March 8, 2020
Hope Lutheran Church
Pastor Mary Erickson
John 3:1-17
The Most Well-Known Bible Verse
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
It’s perhaps the most famous Bible verse ever. You see it on placards in end zones at football games. It’s spray painted on overpasses along the interstate. John 3:16 is known like no other verse in the Bible. More people likely have it committed to memory than any other verse in the Bible.
There’s a reason for this. Because it’s a gem of a verse! “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have life eternal.” This single verse boils down the entire gospel message into one simple sentence. That’s why this verse is so awesome.
Let’s walk our way through the verse. It begins with God’s love for the world. There’s no trace of vengeance in God here. God isn’t described as a vengeful or angry God. This isn’t a God who demands tit for tat. The description is just the opposite, in fact.
This verse begins with God’s love. God loves. And God loves the world. When John says “world” he isn’t referring to beautiful landscapes, colorful sunsets and adorable baby animals. How could you not love those things? It’s easy to love the lovable.
But from the outset of his gospel, John portrays the World as opposed to God and hostile. In the first verses of his gospel, John describes creation. God brings the world into existence through the Word, the Word of God. This Word will then become flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. But despite bringing the world into existence, John says the world isn’t appreciative of God. John says the world “knew him not.”
John understands that the world is at odds with God. If given a choice, the world will choose to follow its own will rather than God’s will. When we pray “thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” that desire is utterly in contrast to the ways of the world! The world wants to choose its own path and follow its own desires.
We want to put ourselves in the center. We don’t want to put God in the center of our universe. We don’t want Jesus to be seated on the throne. He’s not our Lord of lords and King of kings. We have other intentions for that seat.
So to sum up, the world is opposed to God. And THIS is the world that God loves! One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Romans chapter five. Paul’s words are a direct reflection about God loving a world hostile to God. Here’s what he says:
“While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man – though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”
John 3:16 is the gospel in a nutshell. And this good news tells us that God loves an ungodly world. God loves us even when we are opposed to God! God didn’t run it past the world before acting. God just did it! God’s love for the world prompts God to act. God sends the Son in love, whether the world agrees to it or not.
This is like what we as Lutherans do with our children in baptism. The various Christian denominations have differing traditions as to baptism. Some traditions pour a little water over the head while others completely immerse the person under water. Some traditions wait until a person has reached what’s called the age of discretion. Then that individual can choose on their own to be baptized. But in the Lutheran tradition, we tend to perform baptisms on infants. We don’t ask our children whether they want to be baptized or not. We just do it! And it’s a shining example of what God has done for us. God so loved the world that God sent Christ Jesus. The world was not polled in advance. God just acted. It was an act of love. I can’t remember my baptism. And I can’t remember a time when God didn’t love me.
So God loves. And God loves the World. And in between these two thoughts is a very small word not to be overlooked. John 3:16 says, “For God SO loved the world.” That word “so” means “thus,” or “in this manner.” What follows describes God’s love of the world. How do we measure God’s love? We can’t use a yardstick. It’s not something we can appraise with a scale or a measuring cup. For God so loved the world… that He gave his only begotten Son.
The measure of God’s love for the world is Jesus. While the world was still at enmity with God, God sent Jesus. This is the marvel of this season of Lent. Even though we’re still near the beginning of the season of Lent, we know what’s coming at the end of it. We will enter into Holy Week. We’ll see Jesus enter Jerusalem with a king’s glory, only to be condemned within a few short days. Lent will end with Good Friday. We will remember Jesus as he’s whipped and spat upon. Then he’ll be nailed to a cross.
This world that God so loves, it opposes God to the point that it crucifies the very incarnation of that love! But even from the cross, we the measure of God’s love still comes through. Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.” In spite of the world’s rejection, Jesus prays for forgiveness.
They will take his dead body down from the cross and lay it in a tomb. Then they’ll roll the stone in front of it and say, “Well, that’s that!” They’ll think they’ve taken care of matters. And Jesus’ disciples will be overwhelmed with despair.
But that’s not the end of it. The SO, the measure of God’s love isn’t finished yet. The enduring love of God through Christ Jesus our Lord is greater than the world’s hostility. The world may condemn him. But his judgment is salvation. Three days after he’s laid in his grave, he will rise again. This is the measure of God’s love, God’s love for the world. The force of this love is greater than all the hostility against it.
A very dear old Pastor friend of mine was Pastor Art Vorhes. Art died a number of years ago. I’ll always remember what he had to say about John 3:16. “You can’t read John 3:16 without also reading John 3:17! The two verses go together!”
Art was absolutely right! Here’s verse seventeen: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.” Verse seventeen tells us about the intent of God. God’s intent isn’t condemnation; it’s salvation. This is the judgment of God.
The Nicene Creed says this about Jesus: “From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.” That verse of the creed may sound ominous.
Theologian Jürgen Moltmann writes powerfully about this statement in the creed. His words reflect directly on this verse from John “for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save it.” Here’s what he writes:
“God’s kingdom involves his judgment. There is no reason to leave this out, or to keep quiet about it, or to demythologize it, as just being part of the apocalyptic expectations of an earlier age. But there is even less reason for being overcome by anxiety or panic at the thought of the Last Judgment, or for visualizing it in terms of the horrifying visions of hell we see in medieval pictures.
“Even the coming judgment of the living and the dead is a subject for hope, for longing and the prayer, ‘Come soon, Lord Jesus!’ For who is the judge? It is the same Christ who gave himself up to death for sinners and who has borne our griefs and sicknesses. How should we not trust ourselves joyfully to his judgment? What will the crucified Jesus judge us by? The law, or his own gospel? Our own acts, or his sufferings for us? How should we not hasten joyfully to meet the universal judge when he is the one who was crucified for us? … He, the crucified Jesus, will judge! He will judge according to his gospel!” *
That gospel is summed up in John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Wow, that one little verse says a lot! All the good news about Jesus Christ has crystalized into that one little sentence. It’s the gospel in a nutshell, so simple that we can write it on our hearts. It’s no wonder that we love it so.
*From Jürgen Moltmann, "Experiences of God", Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980, pp. 34-35.
