John 3:14-21
14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
___________________________________
By time the book was written, probably 90 AD or later, many differences and disputes had arisen between the followers of Jesus. There were even disputes over the nature of Jesus, himself. The Gospel of John answers that.
We learn that Jesus existed from the beginning of the creation with God, and that he was God. Not “a god” but God. Those who thought God the father created Jesus later, are wrong. Those who thought Jesus was subordinate to God, are wrong. Jesus is a coequal part of God. The mystery of the trinity is being revealed here.
I think this passage is about God’s response to human bad behavior. We are free, and we always are eventually mean to each other.
God’s response to this is not punishment, but rather love. He gives us Jesus, who is literally a part of himself. This part, Jesus, becomes fully human, being born of a woman, raised as a child, working as a laborer, and experiencing directly everything it is to be human, even unto death on a cross. And he is also the Son of God. He shows us the spiritual way to overcome this harsh physical world. For “everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.” He has suffered with us, he understands us, and he saves us.
Prayer: “Lord God help us to accept your great sacrifice of yourself in Jesus, and be true to your ways.”
—Max Fritzler