Lectionary Reflection — 11 March 2018, Fourth Sunday in Lent
13-15“No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it’s necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up — and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.
16-18“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
19-21“This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”
Other readings:
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On our fourth Sunday of the Lenten Season, we’re given one of the most famous passages in all the Bible — well, at least the most famous verse. It’s become a slogan and bumper sticker. It’s been made into a sign for sporting events. Of course, I’m speaking of John 3.16. Here’s that verse in other translations:
Common English Bible (CEB):2 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life.
English Standard Version (ESV):3 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
(New) King James Version (NKJV/KJV):4 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that (whoever) whosoever (believes) believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
New International Version (NIV):5 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
New Living Translation (NLT):6 For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
I must admit, there’s a disconnect here for a lot of us. On one hand, we’ve been told not to love the world because if we love the world God’s love isn’t in us (1 John 2.15). But on the other hand, God loves the world (John 3.16) and we’re supposed to be like God (Matthew 5.48; cf. 2 Peter 1.16). So what gives?
The problem comes from how one interprets the word “world.” In John 3.16, the Greek word is κόσμον (kosmos) and, as can be seen, is where we get our word “cosmos.” However it’s used in a variety of ways in the New Testament. Sometimes it means the cosmos, the universe (Matthew 13.35) Sometimes κόσμον means “beauty” or “ornamentation” (1 Peter 3.3). Sometimes it means all of humanity, (Matthew 5.14). While other times κόσμον means only non-Jewish people, the Gentiles (Romans 11.12, 15). Sometimes it means the systems or structures of society (John 18.36). And sometimes it only means the “world” of the Old Covenantal System (Galatians 4.3; Colossians 2.8, 20).7
The question, then, is what does κόσμον mean in John 3.16?8 This is where interpretation comes in. And the best way for us to interpret this verse is to step back and look at the context.
In the previous verses (13-15), Jesus said, “In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert … it’s necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up …” This is the only reference in the Bible to the events recorded in Numbers 21.4-9. So what happened?
After God rescued the Hebrews from Egypt, they wandered in the wilderness. During this time the nation of Israel started complaining about how Yahweh and Moses were managing things. So (as the story goes), Yahweh sent poisonous snakes to attack the people and many of them died from their wounds.9 The people came to Moses in repentance and asked him to pray to Yahweh on their behalf. And Moses did. Yahweh tells Moses to take a snake and put it on a pole and whoever looks at the “snake on a pole” will be healed.
That’s the story Jesus alludes to. So what’s his point?
Again, Jesus said, “In the same way…”, so there’s a connection here, a parallel. He said he’d be lifted up “in the same way” that Moses put the snake on a pole. And everyone who looks to Jesus on the pole will be given the Life of God10 “the same way” that all of Israel was healed when they looked at the snake on a pole. We see, then, that the parallel is between Israel and the “world.” It seems clear to me that the scope and meaning of the κόσμον in this passage is at least all the inhabitants of the planet.11
Next, Jesus said that this was how much God loved the “world,” the κόσμον. God loves it so much that God sent Jesus, not to judge the world, but to save the world (verse 17).
Think about that for a moment.
We’ve been told our whole lives that God is going to “judge the world” and destroy it. Here John emphatically states that God sent Jesus to save the world, not judge it. If our theology includes theories of judgment — about the total annihilation of the cosmos and the majority of the people of this planet — then we need to restudy our theology. Here’s a crystal clear passage that states God’s intention for the world and it’s not destruction. God’s intention is to rescue the world. That’s the reason Jesus was sent.
The great thing about this passage is that one can be rescued now. “In the same way” ancient Israel was healed if they looked at the snake on a pole, people can be rescued right now. We don’t have to wait. Rescue is available right now because God loves the world that much.
But here’s “the crisis we’re in.” We’d rather continue in our addictions than be rescued. That is, because of Jesus, the doors of our prisons have been opened and our chains have been loosened, but we’ve remained inside the cell (Acts 16.25-28). Instead of stepping out into the Love of God, we’ve cowered into the far corner of our cells. Why? Because we just know that God’s going to destroy us. We’ve been told as much.
This Lent, what can we do to recapture the Love of God for the world? What steps can we take to show people that God’s not going to destroy them but has already rescued them in Love? How would this shift in our view of the world — that God isn’t going to judge it but has already reduced it — change the way we interact with creation? How would it affect others if we see them, not as people in need of judgment, but our sisters and brothers fearful of stepping out of their opened prison cells into the all-embracing Love of God?
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In the Love of the Three in One,
Br. Jack+, LC
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1. Scripture quotations marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
3. English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
4. New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
5. New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
6. New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
7. While some people may argue that Paul’s use of κόσμον in these places refers to the supposed “secular” world, we must remember that Paul’s greatest opposition came from within the Jewish world. Specifically, it came from people who claimed that the Gentiles really needed to convert to Judaism to be “real” Christians — a combination of both the Jewish Covenantal System and faith in Christ. See Paul’s entire letter to the Galatians for his thoughts on the matter.
8. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do us much good comparing the Greek between John 3 and 1 John 2 as they both use the same word! This does show us something important, though. It shows us that even John means something different in both places.
9. While some of us may not believe that God (re)acts in this way, this is how the ancient peoples of the Bible understood God. Everything that happens in this life — whether good or bad — comes from God. See Lamentations 3:38; Job 2:10; Isaiah 45:7; Jeremiah 32:42.
10. That’s what “eternal life” means. Since God alone is eternal (see Psalm 90.2; 1 Timothy 1.17, 6.16), those who believe in Christ and follow The Way of Christ now are given God’s Life now instead of after they die.
11. Someone could make the claim that the parallel is actually between Old Covenant Israel and New Covenant Israel — i.e., “everyone” who makes up “God’s Israel” (Galatians 6.16). This view usually comes from the Reformed stream of the Christian family. They see that God’s true people have always been the people of faith. The problem with this view is that the snake on a pole was for “everyone” in Israel, not just the faithful. In fact, it could be stated that the snake on the pole was precisely for the unfaithful of Israel and not the faithful. The ones who hadn’t complained and got bitten by the snakes didn’t need to be healed. And no Christian person believes people are given life outside of the work of Christ. So this claim falls flat upon further scrutiny.
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