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 in verse 14, with the comparative phrases: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent even so must the Son of man be lifted up."
In Greek, "even so" is that word 'houto' again. And that is how it is supposed to be understood in verse 16. By omitting the word 'even' the second time it occurs, our English version is rendered sufficiently ambiguous to allow it to be read wrongly, which is precisely what has happened.
The point Jesus was making in John 3:16 was deeply profound and highly important; it just wasn't the point that it is usually employed to make.
A much better place to find evidence of the extent of Jesus' love for us is in Malachi 3:17 where, speaking of those reverence Yahweh, it reads:
"And they shall be mine, says Yahweh of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him."
Here the word 'jewels' is the Hebrew 'segulah', which can also be translated 'peculiar' or 'hidden treasure'.
The reason this is important is because Jesus employs precisely this allusion in his parables in Matthew 13:44-46.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."
These verses are often similarly misinterpreted, whereby the man discovering the 'hidden treasure' or the merchant finding 'the pearl of great price' is depicted as us, who, on discovering the kingdom of God, sell everything that we have to obtain it.
As with John 3:16, this interpretation is a well-intentioned piety but entirely the opposite of what Jesus intended to convey, which once again, becomes clearer when read it in context.
The clue is in the peculiar sentence construction, which in both cases begin with the Greek conjunction 'palin', meaning 'again'.
Obviously, no-one starts a sentence with 'again' unless connecting it with some previous point. So, where does the context begin?
It begins in verse 24, with an account known as 'the parable of the tares (weeds)'.
Afterwards, Jesus' disciples approach him in private and ask him, in verse 36b: "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."
In verses 37b-38, Jesus explains: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; but the tares are the sons of the wicked one."
It is into this context that Jesus continues with the accounts of the man who finds treasure hidden in a field and the merchant who finds the pearl of great price, and neither one represents us.
Rather both men represent Jesus. It is the treasures that represent us.
In the kingdom of God you and I are the treasure that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit most value: we are God's pearls of great price.
And the one both passages depict as selling all that he has is Jesus Christ, who sacrificed his very life to redeem us for himself.
It's imagery that occurs time and time again throughout the New Testament; not least in Luke 15, in a series of three parables with which Jesus answered the scribes and Pharisees who accused him of consorting with 'tax collectors and sinners'.
Once again, all three stories are very well known but usually misnamed as 'the parable of the lost sheep', 'the parable of the lost coin' and 'the parable of the prodigal son'.
In fact, all of them share the same focus, which is not on the object lost but on the joy of the finder - who is God. And not only God, but the Holy Trinity.
The first tells of a shepherd who has a hundred sheep, one of which becomes lost. The shepherd leaves the hundred to seek the lost one, before celebrating its safe return.
The analogy is not only obvious but Jesus openly interprets it: "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."
In the second instance, a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. She turns her whole house upside down until she finds it, then rejoices over its restoration.
Again, Jesus leaves the interpretation in no doubt: "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Notice "there is joy in the presence of the angels" and not, "among the angels", because the one rejoicing the most is God himself. In this case, however, the woman represents not Jesus but the Holy Spirit.
Lastly, we are told of "A certain man had two sons".
One son goes astray, the other remains at home.
In this case, the father in the story is God the Father in heaven, while the two sons represent two types of believer: The repentant sinner who realises his sinfulness, throws himself on his Father's mercy and receives his undeserved grace to be fully restored as a son and heir (Greek, 'huios').
His counterpart is the self-righteous elder son who believes himself deserving of his father's favour by virtue of his own good works. Although, the father loves him as much as his repentant son, he calls this one 'teknon' (a child), too immature to be called a full heir.
Jesus pointedly depicts the elder brother as representing the very critics he is addressing, whilst the repentant son, accepted by the father, represents the 'sinners and tax collectors' who they held in such contempt.
Far from being three separate but similar parables, Jesus was revealing something hugely profound about the dynamics of his Father's kingdom and the different roles of the members of the Godhead: the Shepherd, representing Jesus, comes to earth to save the lost sinner; the Woman, representing the Church in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, likewise goes in search of the lost; while the Father does not leave heaven but eagerly awaits the repentant sinner's return, rejoicing enormously when he does so by freely accepting his Father's grace.
How much does Jesus love me?
If you appreciate how precious Jesus is to his Father, you already know the answer!