John 3:16 and eternal life

In the past, this time of year brought softball teams from all over the state for tournaments. It was great fun to go the local softball complex and watch the teams. For several years running the Barrow mixed team (men and women) brought a very large first baseman named John. He swung the bat very hard, and when he connected the ball flew out of the park. His base running was not spectacular, but if the ball went over the fence, who cared?

I remember John especially well because of the number he wore: 316. I never inquired about the meaning. It could have been his weight, understated. I suspect, however, that he was a devout evangelical Christian wearing his personal witness, John 3:16.

I grew up in a devout family. I never remember not going to Sunday school and worship service. The whole family was present when the church door opened. I suspect that the first Bible quote I learned was “God is love.” The first song I remember learning was “Jesus Loves Me.”

After this simple beginning, the first Bible verse that I memorized was John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 was written in red letters in my Bible. That meant that Jesus said it, so it must be true. I believed it and made a commitment to being a follower of Jesus.

Seventy years later I still believe this.

A lot has happened in the intervening 70 years. I completed college, studied for four years in seminary, experienced a lot of life, took on the task of being a lifelong learner and pastored churches for 50 years. The years have challenged my intellectual and spiritual understandings. I believe the Bible should be read and studied with all the literary and historical critical skills available.

Let’s be forthright. Jesus never spoke the words of this passage. The long dissertations, such as the one in chapter three, that are found in the John gospel were written generations after the death of Jesus and were put into the mouth of Jesus to give them authority.

If we are to believe the message of John 3:16, we must believe it because the words carry a fundamental truth. We do not believe the message because Jesus said it or because the words are written in red letters in the Bible. We believe the message because we have wrestled with the words and have found them to carry a message with transforming power.

I embrace certain things about Jesus as history. He was born a rural peasant. He was incurably religious. He vigorously argued the meaning of Torah (the law). He took up the cause of the poor and disenfranchised. He told stories that encouraged the poor and angered the rich and powerful. The rich and powerful killed him. After his death, he became the mythological leader of those who followed him. As their mythological leader, he was Christ, who was back from the dead and who would not go away.

Through my parents and my church, I was introduced to Jesus of Nazareth. He became my mythological friend and constant companion. I came to trust him as I did no one else. Because of this relationship of trust, I always knew who I was and my life always has had direction.

In John 3:16 there are two key concepts. The first is found in “whoever believes in him.” I prefer translating this phrase “whoever trusts him.” I have concluded that trust is one of the essential glues of life. “I don’t trust anyone” is the confession of a person totally disconnected from life. I trust the Jesus understanding of life. I trust the message of his stories and sayings. And it is more. I have a personal trust in the mythological Jesus who is at my side always.

According to John 3:16, the result of this trusting relationship is eternal life. There is a huge misunderstanding about the nature of eternal life. Eternal life is not more and more time for me in some heavenly home. Eternity is not more time. Eternity is the antithesis of time. Eternity is available to us while we live out our time life. It is without time, it is timeless, it is the life of Jesus that could not be killed on a cross.

Sometime in the next few years I will die. My body will sign off. My relatives or friends may cremate me, or they may bury my body. Someone may put my ashes on a shelf in a container. I hope they laugh every time they pass by. If I am buried, worms will eventually consume my body, if they can break through the insane box in which I am buried. When my body dies, it will be dead, never again to be resuscitated.

In my highest sense, however, those I leave behind will not be able to get rid of me. My eternal self will be around to haunt, but preferably bless, everybody around. Rest assured my mythological friend named Jesus will be with me.

And that is what John 3:16 is all about.

The Rev. Howard Bess is pastor emeritus of Church of the Covenant, an American Baptist church in Palmer. Contact him at hdbss@mtaonline.net.