Fun with Iambs (and one anapest)
The preacher read from memory and said:
The Gospel of Saint John, and chapter three—
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so he is lifted up, the son of man,
that all believing not just in but into him
will have eternal life.
For God so loved the world he gave his one, his only, son
(again:) that all believing into him will have
eternal life, not die, not ever die.
God didn’t send his son into the world
that he condemn the world,
but that the world be saved through him.
So if a man, a woman, if you believe in him,
you won’t be judged—condemned! But if—
if you do not believe, you are already judged—
condemned; for you did not believe into his name,
the one and only son of God. My friends,
we don’t believe just on the name of Christ (just sitting there)
but into it—we run toward him. Unless we run away:
This is the condemnation, John goes on: the light
is coming in the world—no, no, into—
that word again: it moves, this time toward us.
And do we turn and run away?—because we love the dark,
because our deeds are dark, we hate the light,
for in it we are seen, exposed to God and everyone.
We hate the light—unless we live by truth.
For anyone who lives by truth comes out into the light.
So you, my friends, come out
and let your deeds be plainly seen by God.
He sent his one, his only, son into the world for you.
The Gospel of Saint John, and chapter three—
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so he is lifted up, the son of man,
that all believing not just in but into him
will have eternal life.
For God so loved the world he gave his one, his only, son
(again:) that all believing into him will have
eternal life, not die, not ever die.
God didn’t send his son into the world
that he condemn the world,
but that the world be saved through him.
So if a man, a woman, if you believe in him,
you won’t be judged—condemned! But if—
if you do not believe, you are already judged—
condemned; for you did not believe into his name,
the one and only son of God. My friends,
we don’t believe just on the name of Christ (just sitting there)
but into it—we run toward him. Unless we run away:
This is the condemnation, John goes on: the light
is coming in the world—no, no, into—
that word again: it moves, this time toward us.
And do we turn and run away?—because we love the dark,
because our deeds are dark, we hate the light,
for in it we are seen, exposed to God and everyone.
We hate the light—unless we live by truth.
For anyone who lives by truth comes out into the light.
So you, my friends, come out
and let your deeds be plainly seen by God.
He sent his one, his only, son into the world for you.
posted by Rick at 8:03 AM
3 Comments:
Rick,
This is a fine translation. In particular, the rendering of "eis" as "into" is helpful. It makes the believing take on a living movement, as in following Jesus -- not just intellectual assent. Joe Small, in a recent little book on the Preservation of the Truth contrasts the English word belief and the Greek pisteuein. It's too bad, he says, that our word faith doesnt have a verbal form.
In a children's sermon on Jn 3:16, I'm gonna try to say that faith in Jesus is a gift we are given, and the way we receive it is to realize that God in Jesus first believes in (into) us (faiths in us we would want to say, but cant because it sounds precious, or just plain weird), and because of that we can believe in (into) him.
In this sense John and Paul agree. Or at least the John translated by R. Dietrich agrees with the Paul translated by J.L. Martyn (Galatians) agree: We are saved by the faith of Christ, which is always mature, complete, more than we are by our faith in Christ, which is always incomplete, self-serving, sin-tinged. But there remains a creative tension between Christ's faith and ours, between God's love and for us and our love for God.When push comes to shove, the tension is broken by the power of God's grace. Therein lies not just our hope but the hope of the world. You've helped us see "into" and even enter "into" this hope further than we otherwise
might.
Thanks,
Dee
Now I've got to look up iambic pentameter again.
Dee,
You can look up iambic, and you can look up pentamenter (but you doesn't have to call me Johnson). And don't expect many pentameters, after the first two lines.
The rhythms just didn't work that way for me this time.
Rick
Thanks, Rick and Dee, for helping me a great deal with my sermon for Sunday. Your exegesis exposes for me the way our predominant (at least here the Bible belt it is) Arminian/intellectual/dogmatic theological cocktail sedates and immobilizes us from being Spirit-blown followers of Jesus. We have this notion: “Hey, I go to church regularly, I’ve signed my name next to all the ‘believe in’ requirements, so the bases are covered; I’m a Christian. Okay, now pass the potatoes!”
Sadly, verses in this passage have been used (misused….abused) to serve the cocktail. What a tragic irony, as these verses are meant to convey something quite different from—even, in some respects, opposite of—the purpose for which they are generally used by the church.
Ger
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