The Mystery Of God's Love For Us

Jn. 3:14-21

Does God love our world? Every saint would say yes. But put that question to parents who have lost a child in a fire and they would probably pose another even more basic question. Is there a loving God who could allow such a tragedy as this to happen? Jesus told us that no matter what happens, of one thing we can be certain, "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him may not die, but may have eternal life."

But if God is love, why is there so much pain and suffering? Let's make it quite clear from the start that much of the blame is due to sin, to people's greed for power and wealth. We recall an incident like the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Neither God, nor nature, had anything to do with that. It was built and launched by human minds in a global conflict which individuals had caused.

But there are other sources of human suffering for which we are not responsible, at least not directly. People do not cause earthquakes, storms, floods, nor droughts. Humanity has not made poisonous snakes and stinging insects. These are simply built into the structure of the Universe as we know it. Insurance companies call such things as a tornado or a lightning strike an 'act of God' but I am not prepared to call them that.

These things would never have happened if our first parents had not sinned against God. Their disobedience brought death and misery into the world.

Suffering is a mystery and it will always remain so for us in our lifetimes. Yet despite all the suffering and misery that come to us, Jesus could still boldly claim that God loves the world. What made Him say this?

He knew that God, His Father, is love, and that He had sent Him into this world to save it. In His human nature He experienced some of that love in Mary and Joseph. He was surrounded with both divine and human love.

Before we can love, before we can even know the meaning of the word, we must first be loved. In this regard Jesus was most fortunate. The love of His heavenly Father and the love He experienced in His earthly home proved to Him that God loved the world.

Our childhood may not have been as fortunate as that of Jesus, but we have all been loved to varying degrees. We have experienced love. We are aware that at our worst, we can be indescribably selfish and cruel. But we are also aware that at our best, we can, and do perform heroic acts of kindness and generosity. Victor Hugo wrote a story about a lost boy making his way across a cold and wind-swept wasteland. In the darkness, he stumbled over something. It turned out to be the naked and frozen body of a woman. In her lifeless arms was a baby alive and well. The woman had removed her clothing and wrapped them around her child.

The story is fiction but we know such things really do happen. If the love of sinners, which we all are, can be so unselfish and heroic, how much deeper and more intense is the sinless love of Jesus, the God-Man! This helps us to understand His appreciation of the love of God, and why Jesus could claim with all His heart, “God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, that whoever believes in Him may not die but have eternal life.”

Lord Jesus, with Easter approaching help us to express our deep gratitude to You for the great sufferings You endured, to open the gates of Heaven for us.