Gospel of John 09.vp

Sess ion 2: The Word Made F l esh, Glory and S igns , and the New Bi r th 47

4. The mini-Bible : John 3.16-18 (cf. John 3.16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.)

a. The sense of the Greek verb: This is how much God loved the world: he gave his only begotten son .

b. “Only begotten” literally “beloved, special” and was often applied in various contexts in Jewish literature (e.g., to Isaac as to emphasize the greatness of Abraham’s sacrifice of him up to God).

c. These texts highlight the boundless love of the Father for humankind, a love foreshadowed in the OT (e.g., Exod. 34.6-7; Deut. 7.7-8; Isa. 63.9; Hos. 11.1-4; Isa. 16.11; etc.).

d. The first advent is not to judge the world but to save it , 3.17-18.

(1) Belief releases from condemnation: “The one who believes is not condemned,” 3.18a.

(2) Unbelief is a sign of condemnation: “condemned already,” 3.18b.

5. Light versus darkness: the nature of the salvation and the condemnation , 3.19-21

a. The nature of the world’s condemnation : Light (the person of Jesus of Nazareth ) has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than the light for their deeds are evil .