5.11: summary:
. the Muslims love Jesus as a prophet,
not as a the son of a god,
so I have explained John 3:16's "son of god"
with Muslims in mind .
prelude to 3:16 (John 2:13-21):
13
. it was near time for the Passover held in Judah,
and Jesus went up to Jerusalem
[where Judah had located Israel's Temple].
14
[ the routine at the Temple was to
sacrifice an animal to g-d;
so, some savvy capitalists provided a service there
of selling animals for sacrifice,
and selling the currency needed for offerings .].
Jesus made a whip of small cords
and chased them all out of the Temple,
all the while telling them:
Take these things away;
do not make my Father's house a market.
17
And this reminded the disciples
of a saying in the Writings[Tanakh]:
I am on fire with passion for your house.
["Zeal for your house will devour me"]
18
Then the Judeans put this question to him:
What sign of authority have you to give us,
seeing that you do these things?
And Jesus said to them,
Send destruction on this Temple
and I will put it up again in 3 days.
Then they retorted,
The building of this Temple took 46 years;
and you will put it up in 3 days?!
21
But his words concerning a temple
were about his own body (a holy building of sorts,
[when we are the mouthpiece of g-d's Word]).
...
[. by his miracles, Jesus was very popular,
so his immediate arrest was not so easy .]
John 3:
[ Nakdimon [Nicodemus], was a Pharisee,
and one of the rulers of the Judeans
(the southern Israel containing Jerusalem,
containing the Temple where he had
whipped out the capitalists ).]
Nicodemus said to [Jesus],
How is it possible to be born again?
go into mother's body a second time ?
[ they believed sperm was a complete self,
hence the idea of
going into mother's body a first time .]
5
Jesus said in answer, Truly, I say to you,
unless your birth is from water [baptism]
and from the Spirit,
it is not possible for you to go into
the kingdom of God.
[: this kingdom is the situation where
one's community has eternal life .
. baptism is a symbol of washing away old ways,
and committing yourself to act g-d's way;
we can't expect to enter g-d's kingdom
unless many of us act g-d's way .]
6
That which has birth from the flesh is flesh,
and that which has birth from the Spirit is spirit.
Do not be surprised that I say to you,
It is necessary for you to have a second birth.
...
11
Truly, I say to you,
We say that of which we have knowledge;
we testify to what we have witnessed
but you do not take our testimony to be true.
12
If you disbelieve my words concerning
things of earth, --[ see John 2 above ]--
how will you believe my words concerning
things of heaven?
13
And no one has ever gone up to heaven
but he who came down from heaven,
[he who has the word of god] the Son of man.
14
. just as the snake was lifted up
by Moses in the waste land,
so too the Son of man must be lifted up:
So that whoever has faith
may have in him eternal life.
[:
. worldly sense tells you the snake is deadly;
but if god's word tells you
the snake will serve you,
then faith in that word is the only thing
that will provide the god's ultimate gift:
eternal life of your community .]
16
For God had such love for the world
that he gave his only Son,
so that whoever has faith in him
may not come to destruction but have eternal life.
[:
. a faithful son perpetuates your business;
and an only son inherits your business;
ie, "only son" is poetry for "first son";
Jesus' relationship to g-d's kingdom
is like that of a son to a father's business;
g-d's kingdom is eternal life of community
which can only happen if many follow g-d's way
as heard by the words of Jesus, the prophet .
. g-d gave Jesus over to crucifixion
in order to popularize the cause of Jesus;
ie, g-d's idea of loving the world,
is to so mistreat the one professing g-d's word,
that the question of how to act will go viral,
and thereby create the very conditions
that the kingdom needs to survive:
that is, having many agreeing at the same time
that we need to nurture community survival
with the message of "leave no one behind" .
. nobody gets saved from a dying community
unless the many are saved,
and crucifying Jesus is how the many woke up .];
17
God sent his Son into the world
not to be judge of the world;
but so that the world might
have salvation through him.
[: salvation means being saved,
that means survival of your community .]
18
. when you do have faith in him
you aren't doing it to be judged;
but if you have no faith in him
you have been judged even now,
because you would be having no faith in
the name[intentions] of the "only Son"[inheritor]
of God.[the business of eternal community .]
[:
judged means being lead to a path
that didn't ensure community survival .]
19
And here is the test by which you are judged:
the light has come into the world
and you prefer the dark
because your acts are evil.
20
The light is hated by those set on evil acts;
and, they do not come to the light
for fear that their acts will be seen.
21
But those whose life is true
come to the light,
so that it may be clearly seen
that their acts have been done by
the help of God [not Satan].
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