Notes on John 3: 22 – 36

On first reading, this passage seemed very difficult, and it was suggested that on the Sunday this would come up as the lectionary reading it might be a day to concentrate on the Old Testament passage! However after discussion we found that we had a lot to say about it and that we could make at least one verse relevant for today.

After a read through, in which we did not have as many problems as usual with our different translations, we honed in on verse 36 and the expression “God’s wrath”. Most of our discussion centred on this verse, which expresses a view of God that we do not like to use much today: the image of God as angry is an Old Testament image. More of that discussion later - first we put the passage into context. It follows the discussion with Nicodemus on being born again of water and the Spirit, and leads into Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at which living water is offered. Once again this shows John the Evangelist linking his themes through the material he chooses to use. We noted particularly how verse 18 has very similar sentiments to those expressed in verse 36. This theme of those who reject Jesus’ incurring God’s wrath or anger is something that the evangelist will return to.

We noted other places in the passage where the Evangelist uses Old Testament imagery. In verse 25 we read of an argument between John’s disciples and a Jew about ritual washing. We thought that this was a transfer analogy from the Old Testament story of Naaman who was told to wash in the Jordan to be cleansed. From now on Jesus will be the one who cleanses. Jesus has told Nicodemus in verse 5 that people must be born again both of water and the Spirit. In this passage we see Jesus baptising with water, and he will go on to baptise with the Spirit also. John’s disciples point to Jesus’ baptising, expecting John to be jealous. But the evangelist uses this story as an example of how John the Baptist declares Jesus to be the one who is heaven sent. We know from chapter 1 how two of John the Baptist’s disciples have left him to follow Jesus (John 1:35 – 42). We thought that John the Baptist was shown here to be a wonderful, generous person, and also wondered whether we in the same position would be as generous.

The image of the bridegroom is again an image from the Old Testament, where Israel is spoken of as God’s bride. Now Jesus is shown in the position of bridegroom, which puts Jesus on a par with God. The Baptist knows what his role is and knowing that now it is finished, he generously steps back. We thought that it was good to know what one’s role was and be happy when one had finished. We recognised that all people in the church have a role, and that we are all dependent on each other, with no-one more important than anyone else. We thought briefly about Martha and Mary and how both these two women’s attributes and talents were both necessary and complimentary to the church, and that it was good to recognise this and be happy for each other in our different roles. The Baptist has a confidence that what he has achieved has been vital, but that now Jesus must assume the limelight. We recalled the words of the Methodist covenant service prayer (page 288 MWB), in which we affirm our desire to be used or not in God’s service. John the Baptist has been used, but now his part is over.

Once again it is difficult to know where John the Evangelist speaks in the text, and where John the Baptist. Verses 31 – 36 are most probably John the Evangelist speaking, not the Baptist. However we must realise that all is a construct of the Evangelist, even when he is apparently relating real events. But it must have been important to him that readers stayed under the impression that John the Baptist made these comments about his part in the life of Jesus.

We return now to our discussion of verse 36. The word wrath only appears here in John’s gospel. Today we do not like to think about God’s anger, only God’s love; but we thought that perhaps today we had trivialised God’s love. God is awesome and a glib acceptance of God’s love reduces God to one of us. Some people see love as being a soft option and sentimental, but we felt that love was not simply sentimental. Love can be tough and uncompromising. One problem is that the English language has just one word for love, while there are several in Greek all with different connotations of meaning. However, many Worship Songs mention loving Jesus as if he were a boyfriend, not God incarnate. This attitude made some of us feel very uneasy. Our idea of God’s love overcoming everything can induce some people to say to themselves “It does not matter what I do because God loves me”.

We felt that God’s love was more like that of a parent, and that a good parent would not hesitate to reprove a child if it were doing something wrong or dangerous. We believe that when we do wrong God reproves us and cries. There is a good illustration in the book Joe’s Boys by Louisa M Alcott where the father of many adopted boys makes the boys beat him with a stick whenever they break the rules. This is a good illustration for how we believe God feels when we break His rules. See Paul: “What, shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin…” (Romans 6: 1 & 2). Grace is God’s love in action, forgiving and recreating.

Another way of looking at this verse is to understand why it is that God’s wrath is towards a person. The Evangelist says that it is because the person has not accepted Jesus, does not believe in Jesus. God’s wrath is God’s opposition to evil, and the evil here is not accepting Jesus. Jesus came to take away the sin of the world so, if people reject Jesus, they are staying sinful and receiving God’s wrath, whereas those who accept Jesus accept God’s love which Jesus embodies. To reject Jesus is to follow evil, while to accept Jesus is to accept eternal life. Jesus is spoken of in this gospel as “the light of the world”. Light picks up different aspects of a scene; Jesus, as light, can pick out different parts of us. Jesus highlights the good in us. Light picks up things which might be missed in the dark. With Jesus we become more aware of our dark bits, which show up in his light; we are more aware of our failures. We need to accept God’s forgiveness, which means we have to trust God; we have to trust God’s love to be able to trust His forgiveness. If we believe in Jesus, we understand God’s forgiveness, and this can help us to forgive ourselves. If we do not accept Jesus, we cannot understand God’s forgiveness or forgive ourselves, and thus we inflict God’s wrath on ourselves because we reject his forgiveness. Some people cannot forgive themselves and so feel only God’s wrath, while God’s love is waiting for them to accept it. All those people who do not recognise or accept God’s love are left with God’s anger. We have freewill to choose whether or not to accept God’s love. A group member writes; God is angry with evil, not people, and those who cannot accept God’s forgiveness do not forgive themselves so wrongly interpret this as God’s wrath.

One of us had been to Oberammergau and told us how the play had highlighted this aspect of forgiveness. The play showed how Peter had accepted God’s forgiveness, while Judas had not. There are no little sins; all are the same, so the difference between Judas and Peter is whether or not they accepted God’s forgiveness.

The passage is a long one for a reader, and it could be difficult to keep a congregation interested and understanding what is being read. We discussed the difference in readers today compared to some years ago, and came to the conclusion that readers today read with more feeling, which helps congregations to understand. But there was a school of thought that a reading which was bland could help the listener to put his or her own interpretation onto the passage, and not just the interpretation of the person reading that morning.

The passage needs much background contextual information. Some congregations may not have, so it is vital to choose carefully a verse on which to preach, and to be prepared to fill in some of the background information without swamping the congregation with too much unnecessary information risking turning a sermon into a lecture.