In this post, I'll write more about realized eschatology in the Gospel of John, as discussed in Lee Harmon's John's Gospel: The Way It Happened.
In my latest reading, key eschatological themes are said to be applied
in John's Gospel to the first coming of Jesus Christ and to his
spiritual reign (if you will). The Beast, or the man of sin, in John's
Gospel is Judas Iscariot, for both are called the son of perdition (John
17:12; II Thessalonians 2:3, and Lee also refers to Daniel), and both lead soldiers against Christ.
The parousia takes place when Christ sends the Holy Spirit, which is how
Christ will dwell with his disciples, since Christ is so united with
the Holy Spirit that the two (in a sense) are one. The devil has
already been cast down from heaven in John's Gospel (John 12:31). And
Moses and Elijah in the Gospel of John are not figures who will come in
the future to inaugurate the end times, nor was John the Baptist Elijah,
since John denied being Elijah in John 1:21. Rather, according to Lee,
Jesus in John's Gospel is Moses and Elijah, for Jesus fed the multitude
with loaves like Elijah, and he brought manna like Moses. Actually, I
should note that it was Elisha (not Elijah) who multiplied the loaves
(II Kings 4:42-44), but Elijah did multiply flour and oil (see I Kings
17:7-16).
And who is the false prophet of Revelation 13 in the
Gospel of John, in Lee's view? In my latest reading, John actually
identifies himself as the false prophet. According to Lee, John was
probably John of Giscala,
who led a Jewish revolt in Palestine during the years leading up to 70
C.E. John at first embraced Jesus' spiritual message, but then he took a
militant apocalyptic approach, which he displayed when he wrote the
Book of Revelation. But, years later, John once more embraced a more
spiritual, realized eschatology, and he regretted his days as an
apocalyptic prophet. (Lee provides arguments that the same hand was
behind John's Gospel and the Book of Revelation, notwithstanding their
stylistic differences, and that John was an eyewitness to Christ. Lee
discusses his identification of John with John of Giscala in more detail
in his previous book, Revelation: The Way It Happened, which I have not yet read.)
One
thing that I have wondered as I have read Lee's book is this: Does Lee
think that John in his Gospel believes in an afterlife, a hope for the
believer that extends beyond the grave? To be honest, I'm having my
doubts. Lee interprets Jesus' statements in John 14 about preparing a
place for his disciples, not in reference to them going to heaven to be
with Jesus after their deaths, but rather in reference to Jesus through
the Holy Spirit coming to be with them on earth, in a new spiritual
temple. What, then, does God's victory concretely mean in John's
Gospel, according to Lee? What I'm getting is that it entails such
things as God protecting believers from the evil one, God expanding the
borders of the Christian community, Christ through his death drawing
people to himself, the believers loving and serving one another in
obedience to Christ, people having a new outlook as a result of their spiritual rebirth, and the church experiencing Christ's presence.
All of this realized eschatology is good, in my opinion, but, as I said in my
last post on Lee's book, I have a hard time conceiving of a religion
being hopeful when it lacks a futurist eschatology, or at the very least
a belief that there is a post-mortem realm where things are made
right. I have a hard time believing that John's Gospel----in which
Jesus stresses life, calls himself the resurrection, comforts Mary and
Martha by raising Lazarus from the dead, and rises from the dead
himself----viewed resurrection solely as a spiritual rebirth, without
some notion of the afterlife being attached to it.
(UPDATE: Later in the book, Lee addresses the question of whether John had a belief in some sort of afterlife. Stay tuned for my post on that!)
(UPDATE 2: Actually, I'll comment on the afterlife right now. On page
343, Lee says that "Not once does John promise an afterlife or describe
heaven", and on page 355 Lee criticizes the "afterlife-oriented
teachings of today's churches." Lee understands eternal life in John's
Gospel as abundant life and as knowing the Father and Christ, and such
passages as John 10:10 and John 17:3 may very well support that. At the
same time, Lee does appear to be open to the notion that John could
have had some conception of the afterlife, or at least that is my
impression. On page 332, Lee says that Jesus' soul going to the Father
and the two of them coming down to dwell with believers may give us
insight into John's view regarding the afterlife. And, on page 339, the
dying John tells Ruth that he will not leave her, for "Life is
everlasting, our Christian spirit forever entwined, for we are one."
Personally, I see no problem with regarding eternal life as abundant
life and as knowing God and Christ in the present, but I don't think
that precludes it applying to the afterlife, as well.)