John 3:16 Expanded

 John 3:14-21

Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

____________________________

This sermon was originally preached by me in a certain context, in a certain time, for a certain people. But we believe in a God who transcends time and space, so I hope that these words might speak to you here and now. 

Let us pray. Gracious and loving God, help us to understand what the words of your son mean for us in our lives. Bring to light the richness of your grace and mercy for this world, so that it might change us into witnesses to your redemptive power. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. 

John 3:16 is perhaps the most popular and well-known verse in Christianity. We see it as sort of the tagline of Christianity, and even in non-religious spaces like football games and on university campuses, we can often see the words “John 3:16” or even the whole verse scrawled across a poster or chalked onto the sidewalk. 

I think the reason that this verse is so popular is that it seems to sum up Christian belief in a way that other verses don’t quite do. In 27 words, that seem to be memorized by every Christian in the world, we get a pretty nicely packaged glimpse at the gospel. 

But of course, with any one sentence pulled out of the Bible without any sort of context, it is just waiting to be warped and morphed into something it is not. And that’s exactly what often happens to it. This verse is used to sum up Christianity, but it is also used to condemn non-Christians in this one short sentence. “Believe or perish!” It seems to shout from our posters and bumper stickers, tattoos or billboards, “Believe or perish!”

If we stop there, with just this one sentence, we miss the richness of the next verses, and we miss the richness of the meaning of what Jesus is trying to tell us. If we only hear John 3:16 as the gospel in a nutshell, then we won’t ever crack it open to see what else might be inside. 

There is so much richness in these verses— before and after the famous sixteenth verse. Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, answering his questions about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and what it means to be born again in water and the Holy Spirit. The verses we hear this morning are right after Jesus chastises Nicodemus a bit for thinking only of earthly things and not truly understanding what he means. “How then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” Jesus asks. Then begins Jesus’ monologue that we encounter this morning. 

…

If we move only one verse past the sixteenth, we hear that “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” When we peel back the layers, we realize that Jesus’ words are not about condemnation but a description of what it will be like to live without Jesus. 

“Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” These verses are often lifted up to condemn non-Christians or unbelievers to the place that we might call hell, but that’s not what they say at all. In fact, Jesus doesn’t mention hell or the afterlife at all. Jesus mentions eternal life, which is life experienced at a glimpse here on earth when we are baptized and when we come to the table to partake in the foretaste of the feast to come. 

What Jesus presents to Nicodemus is an image of what life will be life if we deny that gift. If we are presented with Jesus, if we are given the light of the world and we still decide to live without Jesus— well, then, we will live without him, and that, Jesus says, is a bleak life, a condemned life. 

It’s not a condemnation to hell but simply stating what life is like without Jesus. The son of God is the epitome of goodness, the absolutely best that God has to offer us. If we deny goodness, we choose evil. If we deny light, we have chosen darkness. The implication, then, is that we have an opportunity to make this choice over and over again throughout our lives. Thank God for that! 

But without the richness of the other verses, when we miss what John 3:16 really means for us— that God loves the world with such grace and mercy, that God gave us Godself in the person of Jesus to save the whole world. In the shallowness of bumper stickers, we miss the richness of God’s mercy. 

This tends to be the trouble with a shallow faith, too, right?— we miss the richness of what it would mean for us and our lives if we dove deeply into a relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. 

It is not that God will condemn us to hell for our unbelief, but that without our deep faith and life in Christ, it is truly like living in hell. Imagine living without love itself, without love incarnate. That is what it is to live without God’s mercy and grace in our lives. 

Now that we have experienced the light of Christ, why would we want to live in any other way? How could we live in any other way but to be mirrors to that light? To enable it to shine brighter every day throughout the world with our own words and actions.

And the truth is, friends, that God so loved the world. Not just you. Not just me, not just this community, but all of creation.   

The object of God’s love is the world. And we, the believing body of Christ, are fruits of God’s salvation.  

We are active and willing participants in God’s salvific plan for the world.  

This means reflecting God’s light in a dark world, in all that we do.  

It means working to end hatred and violence.  

It means speaking out against injustice and oppression.  

It means acting with compassion and love. 

It means pushing against the current to challenge oppressive systems of power and tear down the walls and barriers of abundant life in Christ.

If John 3:16 is a proclamation of hope and promise for our world— if we claim it to be the gospel in a nutshell, the the first step in understanding that simple and rich verse is a faithful response.  

We are called to embrace and embody the confession of John 3:16 and that means being changed by the love and grace of God. 

Changed from people of darkness into people of light.  

Empowered by God to choose good in this world.  

To stand as witnesses in a world desperate for good news. Amen.