Edgework

The Gospel of John

We turn now to the writings of the Apostle John. John stands right alongside of the other great theologian of the New Testament, Paul, but is often eclipsed by him. So we must let him speak for himself.

John’s primary strategy in telling the story of Jesus is to draw on Jewish metaphors. His most famous verse is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John is simply saying that Jesus came from God as a love gift to provide eternal life. There is no specific mention of Jesus’ death, so we should assume that the gift referred to is the entire Jesus event. It is not a stretch to hear in this statement the echoes of Isaac being offered as a sacrifice to God, also known as “akedah,” a term Second Temple Judaism used to refer to death on behalf of others.

It is highly significant that John’s imagery around the death of Christ clearly focuses on Passover language. The Jews of Jesus’ day had come to associate the Passover as an atoning sacrifice. Thus John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (1:29). Passover footprints appear everywhere. The sponge soaked in vinegar offered to Jesus was attached to a hyssop stalk – the same plant used to sprinkle blood on doorposts in Egypt (Exodus 12:22). Blood flowed from Jesus’ side, paralleling this blood in Exodus. No bones of Jesus body were broken; an unmistakable parallel to the mandate not to break any bones of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:46). John’s main point is to say that, as God acted in the past to save his people, so he acted in Jesus to save them again.

Other Old Testament imagery includes, for example; Jesus saying, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep,” another reference to “Akedah,” or “I am the bread of life”, a clear reference to wilderness manna. Also, “I am the light of the world,” a reference to gaining understanding, and then a statement about being lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness.

With respect to the Gospel of John, Green and Baker conclude, in Recovering the Scandal of the Cross, that “…In Jesus we see the Father, and in the cross the fullness of his love is disclosed” (79).

I John

In this short letter, John is making the claim that the work of Christ is effective in dealing with our sin problem. “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins…” (I John 2:2). This obviously evokes the readers’ memory of the Day of Atonement in which the blood of one goat is sprinkled on the altar and the other one is sent into the wilderness as a scapegoat. It is important to note that there is no indication that the wrath of God must be appeased. God is not the problem, but sin is. So according to John, the death of Jesus cleanses us from sin and prepares us for fellowship with God.

The Gospel of Revelation

In his book, The Non-Violent Atonement, J. Denny Weaver makes what I think is a convincing case that the Book of Revelation should be seen as a “fifth” Gospel. It is another telling of the gospel story. Of course the context for this version of the “gospel story” is written from a point of view after Christ’s ascension and shortly after the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. As in the other gospels, the main character is Jesus, who now is the Lamb of God who has been slain and raised to life. His disciples are believers in the early church – both from Jewish and Gentile heritage.

The big “theological” question John is answering is how Jesus saves his followers in the context of a pagan empire that alternately persecutes and seduces them. That is why Weaver insists that all the symbolism used in this “apocalyptic gospel” must have made sense to John’s first century readers. It cannot be referencing events 2000 years later. So making use of elaborate, apocalyptic imagery, John is speaking about the battle Jesus’ followers are in while at the same time giving us a glimpse of its cosmic significance.

It is the “Lamb who was slain” who is worthy to open the seals. While in the other gospels it is the Jewish leaders who seek Christ’s death, in Revelation it is the dragon (representing Satan) who pursues “the child” who is “snatched up to God and his throne” (Revelation 12:5). And Jesus’ followers overcome the accuser by “the blood of the Lamb” and “by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 2:11). And this victory, according to Weaver, is a non-violent one. Even in chapter 19 this is evident where Jesus is pictured riding on a white horse with his robe dipped in blood before there is any battle – an obvious reference to the crucifixion – and the sword he is wielding is protruding from his mouth – a clear reference to the Word of God by which Jesus and his followers defeat the enemy without shedding any more blood.

Much more could be said, but I will simply summarize the central thrust of the Gospel of Revelation according to such a reading: Jesus’ death is the basis on which evil is defeated (5:5), “purchases” a people of God (5:9-10), cleanses from sin (7:14), and calls those who follow him to embrace the non-violent way of the Lamb (12:11).

For John, in all his writings, the entire Jesus event, including his death, resurrection and exaltation, serves to free us from sin and empower us to follow him as disciples in the way he modeled for us. John provides little support for the many “modern” atonement theories that have circulated throughout church history.