John’s Delectable Double Meanings – Brad Jersak

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The Gospel of John is an amazing showcase of double entendres. A few of my favourites are:

John 1:4-5

  • “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (NIV)
  • “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (NKJV)

John 1:9

  • “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” (NIV)
  • “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” (NKJV)

In those cases, you can see how two translations read John’s words differently. Which is right? BOTH, perhaps, as John may have intended the double meaning. Other passages hold this double sense within a single word. For example,

John 12:32

  • “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

The next verse does specify, “He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.” No doubt. But also, as the Gospel plays out, John (and/or Jesus) may intend the double or even triple sense of ‘lifted up’: (i) lifted up bodily onto the cross, (ii) ascending in his enthronement onto his cruciform throne, and (iii) being exalted by those who believe in and worship him as Lord. No matter what Jesus’ initially or John as author later intended, the Spirit can be expand our vision of the phrase after post-resurrection theological reflection and reception.

The way John plays with the ambiguity of Greek words lends itself to these layered meanings but also contributes to his delicious use of irony. For example,

John 19:13

  • “When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).” (John 19:13)

On one hand, Pilate was certainly the one who sat on the governor’s bema seat. And our English translations also portray the event this way. That’s the literal sense. But some scholars note that John’s Greek and the action sequence can be read more ambiguously. Not literally, but theologically, you could imagine that “… Pilate brought Jesus out and sat [JESUS] down on the judge’s seat.” (The Greek may allow for that even if the circumstances did not).

In addition, Gospel commentator Craig Keener notes that in this chapter, Pilate is afraid of Jesus, not mocking him. And we may notice that throughout the scene, Pilate passes back and forth from his court outside to speak to the rulers and the public—passing over that threshold seven times.

So, we should imagine the spiritual reality of Jesus sitting on the judge’s seat and that Pilate is actually on trial. And it might be that John wants us to recognize how ironic that would be. From eternity’s perspective, that’s exactly what is truly happening regarding of the literal seating arrangements.

In any case, the way John sees it, the true judgment seat on which Jesus sits and reigns is not in Pilate’s court, but the Cross itself.

John 12:31

  • “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.” (John 12:31)

Back to John 12, the verse just prior to his “lifting up,” Jesus speaks of the judgment of the world and the driving out of its ruler. I raise this verse as a question for comment. A friend suggested a possible double entendre in this verse as well.

In the first case, Jesus appears to be saying that the world system, hostile to God, is about to be exposed as unjust and stand condemned for crucifying God’s Son. But in a miraculous turn of events, this murderous conspiracy will backfire so profoundly that Satan, “the ruler” of this world system, will be utterly defeated and cast out. That reading seems correct since Jesus says in John 14:30, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me…”

Now, not that Jesus also means the following in his immediate context, but are we meant to perceive in his statement a twist of what his enemies intended: that in and through the world system’s judgment of Jesus (via Pilate), the true and rightful ruler of this world (Jesus) will be arrested, driven out, and crucified. But glory to God, the resurrection totally subverts what human institutions (civil and religious) intended (the latter reading) into the reality of the first reading.

Could be. It wouldn’t be unlike John to work the irony in that way. And in any case, his way of telling the beautiful gospel is captivating.

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