‘… For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through him’. (John 3:17)
John
3:14-21 (Year B: Lent 4)
A
confession..
I have a confession to make.
Out of 66 Books (some say 70) in the library known as the Bible my
favourite is the Gospel of John. Whatever about the precise historicity of some
events and details recounted in this Gospel, we can spend a lifetime deepening our
understanding and relationship to this gospel. Any questions about historicity
need not be an obstacle to growing in faith when we read scripture on our knees
but with our God-given critical minds. In
this Book I have three favourite sayings – all within the first 12 chapters of
this particular gospel. They are, in sequence of references:
‘… For God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him’. (John
3:17)
‘If you hold to
my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.’ (John
8:31-32)
For me, these three sentences sum up the Bible – Old and New
– and the Law, and the Prophets and the early Church’s mission and what we need
to know and do today.
Being
honest with ourselves..
The first of these three passages is well known and often
cited. Spectators at sporting events may recall seeing a sign held up in the
crowd ‘John 3:17’. There is something very reassuring, calming and energising
about John 3:17. And it is to the point.
Deep within us there are worries – little and not so little. Am I on the
right track? Is this right? How do I know? Where is God in this situation? What
will others think? Am I sure? I am afraid of this or that in the future? Others
don’t like or love me so much? Or, I am worried about so and so that he or she
is not well or safe? The truth is that we don’t like condemnation (but sometimes
we are easy about dishing out). We crave
for recognition, acceptance, popularity, friendship. Did we ever doubt that Facebook meets
multiple human needs and Google know this only too well?
Trusting..
John 3:17 speaks to people in all ages and cultures. The
Good News (literally Gospel) is that someone has been sent to befriend us and
to help us and to save us. Trusting in
this good news is the key. It may not be easy as many may feel left down and
left out in their lives. But, there is no condemnation for those in Christ (Romans
8:1). May this be repeated again: ‘there is now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus’. Jesus is the Healer who seeks us out here and now.
And when he finds us and we open the door we are gently faced with reality –
now, completely and holding nothing back. And the Truth will set us free (John
8.32). And what a freedom it is.
And
being lifted up..
Jesus, in being lifted up on the cross (‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all people to myself.’ (John
12:32)], lifts us up too. The word ‘exalted’ or hypsóō in Greek is used here and, also in Isaiah 52:13:
See, my servant will act wisely; he will be
raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Part of that healing is facing, naming and ‘shaming’ our own
inner demons. Only we can do this – through Jesus who is the Healer (a rare
one-in-a-million anam-chara or
spiritual soul friend might also help). Those demons may reflect deep
shortfalls, guilt, insecurities, hurts, resentments, past traumas – all buried
deep in the psyche. But, ‘those who hide
in him shall not be condemned.’ As it says in Psalm 33:23*.
There are experiences and memories in our lives that echo
hurts. Deep hurts linger. These concern
things others said or did that wounded us. Perhaps, we experienced bullying in
some context – at work, in the family or in the community. Perhaps someone said
things about us or to us that were untrue and very undermining. Perhaps we acted likewise towards another? It is not easy – but we must learn to let go
of these things. They belong now to Christ and are covered by his Cross.
Letting go means acknowledging these things – facing them, naming them,
addressing them and then letting go of them. The cross stands between us and
these things and we can leave our baggage there so that we are free to move on.
Going
for joy and freedom...
The evangelist Luke locates a freedom story in terms of
those who are lost, outside the tent so to speak and not well regarded by society.
He reports Jesus as saying during the encounter with Zacchaeus:
As in John 3:17, we are told that God sent his only Son –
before we knew or wanted or asked for it.
And He did this because he loves us as we are now and here not after
some course of meritorious actions or assent to creedal matters. Actions and
assent stem from a sense of profound freedom and freeing by a Gracious and
outrageous God who turns normal rules of human justice upside down.
The liberation in store for us is spelt out further in the
first letter of John as follows:
‘And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be
the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has
for us.’ (1
Jn 4:14)
Smiling
at our demons and ignoring them..
John refers to the lifting up of a snake by Moses in the
desert (Numbers
21:6-9). The idea behind inoculation for smallpox is to deliberately
introduce material containing a small amount of smallpox to establish an
immunity. The
metaphor when applied to social psychology refers to the following
Expose someone to weakened counterarguments, triggering a process of
counterarguing which eventually confers resistance to later, stronger
persuasive messages.
In the film A Beautiful Mind, John Nash plays the role of a
brilliant but mentally ill person. He manages to live and partially overcome
the negative and paranoid thoughts by looking at them in the face and then
gently moving on. While most of us, thankfully, will never know mental illness
we can learn the art of masterly inactivity by leaving our worst fears, hurts
and hang-ups to Christ at the foot of the cross.
We are all familiar with the sign that appears outside
chemist shops the world over –l the bowl of hygieia. Hygieia was the Greek
goddess of hygiene. The symbol includes a rod with a snake wrapped around
it. While the sign is rooted in Greek
myth it is possible that there is some primeval origin to this symbol? St Paul
writes in 2
Corinthians 5:12:
‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for
us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’
We are invited to face up to reality, now, completely –
holding nothing back. The whole truth
and nothing but the truth. ‘And the
Truth will set you free …’. Not only are we not condemned but we are set free
and lifted up. Could we ask for more?
* All citations from the Psalms are from the Grail and
use the Vulgate numbering system (in this case Psalm 33 refers to Psalm 34 in
the Hebrew text.
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