The surprising answer: They do! And a lot more than anybody ever imagined when the scrolls were first discovered in 1946 or 1947.
In July 2010, about 70 clergy, teachers and other interested parties gathered at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., for a week-long seminar on the Dead Sea Scrolls and other biblical topics. The seminar was sponsored by the Biblical Archaeology Society.
Lecturing on the scrolls was Peter Flint, director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute at Trinity Western University in British Columbia, Canada, and Ziony Zevit, distinguished professor of biblical literature at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles.
Because the scrolls are Jewish documents written entirely in the original languages of Scripture (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek) and dating to the Second Temple Period, they open a window not just on the immediate context of Jesus’ ministry but on events preceding and following it. Although the scrolls do not mention Jesus or any other New Testament figure, Flint gave his audience much to ponder regarding possible connections with Christianity. For example:
1. Compilers of the primary group of scrolls understood themselves as a community of faithful Jews living in the “end times” when God would soon interrupt history to establish his kingdom on earth to replace Roman rule and a corrupt priesthood in Jerusalem. This eschatological vision — the coming Kingdom of God — runs throughout the scrolls and reappears as the central message of Jesus’ ministry.
2. As the “end times” played out, several scrolls envisioned the appearance of a charismatic person who would be regarded as “great” and would be called “Son of God” and “Son of the Most High.” There are striking parallels in wording between this prediction and Luke’s account of the nativity.
3. Some scrolls also predicted God would perform many wondrous signs at the “end times.” He would, for example, “release the captives, open the eyes of the blind, lifting up those who are oppressed.” He would also “heal the critically wounded … raise the dead … bring good news to the poor … and the hungry ones he will feed.” Again, we find remarkable similarities between these scrolls and New Testament passages quoting Jesus and John the Baptist.
4. As the sectarian scrolls anticipated it, the planting of God’s kingdom would be celebrated in part by an eschatological banquet, as foretold by Isaiah (Isaiah 25:6-8). At this meal, a priest would preside, blessing first the bread, then the wine.
5. The scroll writers took great pains to copy and preserve passages from Scripture. Their three favorite works were the books of Isaiah, Deuteronomy, and Psalms, the same three books quoted most often in the New Testament.
6. The scrolls show their authors’ community required members hand over all their assets for the common good. This model tracks closely with the practice of the early church.
At the very least, the scrolls point to a set of religious and political expectations among first century B.C. Jews that contributed in some fashion to Jesus’ subsequent understanding of his messianic mission.
STUART NIXON is a lay lecturer at First Church, Richmond, Va.
