Not to Condemn – John 3:16-21

Campus Crusade for Christ is now CRU, and on their website they have a testimony by Joy-Gen Nakamura, a young man who thought God hated him, condemned him.  “I concluded that if God hates the things that I like, then He must hate me. I felt rejected by God, and my response to feeling rejected was: Screw it. I’ll just live for myself.  I made myself feel better by making other people feel worse. Now it makes me want to vomit: the words that I said to my mom, the ways that I hurt my friends, and demeaning words that I said even to little kids. It was all just so that I could feel better.”  He did not understand the message of Jesus.

Because God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.  The one who believes in him is not condemned.  The one who does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light entered the world and people loved darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.  For whoever is practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed.  But the one who does the truth comes to the light, that it might be shown that his deeds are good, that by God’s help he is doing them.  (John 3:16-21)

Should we understand  this paragraph to be in quotes?  Is Jesus is still speaking?  That is entirely possible.  It is also possible that John has taken over and is elaborating what he began in 1:1-18.  The language sounds very much like John’s letters.  But then John could be influenced by the words and concepts of Jesus and so writes the way he does.  I lean toward these being the words of Jesus.  He’s continuing to speak to Nicodemus. 

And here is his message.  God loves us, loves us enough to send His only Son to die for us so that anyone who believes might avoid the fires of hell and have eternal life.  God’s desire is not to condemn us but to save us, and yet those who do not believe are under condemnation and prefer the darkness rather than the light of Jesus and his truth.  Darkness, we think, hides our evil deeds and we fear being exposed, though to be so exposed can lead us to see our need of salvation.

But those who come to the light acknowledge Jesus’ sacrifice for their sin (like the serpent lifted up on a pole in the wilderness) and trust him to rescue them from its poison.  The characteristic of those who believe is that we let the light shine on and expose our lives (1 John 1:5-2:1) and especially want others to know that the good we have carried out was really accomplished by God.

We are not given Nicodemus’ response to Jesus.  John does not include the rest of the conversation.  However, in subsequent references to Nicodemus (John 7:50-52; 19:39) it appears he has become a disciple of Jesus, though not confessing it to be so yet to his fellow Pharisees.  He is a secret disciple.  He is not yet giving testimony that the good works he does are from God working in him.  That is an important next step in his discipleship.

Discussion Questions

1. How have you played the role of a secret disciple?
2. What was difficult for you about coming to Jesus, the Light?
3. When did you discover that God loved you so much that He sacrificed His Son for you?
4. How do you demonstrate that you are still open to being exposed by the light?
5. In what way do you think God helps you do good deeds?
6. Do you need to take a step of public testimony to Christ?