Four portrayals of Jesus

In Mark, Jesus came not to be served but to serve, giving his life to the poor and the marginalized (Mark 10:45). His death is a moral sacrifice. Jesus is the suffering Son of God, who does not want to die. He is anguished and struggles. But finally, he submits to God's will that he has no other choice but to continue to proclaim the good news. That means he has to face the horrible thing of his death. Here the message is living faithfully is not easy. The Markan community is struggling with this issue. People have fear about their future. Faith is a serious business to them. What would they do in the face of persecution or life-risking moments due to faith? Like women who visited the tomb and heard the good news of the resurrection, would they have to give up telling the good news, only running for their lives?

In Matthew, Jesus came not to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfill (Matt 5:17). He is a very Jewish Messiah who reinterprets the law and challenges Jewish leaders to adopt a new rule of God. But about his mission boundary, he does not open it to the Gentiles, saying he was sent only to the Jews, rejecting to heal the Gentile woman's daughter. But he changes his mind due to her persistent faith that she also deserves God's food. The message to the Matthean community is a new people of God is through faith seeking God's justice. Jesus was transformed and commissioned his disciples to all nations after the resurrection. The Matthean community, a predominantly Jewish community, needs to open its mission boundary freely to the Gentiles, as Jesus underwent a process of changes.

In Luke, Jesus came to seek out and save the lost (Luke 19:10). They are primarily the Gentiles. In fact, from the beginning of his ministry, Jesus was clear about his mission, which was to proclaim the good news of God to the Gentiles. In his initial sermon at his hometown, Nazareth, he delivered a sermon that unsettled his hometown people. This is because he told them God preferred the Gentiles. That is, Elijah and Elisha were sent only to the Gentiles (a widow at Zareptha and Namaan of Syria) even though there were many widows and lepers in Israel. The message to the Lukan community is Jesus is the Savior/Messiah of the world. This community, largely made up of the Gentiles some of whom are Roman officials, has an interest in spreading the gospel to the whole world.

In John, Jesus came to testify to the truth of God and to give life and light to people living in darkness (John 18:37). For the Johannine community, the fundamental human condition is people dwell in the darkness, which means seeking evil deeds. Jesus came down from heaven and embodied God's truth, delivering the word of God and doing the works of God. He has never claimed that he is God. He always says God sent him to do his work, which is to love his people and to teach them the truth. If they follow him and abide in his teaching, they are truly his disciples (John 8:31-32). They will be made free because they know the truth. As a result, they will live abundantly in Christ. The message to the Johannine community which formed its own community separated from the synagogues is Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. This means the members of the community can feel that they are in the right place. They are children of God, not other Jews.

As we see above, we may see at least four different images of Jesus portrayed by the Evangelists. They may reflect the historical Jesus, but they are not the same as him. Preaching, therefore, needs careful consideration of various images of Jesus in context.

Faith is not knowledge

My students learned things that they have never heard before. They also unlearned many things they held dear or comfortable with. One of them cited this: "Faith is not knowledge but loyalty to God and to Christ. It is vibrant living for God's righteousness through Jesus" (p. 89).

An Ideal Human from a Perspective of Creation Myth

I am thinking about ideal humanity. What is the best life we can live, given the reality of what we are? The conclusion is we need humility, confidence, and empathy. The gist of biblical anthropology may be looked at in Gen 2:7, according to which the human is made up of two elements: dust from the ground and the breath of life. The result is an interesting being, called nefesh in Hebrew. Let us see each element and the result of the combination of the two.

 

First, Gen 2:7 says the human (הָֽאָדָ֗ם) is formed from the dust (עָפָר֙) of the ground (הָֽאֲדָמָ֖ה). So humans are dust (הֶעָפָ֛ר), which returns to the earth (Eccl 12:7). I am weak, fragile, and nothing. "I am no-one." So, humility is what we need.

*C.f., Eccl 1:2: הֶבֶל (hebel); Buddhism: Annica (zhū háng wú cháng, 諸行無常)

Second, also in Gen 2:7, the human is also given "the breath of life" (נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים) by the Lord. So humans are also the spirit (רוּחַ), which returns to God (Eccl 12:7). We are more than the earthlings. We must live, looking up to heaven, never giving up easily, valuing and enjoying the time-bound life on the earth. We should be confident in ourselves. "I am some-one." 

*C.f., Buddhism: Anutpanna Aniruddha (bù shēng bú miè, 不生不滅)

Third, the human (Adam) becomes nefesh (a living being or soul, נֶ֫פֶשׁ) with the combination of the dust and the breath of life. This means our being (nefesh) is not perfect. We cannot live alone. We need empathy. We must embrace others as ourselves. "I am one-for-others." 

*C.f., Confucianism: rén zhě rén yě (仁者人也); cè yǐn zhī xīn (惻隱之心)

The above idea of human transformation has been explored in my biblical interpretation.

Study Today

"If you don't study today, don't say there is tomorrow. 

If you don't study this year, don't say there is next year." 

("The Precious Mirror of Bright Mind")

I wrote this piece more than 30 years ago. 

It reflects who I am now.

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).

Reimagining the body of Christ

This book questions all familiar readings of “the body of Christ” in Paul’s letters and helps readers rethink the context and the purpose of this phrase. Against the view that Paul’s body of Christ metaphor mainly has to do with a metaphorical organism that emphasizes unity, Kim argues that the body of Christ metaphor has more to do with the embodiment of God’s gospel through Christ. While Deutero-Pauline Letters and Pastoral Letters use this body metaphor mainly as an organism, Paul’s undisputed letters, in particular, 1 Corinthians and Romans, treat it differently with a focus on Christic embodiment. Reexamining the diverse use of “the body of Christ” in Paul’s undisputed letters, this book argues that Paul’s body of Christ metaphor has to do with the proclamation of God’s gospel.

“Concisely describing how ‘the body of Christ’ must be reimagined as ‘the Christic body,’ Kim’s argumentation has wide-reaching implications for those of us who fight for liberation and justice within church and society. Providing a launching point that will allow scholars and pastors to teach and model ‘soft-union’ in Christ while uplifting particularity in communion, Kim’s interpretation of Pauline theology and ethics will enliven conversations in the classroom and the church for years to come.
—Angela Parker, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology

“Yung Suk Kim offers fresh insight into the heart of Paul’s theology: the body of Christ. Interestingly, Kim challenges the reader by reconstructing Christ’s body as a union in solidarity with those on the margins, especially in the hierarchical systems prevalent in the Roman imperial society and culture. No doubt, his theological reimagination can empower today’s Christians to resist unity without diversity in the so-called post-truth era of Trump. This little but powerful book thus holds onto hope for embodying Paul’s teaching in a more responsible manner.”
—Sung Uk Lim, Assistant Professor of New Testament, College of Theology & United Graduate School of Theology, Yonsei University

"With illuminating analysis of key texts, Kim offers a concise and timely understanding of the body of Christ in Paul's letters that challenges hegemonic models and reminds us that care for the poor and pursuing justice for the weak of society are at the heart of the gospel and Christian living."

—Timothy Milinovich, Associate Professor & Chair of Theology, Director of Catholic Studies, Dominican University

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