The Spirituality of Following Jesus in John's Gospel

An Investigation of Akolouthein and Correlated Motifs

Kim

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781532612954
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Research on "following Jesus" has mostly been done in terms of what Jesus' followers ought to do. In this unprecedented study, Kim presents "following Jesus" in John's Gospel through the perspective of what Jesus does for his followers. "Following Jesus" is a journey towards the place where Jesus leads his followers, that is, to a relationship with the Father. It is ultimately participating in the Son's communion with the Father. Jesus, who was in the bosom of the Father, descended from him and ascends to him, taking his followers with him, so that they may be with him where he is with the Father in glory and love. Kim develops this thesis by examining the term akolouthein ("to follow") and correlated motifs in John's Gospel.

PART I

Preliminaries

chapter 1

Introduction

The present study will investigate the entire profile of ἀκολουθεῖν (to follow) in relation to correlated motifs in those texts of the Fourth Gospel where it is used with the connotation of discipleship. To do so, the methodology of literary-theological exegesis under the discipline of biblical studies will be employed. From the outcomes of the exegesis, the Spirituality1 of following Jesus communicated in John’s Gospel will be reflected and developed. The primary texts to be investigated are 1:35–51; 8:12; 10:1–42; 12:26; 13:21—14:3; 21:1–19.

A couple of questions have contributed towards the launching of the present study on the theological significance and Spirituality of “following Jesus” according to the Fourth Gospel. First, is there any uniqueness in the theological implications communicated by ἀκολουθεῖν in the Fourth Gospel? If the name John: the Maverick Gospel2 is intended for the whole book, there could be a maverick-ish quality and characteristic, even in this common term of ἀκολουθεῖν that John shares with the other Gospel books, as much as it is found in some particularly Johannine vocabularies such as light, life, glory, and to remain. I presuppose that even though John uses the common verb ἀκολουθεῖν, there is a unique property in the Johannine use of the term. If it is true that John uses the common term ἀκολουθεῖν in his own way to deliver his own distinctive implications, what are they? What distinguishing messages and connotations does the fourth evangelist impart by the use of recurring ἀκολουθεῖν? How is it communicated in association with other correlated motifs in the texts? It is my intent to excavate the distinguishing implications of the term in the Johannine usage.

The second question is related to the search for the characteristics of the Johannine Spirituality portrayed by the motif of “following Jesus.” The Fourth Gospel is typically known as the “spiritual Gospel.”3 It is the nest of Christian mysticism, from which concepts such as perichoresis,4 immanence,5 and deification6 have been developed. Certainly, it is a profoundly mystical and spiritual Gospel. Therefore, a question springs up: How do the spiritual characteristics of this “spiritual Gospel” enhance the meaning of “following Jesus”? What distinctive respects of the Spirituality of following Jesus are communicated by the association of ἀκολουθεῖν with correlated motifs in the texts of the Gospel?

I have noticed in my reading of the Gospel that it is both an earthy and spiritual Gospel. In the Fourth Gospel, heaven and earth kiss each other. It is the Gospel where heaven and earth are intertwined. Jesus is at the center of this interwoven-ness. It happens uniquely in and through Jesus, who came from heaven with full divinity and assumed full humanity, in whom divinity and humanity are perfectly combined and harmonized. When Jesus calls men and women to “follow” (ἀκολουθεῖν) him, this involves not only the earthly dimension, but the spiritual and heavenly dimension as well. Different from the Synoptic use of the term that mainly focuses on following Jesus in earthly activities (such as, being a fisher of men, preaching the good news, and making disciples), “following Jesus” in the Fourth Gospel involves not only the earthly aspect, but also the heavenly aspect (to be where Jesus is as participation in his intimate communion with the Father; to see his glory in the place where Jesus will be with the Father; and to be with him in the glory of the Father). As Jesus is at the center of the interwoven-ness of heaven and earth, the act of “following Jesus...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Part I: Preliminaries
• Part II: ᾽Ακολουθεῖν in the Fourth Gospel
• Part III: Conclusion
• Bibliography