2023/02/27

1500-year-old cherry tree (Japan)

80. Japanisation Part 1

Jesus repeated the name of his heavenly Father in answer to his disciples' questions until just before his ascension (cf. Acts 1:4-7). To the Apostles who heard this voice of Jesus, and to the female disciples, "who provided for them out of their means" (Luke 8:3), it was well known that God and the Church were parent and child and that for Christ, the Church was his "brother, and sister, and mother" (Matthew 12:50). However, as persecution intensified, and people no longer knew Jesus directly, the Church took over the tradition of the Israelite wedding songs. 

The scene of Jesus' ascension is the last of three accounts of the ascension in the Bible. The first is in Genesis, where, after God said to Jacob, "Israel shall be your name" (Genesis 35:10), "God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him" (Genesis 35:13). The second is the following scene after the prophet Elijah answered Elisha's request: "And as they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Eli'jah went up by a whirlwind into heaven" (2 Kings 2:11). These three ascensions have a storyline that links them to each other. 

God had told Jacob that "kings shall spring from you" (Genesis 35:11). Among these kings was Solomon, whom God intended to establish a father-son bond with him, but this did not happen because his misguided marital relationship was seen as evil. Later, in the same way, Ahab, who became king of northern Israel, took Jezebel, the daughter of Ethba'al, king of the Sido'nians, and willingly served and bowed down to Baal as the result of this false marriage relationship. The prophet Elijah, commanded by God, competed with Jezebel's prophets. It is written that then Elijah "took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, 'Israel shall be your name'; and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD" (I Kings 18:31-32), which is the recall of the above incident between God and Jacob. 

Jesus, who, as the true king, fulfilled God's desire for God and man to become a father and child, ascended to heaven, calling God Father. Thus, the stories of the Old Covenant point towards Jesus, who taught us clearly that God and the Church were parent and child and that for Christ, the Church was his brother, sister and mother. 

However, the Church continued to weave the bridal theology, initiated by Origen, from the tradition of the wedding songs of the Israelites and inspired the theology of the twentieth century. The inspiration influenced and was incorporated into the Second Vatican Council. The Church propped up this old tree with many stakes and dressed it as if it were a big 1,500-year-old tree about to blossom. 

For those living in Japan, a Christian frontier country whose civilization is classified as unique and independent (cf. blog № 1), the circumstances of that time, 60 years ago, can only be known by learning. It is said that the Catholic Church did not take the inside movement to accept modernism seriously, and suppressed it at its doorstep, so to speak, without proper discussion. Did not the Church, in fact, jump on board with classical nuptial mysticism at the Second Vatican Council out of a sense of crisis that it may not be able to control the times? 

Maria K. M.