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JOHN AND THE DARK COSMOS
plish (John 5:16, 7:1, 32, 8:59, 10:39, 11:54, 57, 12:36, 18:3, 12–14, 30–31,
19:7, 12, 15). Because it is part of the historical memory that Jesus and his
initial followers are Jewish, the author also recognizes that “salvation is
from the Jews” (4:22), but he does not think that it remains within Judaism.
In the Gospel of John Jesus warns his followers that they will be expelled
from the synagogues, persecuted and killed by “the Jews,” who have
not acknowledged Jesus and have no relationship with Jesus’ Father (9:22,
12:42, 15:20, 16:2–3). The only solace the Christians have in this Gospel is
faith in Jesus’ powerful prayer of protection that his Father will safeguard
them from the hatred of the world and the world ruler (17:14–16).
Jesus promises his followers that they will know the truth and the
truth will make them free from their slavery to sin and the forces of evil
(8:31–32). To liberate humans from their enslavement to cosmic forces,
Jesus must battle the forces of darkness and overthrow their leader, the
world ruler (12:31–32). In the Johannine story, this moment happens at
the crucifixion. Jesus’ death is identified as the moment of triumph, when
the powerful spirit that has been residing within Jesus leaves behind Jesus’
human body and draws everyone up with him (12:31–32, 19:30). This is
the moment of liberation, when Jesus conquers the world ruler and saves
the spirit (16:10–11; cf. 14:30).
Gnostic Footprints
The Gospel of John tells a story about Jesus that is vastly different from
those told about him in the other New Testament Gospels, in which Jesus
is depicted as a prophet and Messiah chosen by God as the leader of God’s
kingdom. Only in John is Jesus portrayed as a divine emissary who descends
from a transcendent celestial realm to reveal his Father to people lost
in a dark cosmos controlled by the sinister world ruler. Only in the Gospel
of John does Jesus descend as a spiritual entity of light to teach humans
about an unknown God, conquer the demonic forces, and save the faithful.
This story is so different from the one written in the other Gospels that
we have wondered for years whose story it originally was. Although none
of this narrative would have been anathema to early Apostolic Catholics,
it is also true that this narrative was the ultimate story of Jesus for the
Gnostic Christians, who presented Jesus as the divine superman sent from
the transcendent God to save them from the darkness.