Wednesday in the Second Week of Easter, April 27, 2022

John 3, 16-21

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might 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. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever 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 verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

It is not clear from the Greek text whether the verses used in the Gospel reading for today’s Mass were said by the Lord Jesus or were comments made by St. John.  It seems more plausible to conclude that John wrote them in order to explain the answers he quotes the Lord as giving to Nicodemus, who has come to interview him by night.  One reason for this is the way the Son of God is spoken of.  Jesus did indeed speak of the Son of Man in the third person, but not in the extended way we see here.  Another reason is that it reads like a continuation of the beautiful and sweeping prologue John had written to his Gospel.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  We should compare what is said here, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son” with “He was in the world: and the world was made by him: and the world knew him not” (John 1, 10).  This world that God loved did not “know” him or his Son, that is, did not recognize, acknowledge, or love him in return.  And yet, the Almighty Father sent his Son to be “in the world” so that it might learn from him how much he who created it, loved it.  And that was not all the Son did for the world.  The Father gave up his Son, his only-begotten, to the Death inflicted by the world so that it might be saved by him.  We ought to marvel at how God makes himself pathetic and contemptible so that we might be saved.  He who has no need of us, even if we were perfect saints, acts as though we do him the favor when we believe in him, so that he saves us from eternal death.  “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”  Reasonably, we should think that of God was going to send his Son into the world at all, it would be to judge and punish it, for we have all sinned and do not deserve pardon.  But the Son has come not to judge but to save.  When he comes again to gather those who have believed in him into heaven, he will “judge” the wicked by leaving them to be claimed by hell, which would be our default destiny too were it not for his mercy and our response to it: “Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned.”  

“This is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.”  “Light” here means both “truth” and the Lord Jesus himself, who proclaims that he is “the Light of the world” (John 8, 12).  People “preferred darkness to light”, which is the reverse of how it should be, since darkness means danger, crime, and ignorance.  People go against their own best interests, even against their own nature, in preferring darkness. “Everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.”  The light would expose their wickedness to other people, and to their own consciences.  

“But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.”  Those who live the truth of the faith do not practice private piety but perform works of charity which are seen as proof of their faith.  The one who professes to believe but does not perform good works loses what little faith he has over time.  If we live the truth of Christ, we will draw nearer to him each day and our hearts will grow full with him.  At the end of the world, the good we have gone will be revealed to the world.