An Unholy Kiss

It could be called the kiss heard around the airport and felt around the world. Newark Liberty International Airport’s five-hour shutdown on Sunday, January 3, was caused by a passionate boyfriend, not a vicious terrorist.

After a man was seen going the wrong way at a security check-point exit, fears of terror were amplified because regular security cameras were inoperative for five days previous to the security breech. Getting their collective acts together, TSA authorities checked Continental Airline’s video system – quite late because they didn’t have Continental’s phone number handy – and investigative reviewers saw a man duck under a flimsy barrier intended to designate the security area and embrace a woman. The kiss evidently was passionate, but it was costly for the thousands of stranded travelers whose fights were cancelled or delayed when the terminal was shut down. Such seems to be the absurd cost of love, especially in a ridiculous context of broken equipment and incompetent employees.

Several days after the incident, Haison Jiang, a quiet, reserved, 28-year old Rutgers graduate student from Piscataway, NJ was identified as the culprit. Arrested and facing fines, he’s also the focus of collective rage and irritation from the thousands of airline passengers who were seriously inconvenienced. A few stolen moments of kissing became a traveler’s nightmare and a global story. Jiang’s fleeting embrace could become the kiss of the year.

Kissing can be nice, nasty or neutral depending on circumstance and motive. Kissing in the Bible has profound meaning. Greetings by believers in New Testament times involved a "holy kiss" mentioned five times in four different books (Romans 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thess. 5:26 and 1 Peter 5:14). A holy kiss is not only an act of friendship but one of sanctity, purity and cleanness. The word "kiss" comes from "phileo", which is friendship love. It is the derivation of Philadelphia, the city of "brotherly love."

The worshipful and cleansed sinful woman of Luke 7:45 kissed Jesus feet with earnest passion. There, the word is "kataphileo" meaning much more fervor than a casual kiss.

History’s most famous nasty kiss came from Judas. "And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’" (Luke 22:47 & 48). This is in sharp contrast to Psalm 2:12, which says, "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him." Judas must have known that verse, which outlines reconciliation in a time of tension between two parties. His betraying kiss flew in the face of genuine love and admiration.

Judas could easily have also recalled the Bible’s second most memorable nasty kiss recorded in 2 Samuel 20:9 & 10: "Then Joab said to Amasa, ‘Are you in health, my brother?’ And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab's hand. And he struck him with it in the stomach, and his entrails poured out on the ground; and he did not strike him again. Thus he died."

A former subversive during Absalom’s rebellion, Amasa had been forgiven by David and appointed general of his army in place of Joab, who actually was Amasa’s cousin. Joab’s deadly kiss was a contradiction of David’s forgiveness and an act of gross insubordination.

Kissing is the universal act of affection but, if distorted into deceit, can tarnish one’s character and stand as the profoundest of subversion as exemplified by both Joab and Judas. The old expression "the kiss of death" is well taken. Until recent times an action that could kill a relationship or even a life was known as a "Judas Kiss." Now it is known as "the kiss of death."

New Testament believers may take a lesson that a proper kiss is to be with the right person, at the right time, at the right place for the right reason and, as such, it is properly known as "a holy kiss." Haison Jiang’s kiss turned out to be an unholy kiss, and thousands of inconvenienced travelers at Newark Airport would agree.

Dave Virkler