죽음의 변형: 초대 부활공동체의 죽음 이해

Transforming Death: Death of Jesus in Early Easter Community

This article argues that the early church, especially Paul, viewed the 'death' of Jesus not as a tragic miscarriage of justice but as an indispensable source of life. Having discussed the importance of Jesus' resurrection for the emergence of the early church, and briefly sketched how the early church's experience of such a ground-shaking event affected the way it interpreted the death of Jesus, the study goes on to substantiate the thesis by examining a few Pauline passages crucial in understanding Paul's view of the death of Jesus: Galatians 3:1-5, 13-14; 4;1-7; 1 Corinthians 1-4. A close look at these texts bears out our point that Paul does not perceive the death of Christ as death itself, but primarily as the death of the risen Christ, i. e., as a purposeful death which has wrought a new life. Thus, in Galatians Paul presents the crucifixion of Christ, and our faith in it, as an exclusive source of the Spirit, the Spirit of life which sustains believers towards the final 'hope of righteousness', with its negative corollary that this Spirit cannot come from 'works of the law'. In 1 Corinthians too, Paul's exclusive focus on 'the Christ crucified' is motivated by his desire to underscore the power of the cross, the power believers need in order to inherit the eschatological Kingdom of God. Thus, for Paul who serves the risen Christ as Lord, Christ's death is seen, more than anything else, as God's purposeful measure intended to bring out a new life. To be sure, this life is paradoxical, in that it more resembles death than life as the world understands it. In Galatians it is one of persecution and suffering(3:4). In 1 Corinthians too, it means the kind of hardship which characterizes in Paul's apostolic ministry. This paradox does not mean mere lack of life, however; on the contrary it is a dynamic expression of life springing from the resurrection of Christ. This is the kind of life which cannot be concocted by any human measures, and for that very reason, it belongs to God's pure grace. So Paul is fixated on the death of Christ, since he knows that it is the only source of such life.