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December 14, 2014 |
| John 3:16 In Context | ||
Probably the verse that any Christian learns is John 3:16. It is a very concise description of Salvation.
This verse or at least its Bible reference is everywhere, even painted on the faces of athletes. This verse is so well known in fact that is known by many non-Christians. As well as John 3:16 is known, no one can recite John 3:17 or John 3:15. There are dangers in that:
Many people also haven't really taken a detailed look at that verse. In this lesson we'll dig into it and its context.
As we said, every Christian can rattle off John 3:16. Generally the way it is said is pretty close to the King James Version, which is OK here because that verse is relatively free of Old English words. This study is going to work from a different translation so it will sound a little different.
16 For God loved the world in this way: so much that he would give up his son, the only one, so that everyone who trusts in him shall not be lost, but he shall have eternal life.
This is a power packed verse. It's no wonder that it is a favorite. There is much more to it than people realize. There is even more when it is understood in its context. It is God's plan for salvation. The key elements of this verse are:
Now that we fully understand the central verse let's take a look at the verse context for it. This context is found by understanding the verse, as we have, and including the verses before it and after it that are on the same topic. For John 3:16, the related verses are John 3:14-21.
There is also the bigger context of what is happening in the text. Jesus has been speaking to Nicodemus about being born again and Nicodemus is thoroughly confused. Jesus asks him how he can be a teacher of Israel and not know these things and, if he doesn't believe the earthly things Jesus speaks of, how will he believe the Heavenly things.
Jesus often referred to himself as the "son of man" as he does here again. In these verses he is also speaking about the son of God, but without clearly revealing he is the son. To the careful listener in his audience, however, his words were saying he is the son of God.
There is some uncertainty about who speaks John 3:16. The NIV says that Jesus stops speaking at John 3:15 and it is John's own words after that. The NASB says it is Jesus' words through John 3:21. The problem is that the original text did not have quote marks like we have and the words after John 3:16 would sound a little odd if Jesus said them.
Whether it is John, the author of this gospel, quoting Jesus or his own words, that isn't a problem for us because John was writing by the Holy Spirit. If it was the words of Nicodemus, that would be different.
Jesus begins this passage with these verses.
14 "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus the son of man is going to be lifted up, 15 so that every person who believes in him shall not be lost, but shall have eternal life.
Q1. What is this serpent Jesus is speaking of and how is it like
Jesus?
There was no reason for the Israelites to think that they could be saved by looking at a bronze snake on a pole. In all their lives no one had been saved from a poisonous snake bite by looking at a bronze snake on a pole - God was wanting an act of faith. The snake wasn't magical. God would save them if they would look at the snake and believe what God had said, that they would be healed.
In John 3:14, Jesus is saying he is similar to that snake in these ways:
So the bronze serpent could be seen as a prophecy about the coming of the Messiah or as a type of the Messiah
16 For God loved the world in this way: so much that he would give up his son, the only one, so that everyone who trusts in him shall not be lost, but he shall have eternal life.
We studied verse 16 earlier but we can now notice that it ends the same way as the previous verse "that everyone who trusts in him shall not be lost, but he shall have eternal life." By doing this he ties the two verses together. By linking the verses this way, his intent is to show that:
Q2. Jesus says God would give up his son. This can cause a lot of trouble for him.
Why is that?
17 For God did not send his son into the world that he would condemn the world, but that he would give life to the world by him.
Q3. Why didn't Jesus come to judge and condemn the world?
Some people want to twist the words "he would give life to the world" into meaning that everyone will be saved no matter what - life had been given to all the world. This idea is called Universalism. To answer this, remember that we talked about the word "give" before. The gift is given but it must be accepted.
18 Whoever believes in him is not judged, and whoever does not believe is judged already, because he does not believe in the name of the only begotten son of God.
The word "judged" here means that the standard has already been given - all mankind knows right from wrong. That standard sits in judgment always. Because we all have sinned (Romans 3:23) that judgment would be one of guilt. So the message is that each person has already been found guilty. The only way to escape this judgment finding of guilt is by believing and trusting in Jesus.
19 This is the judgment: the light has come into the world and the children of men loved the darkness more than the light, because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does what is hateful, hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be convicted.
These verses can be restated in another way. That judgment of guilt is that Jesus came into the world to show what was good but the world hated him because they knew they were doing what was evil but they wanted to do evil anyway. They hated the light of truth and rejected it, because they didn't want their evil deeds to be revealed for what they were.
This could be simplified to saying that the world knew what was wrong but they wanted to do it anyway and they didn't want to feel guilty about it.
We hear this echoed in our time with sayings such as "who are you to judge me" and the twisted verse "judge not lest you be judged". What people really mean by these is: don't make me feel bad about what I'm doing, I want to do it anyway.
Deep inside, people know what is right and wrong but they find ways to justify doing what they know is wrong. They may allow themselves to be deceived by others or they may deceive themselves.
21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be revealed, that they are performed by God."
Those who do evil hide from the light and hate the light because it shows what they do is evil, we (who love the truth) are anxious to present our works for inspection.
This verse also makes the interesting point that our works are not done by us but by God working through us. Therefore our works, if they are Godly, show that God is within us. This is just another way of saying that you will know a tree by its fruit.
In John 3:16 and its context we have seen:
We've also seen that the meaning didn't change when it was understood in its context. Most people are not using it in a way that was not intended. There are some exceptions though: