Enigmatic Sayings in The Gospel of John
“Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:54).
The Gospel of John contains certain sayings of our Lord Jesus in which the same vocabulary is used with two or more different levels of meaning. These sayings may be designated as enigmatic, mysterious. This situation is similar to our Lord’s motivation for speaking in parables in the other three Gospels; so that some would understand his teaching and others (whose due time for understanding had not yet come) would not (Matthew 13:10-15). When a level of meaning is misunderstood, when one level is taken for another, the Master’s statements may be wrongly applied, and false doctrine may result.
EATING THE FLESH OF THE SON OF MAN
Let us examine a statement of Jesus which has proven puzzling to believers in the resurrection. As found at John 6:53-54, our Lord’s words are: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” The eating and drinking of the flesh and blood are certainly symbolic; this refers to appropriating the ransom benefits by faith. Those who do so, and remain faithful, expect to be literally raised “at the last day.” But how can it be said that such a one “hath eternal life” (present tense)? The “eternal life” which one has as a present possession is not that immortal life which will be obtained at the “first resurrection,” but the spirit-begotten existence which may be experienced now.
AIONIOS
The Greek word translated “eternal” is aionios (Strong 166), which is the adjectival form of aion meaning “age.” While Strong gives “perpetual” as the meaning of aionios, we agree with Benjamin Wilson in his assessment that “Being an adjective and derived from the noun … it cannot properly go beyond its meaning.” (See the Alphabetical Appendix, pages 871-2, of the Diaglott.) Rotherham attempts his own corrective by rendering the word as “age-abiding.” This rendering, however, presents the unfortunate thought that the life here indicated only lasts for an age. Rather, the correct thought is that the spirit-begotten life now conferred is characteristic of the age-to-come — that is, that there is enough correspondence between the spirit-begotten life of the new creature and the life of the “first resurrection” that even now the new creature is considered as living the future life. That future life, once conferred, will not last only for the Millennial Age but, as Paul states, will be a putting on of “immortality” or deathlessness (1 Corinthians 15:53). Nor are we to understand from Jesus’ words that such “eternal” or “aionian life” (Wilson’s rendering) in the spirit-begotten state cannot be forfeited through unfaithfulness as long as one remains in the flesh.
I AM THE RESURRECTION, AND THE LIFE
Of further consideration are Jesus’ words to Martha when he was about to raise her brother Lazarus. “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). The first part of the statement is clear. If one believes in Jesus (with an active faith, faithful unto death) and literally dies, he shall “yet” live — literally come to life in the “first resurrection.” But can the second part of the statement be taken to mean that there are those who are currently living who, if they believe in Jesus, will never literally die? We must understand that life and death are used in two different senses, and only one of these is literal as normally understood. The literal life is mentioned first, and the spiritual or figurative life is mentioned second. So it is the one who now lives in the spirit-begotten condition and believes in Jesus who will “never die.” How will such a one never die?
As long as faithfulness is maintained, the spirit-begotten life is never forfeited. Even though such one dies literally, and even prior to the parousia, he still “lives” in God’s memory — similar to Ancient Worthies who are remembered (Luke 20:37-38). But further, such a one will never die the “second death” (Revelation 20:6). This understanding is also the key to Jesus’ statement at John 8:51, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.”
THE MAN WHO WAS BORN BLIND
Finally, with regard to the concepts of sight and blindness we find that on the occasion of healing the man who was born blind, not just two, but three levels of meaning were used. Remember that the man then exercised faith in Jesus, whereas the Pharisees were highly critical. In response to this situation, Jesus remarked: “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind” (John 9:39). This statement has no reference to literal blindness, even though a literal healing had occurred.
One might at first think that the contrast is simply between those who are spiritually sighted and those who are spiritually blind. But the account continues: “And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth” (John 11:40-41). So the Pharisees have complicated the picture by claiming to have spiritual sight, and Jesus seems to be taking them at their word. How may this be explained?
The Pharisees had a sort of spiritual sight. They were not in the same situation as someone who was only minimally interested in religion, but was then enlightened by Jesus. They had their own understanding of the Torah, but they saw through the eyes of their tradition (compare Matthew 15:1-9). Now that Jesus made the real truth available, they persisted in that tradition. So Jesus was telling them that if they had been “blind” through no fault of their own, they would not have been held to a higher standard. But now, by continuing to “see” through the eyes of tradition, they were refusing the opportunity to actually see spiritually. A degree of willful sin is involved in refusing to see truth, and persisting in tradition. The three levels of meaning, then, are (1) spiritual blindness, (2) traditional sightedness or understanding, and (3) true spiritual sightedness.
Let us continue to look for different levels of meaning as we read the enigmatic sayings in the Gospel of John, as well as the rest of the Scriptures.
— Bro. Robert Virgil, selected from a longer article