B: 4th Sun of Lent (11 Mar 2018) - THE REAL PURPOSE - Jn 3:14-21

Today's gospel presents the famous John 3:16. Dubbed as the most popular biblical verse, it describes the extreme love of God to the world. That love is best expressed by sending his only son for the salvation of mankind.

The subject of much exegetical discussions though is not on the words of the two clauses ("God so loved the world" and "He gave his only son") but on the conjunction that connects them. The usual conjunction is "that" as found in NRSV, NAB, ASV, among many. However, some versions leave it untranslated as NLT and NET do. The Filipino Bible has two possible words used "kaya" (Magandang Balita Biblia-2012) or "na" (Ang Biblia-2001). This is important because the former informs us that the first clause effects the second, saying that it is its very reason: God's sending of his Son is a result of his overflowing love for the world. The latter is an innocent conjunction: God's sending is independent of his loving of the world; he would send his Son anyway as part of the Divine Plan.

Any of the two readings is grammatically correct since the Greek word "hoste" can mean "for this reason, so, therefore, so that, in order that". Yet, determining its rightful translation has theological repercussions. Understanding "hoste" as "for this reason" is suspicious since Jn 3:16 is the only verse in the New Testament that describes God as loving the world. Reading it, however, as "so/therefore" runs the risk of cluttering its literary balance with verse 14 (a purpose clause). This grammatical callisthenic may indeed be too trivial. Yet, it may aid us in our Lenten reflection.

If we relate the discussion above to our lives, we may begin to ask: Are my actions the result of my loving? Or are my actions independent from it? With question one, it means that all the good acts we perform must be done out of love. We have to love then everybody even if we will be forcing ourselves to. Anyway, that is the true meaning of being a Christian. With question two, it means that we may still harbor ill feelings against another, yet it should not give us license to inflict harm on them. We should continue to do them good even if we do not love them. The first is being "mapagmahal", the second "mapagparaya". Even if they be different outlooks, still their end result is the same: "maging mabuti".

Loving, Forbearing, Goodness. These are the values given us by our readings today. The gospel mentions the word LOVE for the first time in John, and continues to be a running motif until the end capped with Jesus' question to Peter: "Do you love me?" (Jn 21: 15, 16, 17). The first reading maps the FORBEARANCE of God since despite mankind's continuous sinfulness, God always finds ways to draw it back to him through messengers, prophets, and a liberator (2 Chr 36:15, 16, 22-23). GOODNESS is mentioned in the second reading: "through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:7). Goodness here literally means "gift" which is given to us free-of-charge.

Sadly, our socio-political situation in the Philippines seem to be lacking in these three values. Instead, a vindictive attitude is shown against political rivals: they are imprisoned (e.g., De Lima), harassed (e.g., Rappler), or persecuted (e.g., Sereno). This is nothing new for the past administration did the same (e.g., Arroyo and Corona), and so were the previous ones. The earliest in my memory is the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in 1983. The depressing thing is that it is becoming a staple in Philippine politics. Why do they keep on persecuting the oppositionists when issues can be discussed and resolved in a diplomatic and friendly manner? What is the real purpose why they keep on holding to this disposition of hatred? Is it for the greater good of society, or for mere human satisfaction, glory and vindication?

In contrast, our readings tell us that the real purpose of our actions is something wrapped in love, forbearance, and goodness. Not having them leads to perdition. But having them leads to salvation.

- Rex Fortes, CM