Belief and Unbelief, Judgment and Salvation, Light and Darkness

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world,
and people loved the darkness rather than the light
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
But whoever does what is true comes to the light,
so that it may be clearly seen
that his works have been carried out in God.

Overall comment

Most translations present this as part of Jesus’ response to Nicodemus’ question about spiritual rebirth in verse 9. However, the last statement by Jesus that is undeniably part of this dialogue is in verse 11.  After that, it’s impossible to tell from the Greek where Jesus’ words end and John’s words begin.

In the verses we are looking at today, the flow of thought seems to have shifted from responding to Nicodemus to laying out some of the key reasons why the Son of Man / Son of God came down from heaven. Although this could have been part of Jesus’ response to Nicodemus, this section reads as though it were addressed to a wider audience. It may well have been crafted by John, written from a post-Resurrection perspective as a commentary on why Jesus came to earth. This is, after all, why John wrote his gospel (see John 20:30-31).

vs 16

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son 

• God’s mighty acts of creation and redemption are both motivated by love
• He created the world because of love.
• He desired a love relationship with us from the beginning.
• This is a love that cost God something. He is emotionally invested in us.
• He has compassion on us in our lost condition. Psalm 103:10-13
• God gave his Son – knowing He would suffer greatly – because He desired our freedom.

That whoever believes in him should not perish

• like the Israelites who perished by snakebite in the incident recorded in Numbers 21:4-9
• those who looked on the bronze serpent on the pole did not perish
• See vs 14-15

perish

• The Greek word apóllymi means “to cause to be lost (utterly perish) by experiencing a miserable end”. (Helps word studies, Strong’s 622).
• Judgment is real

eternal life

• literally “age-long life” – i.e. the life of the age to come (Hebrews 6:5).
• Life in fellowship with God. John 17:3, John 17:20-24
• We can enter into this life now by faith.
• We will experience the full glory of that life when that age begins.

vs 17

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world

• Condemnation was not the purpose of his coming – though for some it is the result or outcome of Jesus’ coming

but in order that the world might be saved through him

• Salvation was the reason he came

vs 18

Whoever believes in him is not condemned

• Whoever believes in the innocent Lamb of God
  is treated by God as innocent because of the Lamb’s sacrifice

whoever does not believe is condemned already

• has been judged in advance

because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God

• Unbelief (rejection of Jesus) results in rejection by God

vs 19

this is the judgment

• judgment = verdict, decision

the light has come into the world

• Jesus (John 8:12)

people loved the darkness rather than the light

• spiritual darkness and blindness are the predominant human condition in this age.
• This condition seems normal to us because we are used to it.
• We grow to prefer what we are used to.
• Faith in Jesus seems strange to us until our eyes are opened.

because their works were evil

• Light exposes our lost condition and the darkness of our ways.
• This is why people reject the light. See 1 John 1:5-10.

vs 20-21

hates the light … does not come to the light

• if we are used to living in darkness, the light hurts our eyes

lest his works should be exposed

• living in the darkness breeds a mindset of fear. We start to fear the light.

whoever does what is true comes to the light

• 1 John 4:17-18

that it may be clearly seen

• If we walk in the light we have nothing to hide.
• 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:10

Prayer

Let’s ask the Lord for courage to walk in the light (for ourselves and others)