It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Love for the World, Not Condemnation, a Reflection on John 3:16-17

Excerpts from The People's New Testament Commentary by Eugene Boring and Fred Craddock:
So: The Greek word can mean "so much," but its primary meaning is "in this way"....While God's love is indescribably infinite, the point here is not how much but how--God gave his Son.

Gave his ... Son: God does not punish someone else, but takes human sin into himself; Christ's giving himself is God's self-giving love.

Whoever believes: Here belief or unbelief is a human possibility and responsibility.

And that possibility and responsibility is the reason for the Incarnation, the Word coming into the world, "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

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