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paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-1722-5
hardcover isbn: 978-1-4982-4177-9
ebook isbn: 978-1-4982-4176-2
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Names: Kim, Sehyun. | Bolt, Peter G., foreword
Title: The Kingship of Jesus in the Gospel of John / Sehyun Kim.
Description: Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2018 | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: isbn 978-1-5326-1722-5 (paperback) | isbn 978-1-4982-4177-9 (hardcover) | isbn 978-1-4982-4176-2 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Bible. John—Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Bible. John—Theology. | Jesus Christ—Royal office.
Classification: lcc bs2615.52 k5 2018 (print) | lcc bs2615.52 (ebook)
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Manufactured in the U.S.A. 08/20/18
1. Introduction
Research Questions
The Gospel of John uses many ambiguous and complex concepts and motifs. Among them is the kingship motif as applied to Jesus. This Gospel also has intricately interconnected theological perspectives, such as its Christology. The Johannine Jesus might be designated as the king who came to liberate his people from the darkness, and to lead them into his new world. Particularly relevant for an exploration of the kingship motif are the Johannine christological titles, which were employed to show Jesus as king, i.e., the Messiah/Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Prophet, the Savior of the World, the Lord (My Lord and My God), the King of Israel/the Jews, etc.
In addition, the author of this Gospel (John) employs both christological terms and many literary devices to deepen the kingship of Jesus. A study of those terms and concepts in the Johannine Gospel, therefore, may well open a new horizon offering new perspectives on the Gospel. In particular, the terms and concepts employed to describe Jesus as king were used in contrast with the similar ones of the marginal groups and those of the center as well. Their meanings are significant, but indirect, suggestive, and implicational, so that there may be many interpretations concerning them. However, the kingship of Jesus could be easily recognized by its first century readers who had diverse origins, because the terms and concepts used to connote his kingship were historically developed and deep-rooted in their worldviews, and were adapted in the Fourth Gospel.
In the first part of this book, I will explore the kingship of the Johannine Jesus, which might be familiar to readers from diverse origins, to discuss whether the kingship motif might be a key to the interpretation of the Gospel. It is meaningful to do so, because the kingship has not been researched as the key to the interpretation of the Johannine Gospel. In part two, I will attempt a postcolonial reading of the Gospel of John in terms of kingship.
In order to do this, I will employ postcolonial theory as a major research methodology. However, I admit that it would not be useful to adopt postcolonial theory in interpreting the Gospel of John without an evaluation or criticism of its limits as a theory. To begin with, this theory needs to be modified adequately in order to attempt a new reading of the Fourth Gospel which sees the kingship of Jesus as not only a contemporary issue in the first century CE, but also as a current issue today. Finally, I will use this theory expecting to obtain good insights from it concerning three major areas of research: 1. the portrait of Jesus in the Gospel of John; 2. the identification of various groups and their relation and function in the Roman Empire; 3. the message of the Johannine Jesus to the (post)colonial world.
More specifically, concerning the portrait of the Johannine Jesus, I have these research questions: Does the Gospel of John describe Jesus as king? What kind of king was Jesus from the perspective of a variety of readers of the first century CE?
Concerning the second area of my research, the identification of various groups and their relation and function, we need to ask the following questions: Was the Roman Empire regarded as the center of the world? What was her particular relationship with other marginal groups? How are the Jews, particularly the Jewish leaders, described in the Gospel of John? What were their relationships with the Roman Empire and with Jesus? Can we deduce the essential characteristics of the Johannine community through reading the Gospel of John? Were they a marginal group? What were the purposes of the Gospel of John toward its readership?
Regarding the message of the Johannine Jesus to the postcolonial world, we should answer these questions: Why should we research the kingship of Jesus in the Gospel of John in the postcolonial era? What is the meaning of the kingship of Jesus in this world? What do the Johannine terms—love, forgiveness, freedom, service, and peace—mean in the postcolonial world? Can the message of the fourth Gospel provide an alternative vision of reconciliation and peace for society rather than the violence and conflict common in today’s world?
Before beginning to research these questions, it is first necessary to make some preliminary remarks concerning my research on the kingship motif with reference to the Johannine Jesus.
Preliminary Remarks
The Gospel of John is estimated to have been written in the late first century CE.1 This view has been widely accepted,2 although there are still debates over the date.3 Particularly, it is probable that the Gospel of John was written in the mid-nineties, during the reign of Domitian.4 Following Martyn’s argument, it is widely accepted that the Johannine community had been in conflict with the Jews from the middle of the first century CE and as a result were estranged from the Jerusalem Temple and the synagogues (John 9:22; 12:42; 16:2).5 This supports the view that the Fourth Gospel was written to consolidate the Johannine community in order to overcome its conflict with the Synagogue.6 However, this is not the only serious problem, which confronted the Johannine community. A more dangerous situation arose from Rome.7 The Roman Empire was persecuting Christians for several reasons. One of them seems to be related to Emperor-worship.8 The Roman Emperors were worshipped as supra human beings or gods.9 It is also probable that the Johannine community needed to consolidate itself with strong faith in order to prevent apostasy10
