by Allan McGregor

Created on: April 29, 2008

New Yorker, Anna Bartlett Warner, was in her early thirties when, in 1859, she wrote her most famous children's hymn. Episcopal priest, David Rutherford McGuire contributed the second and third stanzas but the title refrain was all Anna's: 'Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so'.

For all their naive simplicity, its words remain unsurpassed for the depth of their theological intensity: Jesus does love me; and I know so, because the Bible says so.

But how much does Jesus love me?

Ask that question of many Christians and they are likely to point to what is arguably the most famous passage in the New Testament, John 3:16.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

It's a nice thought and a pious interpretation, but a mistaken application of a scripture that simply does not say what most Christians think it does, which is that the 'so' (houto, in Greek) is used emphatically. That would give it the weight of meaning 'this much', which is how it is usually read: "For God loved the world this much, that he gave his only begotten Son"

In fact, 'houto' is used as a conjunction, connecting the second part of a Hebraic parallelism to the first, giving it the meaning, 'in like manner'; and should therefore be read: "For God loved the world in the same way, that he gave his only begotten Son..."

This rendering becomes clearer when verse 16 is read undivorced from its original context, which begins in verse 12:

"If I have told you earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

"And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man who is in heaven.

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Here, Jesus is drawing an allusion between his own forthcoming atoning work on the Cross and an incident recorded in Numbers 21 where God judged the rebellious Israelites with a plague of poisonous serpents. The serpents claimed many lives until Moses, on God's instructions, made a serpent of bronze which he raised up on a pole, the sight of which saved all those who having been bitten, then looked upon it.

We see the parallel clearly

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>