John 3:16 might be the most famous single verse in the Bible. Some of us remember the guy that used to hold up that “John 3:16” sign at televised sporting events. What does the actual verse say again?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
I almost always insist that any mention of John 3:16 also include verse 17 that follows:
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus repeats this idea when he says, “for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.” Today’s passage comes from John 12. This is the last chapter in John dealing with Jesus’ public teaching. The next chapter begins John’s Book of Glory with the washing of the feet at the Last Supper. So, as we approach Jesus’ Passion, he seemingly has this increased sense of urgency. He does not just teach, but he “cries out.” He wants to make this known, and to make it known now.
I find this idea – that Jesus did not come to condemn but to save – to be one of the most consoling aspects of the Gospel message. Jesus, as the divine Second Person of God, took on a human nature and entered creation as one of his creatures. He did this knowing that he would give his life on the cross. He took on this mission this to save us. Not to condemn us. In fact, he says in today’s passage that whoever rejects his words will have something to judge him. “It will condemn him on the last day…” It is not Jesus that condemns us. It is our own rejection of Jesus that condemns us.
Jesus want us to know the saving love of God. This is who Jesus is. This is who God is. A God that wants to save us and that does not come to condemn us. A God of love. And, consequently, a God of great mercy.
But is that really our image of God? Do some of us, at least at times, have an image of God as a distant and harsh judge? Where do we get this? From the Gospels? No, I am guessing that we get this from our own experiences. Perhaps it comes from how we view our own fathers? Perhaps it comes from somewhere else?
How do we view God? What do we think God wants from us? What do we think God wants for us? For all eternity?