Fourth Sunday of Lent
First Published: Saturday, March 25, 2006
For God so loved the World...
Readings for the 4th Sunday of Lent? click here for the lectionary readings
Reflection:
A very good friend of mine, especially when referring to Sundays during Lent, calls the Sabbath "Little Easters". Indeed that is what they are for on these days we take time out from our Lenten discipline to remember that Christ is risen and we should all rejoice in that fact since it brings us life as well.
The readings for today illustrate that fact in spades. Especially the Gospel from John gives us food indeed. Jesus reminds us that his mission is to come into the world to reveal God to all mankind and through that revelation show us the way to live in God's love so that we might share in the New Covenant for which he is the seal and sacrifice.
When he came to us, we did not know him. When he called to us, we did not answer. It was not until he had endured his terrible passion, suffered humiliation and death and then, as he told us he would, rose from the dead so that we might finally understand. And that understanding needs to be revisited time and again. We, as we have heard said many times in scripture, are a stiff necked and stubborn lot, easily lead astray.
Today, however, we celebrate Christ, and Him Crucified.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life." (Jn 3, 16)
><>
I welcome your comments. If you would like to make one and are not registered on Myspace, you can email me at miles_jj@excite.com and, if you wish, I will post your response as a comment. Thanks.
Scripture[1] from 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23
Jerome Biblical Commentary[2]
14 Likewise all the princes of Judah, the priests and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD'S temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
15 Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, send his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets, until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed that there was no remedy.
19 They burnt the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, set all its palaces afire, and destroyed all its precious objects.
(c) THE BABYLONIAN PUPPETS (36:1-23). The Chronicler allots only a dozen verses to sum up the last 58 verses of Kgs; then he adds 12 more verses of his own.
20 Those who escaped the sword he carried captive to Babylon, where they became his and his sons' servants until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.
21 All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah: "Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths, during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest while seventy years are fulfilled."
20. The author's reflection on the evil of not listening to God's prophets culminates in a claim that the Exile would last 70 years in fulfillment of Jer 25:12; moreover, it would be a homeopathic punishment for neglecting the" Sabbath year law of Lv 25 :4; Ex 23 :10.
22 3 In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing:
23 "Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: 'All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him!'"
3 [22-23] The words of these verses are identical with those of Ezra 1:1-3a. Originally Ezra-Nehemiah formed the last part of the single work of the Chronicler, of which 1 and 2 Chronicles formed the first part. But when Ezra-Nehemiah was regarded as a natural sequence to the Books of Samuel and of Kings, it was separated from 1 and 2 Chronicles and placed before them. Thus, 1 and 2 Chronicles became the last part of the Hebrew Bible. To prevent this work from ending on a note of doom, Ezra 1:1-3a was repeated as 2 Chron 36:22-23.
22-23. These verses really belong to Ezr (cf. Ezr 1 :1-3), but were repeated here when this portion of Chr was inserted into the canon after Ezr. Thus, the narrative is rounded off, and the ending of the Hebr Bible is optimistic. .
[1] All biblical references -New American Bible United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3000 December 09, 2002 Copyright by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
[2] All references to Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc. 1968
Scripture from Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
Jerome Biblical Commentary
1 1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat mourning and weeping when we remembered Zion.
2 2 On the poplars of that land we hung up our harps.
1 [Psalm 137] A temple singer refuses to sing the people's sacred songs in an alien land despite demands from Babylonian captors (Psalm 137:1-4). The singer swears an oath by what is most dear to a musician--hands and tongue--to exalt Jerusalem always (Psalm 137:5-6). The psalm ends with a prayer that the old enemies of Jerusalem, Edom and Babylon, be destroyed (Psalm 137:7-9).
2 [2] Poplars: sometimes incorrectly translated "willow." The Euphrates poplar is a high tree common on riverbanks in the Orient.
Ps 137. A lament of the community. Structure: 1-3, a flash-back to earlier experiences in the Exile; 4-6, an imprecation on one who would forget Jerusalem; 7-9, an imprecation on the destroyers of Jerusalem. 1. streams of Babylon: Countless irrigation canals from the Tigris and Euphrates watered the Babylonian plain. It is hard to escape the impression that these are personal memories that are being recalled; if so, the prayer is to be dated in the Exile. Kraus argues that the poet recalls a liturgical commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem.
3 There our captors asked us for the words of a song; Our tormentors, for a joyful song: "Sing for us a song of Zion!"
3. The request of the "captors" here fulfills the same function as the frequent question motif in the lament: "Where is your God?" (e.g., Ps 79:10). The "songs of Zion" has been adopted as a literary classification of Pss 76, 84, etc.
4 But how could we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?
4. The question implies that the "foreign" land is unclean as well as hostile.
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand wither.
6 May my tongue stick to my palate if I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem beyond all my delights.
5-6. While delivering
this imprecation, he is at the same time singing a song of Zion! The reference to "hand" and "tongue" is in view of harp and song. Be forgotten: So MT; a slight change of consonants yields "dry up," a reading preferred by some scholars. 7. Edom ravaged Judah with the fall of Jerusalem (Lam 4:21; Ob S, IS). 9. This brutal practice was an accepted part of ancient warfare (Hos 10:14; 14: 1; Na 3 :10), and it is merely a bold clich for the usual horrors of war (? 18 above).
Scripture from Eph 2:4-10
Jerome Biblical Commentary
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us,
Chapter 2 is filled with sharp contrasts between human weakness and the result of the operation of God's mighty power. 4. but God, rich in mercy: The word "rich" used five times in Eph, is characteristic of the author, who stresses the abundance of God's mercy.
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ 5 (by grace you have been saved),
6 raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
5 [5] Our relation through baptism with Christ, the risen Lord, is depicted in terms of realized eschatology, as already exaltation, though Eph 2:7 brings in the future aspect too.
5. brought us to life together with Christ: Three verbs are used: brought to life together, raised together, and enthroned together. Each is prefixed by syn, "with." Thus the writer brings out forcibly the intimate association of the Christian with Christ (? Pauline Theology, 79:137).
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;
9 it is not from works, so no one may boast.
10 For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.
8. by grace you have been saved: The Gk pf. participle brings the usual idea of future salvation into the present here, in contrast to other epistles. This realized eschatology in Eph reminds us of Jn and the Ephesus tradition behind it.
Scripture from Jn 3:14-21
Jerome Biblical Commentary
In the ensuing verses Nicodemus disappears and the dialogue becomes a monologue, either of Christ or of John or of both (? 30 above). Verses 31-36 at the end of the chapter also belong in some way to vv. 13-21; they refer more to the Nicodemus situation than to that of vv. 22-30. Some would find here one of the famous "transpositions" in the text of Jn (? 7 above) and place vv. 13-21 at the end of the chapter (cf. R. Schnackenburg, ZNW 49 [I958] 88-99); however, in the absence of positive evidence to the contrary, it seems to be preferable to interpret the text of Jn as it stands in all the mss.
14 And just as Moses lifted up 5 the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
5 [14] Lifted up: in Numbers 21:9 Moses simply "mounted" a serpent upon a pole. John here substitutes a verb implying glorification. Jesus, exalted to glory at his cross and resurrection, represents healing for all.
14. that serpent: The reference is to the incident recorded in Nm 21:4-9; in Wis 16:6f. the bronze serpent is called symbolon soterias, "symbol of salvation." The basis of comparison here is that in both cases salvation has come through a "raising up.' 'so must the Son of Man be raised up: The condition of all the foregoing, of the giving of the Spirit and the introduction of man into the heavenly realm, is the exaltation of Christ. In Jn the vb. hypsothenai, "be raised up," has a deliberately double significance when applied to Christ, referring to both his being raised up on the cross (cf. 8:28) and to his glorification in the resurrection and ascension to the Father. The usage is analogous to the analempsis of Lk 9:51; however, this is one of the key words of the Johannine vocabulary. It is closely akin to doxasthenai, "be glorified" (see 1: 14; 2: 11); both these words appear in Is 52:13 to describe the Servant of the Lord (see 1:29), and it is doubtless with such an allusion that they occur in Jn. The unification of the functions of Servant and Son of Man has an authentic situation in Jesus' own proclamation of himself (cf. o. Cullmann, Christology, 60-69; J. Jeremias, The Servant, 98-104).
15 6 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
6 [15] Eternal life: used here for the first time in John, this term stresses quality of life rather than duration.
15. The consequence of the exaltation of Christ is life in him (1:4) for all who believe (1 :12).
16 For God so loved the world that he gave 7 his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
7 [16] Gave: as a gift in the incarnation, and also "over to death" in the crucifixion; cf Romans 8:32.
The following passages very clearly show that the Evangelist himself is speaking. 16. God loved the world so much: The only explanation that we shall ever have of the gift of eternal life made possible for us in the redemption achieved in Christ is the incredible love of God for the world (cf. 1 Jn 4:9; ?Johannine Theology, 80:25-26). Though alienated from God, the world is not evil in itself, and remains the object of divine compassion (for the concept of "the world," see comment on 1:10). he gave his only Son: In stresses the gratuity of God's love, extending even to this extreme. may not perish: The question of Christ may be resolved only in belief and eternal life or in rejection and destruction; there is no third alternative.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn 8 the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
19 9 And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.
8 [17-19] Condemn: the Greek root means both judgment and condemnation. Jesus' purpose is to save, but his coming provokes judgment; some condemn themselves by turning from the light.
9 [19] Judgment is not only future but is partially realized here and now.
17-18. Christ has been sent into the world to bring eternal life (10:10); willful unbelief makes of him the occasion of condemnation. Thus unbelief is its own condemnation, and the unbeliever passes judgment on himself (cf. 12:31; ? Johannine Theology, 80:55-56). This "realized eschatology" of In (? 25. above) does not deny the common NT teaching on futurist eschatology (cf. 5 :27-29); but just as eternal life already begins in this world for him who has decided for Christ, so does the unbeliever already stand condemned. This is the sign of the Son of Man, in whom heaven and earth meet (1:51). 19-20. These verses anticipate Jn's conclusion of the Book of Signs (12:37ff.; cf. also 1:5,9-10).
21 But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
21. The evil-doer is the child of darkness and will not come to the light which is Christ; he who approaches the light, on the other hand, is the one who "does the truth"; this is an OT expression (Gn 24:49; Ez 18:8f.), meaning to "keep faith." The expression is used in the same sense in 1QS 1:5; 5:3; 8 :2. He who does the works that are of God comes to the light.
First Published: Saturday, March 25, 2006
For God so loved the World...
Readings for the 4th Sunday of Lent? click here for the lectionary readings
Reflection:
A very good friend of mine, especially when referring to Sundays during Lent, calls the Sabbath "Little Easters". Indeed that is what they are for on these days we take time out from our Lenten discipline to remember that Christ is risen and we should all rejoice in that fact since it brings us life as well.
The readings for today illustrate that fact in spades. Especially the Gospel from John gives us food indeed. Jesus reminds us that his mission is to come into the world to reveal God to all mankind and through that revelation show us the way to live in God's love so that we might share in the New Covenant for which he is the seal and sacrifice.
When he came to us, we did not know him. When he called to us, we did not answer. It was not until he had endured his terrible passion, suffered humiliation and death and then, as he told us he would, rose from the dead so that we might finally understand. And that understanding needs to be revisited time and again. We, as we have heard said many times in scripture, are a stiff necked and stubborn lot, easily lead astray.
Today, however, we celebrate Christ, and Him Crucified.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life." (Jn 3, 16)
><>
I welcome your comments. If you would like to make one and are not registered on Myspace, you can email me at miles_jj@excite.com and, if you wish, I will post your response as a comment. Thanks.
Scripture[1] from 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23
Jerome Biblical Commentary[2]
14 Likewise all the princes of Judah, the priests and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD'S temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
15 Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, send his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets, until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed that there was no remedy.
19 They burnt the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, set all its palaces afire, and destroyed all its precious objects.
(c) THE BABYLONIAN PUPPETS (36:1-23). The Chronicler allots only a dozen verses to sum up the last 58 verses of Kgs; then he adds 12 more verses of his own.
20 Those who escaped the sword he carried captive to Babylon, where they became his and his sons' servants until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.
21 All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah: "Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths, during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest while seventy years are fulfilled."
20. The author's reflection on the evil of not listening to God's prophets culminates in a claim that the Exile would last 70 years in fulfillment of Jer 25:12; moreover, it would be a homeopathic punishment for neglecting the" Sabbath year law of Lv 25 :4; Ex 23 :10.
22 3 In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing:
23 "Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: 'All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him!'"
3 [22-23] The words of these verses are identical with those of Ezra 1:1-3a. Originally Ezra-Nehemiah formed the last part of the single work of the Chronicler, of which 1 and 2 Chronicles formed the first part. But when Ezra-Nehemiah was regarded as a natural sequence to the Books of Samuel and of Kings, it was separated from 1 and 2 Chronicles and placed before them. Thus, 1 and 2 Chronicles became the last part of the Hebrew Bible. To prevent this work from ending on a note of doom, Ezra 1:1-3a was repeated as 2 Chron 36:22-23.
22-23. These verses really belong to Ezr (cf. Ezr 1 :1-3), but were repeated here when this portion of Chr was inserted into the canon after Ezr. Thus, the narrative is rounded off, and the ending of the Hebr Bible is optimistic. .
[1] All biblical references -New American Bible United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3000 December 09, 2002 Copyright by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
[2] All references to Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc. 1968
Scripture from Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
Jerome Biblical Commentary
1 1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat mourning and weeping when we remembered Zion.
2 2 On the poplars of that land we hung up our harps.
1 [Psalm 137] A temple singer refuses to sing the people's sacred songs in an alien land despite demands from Babylonian captors (Psalm 137:1-4). The singer swears an oath by what is most dear to a musician--hands and tongue--to exalt Jerusalem always (Psalm 137:5-6). The psalm ends with a prayer that the old enemies of Jerusalem, Edom and Babylon, be destroyed (Psalm 137:7-9).
2 [2] Poplars: sometimes incorrectly translated "willow." The Euphrates poplar is a high tree common on riverbanks in the Orient.
Ps 137. A lament of the community. Structure: 1-3, a flash-back to earlier experiences in the Exile; 4-6, an imprecation on one who would forget Jerusalem; 7-9, an imprecation on the destroyers of Jerusalem. 1. streams of Babylon: Countless irrigation canals from the Tigris and Euphrates watered the Babylonian plain. It is hard to escape the impression that these are personal memories that are being recalled; if so, the prayer is to be dated in the Exile. Kraus argues that the poet recalls a liturgical commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem.
3 There our captors asked us for the words of a song; Our tormentors, for a joyful song: "Sing for us a song of Zion!"
3. The request of the "captors" here fulfills the same function as the frequent question motif in the lament: "Where is your God?" (e.g., Ps 79:10). The "songs of Zion" has been adopted as a literary classification of Pss 76, 84, etc.
4 But how could we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?
4. The question implies that the "foreign" land is unclean as well as hostile.
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand wither.
6 May my tongue stick to my palate if I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem beyond all my delights.
5-6. While delivering
this imprecation, he is at the same time singing a song of Zion! The reference to "hand" and "tongue" is in view of harp and song. Be forgotten: So MT; a slight change of consonants yields "dry up," a reading preferred by some scholars. 7. Edom ravaged Judah with the fall of Jerusalem (Lam 4:21; Ob S, IS). 9. This brutal practice was an accepted part of ancient warfare (Hos 10:14; 14: 1; Na 3 :10), and it is merely a bold clich for the usual horrors of war (? 18 above).
Scripture from Eph 2:4-10
Jerome Biblical Commentary
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us,
Chapter 2 is filled with sharp contrasts between human weakness and the result of the operation of God's mighty power. 4. but God, rich in mercy: The word "rich" used five times in Eph, is characteristic of the author, who stresses the abundance of God's mercy.
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ 5 (by grace you have been saved),
6 raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
5 [5] Our relation through baptism with Christ, the risen Lord, is depicted in terms of realized eschatology, as already exaltation, though Eph 2:7 brings in the future aspect too.
5. brought us to life together with Christ: Three verbs are used: brought to life together, raised together, and enthroned together. Each is prefixed by syn, "with." Thus the writer brings out forcibly the intimate association of the Christian with Christ (? Pauline Theology, 79:137).
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;
9 it is not from works, so no one may boast.
10 For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.
8. by grace you have been saved: The Gk pf. participle brings the usual idea of future salvation into the present here, in contrast to other epistles. This realized eschatology in Eph reminds us of Jn and the Ephesus tradition behind it.
Scripture from Jn 3:14-21
Jerome Biblical Commentary
In the ensuing verses Nicodemus disappears and the dialogue becomes a monologue, either of Christ or of John or of both (? 30 above). Verses 31-36 at the end of the chapter also belong in some way to vv. 13-21; they refer more to the Nicodemus situation than to that of vv. 22-30. Some would find here one of the famous "transpositions" in the text of Jn (? 7 above) and place vv. 13-21 at the end of the chapter (cf. R. Schnackenburg, ZNW 49 [I958] 88-99); however, in the absence of positive evidence to the contrary, it seems to be preferable to interpret the text of Jn as it stands in all the mss.
14 And just as Moses lifted up 5 the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
5 [14] Lifted up: in Numbers 21:9 Moses simply "mounted" a serpent upon a pole. John here substitutes a verb implying glorification. Jesus, exalted to glory at his cross and resurrection, represents healing for all.
14. that serpent: The reference is to the incident recorded in Nm 21:4-9; in Wis 16:6f. the bronze serpent is called symbolon soterias, "symbol of salvation." The basis of comparison here is that in both cases salvation has come through a "raising up.' 'so must the Son of Man be raised up: The condition of all the foregoing, of the giving of the Spirit and the introduction of man into the heavenly realm, is the exaltation of Christ. In Jn the vb. hypsothenai, "be raised up," has a deliberately double significance when applied to Christ, referring to both his being raised up on the cross (cf. 8:28) and to his glorification in the resurrection and ascension to the Father. The usage is analogous to the analempsis of Lk 9:51; however, this is one of the key words of the Johannine vocabulary. It is closely akin to doxasthenai, "be glorified" (see 1: 14; 2: 11); both these words appear in Is 52:13 to describe the Servant of the Lord (see 1:29), and it is doubtless with such an allusion that they occur in Jn. The unification of the functions of Servant and Son of Man has an authentic situation in Jesus' own proclamation of himself (cf. o. Cullmann, Christology, 60-69; J. Jeremias, The Servant, 98-104).
15 6 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
6 [15] Eternal life: used here for the first time in John, this term stresses quality of life rather than duration.
15. The consequence of the exaltation of Christ is life in him (1:4) for all who believe (1 :12).
16 For God so loved the world that he gave 7 his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
7 [16] Gave: as a gift in the incarnation, and also "over to death" in the crucifixion; cf Romans 8:32.
The following passages very clearly show that the Evangelist himself is speaking. 16. God loved the world so much: The only explanation that we shall ever have of the gift of eternal life made possible for us in the redemption achieved in Christ is the incredible love of God for the world (cf. 1 Jn 4:9; ?Johannine Theology, 80:25-26). Though alienated from God, the world is not evil in itself, and remains the object of divine compassion (for the concept of "the world," see comment on 1:10). he gave his only Son: In stresses the gratuity of God's love, extending even to this extreme. may not perish: The question of Christ may be resolved only in belief and eternal life or in rejection and destruction; there is no third alternative.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn 8 the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
19 9 And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.
8 [17-19] Condemn: the Greek root means both judgment and condemnation. Jesus' purpose is to save, but his coming provokes judgment; some condemn themselves by turning from the light.
9 [19] Judgment is not only future but is partially realized here and now.
17-18. Christ has been sent into the world to bring eternal life (10:10); willful unbelief makes of him the occasion of condemnation. Thus unbelief is its own condemnation, and the unbeliever passes judgment on himself (cf. 12:31; ? Johannine Theology, 80:55-56). This "realized eschatology" of In (? 25. above) does not deny the common NT teaching on futurist eschatology (cf. 5 :27-29); but just as eternal life already begins in this world for him who has decided for Christ, so does the unbeliever already stand condemned. This is the sign of the Son of Man, in whom heaven and earth meet (1:51). 19-20. These verses anticipate Jn's conclusion of the Book of Signs (12:37ff.; cf. also 1:5,9-10).
21 But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
21. The evil-doer is the child of darkness and will not come to the light which is Christ; he who approaches the light, on the other hand, is the one who "does the truth"; this is an OT expression (Gn 24:49; Ez 18:8f.), meaning to "keep faith." The expression is used in the same sense in 1QS 1:5; 5:3; 8 :2. He who does the works that are of God comes to the light.
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