바다 위를 걸으신 예수의 기적 이야기(막6:45-52)에 나타난 출애굽 이미지 연구와 새 출애굽으로서의 신학적 의의

A Study of Exodus Images in the Story of Jesus' Walking on the Sea (Mark 6:45-52) and Its Theological Significance as the New Exodus

This study argues that Jesus' walking on the sea (Mark 6:45-52) reflects the victory at the Red Sea (Exod 14, 15), presenting that Jesus' sea miracle has the significance of the New Exodus. In order to prove this, I discover Exodus' images, motifs, and theme in this story. Many scholars think that the main focus of this story is to show Jesus' divine epiphany, which manifests Jesus as equal to God. Investigating the scenes of God' s epiphany in the Old Testament, the scholars have attempted to relate them with the story of Jesus' walking on the sea. However, I believe that the main theme of this story is salvation that Jesus delivers his disciples in the peril of wind-swept sea and his epiphany serves as the supplement of presenting his salvific work: the rescue and epiphany motifs play a role in developing this sea-miracle story. For the rescue of his disciples by calming the storm-swept sea, in the previous sea miracle (Mark 4:35-41) Jesus rebukes the roaring sea by his words, and in this story Jesus walks on the wild sea by his divine epiphany. Here the sea is a chaotic force threatening the disciples' lives. The rescue and epiphany motifs in Jesus' walking on the sea also appears in the victory at the Red Sea, in which both stories bears similarities. More specifically, the parallelism between the two stories appears in terms of words and phrases, settings, and theme. First, a number of equal words and phrases are discovered in the two stories. Second, the settings of time and space are also similar: The time is at dawn and the space is the sea. Finally, the central theme is same the deliverance of God's people with epiphany- and the rescue and epiphany motifs serves as the means to deliver this theme. Both stories focus on the rescue of people in danger. The Egyptian army was pursuing the Israelites with the threat of death, and the Red Sea blocked their escape. God delivered the Israelites by parting the water, and they safely crossed the sea. Likewise, the disciples who were ordered to go to the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee were endangered by a furious storm. Jesus rescued the disciples when he climbed into the boat with them, and they safely crossed the sea. In both stories the rescue comes with epiphany. God appeared in the pillar of fire and cloud in the midst of the sea (Exod 14: 24) and exterminated the Egyptian army. Similarly, Jesus appeared before the disciples in the midst of the sea (Mark 6:48) and calmed down the storm. In conclusion, Jesus redemption of his disciples from the chaos-sea with his epiphany signifies his salvific work as the New Exodus, manifesting Jesus as the universal Savior.