2023/01/23

75. Solomon's Peep Window

We have examined Mary of Bethany (cf. blog № 71, № 72), Martha (cf. blog № 73) and the adulterous woman (cf. blog № 74) in John's Gospel. Mary of Bethany and the adulterous woman are depicted as women of an old covenant worldview different from that of Jesus since no dialogue is elicited from him, and they appear in conjunction with the chief priests, the scribes and the Pharisees (cf. John 8:3, 11:45-47). 

Martha, who confessed before Jesus who he was, on the other hand, is a woman who, guided by Jesus, elicits specific dialogue from him, spontaneously seeks the word of God and links its fruit to her own words and deeds, like the mother of Jesus in the scene of Jesus turning water into wine (cf. John 2:1-11), the Samaritan woman who drew out the themes of the water of life and the new way of worship from the dialogue with Jesus (cf. John 4:1-30), and Mary Magdalene, who received her woman-specific vocation from the risen Jesus (cf. blog № 35, № 70). They represented a new type of people who shared with Jesus his worldview, and about them, John wrote in his letter: "[T]he anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that any one should teach you" (1 John 2:27). 

However, after giving that exhortation, John realized that their experience would not be shared with the next generation in the current state of affairs. The worldview of Jesus Christ was essential for the disciples, who would not see Jesus yet believe in him, to abide in the Son (cf. blog № 36). Therefore, the Holy Spirit prompted John to complete the book of Revelation. By continuing the training of reciting and hearing the words of this prophecy, one becomes able to make the worldview of Jesus Christ appear in his memory and keep it. The time was at hand (cf. Revelation 1:3). 

Nevertheless, the Church, in leading believers, brought the traditional image of marriage into the relationship between Christ and the Church. The source of that teaching is found in the Song of Solomon, said to have been written by Solomon. The Song of Solomon, which sensually expresses the image of marriage, is like a peep window into the fictional world of Solomon, who failed to establish a parent-child bond with God. If believers are led based on that worldview, they will eventually be drawn, without knowing it, into the fire of their own love. And the more their hearts burn in the fire of that love, the more they will be drawn to their own love. If they turn to others in this state and engage in selfish acts, they have no way of knowing that they have done so since their self has only been replaced by the other. For them, the loving and the loved are the same. In this illusion, they can easily coerce, abuse, and threaten vulnerable others. But the cost is too high, just as written, "[Y]ou, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred" (Song of Solomon 8:12).

Maria K. M.