John 3:14-21
Lesson Focus
As the church, we’re called to carry God’s light and love into the dark and loveless places.
Lesson Outcomes
Through this lesson, students should:
Understand the true nature of Jesus’ mission in the world is love not condemnation.
Understand that judgment comes upon us because we have loved darkness more than the light.
Contemplate how the church might bring God’s light and love to dark and loveless places.
Catching Up on the Story
We pick up John’s story of Jesus as Jesus is just beginning his earthly ministry. So far, John the Baptist introduces and baptizes Jesus, Jesus calls his first disciples, performs his first miracle, and stirs up trouble in the Temple. While in the Temple, Jesus gets upset that his fellow countrymen are using the space as a way to make money and subsequently overturns some tables and utters, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” This last statement will only become intelligible to his followers after the resurrection, as Jesus was talking about his body and not the Temple where Israel worshiped.
John shifts the story at the beginning of chapter three, though Jesus is likely still in Jerusalem with his followers. John now introduces another character in his story, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who John labels a “leader of the Jews.” How important or influential Nicodemus is remains to be seen. Regardless, his importance to the story John tells is significant.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of night to engage Jesus in conversation. Unlike other conversations that Jesus will have, Nicodemus appears to approach Jesus with an attitude of curiosity and a willingness to learn. Whether or not Nicodemus gets to whatever his original question was is inconsequential. His opening statement about who Jesus is shapes the trajectory of the following conversation. Nicodemus rightly confesses that Jesus is a teacher from God. To this, Jesus responded, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
Nicodemus finds Jesus’ statement incomprehensible, prompting him to ask more questions. While Nicodemus is confused about what Jesus says, Jesus is astounded that a teacher such as Nicodemus wouldn’t be able to follow what Jesus is saying. Nevertheless, Jesus does his best to help his ignorant friend understand the significance of his life and God-given mission.
Snakes in the Wilderness
We pick up Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus partway through. The conversation at this point is one-sided, as we only have Jesus’ words and no further response from Nicodemus. We’re left to wonder how Nicodemus felt after Jesus was done speaking. Did he come to an understanding of what Jesus said? Did Nicodemus get upset at Jesus’ words? We’ll never know, and that’s ok. So often in the Bible, we’re left without a satisfactory ending. I suppose that’s ok, too, as the story of God’s love for creation has yet to conclude.
This week’s passage starts with an Old Testament reference that Nicodemus was likely to have understood. Jesus refers to an episode in Numbers 21:7-8 where venomous snakes are sent as punishment for Israel complaining about how God was taking care of them. It wasn’t just that they were complaining, but they were fondly looking back at their old life in slavery in Egypt. At least they had good food in Egypt!
As Moses often does, he intercedes for Israel, praying for God to take away the snakes that were killing God’s people. God listens and instructs Moses to craft a serpent out of bronze and mount it on a pole so that it would stand above the crowd. Anyone who had been bitten, or would be bitten, could look to the raised serpent and not die.
There was nothing magical about the bronze serpent on a pole, however. The lifting of one’s eyes up toward the serpent represented for Israel a turning away from the selfish sin that had placed them in danger. In doing so, they also turn toward the salvation offered by God. What makes the bronze serpent episode so relevant to Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus is that Israel had gotten their understanding of God’s work in their life and world wrong. In Numbers, Israel had failed to truly believe in God’s direction for them as a nation, which amounted to a rejection of God’s royal leadership. By using this story with Nicodemus, Jesus highlights the Israelites’ struggle with accepting Jesus as the legitimate Messiah. This is more clearly stated in 3:1-13, as Jesus chides Nicodemus for being a teacher in Israel yet failing to understand the true nature of Jesus’ mission.
Yet, as in Numbers, God has not abandoned Israel because they have errored. Metaphorically, Jesus will become like the bronze serpent lifted up to provide salvation for all who turn toward it. Clearly, Jesus understands that his mission will result in being “lifted up” on the cross. Once again, God provides salvation for those who should have known better.
Belief and Eternal Life
Verse 15 picks up mid-sentence, “that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Having moved past Jesus’ obscure reference to a bronze snake, the temptation now is to read the next few verses with “old eyes,” thinking that we know exactly what Jesus is saying. Doing so would rob us of the richness these important verses hold. Familiar words like “believe” and “eternal life” have taken on particular meanings in American Evangelicalism, meanings that are a tad bit thin.
In modern Christian discourse, “believe” has come to mean a mental assent to the existence of God and the salvation that Jesus brings. Unfortunately, belief often gets divorced from tangible expressions of that belief other than attending church, reading the Bible, and praying. Of course, doing those things isn’t wrong; they’re vital practices for the church. One commentator on John’s gospel translates the first part of verse 15 as “who is simply trusting in him” (Bruner, 192). Bruner states, “The word “entrusting” is a wonderfully present-tense participle (an -ing ending word) which means that it is an ongoing trust, like breathing, which is continually resting in the divine Love” (Bruner 202-203).
The difference between “believe” and “simply trusting” is small but significant, especially in the context of the chapter. What Israel failed to do in the Numbers story was simply to trust that the God who had miraculously brought them up out of slavery in Egypt would be able to continue to provide for them as they made their way to the Promised Land. Those Israelites would have said, “Yes, of course, I believe in God. There is only one God, and YHWH is his name!” Their grumbling betrays their lack of trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Similarly, if the Jewish religious leaders had been asked in Jesus’ day, they would have said, “Yes, of course I believe in God. There is only one God, and YHWH is his name!” As the narrative moves on, however, the actions of the Jewish religious leaders would also betray their lack of simple trust in God. More specifically, their actions display a lack of trust that God could, and would, accomplish God’s mission in the world through vastly different means than was expected. Belief or trust in God always entails a willingness to follow God’s direction, even when that direction seems impossible, wrong, dangerous, or unlikely to yield “success.”
In Numbers, Israel’s demonstrated belief leads them to the Promised Land and growth into an important nation. According to Jesus, the result of belief is eternal life. Like “belief,” “eternal life” has taken on a specific meaning for modern American Christians. Eternal life means going to heaven when we die. This definition may not be entirely wrong, but it isn’t completely correct either.
For John, eternal or everlasting life is more than a simple, unending existence. Another commentator states, “But ‘eternal’ or ‘everlasting’ life is not simply unending: it is qualitatively different from mortal life in the present world because it participates in the blessings of the coming age, including being with God, who is living and eternal (17:3). Because it is lived in union with God, such life is characterized by fullness or abundance” (Thompson, 85). Eternal life is every bit as qualitative as it is quantitative. Similarly, it is a current reality and a future hope.
Eternal life is a current reality because Jesus brings with him God’s kingdom here and now. Ultimately, God’s kingdom is what Israel has longed for throughout history. God’s kingdom has always been about righting wrongs, undoing the brokenness so prevalent in creation, and restoring our deep and abiding relationship with God. God’s kingdom is already here.
At the same time, eternal life is a future hope because God’s kingdom is not yet fully established. While we can see glimpses of God’s kingdom all around us, the world is still broken. Set within the context of John’s gospel, our present eternal life is characterized by an abundance available from no other source. It is important, however, to understand that abundance does not necessarily mean material wealth but an abundance of love, grace, mercy, compassion, peace, and joy. Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension allow us to live in the reality of love and grace and then rest amid a dark and lonesome world. When we live as if God’s kingdom already exists among us, our simple trust in God is strengthened, leading us to live more fully as citizens of God’s kingdom.
The Most Famous Verse in the Bible
At last, we have arrived at the most famous verse in the Bible. Many of the same ideas are carried over from the previous sentence. Despite the important place it holds within Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, John 3:16 is often quoted without regard for what surrounds it. There are good reasons why verse 16 has become so iconic, as it highlights the best part of the good news: Jesus loves the world. The verse starts with a conjunction “for, therefore,” making its meaning less understandable apart from Jesus’ previous words.
Though we often try to define terms like “love,” our human language routinely falls short of encapsulating the depth of what love is. When language fails us, we’re left with only concrete embodied demonstrations. Verse 16 tries to describe the depths of God’s love for creation. How much does God love the world which he created? God loves the world so much that he gave up a significant part of himself so that we might find salvation.
Again, language fails us as we try to construct a trinitarian understanding of God. We confess that God exists as a Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is only one God, but that one God exists as three different relationships of love. Jesus and the early church refer to Jesus as the “Son of God” or “Son of Man” because that’s the conceptual framework we can understand. God isn’t giving something that isn’t himself for the sake of the world. God sacrifices a significant part of himself because of the love God has for creation.
What’s striking about this familiar verse is that God loves creation despite its complete inability to be or grow into what God created it to be. Perhaps an example would be helpful. As a species, we love to create beautiful and functional things. We have meaningful art, music, literature, and stories, not to mention mind-boggling physical creations like tall buildings, huge airplanes, and microscopic computer components. All of those creations, though, were not achieved with just one try. For every beautiful painting, there are dozens by the same artist, but they don’t quite measure up. For every computer component that works flawlessly, there are multiple iterations that fail to work. When one of our creations does not live up to what we hoped it would be, we generally don’t sacrifice ourselves because we love it. No, our mistakes get relegated to the trash bin of failure.
Throwing creation in the trash is precisely what God has not done! Of course, throwing away an entire species because they failed to live as they should is not the same as discarding a worthless painting. Nevertheless, the comparison works. God loves the world so much that it does not matter how badly we fail to grow into what God desires.
However, our reading of this verse is generally centered on God’s love for humanity against the rest of creation. The word Jesus uses is kosmos or cosmos. When we use the word cosmos today, we mean the great big expanse of which our small blue and green planet is only a tiny part. While the disciples and Jewish religious leaders would not be able to comprehend the vastness of the universe, they would have understood Jesus’ words here to be much wider than just the people of Israel. In no uncertain terms, Jesus declares that God’s love and salvation are for everyone.
Of course, belief is an important qualifier here. Bruner states, “The word ‘entrusting’ [believing] is a wonderfully present-tense participle (an -ing ending word) which means that it is an ongoing trust, like breathing, which is continually resting in the divine Love” (Bruner, 202-203). The ongoing nature of belief is emphasized. Belief is something we participate in by demonstrating our belief through the ways in which we follow Jesus’ command of love. At the same time, however, the belief about which Jesus speaks also carries with it a sense of receiving something from someone or entering into an intimate relationship (Kanagaraj, 33). Any relationship worth having requires a commitment to deep and continuous communication.
Verses 15 and 16 share much of the same language, which should help us understand the significance of Jesus’ words.
Indeed, God…
If John 3:16 is the most well known verse in the Bible, then verse 17 is its neglected little brother. On more than one occasion, I’ve been told that Jesus talks more about Hell than anything else. Beside this being demonstrably wrong, one cannot read John 3 and not understand Jesus’ mission in the world as bringing life, light, and love.
The conjunction that begins verse 17, “indeed,” connects the verse to the one before. Because God has loved the world so much, and because God sent his son so that those who turn and believe will have eternal life with Christ, we can understand that God’s mission is not condemnation. In the verses that follow verse 17, those who fail to turn and believe have already condemned themselves. Even then, those who condemn themselves because they love darkness more than the light are not too far gone.
The language Jesus uses is mainly descriptive, not predictive. Jesus describes why people will respond to his message of hope and forgiveness in the way they do. People generally fall into two categories: those who turn and believe, loving the cleansing and redeeming power of God’s light, and those who refuse to turn and believe because they know their deeds are evil and are unwilling to give up those deeds from which they unjustly benefit. Indeed, Jesus has come into the world so that even those who love darkness might be saved.
All too often, Christians focus on God’s judgment of the world. The impulse is well-intentioned, as we do not want to see people perish. The already but not yet nature of eternal life in God’s kingdom is fueled by love in hopes that the hell-like nature of this world might be transformed. “Jesus clearly believes that life without him is hell-like” (Bruner, 206). The only way to bring about true transformation is for love to enter into where love is not. And this is what Jesus does; he literally brings love (because God is love) into a place where greed, selfishness, and fear rule. All God has and will do is motivated by true and unlimited love.
So What?
Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus sits at the beginning of John’s narrative about Jesus so that we might understand more clearly what Jesus’ mission is. Jesus leaves the comfort and safety of heaven to become one of us, bringing love where love has been in short supply. Jesus hasn’t come to bring about judgment or condemnation. We bring judgment and condemnation upon ourselves when we become unwilling to allow Jesus’ light to expose our sinfulness. The judgments we often receive are often the natural consequences of our behavior.
Nevertheless, through Jesus and in the power of the Spirit, God continues to love the world in a way that is beyond our comprehension. God has not stopped loving the world. God will not stop loving the world. God will not stop providing a way for those who should know better to turn, lift their eyes to Jesus, and walk away in newness of life. God has not and will not stop bringing light and love to all the dark and loveless places.
You and I benefit from the arrival of God’s light and love, though we confess that we don’t always carry God’s light in the way that we should, and we don’t always love the way God has loved. Along with Israel, we are often a people who should know better. All too often, we are like Nicodemus, confused by what Jesus says because, to us, it may sound nonsensical.
Yet, God still calls us to enter into a covenant community created by Jesus’ faithfulness to us and our faithfulness to each other. This covenant community of mutual faithfulness is the church, and we are called to believe in it so that we might have eternal life. We’re called to demonstrate our belief through embodied acts of love for others. We’re called to participate fully with Jesus in this current moment of eternal life. In short, we’re called to love the world so much that we have sacrificed a significant part of ourselves for the sake of the world’s salvation. We’re called to take God’s light into the darkest of places. We’re called to take God’s love into the places where love is in short supply.
If we live as Jesus lived, we must understand that our mission in the world is fueled by love, not harsh judgment. Indeed, God did not send his church into the world to condemn the world but to order the world to be saved through the church’s demonstration of Christ-like love.
Discussion Questions
Read the text aloud. Then, read the text to yourself quietly. Read it slowly, as if you were very unfamiliar with the story.
Read John 3:1-14. Who is Nicodemus, and why is he talking with Jesus? Why is Nicodemus confused by what Jesus says?
What is Jesus talking about when he references Moses lifting up a serpent in the wilderness? How does that connect with what Jesus says in the rest of the chapter?
Ideas like “belief” and “eternal life” have taken on specific meanings within American Christianity. Before engaging with this lesson, how would you have defined “belief” and “eternal life.” Or how would the average Christian define those two terms?
How do you think Jesus would have defined those terms? What are the similarities or differences between how Jesus defines those terms and how the average Christian might define belief and eternal life?
Arguably, John 3:16 is among the best-known verses in the Bible. Why is it so well known?
Language has a tendency to fail us when we talk about God. Because it’s easy for us to understand relationships like “only son,” Jesus uses that language to help us understand who he is. When we look closely at what the church has historically confessed about the Triune God, we see that Jesus isn’t someone completely separate from God the Father but is a significant part of who God is. Does our understanding of the significance of Jesus’ life and ministry change if we emphasize his oneness with the Father? If so, how?
John 3:17 is often forgotten or neglected when we focus on verse 16 as a synopsis of the gospel. Why do you think that is?
Are God’s love and God’s judgment/condemnation of sinfulness mutually exclusive? Are they the same thing? How might we hold God’s love in tension with calling people out of the darkness of their sin into God’s love?
Jesus says that those who do not believe are condemned already (verse 18). Who’s condemning these people? Is it God? Do they condemn themselves? Does it matter who does the condemning? Justify your answer.
If we’re to model our lives and our community of faith after the life of the Triune God who is love and light, what activities should we be engaged in? How can we bring light to the dark places around us? How can we bring love to the loveless places around us?
Works Cited
Frederick Dale Bruner, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Eerdmans, 2012).
Jey J. Kanagaraj, John, ed. Michael F. Bird and Craig Keener, vol. 4, New Covenant Commentary Series (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2013).
Marianne Meye Thompson, John: A Commentary, First edition, The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015).
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