Read the text in context

Often the verse is read detached from the context. This quickly makes arbitrary interpretations possible. However, if we leave the verse in its own context, the meaning must be derived from it. Here is the passage John 3:13-19 in various translations:

Earwigs

With music, we speak of “earwigs” when a melody or song becomes firmly embedded in the mind. Such a song can then be in your head all day. It is no different with theology. Certain doctrines and ideas can become just as stubbornly embedded in our minds. This is made possible by translations. Are we not often “familiar” with this or that translation? It sits in our ear. Somewhat exaggerated, one could even say: “Tell me which translation you read, and I’ll tell you what you believe”.

There are great differences between the translations. The Concordant New Testament (KNT) writes “perish” instead of “be lost” and “eonian life” instead of “eternal life.” There it becomes obvious that something can be wrong with one or the other translation. Why do these differences exist? These are the interesting questions.

Let’s look at the verse in its own context first. What was Jesus talking about?

Tracking down the text – how does that work?

The well-known verse in John 3:16 can only be properly understood in its own context. What is actually written there? A few points should be highlighted here:

1. Everyone who believes in Him
2. Do not get lost
3. Eternal life

Do we understand what this is all about? Who is “Everyone”? What does “(not) get lost” mean? What does “eternal life” mean? Surprisingly, there are ready-made answers for these questions. Proponents of a heaven and hell doctrine read it this way:

1. Everyone = everyone in this world
2. To be lost = to end up in hell = eternal remoteness from God
3. Eternal life = endless life

None of this is in the text! These thoughts are projected onto the text. If you quote a text with such biased assumptions, the Bible doesn’t even get a word in edgewise. However, if I as a Bible reader have a desire to better understand the Bible, there are two sober tips:

• Read text in context
  (i.e.: verse in section, section in chapter, etc.)
• Clarify words
  (what does “to be lost” mean, what does “eternal life” mean?)

Both tasks involve an engagement with the Bible itself. What is in the text and what is not there? Dogmatic views block here and do not allow differentiated opinions. It is dictated what is written here or there and how to read it. It would be a matter of respect for the word, if one checks how Jesus, the apostles or the first believers had said and heard it.

Below are some notes on the text, as an encouragement to read on for yourself.

Everyone who believes in Him

This is explained in the previous verses: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eonian life.” (John 3:14-15 KNT). The Israelites, when bitten by the serpents, had to look solely to the bronze serpent to stay alive (Num 21:9).

The context speaks of God as Savior. The Son must be exalted for salvation to come. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent, the Son of God must be lifted up on the cross. Everyone who looked at the serpent escaped with his life, and everyone who approaches Jesus in trust will live in the same way. According to John 3:17, it is not about judging, but about saving. The doctrine of heaven and hell has emphasized judging, where Jesus just distances himself from it.

It was not an achievement of their own, but they had to fix their eyes and their expectation on the bronze snake. This was the God-given solution to stay alive. From this comparison, it seamlessly transitions into the familiar verse. Here, too, it is a matter of life or death: everyone who believes will not perish (Gr. apollumi), but will have eternal (Gr. aionios) life. The opposition exists, but not as it is taught. However, this is only noticeable when you check the following terms.

“Everyone who believes” speaks of Jesus’ audience. He saw His task primarily to Israel (Matt. 15:24), which Paul later confirmed (Rom. 15:8). It is in this context of Jesus’ proclamation that the meaning must lie.

Do not get lost

What does “get lost” mean? The meaning is not explained in John 3:16. The meaning, however, can be seen clearly if one examines all the Bible texts in which this “getting lost” is mentioned. It is a “losing” (Luke 15: lost sheep, lost coin), sometimes a “perishing,” or “dying “ (Luke 15:32 in figurative language). He who literally perishes is dead (Matt. 2:13). The meaning does not go further than dying. It is a verb and denotes a transition to another state. From life it goes through “perishing” to death. But that is as far as the meaning goes. The state of death is the end of “getting lost” or of “getting around”. Jesus speaks about the coming Messianic kingdom in John 3. Those who perish and are dead cannot have a share in this messianic kingdom.

This has already been justified in detail in another article: “The Lostness of Christianity”.

Eternal life

The idea of an “endless eternity” is foreign to the Bible. An endless eternity is not a seal of approval of orthodoxy. What is Jesus talking about in the Gospels?

Instead of eternity, it is better to read “age” or “eon”. This is closer to the basic text and closer to the meaning. The difference between this age and the future Messianic age is a recurring theme in the Gospels (Matt. 12:32). Repeatedly, it is about the conclusion of this age, after which it continues into a new age, the messianic kingdom (Mt 24:3). By no means was this about an endless life, but about the life of the future age, as for example in the following passage:

“Then Peter began to ask Him: “Behold, we have forsaken all and followed Thee: What will our portion be?” Jesus answered him, “Verily I say unto you: There is no one who has left his house, brothers or sisters, father or mother, wife or children, or fields, for My sake and for the sake of the gospel, who will not receive this back a hundredfold. now, in this term, houses, brothers and sisters, mother and father, children and fields – under persecutions – and in the coming eon eonian life.”
Mark 10:28-30 KNT

Here Jesus says that the aeonic life is the life of the coming aeon or age. For Nicodemus, as a teacher of Israel, this was a familiar concept. The time to come is the time in which the Messiah reigns. Everything will be different. To participate in the messianic kingdom was the outlook of the prophets. Note: An endless eternity is completely out of place here. It is not about a quantity (endless), but a quality (with the Messiah in His Kingdom). More about this in the article “The word eternity in the Old and New Testament”.

Who will be in the messianic kingdom?

The conversation Jesus has is with a Pharisee, whom He calls “the teacher of Israel.” They talk about the life of the future age. It is the time of which the prophets wrote. Jesus explains to Nicodemus that God wants salvation for every Jew, over into the promised time and kingdom. Not to perish, but to participate in the life of the messianic time – that’s what it’s all about. That this is the right context is also confirmed by other bodies:

“And when he was asked by the Pharisees: When is the kingdom of God coming? Answered he them, saying, The kingdom of God cometh not so as to be observed; neither shall it be said, Behold here! Or: See there! For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. But he said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see him. And they shall say unto you, Behold there; or, Behold here. Don’t go, don’t follow either!

For as the lightning flashes from one end under heaven to the other under heaven, so shall the Son of man be in his day. But before that, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: they ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark and the flood came and killed them all.

Likewise also as it happened in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and killed them all.

It will be the same on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day – whoever will be on the roof and has his utensil in the house, let him not go down to fetch it; and whoever is in the field, let him likewise not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife! He who seeks to save his life will lose it; and he who loses it will preserve it.”
Lk 17:20-32 Rev. Elbf.

As in John 3, this is about the Pharisees talking to Jesus about the Kingdom of God, the Messianic Kingdom. Comparisons are made. When the Kingdom of God comes, or “in the days of the Son of Man” (Luk 17:26 cf. Dan 7:13), it will be similar to what happened in the days of Noah or in the days of Lot. Whoever has not then heard and set his eyes on the Messiah will perish (Gr. apollumi Lk 17:27). Whoever tries to save his soul in these days will lose it (gr. apollumi), but whoever loses it (gr. apollumi) will keep it alive. The message is clear: Jesus tells the Pharisees with regard to this special time that it is then better to lose one’s soul (life) in order to then receive a share in the Messianic kingdom and the life that belongs to it. Right – Jesus recommends losing your soul more than saving it.

The picture that gradually emerges here from the Gospels is quite different from what is usually taught. The conversation with Nicodemus is about access to the messianic kingdom, and whoever believes in this context will not perish in the judgments at the transition from this age to the next age, but will receive a share in the life of this messianic age. On the other hand, those who turn away from the Messiah will perish and will not receive a share in the Messianic life and age. This is the contrast.

It is a matter of life and death, and who is in the Kingdom on earth. When these words were spoken, the present church has not even been mentioned yet. It is another time that speaks of Israel’s expectation (Paul says this very clearly in Rom 15:8). A connection with this time and an eternal destiny of all people is not up for discussion here for Jesus and Nicodemus – and it should not be here for us either.

That is how much God loves the world

In most translations, one reads “so much did God love the world” as if this were something belonging to the past. The translations suggest: God would have loved this world earlier, or only when He had given His Son. In Greek, there is an aorist here. The grammatical form is difficult to translate into German. It is not about a closed past, but rather a timeless fact. It is about something that lasts, that was once so, but is still so and will be so in the future. That is why the Concordant New Testament writes , “For this is how God loves the world.” This is closest to the original meaning.

John 3:16 is about an argument of Jesus with Nicodemus, “the teacher of Israel” (John 3:10). That sets the theme of this section. There is no mention of the present church or of a statement concerning the whole world. An “eternal lostness” and the like were invented centuries later. These are “alternative facts.” They have nothing to do with the Good News.

Now, read with new eyes, we should ask ourselves: What do I recognize here of the love of God? We added color and content to the text and some words. Now we move on. And if it’s not about condemning unbelievers, what am I learning about this Jesus? And if I recognize Him as my Lord, what should I do like Him?

So we read with profit.

Deepening

• Read the text in the larger context of the chapter. How does the conversation work? What is it about?
• Which words are unclear? Kläre.