John 3: 16 God so loved the World
We’ve
just heard a verse of scripture which has been called “The gospel in a
nutshell”
“God
so loved the world that he sent his only Son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Now,
please note, St John has written:
“God
so loved the world.”
Not
just the Jews, but the whole world. He loves us all, equally. The good
people and the bad ones. Those whom we quite like and those whom we would
really rather avoid.
We
might be better pleased if he didn’t. We can’t understand why he does, but
there it is. God loves the world. Not just those bits of it which, we are happy
for Him to love. But all of it, equally.
And
why does God love the world? The short Christian answer is: “Because he
made it.”
Now,
this isn’t the time to get bogged down in debates about creation and evolution;
the point is, if you believe in the God who’s revealed in Jesus, then the way
in which he created the world doesn’t really matter very much. And, because Jesus
is the image of the invisible God, when we look at him, we can see what the
love of God is like.
But
what’s all this got to do with the death of Jesus?
Well,
the deep things of life, the things that really matter, are always tied up with
suffering and death. Just think for a moment or two about some of our greatest
poetry and music. The words and songs that leave the deepest affect are the
ones about love and sorrow and death.
Jesus
was wholly loving, and he didn’t put up barriers against people. He was warm
and free, welcoming and spontaneous.
What
he said came from his heart, with love. He wasn’t always looking over his
shoulder at the Authorities and the rules and regulations, and he wasn’t afraid
of being with others and at their mercy. He didn’t need the power of the
Establishment. He didn’t need to pull rank when the going got tough. His
authority came because of his loving service.
And,
we all recognise that anyone who lives their life like this is going to be,
well, crucified. The only way to get by, in our world is to be careful about
how human you are prepared to be. You have to ration your love; you have to
keep a weather eye open for how much of yourself you give away, if you want to
survive.
Jesus
didn’t ration his love, he was fully human, and so he didn’t last.
Our
world can only take so much love. Our societies, all of them are, in the end,
built on violence. We may not always be aware of this, but they are. The
police, and the Authorities, are always in the wings, ready to make sure that
the status quo is maintained, and that chaos doesn’t result. And if needs be,
they will use force.
Living
together through love, instead of fear, threatens this, and it’s therefore no
surprise that when Jesus offered an alternative kind of relationship on which
society could be built, he became a victim. In Jesus we see how God
loves. Freely and unconditionally, and this is what the cross is all about. It
was the end result of love in a world which saw and continues to see love as a
threat.
This
is why Jesus was crucified, and because God was in Christ, we can say that the
crucifixion is a demonstration of God’s love. This is what God is like. This is
how God loves us. With a love which will not let go. With a love which is
prepared to die for us, for all of us. A love which casts out fear.
All
of our theology flows from this.
The
cross tells us that we don’t need to be afraid. God isn’t a stern parent or a
strict judge. He isn’t angry if we don’t do things in a special way. He
doesn’t lay down a list of things which we have to do in order that he will
think well of us. He loves us all, equally. And this is what all those Easter
hymns about the death of the lamb of God, and Jesus our redeemer really mean.
It’s
when we see the cross as a demonstration of the great love that God has for us,
that so much of what we find written in the New Testament begins to make more
sense, and we begin to understand how the life and death of Jesus, show us
God’s love.
Most
especially, perhaps the verse in today’s gospel reading which says:
“God
so loved the world that he sent his only Son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life.”
May
we respond to and be drawn into this enormous love of God. May we receive it,
be freed by it and pass it on to others. And may we accept our crucifixion
which will be its inevitable result; confident in the faith that dying with
Christ and filled with his spirit will mean the transformation of our humanity
in a resurrection, like His.
Amen.