Endnote 13 – The Eschatological Jesus

Apart from the Testament of Job 39–40, I know of no pre-Christian source that tells of a person’s resurrection to glory in the middle of history. Mark 6:14–16 is no exception, because it envisions a resuscitation; nor, in my judgment, does 2 Maccabees 7 provide an exception. Some have found in Revelation 11:3–12 and the Apocalypse of Elijah 4:7–19 evidence for Jewish belief in a dying and rising prophet. But if there was such a belief it was not (1) widespread or (2) properly eschatological.