Do John 5 and John 12 Contradict?

Do John 5 and John 12 Contradict?

If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world,” (John 12:47 NASB1995).

“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,” (John 5:22 NASB1995).

John 5 is specifically referring to the second coming: “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment,” (John 5:25-29 NASB1995). 

John 12, rather, is making a division between the first and second coming. Jesus, in his first coming did not plan to bring forth the judgment of God; rather, this will occur in the second coming. As the Gospel of Matthew states: "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats," (Matthew 25:31-32 NASB1995).

Again it is said: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty," (Revelation 19:11-15 NASB1995).

To summarize, the two passages refer to different periods of time. John 12 tells us Jesus will not judge now, and John 5 tells us he will judge in the future, there is therefore no contradiction.

Works Used:

Image by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash

NASB 1995 Bible. United States, American Bible Society, 1995.