John 3, Part Two

“For God so loved the world” (vs. 11-21)—The apostle John often has Jesus speaking of heavenly matters, which can be somewhat difficult to understand. The “We” of verse 11 perhaps refers to the godhead in its totality. Jesus came down from heaven and is trying to tell men about it, but “you do not receive Our witness.” Men, by and large, don’t accept Jesus’ interpretation of earthly matters—things they can see—so they certainly aren’t going to accept what He says about heaven—things they can’t see (v. 12). Jesus is the only one qualified to speak of heaven because He has been there and, in some sense, still “is in heaven” (v. 13). And His crucifixion is what will save mankind from sin (v. 14). The faith of verses 15 and 16 is obedient faith, not faith only. Verse 16 is, indeed, a very beautiful and powerful verse, but must not be taken out of context, or alone, as the totality of what God says about how men are to be saved. We already saw, earlier in this chapter, that a “new birth” by “water and Spirit” is necessary, and thus how can verse 16 mean faith alone? God wants all men to be saved, not lost (v. 17); that’s why Jesus came, and those who have faith in Him will indeed be saved. But the unbeliever will be lost—is lost (v. 18). That can be remedied, of course, by faith in Christ. What condemns man is not Jesus’ coming to the earth or His message or anything God has or has not done. What condemns man to eternal perdition is a rejection of the light which God sent to the world (v. 19). Why do men reject the light (Jesus)? Because “men loved darkness (sin) rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (v. 19). There are people who hate the light (v. 20); they don’t want their evil deeds exposed to others. But there are those who do indeed love the truth and love the light, will come to it, and glorify God by those works (v. 21).

There is much brilliant, though simple, philosophy in Jesus’ words here. People are lost in spite of everything God has done for them. He “so loved the world”—not just “loved the world,” but “so loved the world”—that He gave His perfect, sinless Son to die a death we all deserve. Yea, we deserve worse. Unfortunately, Christianity, the teachings of Jesus, the very nature of God, demand a holy, righteous lifestyle, as much as in us is. We must turn from our evil ways and submit humbly to Jehovah. Too many men do not want to do that simply because they prefer the pleasures of this world. And they live, and will die, in the hope that Christianity is not true, that Jesus is not the Son of God. It is a supreme gamble they are taking, and a vain one. But again, God has done all He can; there must be a response by man.

John the Baptist’s further testimony (vs. 22-36)—Jesus, of course, was never fully understood while He was on this earth, because His mission was so contrary to Jewish expectations. John the Baptist continued his work of baptizing and preparing men for the kingdom of God (vs. 22-24). A dispute over purification arose between some Jews and John’s disciples; this is not terribly surprising since John was preaching that baptism was for the forgiveness of sins (it always has been), and Judaism has its own cleansing rites. And some of John’s disciples complained that Jesus was beginning to steal the spotlight (v. 26). But John, being the great man that he was, tries to direct his followers towards Jesus. John recognized that Jesus’ mission came from heaven (v. 27). He’d already told everybody that he wasn’t the Christ. John is “the friend of the bridegroom” who “rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.” So John himself was very joyous to know of the coming of the Christ (v. 29). And, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (v. 30). Jesus came from heaven, spoke heavenly things, not earthly, and “is above all” (v. 31). All He is doing is testifying of what He has seen and heard—of heavenly things (v. 32). Jesus is the only one qualified to do so. But “no one receives His testimony”; that’s a hyperbole, of course, because many men did receive Christ’s message, but most did not. Yet, at the time, very few understood Him. God sent Him to give the full measure of the Spirit’s message (v. 34). There is a close bond between Father and Son, and salvation and the preaching of that message is now in Christ’s hands; that is my understanding of John’s enigmatic statement that the Father “has given all things into His (Christ’s) hand” (v. 35). It could also be a statement of authority, such as Jesus said in Matthew 28:18. Belief in Jesus leads to everlasting life; disobedience leads to the wrath of God (v. 36). There is a difference, in verse 36, between the “believes” in the first part of the sentence, and the “believe” in the latter; they are different Greek words, and the latter means “obey.” The American Standard Version accurately translates this; the KJV and NKJV don’t make the distinction that they should. Obedience is necessary for salvation (Hebrews 5:8-9).