Title Beyond Family Community, May 8
John 19:25-27
beyond the family community
near the cross of jesus
The background of today's text, which seems to overflow with the love of a son and a mother, is very tragic. Could there be a more gruesome picture than that of a man dying at the young age of thirty-three? Moreover, Jesus' death was far more tragic in that it was not a sudden accident or an incurable disease, but rather an absurd event that caused great misunderstanding. Although Jesus only proclaimed the kingdom of God entrusted to him, the Jewish religious leaders and Roman political authorities treated Jesus as a crucifixion that was an anti-state criminal. The nuanced place of the Christian faith is found in the crucifixion of Jesus, a result of a great misunderstanding.
Christians these days often reduce the fundamental meaning of the cross of Jesus by overly religiousizing it. It means that Jesus died on the cross to save mankind. But the cross was clearly a political event. What does it mean for us today that Jesus, who was not at all political, died in a political way? If politicians are not afraid of Christians, if they think that the gospel movement of the church is of little importance, or if they think it is helpful to them, then the faith must be seen as having lost its original taste. Although the Christian faith has nothing to do with political or economic hegemony, it is a kind of 'crack' in this world because it fundamentally relativizes the ideology of such politics and economics. Not deliberately trying to annoy the world, but just by being in the Christian essence, the world will be bothered by Christianity.
There were two kinds of people under the cross of Jesus, who was dying the most strangely in human history. One group was the soldiers who executed Jesus, and the other group was Jesus' family and disciple John. Soldiers are mechanical people. They don't judge right or wrong. At the command of their superiors, they crucified Jesus. In the first part of today's text (verses 23 and 24), it is said that four soldiers shared Jesus' clothes, and even his underwear was won by one man by lot. I don't know if it's the way the world works to focus only on sharing clothes without worrying about an unfair death.
John leaves behind the actions of the soldiers sharing Jesus' clothes, and turns his gaze to another group of people. Standing at the foot of the cross of Jesus are his mother Mary, her brother, Cleopas' wife Mary, and Mary Magdalene. Pointing to a disciple, the only male among the people gathered there, Jesus said to his mother Mary: “Mother, this is your son” (26). Then he said to the disciple, “This is your mother.” From that time on, John states that the disciple took Mary into his home. In the horrific incident on Mount Calvary, this scene is portrayed as very warm and happy.
Is Jesus a filial son?
Whenever many preachers interpret this text, they claim that Jesus, who took care of his mother even at the moment of death, was the filial son. Some with a little theological aptitude also explain that Jesus was faithful either as the “Son of God” or as the “Son of Man.” Is it correct to explain that Jesus was a filial son, so that we Christians should also be filial to our parents? These claims and interpretations of the Bible cannot be said to be wrong, but neither can they be said to be correct.
The reason why this claim cannot be wrong is because, as the Ten Commandments teach, “Honor your father and mother,” the relationship between children and parents belongs to nature, or human instinct, before faith. Just as it is necessary to have a good relationship with a friend, parents and children are no different from this normal human relationship. Of course, there is a specificity between parent and child that no other relationship can compare. The basis for that is that they shared blood directly, and the basis for that is that they saved their lives until their children became independent. But in fact, every human relationship is special and precious. Couples, priests, friends, companionships are all like that. Therefore, all human relationships should develop life-oriented, either before we are Christians, or because we are Christians. In this sense, filial piety has its own meaning.
However, to insist that one should honor one's parents without a comprehensive understanding of human life is biased toward the ideology of loyalty and filial piety of the patriarchal era. In particular, linking this text we read today with filial piety is foolish reading of the Bible, given the fact that we should not read the Bible in such a way that ‘good is good’. Let’s take a closer look at the before and after context of today’s text.
However, it is not clear that the mother Mary came under the cross of Jesus, so you may be wondering if Jesus, with compassion, asked his disciple to ask for his mother. However, studies by biblical scholars have shown that it is impossible for families to gather at the scene of an execution for treason. Perhaps that is why Luke describes Jesus' relatives and the women who followed him from afar to watch the moment of Jesus' crucifixion (Luke 23:49). Moreover, none of the Synoptic Gospels tell of this story of Jesus entrusting Mary to a disciple.
We can ask two questions here. One is whether this story that John is telling has no basis, and the other is why John is telling this story. It is difficult to say that this textual story was a historical fact. Whether this story was passed down to some of the early Christian community, or whether it was a purely personal creation of John, it is impossible for us to know for sure. It is certain, however, that Christianity, in particular, the community of John around 100 AD, when the Gospel of John was written, needed a theological interpretation of the woman named Mary, the mother of Jesus. Some theologians have put it this way: “John’s description of the mother of Jesus to be the mother of a beloved disciple seems to be a reminder of Old Testament themes about Eve of the Messianic Age and her daughter Zion giving birth to a new people.” After all, it is far from the center of the Bible to mention Jesus' filial piety as the text we read today.
Who is Mary to Jesus?
However, it is clear that Jesus had a mother, Mary. Although the Gospels don't pay much attention to it, Jesus certainly had a life as a son whose mother was Mary. Some say that the reason why his father Joseph did not appear in Jesus' public life was because he died early. That is why it is argued that on the cross, Jesus asked John for Mary, who was living alone. Anyway, unlike his father Joseph, his mother Mary is deeply involved in the life of Jesus. What does Mary really mean to Jesus? More essentially, the question is: What did family mean to Jesus?
Although it is difficult to accurately reconstruct the truth of Jesus' relationship with his family, if we interpret the information that the Gospels report to us and the spiritual teachings of the Gospels as a whole, it is a mistake to preach that Jesus was the filial son, focusing on today's text. You may not commit a crime, and you can go further and learn what a Christian family relationship is. In order to interpret these issues comprehensively, we must first examine the certain events that happened to Jesus. It is the coming of Jesus.
Jesus left home at the age of 30 to proclaim the kingdom of God. Had he consulted with his mother, Maria, as he left home? How did Mary react to her son Jesus? Did Jesus tell his brothers to take good care of their mother? If his father Joseph had passed away early, Jesus' heart would have been much heavier to go home leaving only his mother and younger brothers, but Jesus eventually left the family.
We need to ask a more advanced question like this. Why did Jesus have to leave his family? Couldn't we have been with our families and proclaimed the kingdom of God? We do not know exactly where Jesus' thoughts were, but we can indirectly confirm that family and friends were very upset by Jesus' departure. Bad rumors about Jesus' public activities, that is, rumors that Jesus was possessed by a demon, became known in the town of Nazareth, and friends and family went out to block Jesus' activities (Mark 3:20-22). Even Jesus' mother and brothers came out to arrest him (Mark 3:31ff).
I believe that Jesus' ceremonies are inevitable. Not because I hate my family or because I want to live alone and freely, but because it is fundamentally impossible for my family to understand the spirituality of Jesus. Mothers and brothers who could not recognize Jesus as more than their own family could not discover the divinity of God in Jesus. You cannot do God's work by living with people who do not fully understand the essence and identity of Jesus. The fact that Jesus did not perform miracles in his hometown means that human preconceived notions destroy all holy powers.
Not only Jesus, but ordinary people too, if he wants to enter a mature spiritual world, must quickly become independent from a family that requires only blood relations. In particular, independence from parents is absolute. Except in very special circumstances, children should get out of their parents' shadows as soon as possible. Because the nanny does not acknowledge their child's mental world and wants them to remain as children who are completely subordinated to them. Only then is the relationship between parent and child established.
When he hears that Mary and the brothers have come to find Jesus, Jesus replies: “Who are my mother and my brothers? . . He who does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:33-35). It should be seen that the explanation of the Gospel of Mark is the most accurate description of Jesus' position. Seeing that Jesus sometimes said that the enemy is your family, it seems that Jesus accurately penetrated the anti-life phenomenon that occurs due to the fact that he is only related by blood.
However, this does not mean that we can destroy all human and family relationships for the sake of the kingdom of God. In a crisis of family dissolution like now, it is necessary to emphasize family relationships. However, today's anti-human behavior is not a crisis of the family, but a crisis of the general loss of humanity. People who do not know the meaning of life-oriented life have no family, no friends, no community, only themselves. Family egoism, which can be said to be an example of loss of humanity, leads to loss of universal life orientation, which in turn dismantles family communities. In this respect, true filial piety is to fully recognize the fact that the spirit of life is at work in oneself, in the neighborhood, and in the community as a whole, and participate in such a movement. On a much more fundamental level, a home will only be a meaningful community if it helps its members live in obedience to this spirit of life.