First, many first-century Jews thought of themselves as living in a continuing narrative stretching from earliest times, through ancient prophecies, and on towards a climactic moment of deliverance which might come at any moment. Once again, we cannot say ‘all first-century Jews thought like this’, any more than you can say ‘all Americans like hamburgers’. But plenty do, and plenty did. They were not, in other words, understanding themselves as living in a narrative which said, ‘all humans are sinful