“… the
high priest was questioning him and saying to him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son
of the Blessed one? ‘And Jesus said, ‘I am, and you shall see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” Mark
14: 61b-62)
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| Picture by Ethan McHenry |
One of the causes of error in the church is an emphasis on one
truth with neglect or rejection of other truths. This too often occurs because
Christians fail to consider the paradoxes of faith. For example when we think
of Jesus’ victory and the coming of the kingdom we rightly think of the words,
‘already—not yet.’ The kingdom has come because of Jesus’ death and
resurrection but it is not yet fully here until the bodily return of Jesus.
That is a paradox. Again the incarnation, Jesus fully human and fully God is a
paradox.
The first lesson in the Presbyterian Women’s Bible study, Who is Jesus? What a difference a Lens
Makes, looks at the gospel of Mark. There are beautiful truths here—that
Jesus as the messiah is the suffering servant, and that as the suffering
servant he is able to help us in our suffering. But there is a paradox that is
ignored. The suffering servant, the messiah, is also the Coming Son of Man.
And, in fact, Judy Yates Siker writes:
“The Jewish expectations of ‘the messiah’ included one who
would be king in a future age, when there was peace, and ranged from ideas
about a political figure who would restore Israel to a position of power to a
cosmic figure (as in Daniel 7) who would come in on the clouds of heaven, or a
priestly figure. Clearly, for many Jews at the time of Jesus, Jesus did not fit
any of these categories.” P. 17
While it is true that many Jews did not see the messiah as a
suffering messiah and were horrified to think that the messiah would die like a
common criminal, the gospel of Mark does not fail to inform the reader that
Jesus is not only the suffering servant and Son of God. He is also the Coming
One. The One who’s coming is glorious.
It matters not that Jesus’ family, disciples, and enemies did
not understand him and often rejected him, Mark gives a complete picture of
Jesus’ identity. A picture that does not contradict the other gospels.
Jesus, in the gospel of Mark often refers to himself as ‘the
Son of Man.” In some cases his self-identity as the Son of Man clearly includes
his divinity.
Biblical scholar George
Eldon Ladd, in his book A Theology of the
New Testament, provides a whole chapter on the Son of Man texts in the gospels. He divides them
into three categories. “The use of the Son of Man in the synoptics falls into
three distinct categories: the Son of Man on earth serving; the Son of Man in
suffering and death; the Son of Man in eschatological glory.”
All three are in Mark. The last category, the eschatological
Son of Man in glory is found at Mark 8:38, “When he comes in the glory of his
Father with the holy angels;” Mark 13:26, “They will see the Son of Man coming
with clouds and great glory.”; and Mark 14:62—see above.[1]
Mark’s perspective does emphasize the suffering servant but it
does not preclude Jesus as the coming Lord of glory. And the fact that Jesus
the suffering servant is identified as Jesus the coming Son of Man enhances his
identity and lifts up the Christian’s call to service and suffering. Jesus is
always the Lion who is the lamb who was slain—who purchased, with his blood—people
from every tribe and tongue, nation and ethnicity. (Rev. 5)
Siker, at the end of the first lesson, writes: “So, who is
Jesus according to Mark? He is the suffering Son of God, and he will meet you
in your suffering.” And so he will. But still in another place writing of Jesus’
experience in the Garden of Gethsemane, Siker refers to Jesus as “The Jesus in
this story …” But there is not a different Jesus for each gospel. There is
instead Jesus, absolute, seen from different perspectives, yes, but always the
same. Trustworthy because he is the same, yesterday,
today, forever.
[1]
George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New
Testament, fourth printing (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company 1979) See the chapter on The Son of Man 145-158.
2 comments:
What do you expect from an organization that gave the world "reimagining", Sophia and honey communion?
Of course other organizations helped them with reimagining-but yes you are right.
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