| Chungsoo J. Lee |
| A philosophic and religious corner |
The Other on the Cross: Christ the Crucified
Can Christ the crucified be the face of the Other? The Cross demands our
response to establish justice/ethics. It demands that we do our best to establish
the Kingdom of God, a community based on fraternity with the Other and with
all Others--no matter how fragile and evasive the Kingdom is.
But when we look at the Cross, we only see the wooden cross. Christ is absent
on the Cross but still lays a claim on me as responsible, as the
one-for-the-Other. (This is historical teaching of Christianity.) How is this
possible?
Must me accept all the historical layers of meaning in the biblical text, including
the redactions, the patristic revisions, and historic interpretations starting from
Paul, Augustine, the mystics, etc.? Can a phenomenology of the Cross do away
with these historical and cultural layers of teaching or does it depend on them?
If the latter--as Paul being the first major interpreter of the Christ-event whom
we cannot do away with--how can Christ the crucified be a face? Because face
must be naked and speaks beyond historical, social, economical, and cultural
layers of meaning and interpretations. How does Christ speak to me as a face
on the Cross without through the layers of meaning and teachings of
Christianity?
Christ the suffering, the wounded, the one who has been accused of saying what
he did not say, the one who has been pierced, the one who suffers injustice, the
one who is dying, the one who thirsts, the weak, the powerless, the
helpless--but still He lays a claim on me on the Cross. He lays a claim from the
Cross, as dying, as the suffering one, as a face. He lays a claim on me as the one
who is responsible for His suffering and death. "Here I am" at the foot of the
Cross, being accused more than anyone else. Here I am, face to face with the
Other, the orphan, the stranger, the widow, the crucified Christ.
Must I be first a Christian (one who accepts Christian teachings handed down
through tradition and church institutions) to hear Christ speaking to me on the
Cross? Or, does He speak to me as he does to everyone else universally,
whether Christian or not, and lays a claim on me (and on everyone else).
Can Christ the crucified (the Other on the Cross) be the invisible icon, per
Jean-Luc Marion (i.e., God Without Being)?
Another question: Does not my neighbor also lay an equally exigent claim on
me? My neighbor is also a "little Christ" (Martin Luther) who faces me. This is
true because to say that Jesus is God on the Cross is to say that He is anyone
and everyone on the Cross, anyone and everyone who is suffering and dying.
Death of Jesus on the Cross is not just a biological fact but moral outrage first
and foremost, a victim of injustice per excellence. As such He--or anyone else
who faces me--lays a moral claim on me.
April 2011
response to establish justice/ethics. It demands that we do our best to establish
the Kingdom of God, a community based on fraternity with the Other and with
all Others--no matter how fragile and evasive the Kingdom is.
But when we look at the Cross, we only see the wooden cross. Christ is absent
on the Cross but still lays a claim on me as responsible, as the
one-for-the-Other. (This is historical teaching of Christianity.) How is this
possible?
Must me accept all the historical layers of meaning in the biblical text, including
the redactions, the patristic revisions, and historic interpretations starting from
Paul, Augustine, the mystics, etc.? Can a phenomenology of the Cross do away
with these historical and cultural layers of teaching or does it depend on them?
If the latter--as Paul being the first major interpreter of the Christ-event whom
we cannot do away with--how can Christ the crucified be a face? Because face
must be naked and speaks beyond historical, social, economical, and cultural
layers of meaning and interpretations. How does Christ speak to me as a face
on the Cross without through the layers of meaning and teachings of
Christianity?
Christ the suffering, the wounded, the one who has been accused of saying what
he did not say, the one who has been pierced, the one who suffers injustice, the
one who is dying, the one who thirsts, the weak, the powerless, the
helpless--but still He lays a claim on me on the Cross. He lays a claim from the
Cross, as dying, as the suffering one, as a face. He lays a claim on me as the one
who is responsible for His suffering and death. "Here I am" at the foot of the
Cross, being accused more than anyone else. Here I am, face to face with the
Other, the orphan, the stranger, the widow, the crucified Christ.
Must I be first a Christian (one who accepts Christian teachings handed down
through tradition and church institutions) to hear Christ speaking to me on the
Cross? Or, does He speak to me as he does to everyone else universally,
whether Christian or not, and lays a claim on me (and on everyone else).
Can Christ the crucified (the Other on the Cross) be the invisible icon, per
Jean-Luc Marion (i.e., God Without Being)?
Another question: Does not my neighbor also lay an equally exigent claim on
me? My neighbor is also a "little Christ" (Martin Luther) who faces me. This is
true because to say that Jesus is God on the Cross is to say that He is anyone
and everyone on the Cross, anyone and everyone who is suffering and dying.
Death of Jesus on the Cross is not just a biological fact but moral outrage first
and foremost, a victim of injustice per excellence. As such He--or anyone else
who faces me--lays a moral claim on me.
April 2011
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