The Gospel of John

Part 5, A Bicameral Eschatology

In yesterday's post I described how I attempt to reconcile the paradox of judgment in the Gospel of John. Specifically, in John Jesus seems to contradict himself. On the one hand Jesus says, "I did not come to judge the world." (Jn. 12.47). But the other hand, Jesus also says, "For judgment I came into the world."  (Jn. 9.39).

As I shared, I have tried to reconcile this paradox by making a distinction between Jesus' actions and our response to his actions. Jesus' actions in John are not judgmental. His actions are to save. He is, simply, the Light. The Son of Man comes with an offer of eternal life. We come under judgment in this moment when we choose darkness over the light. As I described in yesterday's post, Jesus bifurcates the cosmos. With the Light now shining in the darkness we are faced with a choice of eschatological consequence. 

There's a lot, I think, to recommend this view. Instead of eschatological judge Jesus is simply the Light. Shining, available, inviting, non-anxious. Do we enter the light? Or cling to the darkness? 

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (Jn. 3.19-21)

It's our love or hatred of the Light that creates "the judgment." This is a self-inflicted wound. 

Anyway, these are just my ideas, independent of any conversation with Biblical scholarship. But after puzzling about this I did start poking around theological journals to see what has been written about the the paradoxical things Jesus says about judgment in the Gospel of John.

One interesting idea I found was from a PhD dissertation written by Alan Blackwood entitled "The Theology of Judgement in the Fourth Gospel Christology and Eschatology in John 5."

Blackwood's idea is that John introduces an eschatological innovation when compared to the Synoptic tradition. Specifically, the Synoptic tradition, following the book of Daniel, pictures the Son of Man coming in future judgment, "the Day of Lord." Just survey Jesus' parables and you see that idea depicted. The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, the Ten Virgins, Lazarus and the Rich Man. Here's the idea from the Parable of the Fishing Net:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mt. 13.47-50)

The Synoptic idea was that on the Day of the Lord the righteous would be vindicated. On that day, the righteous will be separated from the wicked. But importantly for this conversation, judgment awaits everyone. 

Blackwood argues that John modifies this idea. According to Blackwood, John teaches that those who accept Jesus move immediately "from death to life," right here and now. I've described this idea already in this series, how for John "eternal life" is a present reality as opposed to a delayed and future hope. What this suggests, continues Blackwood, is that those who accept Jesus are exempted from the coming judgment. John, in a sense, moves "vindication" forward in time, making it available immediately. The Day of the Lord is still coming for those who reject Jesus, this event still sits in the future, but that Day now only awaits the recalcitrant. Basically, the "timing" of judgment for the righteous and wicked has become decoupled.

Blackwood describes this two-phase eschatology--saved today or judged tomorrow--as a "bicameral" eschatology. ("Bicameral" is a legislative term meaning "two chambers" or "two branches" of government.) Here's how Blackwood's abstract summarizes the problem of judgment in John, especially in in John 5, with his proposed resolution:

This thesis addresses the apparent puzzle of the theology of judgement in the Fourth Gospel. Throughout John's Gospel, Jesus is presented as both judging and not judging while eschatological scenarios are presented and alluded to in which humanity will be judged at the last day and also in which there will be no final judgement. This puzzling theology is particularly apparent in John 5 as has been noted many times in Johannine scholarship... 

The hypothesis which is proposed at the beginning of this thesis is that John 5 presents a unified theology of judgement which is bicameral in that it consists of two eschatological compartments - one for Christian believers and one for the rest of humanity. The eschatology which John 5 presents for Christian believers is one in which they have been exempted from any end-time judgement process, but have already obtained the salvific benefit of eternal life which they shall continue to enjoy in a heavenly realm following bodily death. In parallel, John 5 presents a more traditional eschatology of a judgement tribunal for the rest of humanity at the eschaton where Christ, as God's appointed judge, will sit in judgement of those who have rejected him and those who have not had the opportunity to accept him...

For believers in Jesus there will be no judgment. The faithful are exempted from facing "the Day of the Lord." But that day is still looming for those who continue to reject Jesus and embrace darkness. The critical text for Blackwood is John 5.21-29. Let's walk though this passage showing how Blackwood's bicameral eschatology explains it:

"For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."

This is the first "chamber" of the bicameral eschatology. The Son has authority to judge, and will judge as we will see shortly. But if a person believes in Jesus they "do not come into judgment." Belief exempts you from judgment because you move, here and now, from death to life. You have, right now, eternal life. You've escaped judgment. 

The text continues...

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment."

While those who believe in Jesus "will not come into judgment," because they have already "passed from life to death," a day of judgment is still coming. But this judgment is for those who have rejected Jesus. The wicked will rise from the dead to "a resurrection of judgment." The faithful, by contrast, don't face that that judgment. The faithful rise to face a "resurrection of life," because they have already, as we've seen, "passed from death to life." 

As I've described, this vision is a bit different from the one presented in the Synoptics, where the righteous and the wicked stand side by side to face judgment, but where the righteous will be vindicated. Given John's "vertical" eschatology, as described in this series, this "vindication" for the faithful is moved forward in time to become a live reality here and now. The righteous don't have to "wait" for a coming vindication. They already posses eternal life. For them, there will be no judgment.