For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
-John 3:16
There is probably no more popular verse that John 3:16, but it is an amazing verse none-the-less.
“For God so Loved the world’ not that “he loved the world, so he did this…” but “This is how He showed His love for the world…” the “so” (οὕτως) is about “how” He loves the world.
“he gave his one and only Son” that’s the depth of His love, He gave His “only” Son. Not that God doesn’t have any other children, through Christ, we all have the ability to become children of God, but the “only” (μονογενής) is speaking of Jesus’ “uniqueness.” God doesn’t have any other children like Jesus. He is the only one who is just like God, He is the unique Son of God.
“that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” why did He do this? So that whoever, All (πᾶς) who believe in Him wouldn’t perish but be able to live forever!
“…This is how much God loved the world, He sacrificed His unique Son because He wanted to provide a way for ALL of us to be able to believe and receive eternal life as His gift to us…”
What an amazing verse! This is Christmas!
Great meditation, John. What are your thoughts on the referential value of “world,” here in Johannine theology?
λόγος is closely associated with “Torah” as in Qumran texts. We’ve learned that John is much more “Hebraic” than we once thought. I don’t believe it is Greco-Roman “Wisdom” as many thought 50 years ago. I think E.P. Sanders was onto something in our perception of 2nd temple Judaism, though I can’t say I agree with the conclusions of the new perspective. What about you?