If you ask people on the street to name a bible verse, I am confident of what answer would be predominant John 3.16, displayed at American football games and everywhere else, has been a mantra of evangelicals for a long time. It is perhaps the most romanticized and misunderstood of all scriptural verses. Let's take a fresh look through the lens of the Johannine evangelist. I shall pose and answer three questions that are key to interpreting this lovely passage effectively.
First, let's ask: what does "believe in him" mean? If I say that I believe in my wife, I do not mean that she is Irish-American or likes genealogy and crafts, or that she is retired. The statement has nothing to do with facts about her and everything to do with relationship with her. When I say I believe in her I mean that I place absolute my trust absolutely trust in her, even to the point of dying for her if necessary. To say I believe in Jesus doesn't mean I know facts about Jesus, or that I have certain opinions about him, or that I have become emotional and signed some "faith statement." It means unconditional, radical trust in him, if necessary even to the point of death. That is what it means to be one who believes in the Son. And in John's view it is not just confidence in the key relationship, but also unswerving loyalty to Jesus' teachings and way of life. All bundled together.
Second: just why did Logos have to come anyway? Did an anthropomorphic God send Jesus to save individual people from his terrible anger? Did God engineer the sacrifice of his Son's body, just to appease himself? Did he resolve to provide an afterlife of pleasure rather than torture for those who believe certain things about his Son? Did God's plan never contemplate ridding the world of evil? No, all these notions reflect a primitive, simplistic viewpont. Jesus came to save the world. That means what Jews mean by tikkun olam -- repairing the world --that is, restoring creation to God's original intent. That means a world full of justice, mercy, compassion, love and genuine equality.
Third: what kind of sin did Jesus come to take on? Just personal sin? No, personal sin we cling to is important precisely because it leads to corporate sin. Personal moral failures leads to immoral systems. People enslaved to sin produce evil in both public and private life. In John's reflective biblical viewpoint, salvation is not magic, instantaneous forgiveness of personal sins over which God holds a grudge. Salvation is rather a process of ending systemic, structural sin in human society -- the sins of slavery, abuse, oppression, greed and injustice, hatred and bigotry. In that process we become instruments of God's salvation of the world. We must be the hands, feet, and voice of the radical rabbi we claim to follow. Let us ask ourselves this Lent: how are we responding to his call?
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