THE CONCEPTS OF LIFE AND DEATH: INTERPRETING JOHN 11:1-54 FROM KROBO PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT For the Krobo, death is considered a calamity. They say, gbenɔ yi mi wa (death is wicked), so ke i na amane tsoɔ i ko wo he la (if I had seen ‘death tree,’ I would have set fire to it). Similar concepts about death can be found in some NT communities. An example was the Johannine community confronted with the problem of justifying death in the community of eternal life (11:37) and how the death of believers is to be understood and faced in this life. If Jesus is truly present, as he promised in hislast discourse, and indwelling the disciples as a principle of eternal life, why should a believer die? Some of these difficulties were evident in the concerns of the family of Lazarus in sending for Jesus when Lazarus was sick; and in their disappointment at Jesus’ delay (11: 1, 19, 21, 32, 31, 33, 37). These concerns point to the problematic nature of death, and the need for a remedy to this universal malady. Against this background, the research seeks to understand the meaning of life and death in John 11:1-54 through a narrative analysis of the text. It further explores the relevance of the text for contemporary Krobo readership. To achieve the goals of the research, the study employed Ossom-Batsa’s communicative perspective as a guiding framework namely: exegesis of the text, the exegesis of reality (culture), and finally, engagement of the text and culture. The narrative criticism was utilized to exegete the text, and the phenomenological approach for the cultural analysis: interviews, focused group discussions, and participant observation were explored with emphasis on respondents’ interest in and profound understanding of the subject. The thesis argued that the concepts of life and death are very important phenomena for the Johannine and Krobo communities because they not only regulate how the community members live in this life, but also determine their destinations in the afterlife. The analysis established that the raising of Lazarus and resurrection of Jesus from the dead point to the fact that life and death in the Johannine community imply the presence or absence of Jesus Christ in the disciple. For the Krobo community, whilst wami (life) connotes anything which contributes to the holistic wellbeing of the human person, death (gbenɔ) is such an excruciating human experience that everything possible must be done to unravel its cause and steps taken to prevent its occurance. For this reason, the research initiates a discussion between the text and the culture. The text proposes Jesus to the Krobo Christian as the solution to both life and death beause Jesus Christ is the life giver, the conqueror of death, and the way to God. The thesis recommends further studies to reflect on the translation of the Christian idea of ‘resurrection’ in the Krobo dialect and culture, and to explore the concepts of afterlife and reincarnation among the Dangme. From a pastoral point of view, the approach used by Jesus in John 11 should guide the contextualization of the Christian faith in the Krobo context. Just as Jesus gradually built Martha’s faith during their encounter (11: 17-27), so the faith of the Krobo Christian in Jesus must be helped to grow through series of expositions of biblical truth about life, death, and the afterlife.