"We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles…” (Mark 10:33)
According to Mark’s gospel, Jesus exactly predicted the kind of death he would face in the near future. First, he called himself the Son of Man. Literally it means a mere son of man. However, it has a totally different meaning in the Biblical world. The Son of Man indicates the Messiah who is planning to come on the last day. Let us do not discuss on whether Jesus recognized himself as the Messiah or not.
The important point here is the understating of early Christians about Jesus’ real nature. They recognized Jesus as the Son of Man. Besides this they understood that different names such as the Son of David, the Second Adam and Christ talk about the same person. Such name varies according to regions and times. If we see the above phrase in this viewpoint, Jesus’ word in the text is related to the understating of early Christian. It is their interpretation and religious confession about Jesus’ experience.
Then some of you may think that there would be a possibility that Jesus’ words in the gospel are not all ‘real’. We had dealt with this matter several times earlier. We have to remember that the Biblical text is not a report like that of a newspaper but a religious confession. I do not want to say that these statements are not facts. I would like to say that these are rather important interpreted incidents than mere objective facts.
Jesus the Son of Man is going up to Jerusalem. He understands what will happen over there. The high priest and the scribes will give their decision to kill Jesus. They might have their own unavoidable theological background and binding that they had to do it by any means. I would like to deal with this matter from chapter 14 where the myth of the Passion begins. It is clear that the way toward Jerusalem is the way of the Passion, and paradoxically it was the way of human salvation.
According to Mark’s gospel, Jesus exactly predicted the kind of death he would face in the near future. First, he called himself the Son of Man. Literally it means a mere son of man. However, it has a totally different meaning in the Biblical world. The Son of Man indicates the Messiah who is planning to come on the last day. Let us do not discuss on whether Jesus recognized himself as the Messiah or not.
The important point here is the understating of early Christians about Jesus’ real nature. They recognized Jesus as the Son of Man. Besides this they understood that different names such as the Son of David, the Second Adam and Christ talk about the same person. Such name varies according to regions and times. If we see the above phrase in this viewpoint, Jesus’ word in the text is related to the understating of early Christian. It is their interpretation and religious confession about Jesus’ experience.
Then some of you may think that there would be a possibility that Jesus’ words in the gospel are not all ‘real’. We had dealt with this matter several times earlier. We have to remember that the Biblical text is not a report like that of a newspaper but a religious confession. I do not want to say that these statements are not facts. I would like to say that these are rather important interpreted incidents than mere objective facts.
Jesus the Son of Man is going up to Jerusalem. He understands what will happen over there. The high priest and the scribes will give their decision to kill Jesus. They might have their own unavoidable theological background and binding that they had to do it by any means. I would like to deal with this matter from chapter 14 where the myth of the Passion begins. It is clear that the way toward Jerusalem is the way of the Passion, and paradoxically it was the way of human salvation.
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