The Asian-ness of Jesus is vivid because
Jesus was born, lived, preached and died in Asia, as pointed out by Amaladoss
in the beginning of his book (p.1). He presents nine Asian images of Jesus –
the Sage, the Way, the Guru, the Satyagrahi, the Avatar, the
Servant, the Compassionate, the Dancer, and the Pilgrim. The author is not
presenting theological treatise but “pre-theological” reflection (p.5), and
hence it is not philosophical and dogmatic nor metaphysics. His purpose of
using images is due to its richness and evocative power. The author also reminds
his readers not to absolutize any symbols or images for it will only lead to
idolatry (p.4). He reminds that his images of Jesus are not meant for
comparative purpose, but it is meant for dialogue despite of his admitting that
comparison is inevitable. The author also mentions that his audience of writing
is “the ordinary believing Asian Christians” as well as readers of other faith
who already have glimpses of knowledge about Jesus Christ (p.8). In other
words, the various images of Jesus hopefully to enrich our understandings of
Jesus Christ.
The
Asian Jesus can be very enriching to
our reflective and meditative reading. In this succinct summary, the reviewer
chooses to focus only on Jesus as Sage, Jesus as the Way and Jesus the Servant because
he feels that these three images of Jesus are most relevant to his Chinese
context in Riau Archipelago.
Amaladoss does not describe nor explain
much on how Jesus is seen as Asian Sage or delineates on the “sage-ness” of
Jesus as he has already explained in the first chapter of his book. However, he
delineates on the wisdom of Jesus unveiled from His teachings. The author says,
“Wisdom is not something that one creates
like literature or poetry. It is an inner wealth of which one can become aware.
It inspires and guides” (p.29). The author moves on to say, “Wisdom is available to everyone. Everyone
can become a wise person” (p.29) however, prejudices, emotion and
misbehavior are the hindrances. Amaladoss does acknowledge Jesus as the “Incarnate Wisdom” (p.32) but he chooses
to focus on the teaching of Jesus which contains the wisdom of Jesus. If Jesus
is the Incarnate Wisdom and his teaching is divine wisdom, can everyone become
a wise person in their own will? Doesn’t Jesus say there are people who have
ears but do not listen, have eyes but do not see? Isn’t the wisdom of the world
is foolishness to God? How different is Jesus’ wisdom from the wisdom of the
world? Is the sage-ness of Jesus incorporated in His embodiment of the divine
wisdom?
What is a sage? A sage is a wise man, a
spiritual and philosophical mentor teaching the wisdoms of life. A sage is
often regarded as being separated from the so called “common people” for they
are holy and wise. They live deep in the mountain or forest. They are no longer
succumbed to the misery of life for they have been enlightened in
understandings .They do not love the people or desire to save, so to speak. They
are teachers and mentors but not saviors. According to Amaladoss, the image of
Jesus as a Sage is based on Jesus’s teaching. As a wise teacher, Jesus taught
with authority. He taught people to be authentic, sincere, communal, loving,
forgiving, discerning, ready to choose etc. The reviewer believes that it will
be great if Amaladoss also adds some emphasis on the uniqueness of Jesus as a
sage. He is a sage who is willing to die for others. He is not a sage that
lives far away from people but He is the sage that lives in His community, yet He
is distinct from His community’s religious, political and social structures. He
is the divine-human Sage living among the people.
Amaladoss explains that when we speak of
the Way to the Chinese, the word 道 (Tao) will be the most immediate tinkling in the
minds of the hearers (p.52). The way of Jesus is immanent, “it is human and historical and even earthly” (p.60) and it is also
transcendent using the example of the Eucharist, “the way of human is the way of the divine” (p.63). The Way of
Jesus is inclusivistic. “It is Life. It
is the way that humans and the world live” (p.65). It is calling people to turn away from their
self-arrogance (p.58), it is not
institutional, politico-military structure (p.59). It is a way of love,
forgiveness, sharing and service. It is relational both vertical and
horizontal, to God and to our neighbors. It is the way of selfless love and
service (p.67). This Way of Jesus is “an art of living” (p.68).
Jesus is the Way to the Father, meaning
He is the Way to Life. Jesus as the Way should lead to Truth and the Truth
eventually leads to Life. If Jesus is the Way then life should be understood as
a journey. Being the followers of Jesus, we are walking the road that Jesus
walked and pass through the path that Jesus passed. The path of Jesus is narrow
but yet it leads to life (Matt. 7.13). This Tao
is both transcendence and immanence. It is transcendent because Jesus is the
Way to the Father - eternal life and it is immanent because the Way of Jesus is
the Way of Life - the Way of Wisdom.
Jesus as the Way and the Way of Jesus
are both important. Jesus as the Way is transcendental, metaphysics and
ontological whilst the Way of Jesus is immanent and practical, The Way of Jesus
as the art of living should be taught and encouraged among the followers of
Jesus Christ. In this case, Christianity should be understood as beyond
religiosity but as the Way to Life. Connecting the Way of Jesus to Jesus the
Servant will provide a better light on the Way of Jesus. It is the Way from self-emptying to fruitfulness (p.125).
When most Chinese are working out to fill their lives with wealth, status and
goods, Jesus is emptying Himself. Jesus the Servant must be in parallel with
Jesus the Son of God. Jesus’ identity as the Son of God, the First born reminds
the Chinese in Riau Archipelago their identity as children of God, as princes
and princesses. Why children of God? Jesus, the Servants serves as the mirror for
living whilst beings children of God serve as identity in the Kingdom. For the
reviewer, the status of being children can be in parallel with friends. Jesus
says, “I no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called
you friends, for everything that i learned from my Father I have made them
known to you” (John 15:15).
Servant-hood is challenging in a
Confucian structured society. Amaladoss has pointed out that hierarchy and
power are prominent in today’s Christian community. “Hierarchical domination is claimed in the name of God” (p.132).
Holding positions of power in the Chinese congregation is something crucial. It
is the primary agenda for Church leaders to fight for position of powers.
Passing position of power is often the hardest part within Chinese
congregations. It is either no candidates that can take the baton from their
charismatic predecessors or the charismatic predecessors are unwilling to pass
their batons to the younger generation. Jesus the Servant, High Priest
according to the order of Melkizedek (not of Aaron) offers a great challenge in
the powered-structures favored by church leaders.
Can “无为wu wei” be in resonance with the Way Jesus in terms of its
“non-action”? Amaladoss explains that the Way of Jesus in community building “is set in the framework of divine-human
community building” (p.59). The
Way of Jesus as wu wei is an
interesting area to explore on for the Chinese community by giving new meanings
and insights to the traditional wu wei
in Taoism.
Finally, the bridging point of Jesus,
the Sage, Jesus the Way and Jesus the Servant is based on its power to touch
the hearts of the people. The divine human Sage that loves the people, the way
of love and forgiveness, the humble and theo-democratic Servant and the
children of God who are loved and cared for. Contextualization that fails to
touch the hearts of the people is a bad contextualization. Similarly,
contextualization that does not transform worldview fails its intended purpose.
