Re-considering Johannine Discipleship with the Feminine Image of Jesus: Taking God s Maternal Duty(Focused on the Gospel of John 6 and 21)

This article aims to reconsider the male-oriented concept of discipleship through the re-construction of the feminine image of Jesus in the Gospel of John. In order for transcending androcentric understanding of discipleship and its prejudice, this article will focus on the feminine image of God and its corresponding maternal work of Deity. In the Old Testament, the metaphor of God s provision clearly reveals the maternal image of God who feeds and nurses the children of Israel. Evoking the memory of the maternal metaphor of God s provision, the Gospel of John represents Jesus messianic image, describing particularly Jesus as the mother who takes the maternal duties to feed and nurse the Children of God; and the fourth Gospel ultimately sublimates Jesus maternal duties as a new and true discipleship. The article investigates Jesus feminine image, focusing on two feeding narratives: the feeding of the multitude (6:1-15) and the feeding disciples by the shore after the resurrection (21:1-14).