John 3:14-21, Year B, Lent 4

Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

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This text really begins back in Verse 3:1 with the visit of Nicodemus in the middle of the night. Verses 3:1-21 contain 3 questions / statements by Nicodemus, and 3 responses by Jesus - each beginning with Jesus  giving his word of honour to his response, "Very truly, I tell you:"

• 3:3, no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above;
• 3:5, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit; and,
• 3:11, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.

These passages are thick with words that have double - or triple - meanings, and images that are presented as sharp contrasts:

• born 'from above" can equally be translated as born "anew."
• Spirit, wind, breath are all translations of the same word.
• Earth is contrasted with heaven; flesh with spirit; darkness with light;  evil with truth; hate with love; condemnation with salvation; death with eternal life - and by implication, heaven, Spirit, light, truth, love, salvation and eternal life belong together.

Whereas in Matthew, Mark and Luke, the Spirit descends from heaven onto Jesus; in John, it is Jesus, the Son of Man, who has ascended into and descended from heaven. (Verse 3:13) Thus, the testimony of Jesus here is meant to be understood as his first-hand, eye-witness, family-insider testimony.

Verse 14. In John, the Son of Man is "lifted up" (on a cross), whereas in Matthew, Mark and Luke the Son of Man is killed. Indeed, in John, Jesus is not said to die, but rather he gives up his Spirit. (Verse 19:30) Instead of this being a shameful, brutal death, "being lifted up" reveals God's glory, for it is from on high - where God resides - that God sees the world, and so loves the world as to send his Son.

In John, the action of saving the world is not to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Unlike Matthew, Mark, and Luke John is not proposing the coming of a new political structure on earth. Rather he is proposing the formation of an alternative society "from above."

And so, salvation lies in being born anew; in being born from above - in re-defining one's "family of origin." John really means that we become God's off-spring, children of God, and in that way we receive from God the same honour and character that God has; and owe God the same loyalty that blood relations show one another (or ought to).

In Verses 16 to18, "belief" needs to be read as "trust and bond with:"

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who trusts and bonds with him may not perish but have eternal life.

¹⁷ Indeed, God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might saved through him. ¹⁸ Those who trust and bond with him are not condemned; but those who do not trust and bond with him are condemned already, because they have not trusted and bonded with the family (the name) of the only Son of God.

That is, no one is saved by intellectual agreement with a "belief." Salvation is all about the restoration of broken relationships. Being "saved" simply means being restored to the proper bond and trust of true kinship.

It is important to note, the organic "logical consequences," of these words. That is,

1. the action starts with God so loving the world - the whole world - without any qualifications, hesitations, exceptions or prior demands.
2. Then the Son comes.
3. Those who trust and bond with the son, become part of the Son's family (being born anew from above), and thereby 
4. become heirs to the family estate: heaven, Spirit, light, truth, love, salvation and eternal life.
5. Those who don't trust and bond with the Son, don't become part of the family, and don't becomes heirs.

To be more clear. The logic of John is NOT: If you believe, then God will love you and save you. God's salvation is not a reward for belief. Nor does God withhold God's love, forgiveness and salvation until we believe.

On the other hand, since love is not coercive, we do have to accept the invitation in order to actually be part of the party.

David Ewart,
www.davidewart.ca