The Moral Vision of the New Testament: A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics

by Richard B. Hays

precisely because the community is identified as Israel, standing in typological correspondence to the Old Testament narratives, it must understand itself as participating in a journey, an exodus to a promised destination not yet reached. Such a journey entails suffering, risk, and sacrifice; there will be unanticipated turns of fortune, and the community must remain open to follow God’s leading along the way. This vision of the church’s life is far more conducive than Matthew’s to flexibility and innovation. But the journey is of course neither aimless nor unmapped. Jesus, the great prophetic leader “like Moses,” has led the way, and the community must follow the way he has marked out—hence, Luke’s characteristic description of the Christian movement as “the Way”