A Provisional and Symbolic Rereading of John 11 in light of the Church’s Mission in Solidarity with the Poor: A Reaffirmation of the Preferential Option for the Poor By Brian Dennis Moodie Submitted in accordance with the requirements For the degree of Master of Theology In the subject of Missiology At the University of South Africa Supervisor: Professor N Botha November 2006 A Provisional and Symbolic Rereading of John 11 in light of the Church’s Mission in Solidarity with the Poor: A Reaffirmation of the Preferential Option for the Poor Abstract In this Master’s dissertation, I would like to explore a symbolic reading of John 11 (The raising of Lazarus) from the perspective of the church’s mission to bring about the liberation of the poor. I believe that as one does so, one might discover that in the Gospel writer’s original intention, the figure of Lazarus may never have been intended as a literal historical person, but rather as a symbolic representation of the poor, the marginalized and the oppressed. Such a reading of John 11 might throw new light on the Fourth Gospel’s understanding of Jesus and his mission. In doing so, I believe that John 11 might become a foundational text to guide and motivate committed Christian mission in favour of the poor. Key words and phrases Compassion, Friendship, John’s Gospel (Fourth Gospel), John’s Gospel and the Synoptics, Lazarus, Life, Liberation, Mission, Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope, Preferential Option for the Poor, Symbolism in John’s Gospel Table of Contents Introduction pg 1 i. Introduction to the topic pg 1 ii. Value of this study pg 2 iii. Underlying methodology: praxis model of theology pg 9 iv. Importance of context pg 11 v. Praxis methodology and social analysis pg11 vi. Praxis theology as inherently mission-oriented pg12 vii. Praxis methodology and this master’s thesis pg 12 viii. A proposed way forward pg 14 1. John’s Gospel as a missionary document pg 19 1.1 The Bible and the New Testament as missionary documents pg 19 1.2 Biblical scholarship in service of the mission of the church pg 20 1.3 John’s Gospel as a missionary document pg 23 2. Symbolism in John’s Gospel pg 30 i) Symbolic actions pg 31 ii) The miracles or ‘signs’ of Jesus pg 32 iii) Geographic symbolism pg 33 iv) Symbolism in the names of places pg 34 v) Symbolic use of numbers pg 36 vi) John’s use of metaphor’s pg 36 vii) Words infused with symbolic Johannine meaning pg 37 viii) Characters pg 37 ix) Typology pg 39 The Interpretation of Johannine symbolism pg 40 Conclusion pg 43 3. God’s preferential option for the poor in historical context and in the ministry of Jesus pg 46 3.1 Re-examining the notion of God’s preferential option for the poor pg 46 3.1.1 Brief historical back-ground pg 47 3.1.2 Criticisms of “God’s preferential option for the poor” pg 50 3.2 Making a case for Jesus’ commitment and mission to the poor (Jesus’ preferential option for the poor) pg 56 3.2.1 Crossan’s reconstruction of Jesus as a political revolutionary (with reference to other scholars of the historical Jesus) pg 56 3.2.1.1 Kingdom of God as a present, socio-political reality (a kingdom of nobodies) pg 59 3.2.1.2 A Kingdom of radical egalitarianism expressed in ‘open commensality’ pg 62 3.2 .2 Jesus’ commitment to the poor in Mark’s Gospel pg 63 3.2.2.1 Socio-economic situation of Mark’s day (and of Jesus’ day) pg 65 3.2.2.2 Jubilee teaching in Mark’s Gospel pg 68 3.2.2.3 Jubilee, forgiveness and politics of food pg 71 3.2.2.4 Jubilee economics in the feeding of the five thousand (and the four thousand) pg73 3.2.2.5 Jubilee, repentance and reparation pg 73 3.2.2.6 Jesus and the priority of the poor in Mark’s Gospel pg 75 3.2.2.7 Jesus and the crowds in Mark’s Gospel pg 75 3.2.2.8 The priority of the poor: a dying girl and a bleeding woman pg 77 3.2.2.9 The poor, the temple, and the crucifixion of Jesus pg 78 3.2.3 Jesus’ missionary commitment to the poor in Matthew pg 79 3.2.3.1 Dikaiosyne: righteousness and justice pg 80 3.2.4 Jesus’ commitment to the poor in Luke’s Gospel pg 82 3.2.4.1 Jubilee mission pg 83 3.2.4.2 Jubilee as good news for the poor and the marginalized (and the rich?) pg 84 3.2.4.3 Salvation pg 87 3.3 Conclusion pg 88 4. John’s Gospel and the Synoptics pg 90 4.1 Introduction pg 90 4.2 John’s Gospel and the Synoptics: Pre 1938 pg 91 4.3 John’s Gospel and the Synoptics: post 1938 pg 91 4.4 John’s Gospel and the Synoptics: in more recent decades pg 92 4.5 John’s Gospel and Luke’s Gospel pg 98 4.6 Making the link between Luke 16:19-31 and John 11 pg 102 4.7 Conclusion pg 104 5. John 11 as a metaphor for the mission of the church pg 106 5.1 Introduction: Bridging the hermeneutical gap pg 108 5.2 Priority of the poor (God’s preferential option for the poor) pg 115 5.3 Mission as friendship pg 119 5.3.1 Friendship and self worth pg 121 5.3.2 Friendship and mutuality pg 123 5.3.3 Friendship and the sharing of a common vision pg 124 5.4 Compassion: The heart of mission pg 126 5.4.1 Awareness pg 132 5.4.2 Empathy pg 132 5.4.3 Action pg 134 5.5 Mission as bringing forth life pg 135 5.6 Conclusion pg 138 Post-Script: Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope: A tool for building relationships across things that divide pg 140 Appendix: The raising of Lazarus: An exegesis of John 11:1-57 pg 149 1) Setting: Bethany near Jerusalem (John 11:1-3) pg 149 2) Scene 1: Jesus and his disciples (John 11:4-16) pg 157 3) Scene 2: Jesus and Martha (John 11:17-27) pg 161 4) Scene 3: Jesus, Mary and the Jewish friends (John 11:28-37) pg 163 5) Scene 4: Jesus and Lazarus at the tomb (John 11:38-44) pg 167 6) Scene 5: The plot to kill Jesus (John 11:45-57) pg 171 Bibliography and References pg 174 Introduction i. Introduction to the topic Despite close to two and a half centuries of biblical scholarship, there is still a very dominant emphasis within the Christian tradition of reading the Bible as literal history. In many ways, this has often undermined the ability to wrestle with the original intention of scripture. One passage that has been undermined in such a way is John chapter 11, namely the raising of Lazarus. This dissertation will suggest that by reading this story as literal history, Christians have been in danger of robbing this passage (and perhaps the whole of John’s Gospel) of its original intention, that is, of symbolically representing a central dimension of Jesus’ mission as friendship with the poor, and the liberation of the poor. Spong gives an insightful perspective when he asserts that John’s Gospel itself was a reaction against literalism in the early church (Spong 1991: 186ff), a perspective that we will pick up later in chapter 2. It might well be ironic therefore that the story of the Raising of Lazarus in John 11 has succumbed to the very tendency of literalising that John himself was trying to counteract in other parts of his Gospel. Spong thus makes a key statement when he writes that, “One must…wonder…whether the Johannine narrative about the raising of Lazarus (John 11:43) was anything more than this author’s meditation on the - 1 - parable of Lazarus and the rich man that Luke alone of the Synoptic Gospels records (Luke 16:20ff)” (Spong 1991:187, cf. Barrett 1978:389 and Crossan 1994:93-95). Support for this hypothesis can be found in a number of parallels between John 11 and Luke 16:19-31, which a number of scholars have commented on, but have shied away from acknowledging a formal connection between them (see chapter 4). If Spong were correct in this analysis of John chapter 11’s connection with Luke 16:19- 31, as I believe he is, then this would have a profound effect on our understanding of John’s Christology, and the understanding of Jesus’ mission in John’s Gospel. Despite Spong’s connection between John 11 and Luke 16:19-31, it seems that he himself has not made the further connections and implications of such a reading in light of the church’s mission to stand in solidarity with the poor of this world, and working towards their liberation. If one were to extrapolate the connection that Spong has made between Luke 16:19-31 and John 11, then in John’s Gospel, the figure of Lazarus becomes a key representative (or symbolic figure) for the poor and the marginalized of the world. John 11 thus becomes a symbolic story describing a central dimension of Jesus’ mission in the world, namely friendship with, and liberation of the poor.