The Most Important Words of Jesus

Gerhard Lohfink (1934-2024), was professor of New Testament exegesis at the University of Tübingen. His many award-winning books include Between Heaven and Earth, The Forty Parables of Jesus, No Irrelevant Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Is This All There Is?, The Our Father, and Prayer Takes Us Home, all from Liturgical Press.

Contents

Preface    xi
Opening Remarks    xiii
Abbreviations    xvii

          Part One: The Coming of the Reign of God
1. The Proclamation of the Reign of God (Mark 1:15)    5
2. The Least Is Greater Than the Greatest (Luke 7:28)    10
3. Blessed Are Those Who See What You See (Luke 10:23-24)    13
4. The Miracles of the Time of Salvation (Luke 7:22-23)    17
5. Expelling the Demons (Luke 11:20)    21
6. The Fall of the Adversary (Luke 10:18)    25
7. Blessed Are You Poor! (Luke 6:20-21)    28
8. New Wine in New Wineskins (Mark 2:21-22)    32
9. Fasting at a Wedding? (Mark 2:19)    35
10. The “Violent” in the Reign of God (Matt 11:12-13)    37

          Part Two: The Mission of the Twelve
11. Like Lambs in the Midst of Wolves (Luke 10:3)    48
12. Take Nothing for Your Journey! (Luke 9:3)    50
13. Greet No One on the Way! (Luke 10:4)    53
14. When You Enter a House (Luke 10:5-12)    57
15. Bread for the Day to Come (Matt 6:11)    62
16. Whoever Listens to You Listens to Me (Luke 10:16)   65 

          Part Three: A Disciple’s Existence
17. Foxes Have Holes (Luke 9:57-58)    73
18. Let the Dead Bury Their Own Dead! (Luke 9:59-60)    76
19. Whoever Puts a Hand to the Plow (Luke 9:61-62)    79
20. Jesus’ Single Life (Matt 19:12)    81
21. Without Concern for One’s Own Family (Luke 14:26)    83
22. Already a Hundredfold (Mark 10:29-30)    86
23. Only One Is Your Father (Matt 23:9)    89
24. Whoever among You Wants to Be First (Mark 10:43-44)    91
25. Taking Up One’s Cross (Luke 14:27 // Matt 10:38)    95
26. Those Who Lose Their Life Will Save It (Mark 8:35)    97
27. When the Salt Loses Its Savor (Luke 14:34-35)    100
28. The Millstone around the Neck (Luke 17:1-2)    102
29. A Cup of Cold Water (Matt 10:42)    105

          Part Four: Living in Light of the Reign of God
30. If You Are Angry with a Brother or Sister (Matt 5:21-22)    117
31. No Reconciliation, No Liturgy (Matt 5:23-24)    121
32. Adultery with the Eyes (Matt 5:27-28)    123
33. Divorce: A Capital Crime (Matt 5:31-32)    125
34. Better to Cut Off Your Hand (Mark 9:43-48)    130
35. You Shall Not Swear At All (Matt 5:33-37)    132
36. Nonviolence (Matt 5:38-42)    135
37. Love of Enemies (Luke 6:27-28)    141
38. God Knows What You Need (Matt 6:7-8)    150
39. Stone, Not Bread? (Matt 7:9-11)    153
40. Do Not Judge! (Matt 7:1)    157
41. Speck and Log (Matt 7:3)    159
42. No One Can Serve Two Masters (Matt 6:24)    162
43. Camel and Needle’s Eye (Mark 10:25)    164 
44. What Makes People Unclean (Mark 7:15)    167
45. Give the Emperor What Belongs to the Emperor! (Mark 12:17)    172
46. Like a Child (Mark 10:15)    176
47. Seek First the Reign of God! (Luke 12:31)    180

          Part Five: Jesus’ Exalted Claim
48. Your Sins Are Forgiven You (Mark 2:5)    189
49. Amen, I Tell You (Matt 8:10)    193
50. More Than Solomon Is Here (Luke 11:31-32)    196
51. Not Peace, but a Sword (Matt 10:34-36)     199
52. Everyone Who Acknowledges Me (Luke 12:8-9)    203
53. I Am (Mark 14:62)    212
          
          Part Six: Israel’s Crisis
54. You Strain out Gnats (Matt 23:24)    225
55. Woe to You, Lawyers! (Luke 11:52)    227
56. For Those Outside, Everything Comes in Riddles (Mark 4:11)    231
57. When You See a Cloud Rising in the West (Luke 12:54-56)    235
58. Not through Observation (Luke 17:20-21)    239
59. No Sign from Heaven (Luke 11:29)    242
60. Whoever Does Not Gather with Me (Luke 11:23)    247
61. But You Were Not Willing (Luke 13:34-35)    250
62. Woe to You, Chorazin! (Luke 10:13-15)    253
63. Shut Out of the Eschatological Banquet (Luke 13:28-29)    256

          Part Seven: In View of Death
64. With a Baptism Must I Be Baptized (Luke 12:49-50)    270
65. On the Third Day I Will Be Finished (Luke 13:31-32)    274
66. Fear Not, Little Flock! (Luke 12:32)    276 
67. Judges Over the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Matt 19:28)    279
68. Ransom for Many (Mark 10:45)    285
69. The Words at the Last Supper (Mark 14:22-24   ) 291
70. Toward the Eschatological Feast (Mark 14:25)    303

Closing Reflections    309
Acknowledgments    317
Works Cited    319
Index of Important Topics    327
Index of Scriptural Passages    329
Liturgical Table    339