Similarly, if Jesus does his job successfully, if Jesus effectively proclaims and introduces and inducts people into the kingdom of God, he bequeaths to his successors not the same situation he inherited but rather a radically new situation—with new problems, new questions, new opportunities, and new requirements. If we find Paul doing more than repeating the words and imagery of Jesus, we shouldn’t automatically conclude that Paul is preaching another message. Instead, we should consider that Paul may be dealing faithfully with the new situation Jesus has created. In this light, we can read
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