For God has not sent his Son into the world that he may judge the world, but that the world may be saved through him.
God did not send His Son on a mission of judgment. This verse gives the reason for the sending. It raises two questions: what was God's purpose in sending Christ, and how wide is the offer?
The nature of the messenger tells you the nature of the message. One writer asks what lesser messenger would have been enough, if warning or punishment had been the point:
But for what purpose was God among men? There could be only one reason for this great event. Suppose He had wanted to send a message of warning, appeal, or command. A servant like the prophets would have been enough. He spoke to the fathers of old that way many times, and in many ways. Suppose He had meant to make an example of sinners by carrying out His righteous judgment on them. An angel or two would have been enough. That is what happened to the guilty cities of the plain. But when Emmanuel appears, men and angels must be silent and stand aside. Every ear must listen to Him. He comes to reveal the eternal purposes of God, and to declare and carry out the intentions of divine and infinite love.
The same Person who will one day judge came ahead of that day in a different character:
He has visited men before the day of judgment. We find Him giving, not judging. He deals with them in quite another way. The One who is to be the Judge came first to be the Saviour. He came in grace, seeking worshippers. He came to visit the hearts of men where they were — bad hearts. He came to such men not to judge them at all, but to deal with our souls about the very sins for which He would have had to judge us... Instead of coming to claim the debt, He comes to pay it. Both ways prove the debt was there, but the dealing is quite different.
Set this verse beside His return, and the difference between the two comings stands out:
Grace marked His first appearing in this world. Righteousness, and so judgment, will mark the second... God will then test everyone by the sure standard of what He righteously requires from man. The day of grace will have closed. The age of righteous government will have begun.
Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel, yet Jesus speaks to him of "the world." That word marks a change of scale:
God had before Him a far deeper work, one with everlasting consequences. So the people His grace reaches are no longer held inside the narrow limits of the land of Israel. If He is to show Himself now as a Saviour God in His Son, it suits His love to send out the good news to the world as a whole.
The verse says the world "might be saved." Writers are careful not to stretch that into a claim that everyone is saved:
When the apostle John brings in "the world," he shows this salvation is not for Jews only. It is world-wide. Not that all the world is saved, but He is the propitiation.
Judgment did fall on the world — but as the consequence of refusing Him, not as the reason He came:
The world's rejection of the Son of God does mean judgment. But that is the result of the Lord's coming, not the purpose of it... How solemn it is. The world, in rejecting the Son of God, has refused His great salvation and brought His judgment on itself. Despite the world's rejection of the Son of God, His salvation is still open to anyone who will come to the Lord. For He said, "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved."
- Purpose — Judgment needed no more than an angel. Warning needed no more than a prophet. Sending the Son shows the errand was love, not condemnation.
- Person — The One appointed to judge arrived first as Saviour, not to collect the debt but to pay it.
- Period — Grace marks His first coming. Righteousness and judgment mark His return, after the day of grace has closed.
- Reach — The purpose runs past the borders of Israel to the world as a whole, so the good news goes out to all.
- Response — "Might be saved" is a real offer, not a promise that all are saved. Judgment falls only where men refuse that offer. The door still stands open to anyone who enters by Him.
He that believes on him is not judged but he that believes not has been already judged, because he has not believed on the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.