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Reflections
Breath of the Spirit by DignityUSA
May 18, 2008
The Holy Trinity
John 3:16-18
16. 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. 17. For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world might be saved through him. 18. Whoever believes
in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not
believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of
the only Son of God.
Background:
The first verse (Jn 3:16) of the gospel text may be the most familiar text
of the Christian Scriptures in the western world. The fact that people in
secular gatherings can be seen holding large signs with just the numerical
reference indicates that the verse has taken on a life of its own. In those settings, the significance may be
very independent of its meaning within the context of this short passage and
John’s gospel in general.
John’s gospel was written
much latter than the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke and many in John’s
community would have been familiar with the texts of those synoptic gospels.
Therefore, John can begin his gospel with John the Baptist testifying to the
greatness of Jesus and then move directly to Jesus asking the first disciples
to join him without describing any of Jesus’ early teachings or healing
ministry.
The second chapter of
John’s gospel describes the wedding feast at Cana and Jesus expelling from the
Temple in Jerusalem those who were selling items that would
have been purchased by pilgrims desiring to offer a sacrifice. Both of
these events, the wedding feast and the cleansing of the temple, would have
disturbed the peoples’ usual understanding of their
relationship to God and how God works in the world.
The third chapter of
John’s gospel begins with Nicodemus, a leading Pharisee of the day, coming to
Jesus at night to gain a more clear understanding of Jesus and his teaching.
Nicodemus asks Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from
God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him’.
Jesus answered and said to him. ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the
kingdom of God without being born from above’.” (John 3:2-3) Jesus’ response to
Nicodemus uses a word that means both “again” and “above” so that when Jesus
tells him that one must be born “again” in order to enter the Kingdom of God,
Nicodemus is not sure what he means. It is in the context of this conversation
with Nicodemus that the present text appears in John’s gospel.
The text states that
Yahweh gave his only Son to the world so that everyone who believes in him
might have eternal life. The “world”, in John’s gospel, carries with it both
positive and negative connotations. In today’s text the “world” is the place were God has chosen to be present and the fullness of
salvation is revealed. This same attitude toward the
world is echoed later in the words of Martha. When
Jesus tells her that her brother Lazarus will rise she
responds, “Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of
God, the one who is coming into the world." (John 11:27) Unlike these
examples, John’s gospel often uses “world” with a negative connotation. It is
the “world” that refused to receive Jesus, is at odds with Jesus’ message and
hates Jesus and his followers. "If the world hates you, realize that it
hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but
because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)
This opposing attitude
toward the “world” in the gospel reflects the community’s experience of the
world in which they lived. In mid 50’s AD, the early stages of John’s
community, the community members lived among their fellow Jews and attracted
converts to their way of life. Thirty years latter they find their efforts to attract followers
being rejected and they are prohibited from entering the synagogues. When the Christians were
expelled from the synagogue because of their belief, they became a
subgroup within their own culture. As a subculture they
see themselves in opposition to the dominant culture where belief was not
significant. A person could enter the temple of any of the gods of the day and
offer sacrifice or a prayer. It did not matter whether they believed in the
divinity of that god or not. The Christians being addressed
here are painfully aware that belief in Jesus has changed their life in ways
that were not welcome and probably not foreseen. This development is also reflected in how John presents his gospel and the
emphasis on one’s belief in this text.
Reflection Questions:
1. Have there been periods in your life when your belief has
had a great impact on how you lived your life? Have there been times when it
has not? How much impact does your belief have on how you live or think of
yourself today?
2. Has there ever been a time when others treated you
differently because of your belief? What kind of experience was that for you?
What effect did it have on your relationship to God, yourself, other people of
faith?
3. The first verse of the text makes it sound like God has does
something extraordinary by Jesus being born among us, living, teaching, healing
and then being rejected and crucified. If someone would respond that it was no
real big deal because the event did not really affect the unchangeable, perfect
and complete God in any real way and asked you why is it
extraordinary for you, what would you say?
4. The last verse of the text seems to say that God will
respond to us in the manner we respond to God. How is this a
consoling message? Do you think that notion that God responds to us in the way
we respond to God might make God too small? Does Jesus’ treatment of people
give you any additional insights?
5. Did Jesus come only to free us from our sins? What if Adam and Eve had never sinned? Might God have wanted
to Jesus to be born into the world anyway?
6. The text seems to invite us to contemplate and enter the
heart of God. Do you ever pray to know how God feels about you? A neighbor? The world?
7. What do you think it would be like to see yourself through
the eyes and heart of God?
Reflection Questions
Written by Paul Gallagher, OFM
Edited by Sister Anne Marie Lom, OSF
Questions are distributed free of charge
To be added contact gospel.reflectionquestions@yahoo.com