Jesus, Revolutionary of the Poor: Matthew’s Subversive Messiah

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Is Jesus relevant to the sufferings of the helpless, the voiceless, those dying of hunger, those traumatized by violence, people with learning difficulties? In Matthew, we see Jesus to be a man on the frontline, battling against the forces that stop the non-poor from living generously, and the poorest of the poor living abundantly the way God intended. This is Jesus as one who in his very being is an expression of God's wrath against human beings who live their lives as if creation is a battle zone where only the selfish and powerful flourish. Matthew's Jesus is outraged at the lethargy and apathy that permits non-poor people to live according to practices that lead so many to be excluded from the fruits of God's creation. But the Jesus found in this gospel is also one who teaches that God has created a world that is good to see; it is abundant as long as people live according to the dynamic order God has inwardly established in creation, one rooted in generosity, hospitality, love, self-sacrifice, righteousness, justice, Torah, and mercy.

"The Gospel of Matthew more than any other presents readers with the revolutionary challenge of the story of Jesus of Nazareth . . . and this exposition demonstrates the full extent of its radical summons. Bredin writes that the book is not written to scholars, but those of us who are scholars need to heed these words of Jesus: 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.'"
--Christopher Rowland, Professor, Exegesis of Holy Scripture Emeritus, University of Oxford

"Here is no volume for the fainthearted. Bredin, a British Quaker, sketches a no-holds-barred portrait of 'Matthew's Subversive Messiah.'"
--Dorothy Jean Weaver, Professor, Eastern Mennonite Seminary

"Bredin's book inspires, challenges, discomforts, and enlightens. Read it and 'be transformed by the renewal of your minds.' You will never see things in quite the same way again."
--Stuart Masters, Senior Programme Leader, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre

"This book combines scholarship with spirituality, food for thought with prayer. Its emphasis on God's preference for the poor and marginalized . . . can make uncomfortable reading. So much the better!"
--Janet Scott, Former Director, Homerton College, Cambridge

"Bredin sees an unremitting focus in Matthew on the good news to the poorest of the poor that challenges several of the consensus readings of the gospel. It reminds twenty-first century readers that the care of the marginalized in society is . . . of the essence of what it means to embody the Kingdom of God."
--Kent Brower, Nazarene Theological College, Manchester

Mark Bredin is Quaker Prison Chaplain. He is author of Jesus, Revolutionary of Peace and The Ecology of the New Testament . As well as having taught in the UK and in Tanzania, he has also worked as a caregiver to people with learning difficulties.