God Crucified
Richard Bauckham. God Crucified. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998)
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“Jesus’ sovereignty over ‘all things’
First, the texts frequently refer to Jesus’ exaltation or sovereignty as over ‘all things’. Though New Testament scholars commonly fail to recognize this and in individual texts debate the extent of the ‘all things’ to which the text refers, the phrase belongs to the standard rhetoric of Jewish monotheism, in which it constantly refers, quite naturally, to the whole of the created reality from which God is absolutely distinguished as its Creator and Ruler. God’s servants may be said, by his permission, to rule over some things, as earthly rulers do, but only God rules over all things from a throne exalted above all things. The frequent New Testament christological uses of this phrase should not be studied atomistically, but their cumulative weight should be appreciated as testimony to the way the texts habitually define Christ’s exaltation or rule in the terms Jewish monotheism reserved for God’s unique sovereignty.” (pgs. 31-32)
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