Abay Trupbergenov
This article proposes an original interpretation of early Christian Christology, grounded in an analysis of the apocalyptic image of the Ancient of Days (Dan 7), the concept of the transcendent Sabbath, and the model of delegating historicity to the Son of Man. Methodologically, the study employs a historical-hermeneutical approach developed within contemporary debates on early Christology, particularly those represented in the collective volume Two Powers in Heaven: Traditions and Early Christology, edited by T. Garcia-Huidobro, SJ, and A. A. Orlov, where the language of the “two powers” is treated as a theological-narrative phenomenon rather than an ontological dualism. Within this framework, the figure of the Ancient of Days is interpreted as a metaphor for God who has completed the phase of direct historical intervention and freely delegates the fullness of authority, judgment, and historical initiative to the Son of Man, while Himself abiding in Sabbath rest. This logic can be traced through the Adamic, Mosaic, and Enochic trajectories and finds further development in early Christian Christology. Special attention is given to the New Testament narratives of the Nativity and the Passion, in which the Son of Man is presented as a figure called to actualise delegated authority within historical and bodily existence. It is shown that Johannine Christology involves a radical reconfiguration of apocalyptic language: the cross functions as the equivalent of heavenly visions and as the moment of the enthronement of the Son of Man. Further analysis of the narrative reveals the formation of a distinctive Logos-centred worldview, grounded in the full “recollection” of the Logos’ pre-eternal experience. Jesus’ self-understanding is shaped not only by earthly history but by an integral knowledge of his origin and mission, which accounts for his confident and royal comportment in the face of suffering and death. The article concludes that the proposed understanding of the transcendent Sabbath as a mode of divine action, together with the interpretation of the Logos-centred worldview as the recovery of pre-eternal experience, allows early Christian Christology to be re-envisioned as a dynamic continuation of Jewish apocalyptic tradition.