Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 62:2 (Jun 2019)
Article: Jesus As The Rejected Prophet And Exalted Lord: The Rhetorical Effect Of Type Shifting In John 12:38–41
Author: Bruce Henning

JETS 62:2 (June 2019) p. 329

Jesus As The Rejected Prophet And Exalted Lord:
The Rhetorical Effect Of Type Shifting
In John 12:38–41

Bruce Henning*

* Bruce Henning is a professor of Bible and Theology at Emmaus Bible College, 2570 Asbury Rd., Dubuque, IA 52001. He may be contacted at bhenning@emmaus.edu.

Abstract: The Gospel of John portrays Jesus with rich images found in the Old Testament, but these types can produce seemingly conflicting results. This essay argues that John 12:38–41 purposefully confuses the imagery found in Isaiah 6, where Isaiah sees the king in his glory and is also commissioned to be a rejected prophet. First, the often-ignored connection between Jesus and Isaiah is established by considering features in John 12, John 9, and the Synoptic tradition. We will conclude that, had John not included verse 41, the readers would have only connected Jesus to Isaiah. Then we will explore how John shifts this typology in verse 41, so that the mapping changes from Isaiah—Jesus to YHWH—Jesus. Lastly, the rhetorical effect of a typology paradox is discussed to see that how the themes of rejection and glorification converge in the context of John 12.

Key words: John 12, Isaiah 6, typology, intertextuality, suffering as glory

The Gospel of John frequently points its readers to the OT to make typological correspondences between famous images and the person of Jesus, demonstrating the claim, “If you believed Moses you would have believed me, for he wrote about me” (5:46). And so, as the reader progresses through the discourses of John, new typological connections continue to be presented. Jesus is the temple, then he is the serpent in the wilderness, then he is the true manna, and so on. Though the variable of the OT source image constantly shifts, they all map to one constant target, Jesus.1 This article examines this occurrence at the end of the Book of Signs in John 12:37–41 with its reference to the scene of Isaiah 6, in which Isaiah sees the king in his glory and is commissioned to be a rejected prophet. As with so many other places in John, this passage evokes a well-known OT text and maps a significant figure to Jesus. This essay...