John 3:16. God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in Him should not be lost, but have eternal life.
‘I tell you: God is love, and the Son is His wisdom. But God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that is, His wisdom proceeding from Himself from eternity, into this world, so that all who believe in Him should not be lost, but have eternal life! Tell Me, do you not understand this either?’
Nicodemus says, ‘It seems to me that I ought to understand it, but at bottom I still do not. If only I knew what to make of the Son of Man, I would be fairly well on track! You have now also spoken of the only-begotten Son of God, whom God’s love gave into the world. Are the Son of Man and the Only-Begotten of God one and the same individual?’
I say, ‘Look here! I have a head, a body, hands and feet. The head, the body, the hands and feet are flesh, and this flesh is a son of man, for whatever is flesh comes from flesh. But within this Son of Man, who is flesh, dwells God’s wisdom, and this is the only-begotten Son of God. Yet not the only-begotten Son of God, but only the Son of Man, will be lifted up like Moses’ serpent in the wilderness, at which many will take offense. But to those who do not take offense, but believe and hold to His name, He will give the power to be called children of God, and of their life and kingdom there will be no end, forevermore.
John 3:17. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge it, but so that it might become blessed through Him.
‘But you must not now expect some judgment of this world, such as wars, a flood, or even a fire from the heavens consuming all the heathens. For look, God did not send His only-begotten Son (divine wisdom) into the world (into this human flesh) to judge (destroy) this world, but so that it might become fully blessed through Him. That is, all flesh too should not perish, but rise with the spirit to eternal life. (By flesh here is meant not so much the actual bodily flesh as the fleshly desires of the soul.) But to achieve this, faith must bring to nothing the material feelings of greatness in the flesh, namely faith in the Son of Man, that He, born from God from eternity, has come into this world so that all who believe in His name and hold to it should have eternal life.’
John 3:18. Whoever believes in Him is not judged; but whoever does not believe is already judged, for he does not believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
‘Whoever, whether Jew or heathen, believes in Him will never for all eternity be judged and thereby destroyed. But whoever takes offense at the Son of Man and does not believe in Him is already judged. For the very fact that he is unwilling and unable to believe because, owing to his feeling of greatness, he takes offense at the name and being of the Son of Man, is already the judgment of such a person. Do you now understand what I have set before your eyes so very clearly?’
Nicodemus says, ‘Yes, yes, I understand the meaning of Your most mystically worded speech to some extent. But it seems to be spoken into the air as long as the Son of Man, whom You place so high and in whom the fullness of divine wisdom dwells, is not here, and You either cannot or will not specify more precisely the time and place of his coming!
Your judgment, too, which You locate solely in unbelief, sounds very mysterious! If judgment is neither a flood nor war nor plague, and just as little a consuming fire, but merely unbelief in and of itself, then I must openly confess to You, dear Master, that I still cannot grasp the meaning of Your words! For whoever does not grasp one or even two concepts in a speech, in the ground of the ground does not grasp the whole speech. What, then, exactly is Your judgment? What new meaning do You attach to this concept?’
I say, ‘My friend, soon I too could say to you: I can scarcely understand any longer why you are unable to grasp the completely clear meaning of My words! You cannot understand the concept of judgment, and I have set it out clearly for you and discussed it fully.’
John 3:19. But this is the judgment: light has come into the world, and people loved darkness more than light. For their works were and are evil!
‘Look, this, this is the judgment: God’s light has now come from the heavens into the world; yet although people have been taken out of darkness and placed in the light, they still love darkness far more than the full light of God now before their eyes! That people do not want the light is proved by their works, which are evil through and through!
Where do you find the first full faith, where the true fear of God? Where does one love another unless he knows he can gain something from him for himself? Where are those who loved their wives for the sake of living fruitfulness? They loved the young women for the sake of lust, and practice unchastity and outright whoredom with them. For whoever practices outright idolatry with the other sex for the sake of lust and unchastity practices true whoredom, and this is an evil of evils! Where is a thief who would take a light and steal openly?’
John 3:20. Whoever does evil hates the light and therefore does not come to the light, so that his evil works may not be punished.
‘Look, all who are so disposed and act in ways that are wicked and evil are those whose works are evil. Whoever loves and does such works is an enemy of the light, hates it, and will therefore certainly do everything to keep his affairs from coming to light, so that his evil works, which he nevertheless knows are condemned and judged by the light, may not be recognized in their ugliness and punished in the light!
And look, this is what the actual judgment consists in. But what you understand by judgment is not judgment, but only a punishment that follows judgment.
If you are fond of walking at night, it is already a judgment of your soul that you love the night more than the day. But if because of this you easily stumble and hurt yourself badly, or even fall into a pit or a deep ditch, such a stumble or fall is not the judgment, but only a consequence of the judgment within you, who love the night and hate the day!’
John 3:21. But whoever does the truth comes to the light, so that his works may become manifest, for they are done in God.
‘But if you are a friend of the light, of the day and of truth from God, you will also act in accordance with divine truth and will certainly wish ardently that your works should come into the light before everyone’s eyes and become manifest to all. For you know that your works, being done in the light of truth from God, are good and just, and therefore deserve acknowledgment and open reward!
Thus whoever is a friend of the light will walk not at night but by day, and will recognize the light at once because he is from the light. And this light is called the faith of the heart.
Whoever therefore believes in the Son of Man, that He is a light from God, already has life within him. But whoever does not believe already has judgment within him, and judgment is precisely unbelief itself.
I think you will now have understood Me?’