Messiah in Weakness

"I am very pleased to dedicate this book to the memories of my mother In-Soon Kim with love. She may have been weak as a woman, but very strong as a mother. I grew up seeing how much she gave up for her children and how strong she was through her life of weakness. She taught me what it means to live in weakness—not by word, but through tears and sweat. So I dedicate this book to honor my mother’s life."

Messiah in Weakness: 

A Portrait of Jesus from the Perspective of the Dispossessed

[published in 2016]

Learning

[photo courtesy of Dr. Jungsik Cha] 

The best part of learning is to read and read and read. Then think and reflect and talk with others. Your learning does not depend on someone's famous lecture. You can learn or unlearn something, all through your struggle and your decision. There is no shortcut to great learning. Test everything!

Matthean Jesus and Lukan Jesus

In Matthew, Jesus appears to be a very Jewish Messiah who came to fulfill the prophets or the laws. He sends out his disciples only to the Jews, saying: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt 10:5-6). Again in Matt 15:21-28, he says that he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, refusing to hear the Canaanite woman's request. He even says it is not fair to throw children's food to the dogs, calling her dog. Even his disciples intervened in this and asked him to send her away. This view of Jesus represents Jewish exclusivism. But by her persistent, challenging faith, Jesus changed his mind accepted her request, and healed her daughter. He was transformed. Finally, he commissions his disciples to all nations after the resurrection (28:16-20). This is how the Gospel of Matthew ends. We see the very different Jesus here, different from his earlier view about the mission.

In Luke, Jesus appears to be the Messiah for the world, especially for the Gentiles. In his early ministry at Luke 4:16-30, he proclaimed the good news to the Gentiles, saying that Elijah and Elisha were sent only to the Gentiles (a widow at Zarephath and Namaan of Syria) even though there were many widows and lepers in Israel. Obviously, Jesus's hometown people at Nazareth were very furious about Jesus's sermon. He got almost killed but escaped that scene. Here we see the opposite character of the Matthean Jesus. The Lukan Jesus has a preferential option for the Gentiles. This is because Luke tries to reach the Gentile audience.

Naive religion

Jesus did not come simply to die for sinners but to testify to the truth of God (John 18:37). His death is the result of what he said and did, proclaiming God's rule, not Caesar's or any human master's. In other words, his "dangerous" teaching and act cost him a life.

In 2 Cor 13:4, Paul also admits the fact that Jesus was crucified "by or from weakness" (eks astheneias). That is, he insinuates that Jesus could not overcome Roman violence because he had to continue preaching God's kingdom against Rome. But the crucifixion is not the end of the story about Jesus. Paul says without a stop in the same verse: "But [Jesus] lives by the power of God."

Given the above view of Jesus, Paul's central message is that Christians have to imitate Christ in his faith and spirit. They must be led by the Spirit, submitting to the law of God. They must die with Christ and live to God. Christians (followers of Messiah Jesus) are not mere believers of Jesus or beneficiaries of him but followers of his life and faith. This implies that they are not welcomed by the enemies of God's justice, running the risk of losing their lives because of their testimony to God. But they should not give up on the work of God because God is their true hope.

TRUTH

As for me, truth is deeply experiential, confessional, and contextual. It should be engaged in a community that he or she lives, embodied in a world beyond his or her immediate community, and testified at all costs because of the love of God for all people. According to John's Gospel, Jesus was born to testify to the truth (John 18:37).