The Genre Studies Gap with Professor Jeannine Brown and Dr. Andy Judd (Podcast)

One response to “The Genre Studies Gap with Professor Jeannine Brown and Dr. Andy Judd (Podcast)”

1. 

   Tom Peters

   December 4, 2024

   Thank you for this interesting discussion of genre in scripture. My question is simple. It is clear from Dr. Brown’s excellent book that Jesus during his earthly ministry told riddles to his followers and his other listeners. Does Jesus also tell riddles through other Biblical “authors” in his capacity as the risen Lord? If he can, which I assume he can if he chooses to, did he embed a riddle in Paul’s description of the “final” judgment of believers in 2 Cor. 5:10. The riddle is this: why did Paul mention the physical body, the Soma, in the context of a passage outlining the final judgment of believers (when believers are by definition no longer in their physical, earthly bodies, that is, in the Soma), if such a judgment is futuristic and apocalyptic in nature? Stated differently, is the risen Lord telling us through a riddle that theological speculations about some “intermediate state” for believers after their physical death, or perhaps some vague form of “soul sleep,” represent a misreading of his intentions with respect to the timing and nature of judgment, at least for believers; and that instead he wants us to know that he judges believers “finally” in this life, so that immediately upon their death he proceeds to resurrect them bodily for eternity. In other words, there is no “waiting room” for eternity.

   Indeed, Jesus seems to say this very thing in Matt. 24:31 (NIV) in his description of the Second Coming: “And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” The Greek text reads: καὶ ἀποστελεῖ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ μετὰ σάλπιγγος μεγάλης, καὶ ἐπισυνάξουσιν τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων ἀπ’ ἄκρων οὐρανῶν ἕως [τῶν] ἄκρων αὐτῶν. This verse suggests the notion of many active, resurrected bodies exploring the heavens, not mere disembodied spirits residing for a time (perhaps a very long time, see the example of the repentant thief) in some hazy, rather unfulfilling, and largely joyless intermediate state (at least when compared to the glorious state of eternal bodily resurrection).

   The bottom line is that Jesus may be using an embedded divine riddle in Paul’s writings (perhaps without Paul’s conscious understanding at the time) to correct our flawed, and (if I might say) rather unwieldly and somewhat wooden, understanding of the nature and timing of judgment. Perhaps Jesus disapproves of the “cottage industry” of apocalyptic writings and speculations that seem overly complicated and not in keeping with the direct and immediate way that Jesus tends to address and resolve issues. For example, in John 11:24 look at what Martha said to Jesus regarding her brother Lazarus (NIV): “‘Yes,’ Martha said, ‘he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day’.” Much to Martha’s delight and surprise, Jesus went ahead and raised up Lazarus with dispatch. In other words, Jesus’s response to Martha’s disbelief was uncomplicated, direct, and immediate, just as it is, and will be, with his followers upon their physical death.

   Perhaps our Lord wishes our focus to be on his relationship with us in this life rather in some distant future, which we cannot possibly comprehend anyway. Compare John 3:12 (NLT): “But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” Recognition that the “Judgment Seat of Christ” is in the here and now would certainly seem to do just that. Now that would be a wonderfully enlightening use of the exegetical tool of genre in scripture.

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