifice and now you have neglected the study of Torah" (b. Megillah 3a)
So Joshua asks him "In regard to which you have come?" "I have come now" the angel replies, that is, referring to the study of Torah which Joshua has now neglected. A purpose is therefore attached to this coming.

There is a fragmentary Targum discovered in the Cairo Genizah, written in Palestinian Aramaic, containing another commentary on this episode. The authors of an edition treating this manuscript note that is has some very interesting theological leanings, and so they date it somewhere in the intertestamental period16. Here's what this Targum says, in Gathercole's translation:

Joshua fell before him on the ground, and asked him and said to him, "Is it to support us that you have come? Or do you belong to our enemies and seek to kill?" And he said to him: "I have not come to support, and I am not an enemy. But as the angel who is sent from Yahweh I have come to complain because of the evening in which you have neglected the sacrifice, and today you have neglected Torah-study". And he [Joshua] said "For which of these two reasons have you come?" And he said to him, "I have not come to support". And Joshua fell on his face...
Again an example of this formula being used by a heavenly figure.

Midrash Tanhuma to Exodus 23:20 and Joshua 5

This text is dated around the 4th century A.D. When discussing Exodus 23:20, where God tells Moses "I send you an angel", the angel that appeared to Joshua in chapter 5 reappears here:

The Holy One said to Moses: "I am sending an angel before you but not before them". He (Moses) said: "If you send him out before me, I do not want him." But Joshua saw the angel and fell down before him. What did he say to him (in Joshua 5:13)? "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" When he (Joshua) said to him (the angel), "Are you for us?", he (the angel) began to cry in a great anguish: "No, but I am the Captain of the Lord's host. Now I have come to give Israel an inheritance. I am the one who came in the days of your master Moses, but he rejected me"17.

Again, the angel's mission is not simply to convey God's words, but to help Israel get into the promised land.

20. Testament of Abraham (A)

In the 16th chapter of this text18, Michael attempts to take Abraham's soul but fails. The Angel of Death is then sent to try:

Abraham said to him: "Why have you come here?" And Death said: "I have come for your righteous soul". [Abraham answered:] "I know what you are saying, but I will not follow you"; and Death was silent and answered him not a word.
Although the Angel of death does not use the infinitive, "to bring your soul to God", his purpose is implicit in the text; he came to do what God has told him to: "take him and bring him to me".

21. Midrash Rabbah to Deuteronomy 11.10

In this text, God asks Michael to take the Moses' life, but he refuses saying he cannot do that since he was Moses' teacher. Then God asks Sammael, the Angel of Death to do it. He goes to Moses, who asks him why he has come. The angel replies:

"I have come to bear away your breath"19
Moses' question is reminiscent to Abraham's here. Gathercole mentions that Buhner cites more examples of the Angel of Death using this formula of "I have come" + purpose, among them a story included in Gaster compilation Exempla, where the angel of death is saying to a man called ben Sabar: "I am the angel of death, who has come to take your soul"20. In another compilation, that of Bin Gorion, the angel of death similarly says "My son, I am the angel of death and behold, I have come to take your soul"21. Of course, these examples coming from a much later date than the Deuteronomy Rabbah, are of less value.

22. Acts of Thomas

Although this text is Christian, it shows familiarity with the Jewish angelic formula we are examining. A demon tells Thomas "I have come to destroy".

23. Proclus, Discourse 6

Another Christian writing showing familiarity with the Jewish angelology is Proclus' Laudatio sanctae Dei genitricis Mariae, Praise for Holy Mary, Mother of God. A dialog is presented here between the angel Gabriel and Mary. At one point, he tells Mary:

"I have come to report to you the things which have been decreed by the creator of all, and - surely - to interpret to you what has been hidden from all"22

24. The Hebrew Apocalypse of Daniel

Gathercole indicates that the text is preserved in a late Hebrew manuscript dating from the 10th century23. Here's the relevant part:

I, Daniel, stood by the river Hebar, and the dread vision was heavy upon me, and I was amazed. And there came to me Gabriel, captain of the heavenly host, and said to me: "I have come to tell you that the Mighty Holy One commanded me, 'Go, Gabriel, and reveal to Daniel what is to be at the end of days'"
Another example of angels using this formula to show the purpose of their visit.

The Elijah traditions


The expectation that Elijah will return from the heavenly realm was widespread in the Jewish community. As Gathercole notes24, his coming from heaven was already brought into association with the angels by the rabbis, a fact evident from the discussion they were having about their air speeds:

R. Eleazar b. Abina said furthermore: Greater is [the achievement] ascribed to Michael than that ascribed to Gabriel. For of Michael it is written: "Then flew unto me one of the Seraphim", whereas of Gabriel it is written: "The man Gabriel whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly in a flight etc." How do you know that this [word] "one" means Michael? - R. Johanan says: by an analogy from [the words] "one", "one". Here it is written: Then flew unto me one of the Seraphim; and in another place it is written: But lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me". A. Tanna taught: Michael [reaches his goal] in one [flight], Gabriel in two, Elijah in four, and the Angel of Death in eight. In the time of the plague however, [the Angel of Death, too, reaches his goal] in one. (n. Berakhot 4b)
There is an abundance of references to the coming of Elijah and its purpose. For example:

Rabbi Joshua said ... Elijah will not come to declare unclean or clean, to remove afar or bring nigh, but to remove afar those [families] that were brough nigh by violence ... The likes of these [families] Elijah will come to declare unclean or clean, to remove afar and bring nigh". Rabbi Judah says "To bring nigh but not to remove afar". Rabbi Simeon says "To bring agreement where there is matter for dispute". And the sages say "Neither to remove afar nor to bring nigh, but to make peace in the world, as it is written: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet ... and he shal turn the heart of the fathers to their children and the heart of the children to their fathers (Mal 4:5-6)" (m. Eduyoth 8:7) 25


Interestingly, Jesus states he has come for the opposite, not to bring families together and peace on earth, but bring the sword, and division among the families (Luke 12:51-53).

But the "coming" of Elijah with a purpose is not restricted to a cosmical, eschatological event. As indicated by Gathercole, Strack and Billerbeck provide examples where Elijah comes to help those in distress 26. The earliest reference available is from the New Testament, where the Jews misunderstood Jesus' cry of dereliction, thinking he was calling for Elijah to provide relief:

Mark 15:36 "Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down."
One example Gathercole presents further is that of the exegesis of Proverbs 9:2 in the Midrash to Proverbs. Here Elijah comes to Joshua of Gerasa, who was taking care of the imprisoned R. Aqiba; Joshua asks him who he is, and he replies:

"I am Elijah the priest, who has come to tell you that your master, R. Aqiba, has died in prison" (Midrash Mishle 9).
The dating of this tradition is difficult - although we know R. Aqiba died around 135 A.D. As Gathercole says, one can notice the rabbinic tradition of Elijah having descended from Levi and so being a priest, an idea much disputed in rabinnic circles.

But what is relevant here is that Elijah is presented as intervening into the human affairs even after his ascension to heaven, and use of the formula we focus on is made to present this.

Buhner27 also indicates an instance where Elijah comes to warn a bridegroom that he will be approached by the angel of death, saying:

"My Son, I am Elijah, and I have come to bring you good news"
In another instance, Elijah tells three men, each of them in a different type of discomfort:

"Listen to me my masters, and do not be anxious. Behold, I have come to rescue you from your toil and your groaning, and you will return to your houses in great glory28.
To the third man he gives a magic coin which multiplies, but with a condition: he must build a bet midrash, a Torah school. When the man fails to do that, Elijah comes back and tells him:

And moreover, I said to you, "Found a bet midrash" ... But you have rejected ny words... Therefore I have come to you now so that you might return the coin to me.

Conclusion



In conclusion, we have seen that this formula, "I have come " + purpose, is not used by humans in ancient Judaism to sum up the ministry/work of their entire life. It is used nevertheless by heavenly, preexisting beings who enter the human realm with a prior intent, to accomplish something. They do sum up their earthly activity using this formula.

This is the background the Jews had for the use of this formula; they were acquainted with it coming from heavenly beings, who crossed into the human realm with a mission from God; the idea that the one speaking in this way was a pre-existing being, was a natural one. We can see then the writers of the Synoptic Gospels in a different light, against this background. We can perceive what they would have thought about Jesus when he said,

"I have come to preach",
"I have come to fulfill",
"I have come to cast fire on earth",
"I have come to call the sinners",
"I have come to bring the sword",
"I have come to set father against son"
"I have come to serve"
"I have come to seek and save the lost"







1 The Preexistent Son, p. 113 (back)
2 See Freedman and Simon, Midrash Rabbah: Numbers (London: Soncino, 1977) p. 17-18 (back)
3 See Freedman and Simon, Midrash Rabbah: Exodus (London: Soncino, 1977) p. 220 (back)
4 Jellinek, Das Noah-Buch, 157 (back)
5 See the text here (back)
6 Gathercole's translation (back)
7 Kuhn, The Testament of Isaac, 425; Stinespring, Testament of Isaac, 904 (back)
8 p. 125 (back)
9 Gathercole's translation (back)
10 Not to be mistaken with a text found at Qumram, see here (back)
11 A Jeremiah Apocryphon, 137-8 (back)
12 Die Quellen des neuen Jeremia-Apocryphons, 328 (back)
13 A Coptic Jeremiah Apocryphon, 103 (back)
14 p. 316-7 (back)
15 Translated by Amelineau in French, Contes et Romans, 2:144 (back)
16 Fahr and Glesmer, Jordandurchzug und Beschneidung als Zurechtweisung, 109-10, 133 (back)
17 Townsend's translation, from Midrash Tanhuma, Volume 2, Exodus and Leviticus, 123-4 (back)
18 For a translation see newadvent.org; see also The Jewish Encyclopedia and Early Jewish Writings (back)
19 For translation see Freedman and Simon, Midrash Rabbah: Deuteronomy, (London: Soncino 1977), 185. (back)
20 page 95 (back)
21 Mimeqor Yisrael, 354 (back)
22 Gathercole's translation (back)
23 Published and translated by Sharf in "Byzantine Jewry", 201-204 (back)
24 Page 138 (back)
25 Translation of H. Danby, The Mishna, 436-7. (back)
26Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrash, 4/2:769-98. (back)
27 Der Gesandte und sein Weg, 142 (back)
28 Gathercole's translation, from Bin Gorion, Mimeqor Yisrael, 411 (back)