Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Benjamin E. Reynolds on The Son of Man’s Apocalyptic Role in Resurrection

  

The Son of Man’s Apocalyptic Role in Resurrection

 

A further indication of the apocalyptic nature of the Johannine Son of Man in John 5 is found in the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked. John 5.28-29 speaks of the hour that is still to come in which those who are in the grave will hear his voice and will come out of the grave. Those who do good will be raised to a resurrection of life (αναστασις ζωης), and those practice evil to a resurrection of judgment (αναστασις κρισεως). Daniel 12.2 provides a close parallel to John 5.28-29. OG Dan 12.2 states: και πολλοι των καθευδοντων εν τω πλατει της γης αναστησονται, οι μεν εις ζωην αιωνιον, οι δε εις ονειδισμον, οι δε εις διασποραν και αισχυνην αιωνιον. There are no noteworthy verbal similarities between the Greek versions of Daniel and John 5.28-29, but there are some conceptual similarities that are of interest. (1) Both passages refer to people who have been buried. (2) Two groups of people, the righteous and the wicked, are raised. 93) Both groups receive judgment that has eternal consequences, and (4) the righteous are listed first in both texts (cf. 3.20-21). (5) A fifth conceptual similarity is perceptible in the theme of judgment. Dan 12.2 contains no explicit mention of judgment as in John 5, but the entire context is suggestive of judgment. Some of the description in Dan 12.1-2 is similar to Daniel’s vision and its interpretation in Daniel 7, particularly regarding the book mentioned in 12.2 (cf. Dan. 7.10). the reference to Michael the archangel in 12.1 is also suggestive of judgment.

 

There are numerous references in non-biblical literature which describe the resurrection of the dead as the earth’s act of giving back to the dead, but not many of these speak specifically of a double resurrection of the righteous and of the wicked. Of the texts that do mention a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked, the resurrection takes place in the context of judgment, and in the Similitudes of Enoch 46-48; 4 Ezra 7.32-36; 2 Bar. 50.2-51.3; Matt 25.31-46; and Rev 14.14, this judgment takes place following the appearance of the son of man figure. Likewise, the Gospel of John links the eschatological judgment, a double resurrection, and the appearance of the Son of Man. In 5.28, the Son of Man’s voice is heard by the dead in the grave and they are raised to a resurrection of life or a resurrection of judgment. This connection between the Son of Man and the eschatological judgment is also found in John 12, where the judgment of the world and the ruler of the world takes place at the glorification of the Son of Man. Thus, the Gospel’s portrayal of the son of Man is not only similar to Daniel, but it also shares similarities with the Jewish apocalyptic interpretations of the Danielic son of man.

 

John 5.27 has verbal similarities with Dan 7.13-14, the theme of judgment is present in both John 5 and Daniel 7, and John 5 shares the similar concept of the double resurrection of the righteous and wicked with Daniel 12. Those Jewish apocalyptic works that interpret the Danielic son of man depict this double resurrection as taking place in conjunction with the appearance of the son of man figure. Thus with each of these three aspects, the Gospel of John portrays the Son of Man with similar themes and contexts as Daniel 7 and the Jewish apocalyptic and early Christian interpretations of the Danielic son of man . . . (Benjamin E. Reynolds, The Apocalyptic Son of Man in the Gospel of John [Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 249; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007], 140-42)