In my writing about Mark’s gospel last week, I tried to present the writer’s inability to comprehend a Messiah wielding the power of God while simultaneously suffering humiliation and death by human hands. John’s gospel addresses this issue head on. It would appear that John’s gospel was written well after Mark’s, and John probably had access to Mark’s account. He may have had access to the gospels of Matthew and Luke as well. That all appears likely to me because John’s gospel seems to be primarily a reflection on Jesus Messiah as fulfillment of scripture, attempting to make theological sense of all that occurred.
In the first chapter John writes that the Son was with God from the beginning, that life came into being through him, and the Word became flesh, lived among us, and we have seen the glory of the Son. John has Jesus beginning his ministry in the Jerusalem Temple followed by a night time theological discussion with Pharisee Nicodemus where Jesus asserts, “No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man [Me]. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:13-15)
John sees it all as the mission of the Father and Son from the beginning. The lifting up would be a sign for all to plainly see; just as God told Moses to fashion a bronze poisonous serpent and put it on a pole so all those stricken by the plague of snakes wrought on them by God for their mistrust could look upon the snake on the pole and be cured. (Num. 21: 5-9) Seeing the Son lifted up would provide the opportunity for eternal life to be granted to the believer.
John reports another visit by Jesus to Jerusalem for the festival of Booths where Jesus engages in a long series of dialogues with the people and Pharisees. (Jn. 7:10 – 8:59) He makes several Messianic assertions, but they do not understand that he is speaking about God as his Father who sent him to earth to do the Father’s will. At one point Jesus’ frustration seems to boil over, and he says, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize I am [he] ..” (Jn. 8: 28; note that the Greek omits the pronoun “he” so the statement reads, “you will realize I am”. The “I Am” is how God describes Godself to Moses in Ex. 3:14). Jesus is openly describing himself as of God eternally. Jesus further emphasizes the point by telling the Pharisees, “before Abraham was, I am.” (Jn. 8:58). Finally, when Jesus is back in Jerusalem for the Passover festival and his death, he announces to the crowds, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (Jn. 12:31-32)
These references in John’s gospel to being “lifted up” are Jesus’ only statements that could be construed as a prediction of his earthly fate. And, interestingly enough, the Greek verb is ὑψόω which translates as both “to lift up” and “to exalt.” So is Jesus predicting his ascension following his earthy life, or his manner of death on a cross, or both? Note also that these statements are not made to disciples as a warning of the Messiah’s fate as in Mark, but openly to the Pharisees and crowds. John sees Jesus in control at all times. “Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to his hour.” (Jn. 12: 27). There is no Gethsemane sweating and praying in the Gospel of John. Nor is there Mark’s cry of forsaken grief from the cross, but instead a farewell instruction to his mother and to young John his disciple.
Mark and John: Two strikingly different approaches to the cross, which have had a significant influence on Christianity and the church.
Next week: Four theologies of the cross, and something for you to think about on Good Friday. Perhaps you would pick one that works for you in your faith and send me a note of comment.