That the Whole World Might Be Saved

That the Whole World Might Be Saved 

John 3:1-17: There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 

"Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 

"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." 

John 3:16,  which we see on signs at sporting events and hear preached to assure us that only we who believe in Jesus will be the only ones who have eternal life, does not exist in a vacuum.  It is a part of the story of a Pharisee named Nicodemus who senses something special about Jesus and his relationship with God.  He comes to Jesus by night looking for the secret to life.  The short version of the story is that Jesus lets Nicodemus know that it is through the power of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, by which one enters the Kingdom of God (a better phrase in my opinion than verse 16’s “eternal life”). 

John 3:16 then assures us that “all who believe in Jesus will have eternal life.”  Verse 17 then expands the possibilities of who can be saved.  "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."  adding to our confusion, especially if we add verse 18 that tells us that “those who do not believe in him are condemned already because they do not believe in the Son of God.” 

Can the “whole world,” all people, be saved?  Even those who do not believe Jesus is the Son of God?  Why the possible confusion in the middle of this passage.  I give my answer, which is not the only answer, and with which many Christians will disagree.  First, I believe that it is the power of the Spirit that brings Salvation, that brings people into the Kingdom of God.  For Christians at the end of the first Century when the Gospel of John was written, it was important to “know” that in a pluralistic world that their relationship with Jesus was salvific, that Jesus was for them the way the truth and the life.  It was also important for them to know that those who did not agree with them, who did not accept Jesus as the only Son of God, “the Jews” of John’s Gospel would not be saved.   

While it may not be the intention of the writer of the Gospel, I believe that the statement that “the whole world might be saved through him” is the key to this passage.  That it was through Jesus, empowered by the spirit and sent by God the creator, that the whole world, not just the Christians or Israel, would be saved.  That is, all the people of the world have the possibility of being part of the Kingdom of God on Earth.  For those of us “who believe,” who are Christians, we see the Spirit in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  Others may well see the Spirit in other manifestations, religious or otherwise. 

The world can be saved through Jesus whether I, or anyone else, believes in him as the Son of God or not.  Salvation would thus be a sacrament like Baptism or Eucharistic.  A Sacrament depends not on our action, but on God’s action. So the key point for me is that the world is saved through Jesus, and that this is the case, whether one believes in him as the Son of God or not. 

"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."