68 Dimensions of Baptism
lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised
up, and the poor have good news preached to them') clearly alludes to Isa.
61.1-2 (and to other words and phrases in Isaiah). We may reasonably
infer that John has expressed a measure of doubt about Jesus, not because
he is depressed while awaiting execution, but because the facts of his
continuing imprisonment and Isaiah's promise of release from prison are
not easily reconciled. If this is the correct understanding of the exchangebetween John and Jesus (i.e. both presuppose Isa. 61.1-2), then we again
have evidence that the two men held to a common eschatology. John's 'he
who is to come' harks back to his original prophecy of the coming of one
mightier than himself, a role that Jesus has taken upon himself.- Restorative symbolism as seen in the appointment of twelve apostles.
Jesus' appointment of the 'twelve' apostles in all probability coheres with
the 'twelve' stones of John and Joshua. Just as Joshua's twelve stones
symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel, so Jesus' appointment of the twelve
symbolized the tribes.^39 Major scholarship today accepts the historicity of
the Twelve, even if the actual membership of this select group of disciples
varied somewhat.^40 Jesus' 'use of the conception "twelve" points towards - See esp. W. Horbury, 'The Twelve and the Phylarchs', NTS32 (1986), pp. 503-
27; D.C. Allison, Jesus of Nazareth: Apocalyptic Prophet (Minneapolis: Fortress Press,
1998), pp. 141-45. See also S. McKnight, 'Jesus and the Twelve', BBR 11 (2001), pp.
203-31. McKnight argues that the appointment of the Twelve has less to do with the
twelve tribes per se\ rather, the focus is on covenant leadership, as seen in T. Judah
25.1-2 and T. Benj. 10.7 and many passages in the Dead Sea Scrolls (e.g. 1QS 8.1;
1QM 2.1-3; 4Q159 frags. 2-4, lines 3-4; 4Q164 4-6; 11Q19 57.11-14). True enough,
but even Qumran's twelve symbolism, as concerned with covenant renewal as it is,
nevertheless harks back to the twelve tribes. All twelve tribes, guided by righteous and
qualified leaders, will be restored and renewed. - See J. Jeremias, New Testament Theology. I. The Proclamation of Jesus (New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971), pp. 234-35; B.F. Meyer, The Aims of Jesus
(London: SCM Press, 1979), pp. 153-54 ('beyond reasonable doubt^5 ), p. 293 (ancient
and widespread tradition, multiple attestation, not easily accounted for as creation of the
early Church); Sanders, Jesus and Judaism, pp. 95-106 ('virtually certain'); J. Gnilka,
Jesus of Nazareth: Message and History (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997), pp. 182-
87; J.P. Meier, 'The Circle of the Twelve: Did It Exist during Jesus' Public Ministry?',
JBL 116 (1997), pp. 635-72; M. Reiser, Jesus and Judgment: The Eschatological Proc-
lamation in its Jewish Context (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1997), pp. 258-62;
J. Becker, Jesus of Nazareth (Berlin and New York: W. de Gruyter, 1998), pp. 27-28.
Against P. Vielhauer ('Gottesreich und Menschensohn in der Verkiindigung Jesu', in
Aufsdtze zum Neuen Testament [TB, 31; Munich: Kaiser, 1965], pp. 68-71), who thinks