Acknowledgments
This book is a revision of my doctoral dissertation, âThe âExodusâ in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31): A Lukan Form of Israelâs Restoration Hope,â submitted to Fuller Theological Seminary in Spring 2016. I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. Paul N. Anderson (George Fox University), New Testament Editor in Chief of the Biblical Interpretation Series, for helping me navigate through the review process. His comments and words of support have been of great encouragement to me. I also wish to thank Suzanne Mekking, Emma de Looij, Marjolein van Zuylen, and Dirk Bakker at Brill for their support in the production of this work.
As those who have already gone through a similar path can testify, the pursuit of this kind of endeavor from the initial stage of dissertation proposal to this final version could not have been possible without the help of many. My deepest thanks go first and foremost to my Doktorvater, Prof. Joel B. Green at Fuller. As one of his former students recently mentioned about what it was like to be his student, those years of rigorous training, discussions, and encouragements could be summed up as âapprenticeship.â The breadth of his knowledge and the acumen of his critiques have been the unceasing source of constructive stimulus and challenge. I appreciate Prof. Marianne Meye Thompson (Fuller), who opened my eyes to the importance of the Second Temple environment for understanding the NT texts, which played an important methodological part in this work. I also thank Prof. David Downs (Oxford) for his careful reading of this work and penetrating questions that made me rethink what this work was actually achieving. Thanks should also go to Prof. John T. Carroll (Union Presbyterian Seminary) for his comments and encouragement for publication that he provided as an external reader.
One painfulâbut deeply movingâpiece of truth is that this long procedure of doctoral work could not have been completed without my familyâs sacrifice. I owe my wife, Jung Hyun, years of faithful support, which she exchanged with the pursuit of her own robust career in Korea. I owe my son, Hugh, years of toleration with the âalways-busyâ father in his adolescent period, which, however, did not prevent him from growing as a man of integrity in the Lordâs grace. I owe my parents years of patience because of their sonâs and his familyâs physical absence, which deprived them of the joy to see their grandson growing year by year. Finally, I thank Rev. James Ro and the members of the Way Church in Los Angeles for their support for me to complete this work while I was serving the church as an assistant pastor.
Having mentioned only the people to whom I am directly indebted for the production of this book, I hope to thank my friends and colleagues at Fuller Theological Seminary who have been good conversation partners and earnest supporters. I hope the results of this work may encourage further thoughts and study on Lukeâs form of hope for the world.