John 3:16-21

John 3:16 God so loved the world that he sent his only Son

In Jesus’s time, Greek writing did not use quotation marks.   Therefore, translators must make a judgment about whether verses 16-21 are quoting Jesus or are John’s commentary on what Jesus said in the previous verses.  Modern Bibles are divided on the matter.  In the following questions, I will refer to those words as coming from John (i.e., no quotation marks), because it sounds like what the early Christians might have said in interpreting what Jesus did for them.  If Jesus spoke the words in John 3:16-21, his listeners would have had little understanding of what he was saying.  However, if you think these are Jesus’s words, please substitute “Jesus” for “John” in the following questions.

In your own words, what does verse 16 say?

The word “love” appears more than 50 times in John’s Gospel.  The first instance is here in verse 16.  Why is love a particularly important part of the message of John 3:16?

What does it mean to say that God “loved” the world?

John sometimes uses the word “world” to mean people who reject Jesus, but here he means all of creation and all of the human beings God created.  If God loves the whole world, how should that effect how we treat others?

What does “believe in him” mean?

What does “eternal life” mean to you?

How is eternal life “eternal” both in the type of life it is and in how long it lasts?

Which word or phrase in verse 16 is especially meaningful to you, and why?

Many Christians use John 3:16 as a shorthand summary of the entire gospel or good news of Jesus.  If you were going to summarize the gospel – the central message of your faith – in a sentence or two, how would you say it?

If you are in a small group, write out your answers and then share them with each other.  If meeting online, paste your answer in the chat.

In what ways is this verse an encouragement to you?

John 3:17-21 God did not send Jesus to condemn the world, but some choose to live in darkness

What does verse 17 say?

Many people have a highly developed concept of God as a God of judgment.  How might verses 16-17 help balance our image of God?

The Greek word that is translated as “condemned” can also mean “judged.”

Verse 18, with its reference to being “already” condemned, could be misinterpreted to suggest that people don’t have a choice.  That is not what John is saying.  This verse must be interpreted in the light (pun intended) of verses 19-21, where John indicates that people choose to live in light or darkness.  What does this tell us about people’s final judgement or ultimate status with God?

People have a choice to believe or not.  Some people embrace the light and live with Christ.  But some people reject the light.  They have judged or “condemned” themselves by their own choice to reject the light of Christ.

In verses 18 and 19, John identifies two pieces of evidence that indicate that someone has chosen to walk in darkness: they do not believe (verse 18), and their work is evil (verse 19).  What are some examples of evil acts you see in our world today that appear to come from the darkness?

Now look at the other option.  Based on verses 18-19, what is the evidence that indicates that a person is walking in the light?

Verse 18 gives us the first piece of evidence that we are walking in the light: that you believe in Jesus.  And believing is not just a matter of saying that you believe: for John, believing means that you are putting into action what you claim you believe.  John gives us a second piece of evidence in verse 19: that your deeds are not evil.

What do verses 18-19 tell you about yourself?

In verse 20, what reason does John give for why people prefer to avoid the light?

Do you think it is true that there are people who resist the light of Christ because they don’t want to give up the things they are doing that are inconsistent with being born from above?  Explain.

Although each of us may have made a clear decision at some point to be born from above and live in the light of Christ, we are not perfect.  Are there ways that we might not want to give up things that don’t belong in the light?  Are there ways that we try to hang out in the shadows, so that the aspects of ourselves that are not Christlike might not be noticed?  How so?

This passage draws a bright line.  In John’s view, there are only two options: to choose to be in the light or to choose to be in the darkness.  But sometimes we fail; sometimes we sin.  John makes it clear in other places that Jesus forgives us when we sin.  How can that promise of forgiveness encourage you to live more fully in the light of Christ?

How does this passage challenge you in your faith, in your thought life, in your words, or in your actions?

Take a step back and consider this:

John’s language is so black and white (light vs. darkness) that many Christians wonder how God at the end of our lives, will deal with the fact that even when we have chosen to believe in him we still sin.  The various Christian traditions have different answers to this question.  Here are some examples:

• The Catholic Church teaches that when people die, they go through a final purification called “Purgatory” in order to achieve the holiness necessary to enter heaven (Catechism of the Catholic Church, pars. 1030-1031).

• Protestant churches see it differently.  For example, Calvin taught that every person is predestined by God for eternal life or eternal condemnation.  He affirmed that those destined for heaven continue to sin in their earthly lives, but he argued that God purifies them immediately at death, with no purgatorial process.

• In some Protestant traditions, there is a belief that, for people who have committed their lives to Christ, God no longer sees their sins but only the saving work of Christ.

St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 that on the Day of Judgment, the work of each person will come to light.  He speaks symbolically of our deeds being like gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, and says that our work will be tested by fire.  For some people, he says, their work will be burned up and the person “will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15).  This suggests that there is a process by which God purifies us when we die so that we can enter into eternal life with him purged of our sinfulness.  God knows that believers will not be perfect, and he purifies them as he brings them into eternal life with him.

Knowing that God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son to live and die for us, how do you think God deals with the fact that, because even believers sin, when we die we are not likely to be fully without sin?