The Kingship-Cross Interplay in the Gospel of John

Jesus' Death as Corroboration of His Royal Messiahship

Leung

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9781498269773
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Recent studies of the Christology of John's Gospel have agreed in recognizing the centrality of the concept of messianism, but differ markedly in their interpretation of its character. Alongside the traditional understanding of messiahship in terms of a kingly role related to that of David, there is a newer understanding that is related to the role of Moses and has little or no Davidic background. Despite the broad scholarly consensus regarding the Johannine connection between crucifixion and messianism, little attention has been paid to the role of crucifixion in relation to the nature of messiahship and in particular to the possibility that this may shed light on whether or not John's messianism is decisively shaped by the kingly or royal background. In The Kingship-Cross Interplay in the Gospel of John Mavis Leung contends that the cross motif plays a major role in authenticating the royal character of messiahship in John over against views that deny or play down this element.

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Introduction

Recent studies of the Christology of John’s Gospel have agreed in recognizing the centrality of the concept of messianism, but differ markedly in their interpretation of its character. Alongside the traditional understanding of messiahship in terms of a kingly role related to that of David, there is a newer understanding which is related to the role of Moses and has little or no Davidic background.

Most scholars would agree that there are strong conceptual links between messiahship and the death of Jesus. For example, Köstenberger states: “John’s theology of the cross may be particularly designed to illumine for his readers the notion of a crucified Messiah.”1 More sharply Koester says: “The cross was the proper place to proclaim the Messiah’s reign.”2 But while there is a broad consensus regarding the Johannine connection between crucifixion and messianism, little attention has been paid to the role of crucifixion in relation to the nature of messiahship and in particular to the possibility that this may shed light on whether or not John’s messianism is decisively shaped by the kingly or royal background (as is apparently assumed by Koester). It is our contention in this monograph that the cross motif plays a major role in authenticating the royal character of messiahship in John over against views that deny or play down this element. An initial pointer in this direction is provided by the way in which the passion narrative gives a prominent place to the kingship of Jesus (John 18:33, 36 [3x], 37 [2x], 39; 19:3, 12, 14, 15 [2x]; 19:19, 21 [2x]). The present study will attempt to take this pointer further and so to fill a notable lacuna in Johannine scholarship.

We propose, therefore, to advance into new territory by examining the intricate interplay between the motifs of Jesus’ messianic kingship and death (the kingship-cross interplay) in the Gospel of John against the background of Jewish royal-messianic expectations. The specific interest of this study will lie in the significance and apologetic function of the cross as a corroboration of the Johannine assertion that the crucified Jesus is Israel’s Messiah-King. While much research has been conducted to investigate the Johannine conceptualization of Jesus’ kingship or death, discussion of the kingship-cross connection is often limited to the materials in the trial and crucifixion accounts. Outside the passion narrative, the complex interplay of Jesus’ messianic kingship and death has very rarely been the object of systematic analysis.

The working definition of the “Messiah” adopted in our study is along the lines of the basic ideas posited by Andrew Chester and shared by John Collins, Adela Yarbro Collins, Gerbern Oegema, and some other scholars: “A messiah is a figure who acts as the agent of the final divine deliverance, whether or not he is specifically designated as ‘messiah’ or ‘anointed’.”3 This study does not follow the view that a text must contain the term משׁח or χριστός to be designated messianic.4 According to the definition above, the term “messianism” in a broad sense refers to the complex of ideas, concepts, and beliefs with respect to the Jewish hopes for the Messiah.5 The term “royal messianism” denotes that particular aspect of messianism that revolves around the expectation for a figure with a kingly role. In this monograph, we will use the term “royal” and “kingly” as synonyms.

Despite the provocative proposal of Ernst Käsemann to dismiss the Johannine passion narrative as a superfluous addendum lacking an organic connection with the Gospel story,6 there is a growing scholarly consensus that the crucifixion account not only fits in the storyline but also represents the climax of the plot. “The Passion Narrative,” as Senior aptly puts it, “stands as the culmination of major themes of the Gospel.”7 Frey is correct when he comments that the scene of Jesus’ crucifixion (esp. John 19:28–30) marks “der innere Zielpunkt der johanneischen Jesuerzählung.”8 In view of the passion narrative’s pivotal importance in the Johannine story of Jesus, its notion of Jesus’ death as the Messiah-King is doubtless one of the theological foci of John’s Gospel. Outside the passion narrative, we shall demonstrate that subtle royal connotations are present in various places of the Gospel story and are bound up with the cross motif within their immediate context. In fact, these subtle royal connotations combine with the passion narrative’s explicit presentation of the crucified Jesus to provide a holistic portrait of the Messiah-King’s death in John’s Gospel as a whole.

Given the numerous publications on the Johannine passion account, textual analysis in the following chapters will focus on the kingship-cross interactions (both explicit and implicit) in the narrative prior to this account. We will endeavor to collate and incorporate these interactions together into an integral conception of the crucified Messiah-King. In the course of our discussions, we will examine how the Johannine kingship-cross interactions evoke and resonate with the biblical and extra-biblical Jewish traditions in order to reinterpret the traditional entailments of royal messianism and to demonstrate the royal messiahship of Jesus accordingly.9 It is expected that this study will help us gain a better understanding of not only the entailments of his royal messiahship and death but also the paradoxical relationship of these two notions in Johannine thinking.

Survey of Previous Studies

This section will provide a survey of previous works on the topics of Jesus’ kingship and death in the Gospel of John. The primary aim of this survey is to underline the main issues raised in previous treatments of these two topics. We will first discuss studies that deal with the kingship theme, focusing on those that tend to downplay this theme’s connection with Jesus’ messiahship. Next we will look at studies that attempt to explicate the Johannine construal of Jesus’ death.

The Kingship of Jesus as Lacking (Davidic) Messianism

Research centering specifically on Jesus’ messianic kingship in the Fourth Gospel is scant. One of the reasons for the meager amount of literature is the dearth of explicit Davidic references in this Gospel, in which David is mentioned by name only twice in one verse (John 7:42). Even in this verse, nothing intimates the Johannine interest in claiming Jesus’ Davidic descent. John Ashton says that the lack of the title “Son of David” in the Gospel is one of the “two negative facts” that caution the interpreter not to presume “king of Israel” (John 1:49; 12:13) as a messianic epithet.10 Several scholars even opine that the parameters of John’s royal Christology are virtually non-Davidic or even anti-Davidic in nature. Furthermore, these scholars often not only relegate the Davidic notion to an inconsequential role in the Johannine portrait of Jesus but they also tend to play down the importance of the royal-messianic facet of this portrait.

Christoph Burger explores the tradition-historical background and the development of Jesus’ Davidic messianic status in early Christianity. In his chapter on John’s Gospel, Burger claims that its silence on Jesus’ Davidic pedigree and his birth in Bethlehem raises doubts about the evangelist’s commitment to the belief of Jesus’ association with this great king of Israel.11 However, the scope of analysis in this chapter is rather narrow. Burger devotes exclusive attention to the single pericope John 7:40–44, which recounts the Jewish controversy over the Messiah’s origin. It is Burger’s ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Linking Jesus’ Kingship and Messiahship
• Chapter 3: The Anticipation of the Death of the Messiah-King (John 1:43–51)
• Chapter 4: Temple Restoration and the Royal Messiahship of Jesus (John 2:13–22)
• Chapter 5: God’s Kingdom and the Royal Messiahship of Jesus (John 3:1–21)
• Chapter 6: Israel’s Unification and the Royal Messiahship of Jesus (John 10:14–18)
• Chapter 7: Scriptural Witness and the Royal Messiahship of Jesus (John 12:12–19)
• Chapter 8: Conclusion
• Bibliography