For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

- John 3:16-21

Yesterday we read that when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs that Jesus did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  My study bible explains that Jesus is showing here the reason why the Son must be crucified ("lifted up" from verse 14, above, in yesterday's reading).  He declares that God's great love isn't only for Israel, but that it is for the world.  This single verse, it notes, expresses the whole of the message of John's Gospel, and even of all of salvation history.

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."  Jesus has come to save and not to condemn.  But human beings have free will.  This means that we are free to reject the gift.  Thereby we lose what He is offering through rejection.

"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."  John ties the failure to accept spiritual truth with the rejection of salvation.  He links it to the desire to hide from the light that is Christ. 

Faith is trust.  The word for faith in the Greek of the New Testament is rooted in the word for trust.  It is important to keep this in mind when we think about the words here in John's Gospel.  To lack faith is to lack trust, to fail to put one's trust in Christ.  That teaches us first of all that the nature of faith is all about communion and relationship.  It conveys more than simple relatedness, because Christ speaks of communion or participation in something.  Through faith, we participate in His life, and thereby through Him, in the life of the Church, the communion of saints, the reality of the Kingdom of heaven.  (See Luke 17:20-21.)  Lacking this trust of faith means that we fail to participate in this life that He is offering; that is, the life of salvation, and the eternal life He promises to those who are with Him.  In this sense, rejection is condemnation.  It is the failure to accept the gift of the life that He offers to us.  The gift of this faith is the whole of the package, all of its inter-relatedness, its meanings and values, its life of the Kingdom, its participation in His truth -- and even more importantly, in Him.  That is where the abundance of life dwells (John 10:10).  John links the lack of trust of faith with the desire to hide from the light, to hide one's deeds from the reality of Christ's life.  That is, from the light His life offers to us.  Within the perspective of that light, everything we are falls into a stark clarity.  But the life He offers us is also designed to do just that, to help us to come more fully into union with Him, and to grow in the life of God that gives us everything that we are.  It is all of this that is rejected through the desire to hide from that light, the lack of trust in Christ.  If we but think a little about it, we can start to see that it is within this context that Jesus' greatest warnings come to His own disciples, about how they are to treat the "little ones" who are entrusted to them for His care (see Luke 17:1-2, and especially Matthew 18:6-11).  It is all about trust in Christ, and the acceptance of His light for our lives.  We are to shine His light in the world, so that others may clearly see and choose for themselves.  At any moment, at all times, we each have this choice of trust available to us.  Even -- and perhaps especially when -- all else has failed us, we have our hope in Him and our trust.  To lose this is to lose everything.  And we remember that should we keep others from doing the same, we aren't being the good stewards He asks us to become.