Overview of Ask NT Wright Anything with Premier Unbelievable
In this episode, Tom Wright and Mike Bird tackle three major theological questions: how Jesus’ death relates to God’s wrath and the destruction of Jerusalem, what the Holy Spirit was doing in the Old Testament versus the New, and how Christians should think about the violent passages in Scripture. Across all three topics, the recurring theme is that the Bible must be read as a unfolding story, not as isolated proof texts.
Jesus, God’s Wrath, and the Destruction of Jerusalem
Main argument
Wright frames Jesus’ death in its first-century Jewish and Roman context. Jesus was not abstractly solving a timeless “problem of sin” in the first instance; he was confronting a volatile moment in Israel’s history, where revolutionary zeal, Rome’s oppression, and Jerusalem’s coming judgment were tightly connected.
Key points
- Jesus went “ahead” of his people, taking on the fate that would otherwise fall on Jerusalem’s rebels.
- The cross is connected to the same historical trajectory that ends in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
- This is not “double punishment” or “God punishing Jesus and then punishing Jerusalem again,” but Jesus making a way of escape and warning Israel about the disaster ahead.
- Wright links this to:
- Luke 13: “If they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
- Luke 19: Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because it has not recognized “the things that make for peace.”
- Matthew 24 / Mark 13: warnings about enduring to the end amid judgment and upheaval.
Theological framing
Wright says Jesus’ death should be read in light of:
- Isaiah’s servant imagery (especially Isaiah 40–55)
- Jeremiah’s language of judgment
- The idea that Roman wrath becomes the historical instrument of divine judgment on a rebellious Jerusalem
The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and New Testament
Was the Spirit present in the Old Testament?
Yes. Wright strongly affirms that the Spirit is active throughout the Old Testament, but in different modes and roles.
Old Testament patterns
The Spirit appears in:
- Creation
- The patriarchs
- Judges, prophets, priests, and kings
- Israel’s wilderness journey and exodus themes
Wright points to texts such as:
- Isaiah 63:11
- Nehemiah 9:20
- Haggai 2:5
These suggest that God’s own presence, through the Spirit, was already at work among Israel.
What is new in the New Testament?
The newness is not that the Spirit suddenly exists, but that the Spirit now:
- Comes deeper
- Comes wider
- Is poured out on all flesh
- Dwells in the people of God in a fuller, post-cross and post-resurrection way
Key texts include:
- John 7:39 — the Spirit is linked to Jesus’ glorification
- John 20 — Jesus breathes on his disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit”
- Acts 2 — the Spirit fills the church at Pentecost
- Romans 8 — believers are led by the Spirit toward their inheritance
- Joel — fulfilled in the outpouring of the Spirit on all people
On sanctification and “Spirit baptism”
Wright pushes back against rigid holiness schemas that treat receiving the Spirit as a one-time ladder of spiritual stages.
His emphasis:
- The Spirit is given in the new covenant because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
- Christian life involves ongoing filling, refilling, and re-sanctification.
- Experience varies; the Spirit may be active in ways we notice and in ways we only recognize later.
- Cornelius in Acts 10 is treated as a unique gospel moment, not a universal pattern for a two-stage Christian life.
One memorable line
Wright recalls a friend saying:
- “Yes, I’m filled with the Holy Spirit, but I leak.”
Violence in Scripture and God’s Justice
The core struggle
A listener asked how Christians can praise a loving God while wrestling with:
- The flood
- The conquest narratives
- The destruction of peoples in the Old Testament
- Even seemingly severe acts like circumcision
Wright’s response
He does not offer a neat or “default” answer. Instead, he stresses that this is a dark, morally difficult area that must be approached slowly and humbly.
Main lines of thought
- The biblical writers are describing a world already saturated with violence.
- The ancient world was brutal by modern standards; genocide, empire, and annihilation were common.
- The conquest narratives should not be read as God casually endorsing brutality, but as God working within a fallen world to preserve a people through whom the world will eventually be rescued.
- The story of Israel is itself messy: God works through flawed human families and nations.
The decisive lens: the cross
Wright says the only ultimately adequate way to face these texts is through the cross of Jesus:
- The cross reveals God taking the worst human evil upon himself.
- It is retrospective key to the Old Testament’s violence and judgment scenes.
- God is not distant from suffering; he is present with the victims, including children and infants, and ultimately bears judgment himself in Christ.
On praying judgment
Wright also notes the tension in the Psalms:
- The “cursing Psalms” express the cry of the oppressed for God to act against wickedness.
- Christians should not become sentimental about evil.
- At the same time, they must beware of self-righteousness and remember their own need for mercy.
Big Takeaways
- Jesus’ death must be understood historically, not only spiritually: it is tied to Rome, Jerusalem, and the coming catastrophe of AD 70.
- The Holy Spirit is present throughout Scripture, but the New Testament presents a fuller, more universal outpouring after Jesus’ glorification.
- Scriptural violence is not simple to explain away; it must be read in light of the fallen world, Israel’s vocation, and ultimately the cross.
- The Bible is a story of God working through judgment toward redemption, not a set of isolated moral snippets.
Closing Note
The episode ends by reminding listeners about:
- Bonus content and subscriptions
- Sending questions to askntright.com
- Watching on the Ask NT Wright YouTube channel
Upcoming topics teased for the next episode include:
- Rewards in heaven
- The value of human life
- What Jesus meant by “my Father’s house”