Kathleen Rushton discusses how John 3:13-17 not only tells of God’s love of the world but also challenges us to care for our particular place in the Pacific Ocean.

POPE FRANCIS WROTE in Laudato Si’ in 2015: “The entire material universe speaks of God’s love … The history of our friendship with God is always linked to particular places which take on an intensely personal meaning” (LS par 84). Reading John 3:13-17 in the Season of Creation this year, we can reflect on the significance of the “particular places” of the Pacific Ocean in which we live.

“Lifting Up”

John 3:13-17 opens with a denial: “no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” This is followed by reference to a saving “lifting up” (hysoun) of the same Son which is modelled on the “lifting up” of a serpent in the wilderness (Jn 3:14-15). This refers to a long-standing dispute between the Johannine community and the Jewish community over the status of Jesus and Moses. In the Torah, only Moses had access to “the heavenly world”.

While the Greek word hysoun can mean “lifting up” in a physical sense, it means more generally “to exalt”. In one word, the evangelist holds together the physical lifting up of Jesus in his crucifixion with his exaltation and return in glory to
the Father.

Because hysoun means both to lift up and to exalt, Moses’s “lifting up” of the bronze serpent foreshadows the “lifting up” of Jesus in his death-resurrection (Jn 3:14; 8:28; 12:34). This life-giving image assures “everyone who believes into [Jesus that they] may not perish but may have eternal life” (Jn 3:15). This gift comes from looking with faith upon the Crucified One and seeing the revelation of God who “so loved the world …” (Jn 3:16).

“Believing into” is dynamic. Raymond Brown describes it as “an active commitment to a person and in particular to Jesus … it involves much more than trust in Jesus or confidence in him; it is an acceptance of Jesus and of what he claims to be and a dedication of one’s life to him. This means a willingness to respond to God’s demands as they are presented in and by Jesus.”

Three Senses of “The World” (Kosmos)

In the Hebrew Old Testament what we call “the universe” is described as “heaven and earth” which was created by God’s word. Later, the “world” (kosmos) expressed the Greeks' appreciation of the order of the universe. The “world” is the reality God so loved that God gave the Son (Jn 3:16; note that nowhere in John does the Greek say his Son, it is always the definite article the). The expression “comes into the world” highlights the physical universe and is associated with Jesus, the light who has “come into the world”
(Jn 1:9; 3:19; 12:46).

A second sense of “coming into the world” relates to Jesus as the Messiah (Jn 6:14; 11:27; 16:28) and is like a technical term for the work of Jesus who is “sent into the world” (Jn 3:17; 10:36). The disciples and Christians today are drawn into these works of God when at the supper, Jesus prays: “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (Jn 17:18).

A third sense of “world” (kosmos) means more than the physical universe in that it may refer to that universe as it relates to humankind. This understanding suggests “the world” is a creation that is able
to respond.

As Sandra Schneiders says: “the ‘world’ with which we are concerned … is the good world to which we are missioned, the evil world which we confront and the alternative world” we are called into with Jesus in the ongoing re-creation of finishing the works of God. In Laudato Si’ Francis says we do this “by hearing both the cry of Earth and the cry of the poor.”

Good Works

God did not send Jesus to judge the world but to save it (Jn 3:17; cf. 8:15; 12.47). “To judge” (krinein) and “judgement” (krisis) are found here for the first time in the narrative (Jn 3:17–19). One of John’s contributions to Christian thought is a theology of self-judgement. Rather than a final judgement as found in Matthew (25:31–46), human persons judge themselves in the present, by accepting or refusing the ongoing revelation of God made flesh in Jesus Christ and by the “works [that] have been done in God” (Jn 3:21) or bad works (Jn 3:19) that flow from this decision.

“Eternal Life” Now

John’s is the only Gospel which tells of “eternal life” experienced now in the world God so loved. In relationship to the world in all its senses, humankind has the potential to respond with awe and wonder. When we see the beauty of now with awe and wonder, our imaginations are fired to abide in, care for and protect Earth and the whole Earth community.

“We Choose to Retain Hope”

In our “particular place” of the Pacific, if we understand that “eternal life” is happening now and of all creation as affected by humankind, we can see the urgency to act.

Recently three University of the South Pacific law students, in the face of rising seas in their homelands of Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands, took their call for countries to have a legal obligation to limit climate change to the United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ). They said: “We choose to retain hope, not only that our countries prove resilient, but also that international law and its institutions remain a global beacon of respect for a just and peaceful international order.”

The documentary YUMI: The Whole World follows their urgent mission from 2019 to bring climate justice to the ICJ.

“Yumi” means “we” in Bislama, the local Creole language of Vanuatu, and emphasises that it is a collective voice that is fighting against climate breakdown. The students reached across the Pacific and beyond, building global alliances and UN support for a ruling to define states’ legal obligations on climate change. In July 2025 the ICJ delivered its first-ever advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change and that failure to do so can lead to legal responsibility.

Support Debt Justice

Climate breakdown does not only affect the environment — it affects people and their economies. After climate disasters, Pacific nations are often forced to borrow money to fund recovery efforts. Caritas ANZ is taking part in the global Caritas Jubilee Year “Turn Debt into Hope” initiative which responds to an urgent need for debt justice. Here in our particular place of the Pacific, we can see the now in a new perspective and participate with hope in this campaign.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 307 Sept 2025: 24-25