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An Exposition of John 3:16
By Lucien LeSage
Many times men will quote one verse from the Bible and
develop a doctrine without examining that verse in the
light of its context. One such verse is John 3:16. Let
me say up front that I believe John 3:16 with all my
heart. I absolutely believe that “God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” My faith rests in Jesus Christ and
Him alone.
Before we examine the context of John 3:16, I would like
to point out that Jesus said in another place that
unless a man repents he will perish. “I tell you, Nay:
but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
(Luke 13:3). He said also, “The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe
the gospel.” (Mark 1:15).
So let’s now look at the context of John 3:16. A thing
to remember is the setting of the text. What was the
time and who was it spoken to? In the case of John 3:16,
John the apostle is telling us what Jesus said to a
particular man. The setting is when Jesus had gone up to
Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover and had thrown
the money changers out of the temple (see John chapter
2). Many of the Jewish religious leaders were upset with
him and wanted a sign by which he did these things.
So Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Passover and a certain
man came to him by night. Who was this man? Well he was
no ordinary man but a Pharisee whose name was Nicodemus
and a religious ruler of the people (John 3:1). And a
master of Israel as Jesus confirmed in John 3:10. Not
just a teacher in Israel but of Israel. This same master
of Israel, being a member of the Sanhedrin, came to
Jesus by night probably so no one would see him but it
also illustrates the darkness that the Pharisees were in
at this time.
Now the text of John 3:16 says, “FOR God so Loved...”
The word “for” looks back to what was said to Nicodemus
before Jesus makes this statement. Well, what did Jesus
tell Nicodemus before that? “And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man
be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). Now let
us examine what Jesus is referring to. Certainly
Nicodemus knew of the Old Testament narrative concerning
the serpent that was lifted up in the wilderness. But
let us examine it for a moment. And remember Nicodemus,
being a teacher of Israel, certainly knew what Jesus was
referring to even if he did not know of what or whom it
was picturing.
Concerning the serpent in the wilderness: Israel was
murmuring against the Lord, and the Lord sent fiery
serpents among the people, which bit them so that some
of the people died and others were perishing from their
poisonous bites. It was the serpent in the garden which
enticed man to fall into sin and thereby he inflicted a
mortal wound on man. Here we have man being bitten by
sin and some have perished and others are perishing. So
why was a serpent lifted up for men to look on and be
healed? Notice from the scriptures in Numbers 21:9 that
Moses did not place one of the fiery serpents which had
bitten the people on a pole, but rather MADE a serpent
of brass and placed it on a pole. “And the LORD said
unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a
pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is
bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And
Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole,
and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any
man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived”
(Numbers 21:8-9)
Now, God gave the law to Israel and commanded them to
keep it. May I now ask, what is sin? “For sin is the
transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). All those that
were bitten were told to LOOK to the serpent of brass
that was lifted up on a pole. Who looked? Those that
were bitten looked. Did they know they were bitten?
Well, yes otherwise why look. Did they know the serious
nature of the bite? Well of course, because Numbers 21:6
says “much people of Israel died.” One thing for sure,
those that looked did not play with the fiery serpents.
They knew the serious nature of their condition. They
were about to perish. The people came to Moses and said,
“We have SINNED, for we have spoken against the
LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take
away the serpents from us” (Numbers 21:7). And Moses
prayed for the people in an intercessory manner and that
is when the Lord told him, “Make thee a fiery serpent,
and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that
every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon
it, shall live.” Notice that the people recognized what
the real problem was for they said “we have sinned.”
The only thing that those who were bitten (and knew they
were bitten) could do was to look. They were not told to
try and kill the serpents and besides they were already
bitten and knew it. They were not told to say some
“sinner’s prayer.” They were not told to run for their
lives and what good would that do for they were already
bitten and perishing. They were not told to manufacture
some ointment for their wounds. They were not told to
minister to others. They were not told to fight the
fiery serpents. They were not told to make an offering
to the serpent on the pole. They were not even told to
pray to the serpent on the pole. They were not told to
look to Moses. They were not told to look at their
wounds. (taken from A. W. Pink’s exposition of John’s
gospel). They were only to LOOK at the serpent on the
pole and behold it and be healed of the bite. It did not
matter how many times they were bitten, just look, just
look. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the
ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else”
(Isaiah 45:22).
The serpent was
a reminder and an emblem of the curse of sin and “the
sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the
law.” And we read that “Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for
it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a
tree:” (Galatians 3:13). In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read,
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew
no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him.” And remember Moses was commanded to MAKE a
fiery serpent. And what did Paul say concerning Jesus
Christ? “But made himself of no reputation, and took
upon him the form of a servant, and was MADE in the
likeness of men:” (Philippians 2:7).
Brass is a symbol of judgment and sin is to be and must
be judged. Christ received that judgment in the place of
sinners. So the narrative of the serpent being lifted up
in the wilderness is a picture of substitution. It is a
picture of Christ being raised up in a substitutionary
or vicarious manner and the sins of the redeemed being
placed upon him. “For he hath made him to be sin for
us...”
It is in this context that Jesus says what he says to
Nicodemus. It is those that have repentance for their
sins (“for we have sinned” as the people said to Moses)
which are told “that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life.” To
believe on him as their substitute and why? Because they
have been bitten with sin and KNOW they are perishing.
For those that find themselves in that condition I can
say, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved.” In Numbers the ones that looked had repentance
for they said, “we have sinned.” I can tell the heavy
laden sinner to look to Christ and you will not
perish. Just look in faith to Him as your substitute,
otherwise you will perish and die in your sins. He told
the religious Jews, “for if ye believe not that I am he,
ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).
Now another point about the context of all this, and it
is a very important one. Why does the sinner now look?
Why does he now see himself in such an undone condition?
Evidently he now sees something that he did not see
before. But why now? Well let us go back to the context
of John 3:16. When Jesus spoke of the serpent in the
wilderness he began that verse with the word “and”. Also
in the verse before that he also used the word “and” in
its beginning. So Jesus had related to Nicodemus
something before all of this. Please note that this was
the beginning of Jesus’ words to this religious
Pharisee. A man who thought he was what he was by his
own effort. A man who thought he was right with God by
his own religious activity and self-righteousness and
yet was dead spiritually. And what was it that Jesus
brought up FIRST? Being born of the Spirit! He
said a man must “BE born again” or “from above” as the
Greek word means. If you look up the tense of that, it
is passive and past tense. The person that is born from
above is passive in the matter and Jesus explained it
exactly that way in terms that even a child can
understand. “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must
be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell
whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one
that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:7-8). So Jesus
likened the Spirit to the wind that blows where it wants
and when it wants and how strong it wants. It cannot be
seen but only the sound of its activity can be heard.
Just as men do not direct the wind so also the Holy
Spirit is absolutely sovereign in His work. It is the
sovereign work of the Spirit of God that Jesus brings up
to Nicodemus first. All of his religious
self-righteousness availed him nothing unless the Spirit
of God would move upon him. It is after the Spirit moves
and has done His work that we see the evidence of it by
repentance and faith in the sinner. These are given in
regeneration to a spiritually dead sinner. We sing a
song in many Churches that has in its lyrics, “All is
vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down.” That
is exactly what Jesus was telling religious and lost
Nicodemus. He needed the quickening power of the Holy
Spirit or he would never see or perceive the Kingdom of
God. You see the Bible is very clear that all men are dead in trespasses and
sins. Paul said, “And you hath he quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins.” He went
on to say a few verses later in Ephesians chapter two,
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace
ye are saved)” (See Ephesians 2:1-5). In the natural
realm when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, did
Lazarus cooperate with Jesus or was he passive in the
matter? So how do men have saving faith one may ask?
Well, it’s by the “fruit of the Spirit” according to
Galatians 5:22. So we see that without the Spirit all is
vain and He is sovereign in His doings. As Jesus said,
“For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth
them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.” (John
5:21).
So I ask, is faith a necessity? Absolutely it is.
Without repentance and faith men are not saved. “Repent
ye, and believe the gospel.” But that repentance and
receiving of Christ by faith is the result of being born
of God. Listen to the words of John in chapter one. “He
came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as
many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”
(John 1:11-13). Again, the ones that were born of God
were passive. Notice not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.
Without the Holy Spirit men cannot please God. Paul
tells us, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot
please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of his.” And Jesus told Nicodemus “That which is born
of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit.” Would not repentance and faith in
His Son be pleasing to God? Yet we are told that those
in the flesh (born of the flesh) cannot please God. How
very true then are the lyrics, “All is vain unless the
Spirit of the Holy One comes down.”
One last point to make about John 3:16 and its context.
Nicodemus was a Jew and a teacher of Israel. John Gill
said, “The Jews had a notion that when Messiah came that
the Gentiles should have no benefit or advantage by him,
only the Israelites; so far should they be from it,
that, according to their sense, the most dreadful
judgments, calamities, and curses, should befall them;
yea, hell and eternal damnation.” The serpent on the
pole was for the Israelites to look to. The Egyptians
had no dealing in the matter. On the annual day of
atonement it was the sins of the children of Israel that
were confessed and put on the head of the scapegoat (see
Leviticus 16:21). But that was for the nation of Israel.
It was a lamb that was slain for each household on the
night of the Passover. All these are types of Jesus
Christ and his work as our high priest. “For even Christ
our Passover is sacrificed for us:” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
So Jesus is telling this religious Jew that God so loved
Jews and Gentiles (the world) that whether Jew or
Gentile all who believe in Jesus as their substitute as
pictured by the serpent on the pole “should not perish,
but have everlasting life.” It is all men without
distinction. They are the whosoever of John 3:16. John
Gill says the Lord is telling Nicodemus, "But I tell
you, God so loved the Gentiles, as well as the Jews,
that he gave his only begotten Son; to, and for them, as
well as for the Jews; to be a covenant of the people,
the Gentiles, the Saviour of them, and a sacrifice for
them... and yet such is his love to the Gentiles, as
well as Jews, that he has given him, in human nature,
up, into the hands of men, and of justice, and to death
itself." (See Romans 11:12-15 where the word “world” is
used to refer to the Gentiles.) “For God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved” (John 3:17). “To wit,
that God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them; and hath committed unto us the word of
reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19). “Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Romans 4:8).
A last thought on Nicodemus if I may. He did come to
Jesus seeking his knowledge. He even said “Rabbi, we
know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man
can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be
with him.” At this time Nicodemus needed to be born
again and it seems by God’s sovereign grace the Spirit
did move on Nicodemus at some later time for we read
that Nicodemus appears to be defending Jesus in John
7:50-51, and then we read the following concerning the
burial of Jesus. “And there came also Nicodemus, which
at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a
mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound
weight” (John 19:39). I truly believe that the Lord in a
sovereign way saved Nicodemus.
To those lost in their sins I can say, “Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Look by
faith to Jesus being lifted up in the place of sinners!
May God Bless,
Lucien LeSage
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