Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 3:19
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
19. And this is the condemnation ] Rather, But the judgment is this; this is what it consists in: comp. Joh 15:12, Joh 17:3.
and men loved darkness, &c.] The tragic tone again (see on Joh 1:5). Both words should have the article, loved the darkness rather than the light. An understatement; they hated the Light. There is probably no allusion to Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night. He chose the darkness, not because his deeds were evil, but because they were good. He wished to conceal, not an evil deed from good men, but a good deed from evil men.
deeds ] Better, works here and Joh 3:20-21.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This is the condemnation – This is the cause of condemnation; or this is the reason why men are punished.
That light is come – Light often denotes instruction, teaching, doctrine, as that by which we see clearly the path of duty. all the instruction that God gives us by conscience, reason, or revelation may thus be called light; but this word is used especially to denote the Messiah or the Christ, who is often spoken of as the light. See Isa 60:1; Isa 9:2. Compare Mat 4:16; also the notes at Joh 1:4. It was doubtless this light to which Jesus had particular reference here.
Men loved darkness – Darkness is the emblem of ignorance, iniquity, error, superstition – whatever is opposite to truth and piety. Men are said to love darkness more than they do light when they are better pleased with error than truth, with sin than holiness, with Belial than Christ.
Because their deeds are evil – Men who commit crime commonly choose to do it in the night, so as to escape detection. So men who are wicked prefer false doctrine and error to the truth. Thus the Pharisees cloaked their crimes under the errors of their system; and, amid their false doctrines and superstitions, they attempted to convince others that they had great zeal for God.
Deeds – Works; actions.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 19. This is the condemnation] That is, this is the reason why any shall be found finally to perish, not that they came into the world with a perverted and corrupt nature, which is true; nor that they lived many years in the practice of sin, which is also true; but because they refused to receive the salvation which God sent to them.
Light is come] That is, Jesus, the Sun of righteousness, the fountain of light and life; diffusing his benign influences every where, and favouring men with a clear and full revelation of the Divine will.
Men loved darkness] Have preferred sin to holiness, Belial to Christ, and hell to heaven. chashac, darkness, is frequently used by the Jewish writers for the angel of death, and for the devil. See many examples in Schoettgen.
Because their deeds were evil.] An allusion to robbers and cut-throats, who practise their abominations in the night season, for fear of being detected. The sun is a common blessing to the human race-it shines to all, envies none, and calls all to necessary labour. If any one choose rather to sleep by day, that he may rob and murder in the night season, he does this to his own peril, and has no excuse:-his punishment is the necessary consequence of his own unconstrained actions. So will the punishment of ungodly men be. There was light – they refused to walk in it. They chose to walk in the darkness, that they might do the works of darkness-they broke the Divine law, refused the mercy offered to them, are arrested by Divine justice, convicted, condemned, and punished. Whence, then, does their damnation proceed? From THEMSELVES.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This is the reason, the evidence and great cause of condemnation,
that light is come into the world. Christ is the Light, foretold by the prophet, Isa 9:2; 42:6; 49:6. He is styled, in the beginning of this Gospel the true Light, Joh 1:4; that is, he hath in perfection all the excellent qualities of light; the power to enlighten the minds of men in the knowledge of saving truth, to warm the affections with the love of it, to revive the disconsolate, and to make the heavenly seed of the word to flourish and fructify in their lives. This Light is come into the world; that signifies not only his incarnation, but his revealing the merciful counsel of God for our salvation, which the clearest spirits could never have discovered; he has opened the way that leads to eternal life.
But
men loved darkness rather than light; they preferred, chose, and adhered to their ignorance and errors, before the light of life, the saving knowledge of the gospel. Their ignorance is affected and voluntary, and no colour of excuse can be alleged for it; nay, it is very culpable and guilty, by neglecting to receive instruction from the Son of God.
Because their deeds were evil; the vices and lusts of men are the works of darkness, the fruits of their ignorance and errors; and they are so pleasant to the carnal corrupt nature, that to enjoy them securely, they obstinately reject the light of the gospel; this aggravates their sin and sentence.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. this is the condemnation,&c.emphatically so, revealing the condemnation alreadyexisting, and sealing up under it those who will not bedelivered from it.
light is come into theworldin the Person of Him to whom Nicodemus was listening.
loved darkness, &c.Thiscan only be known by the deliberate rejection of Christ, but thatdoes fearfully reveal it.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And this is the condemnation,…. Of him that believes not in Christ; that is, this is the matter and cause of his condemnation, and by which it is aggravated, and appears to be just:
that light is come into the world: by which is meant, not natural or corporeal light; though natural darkness is, by some, preferred to this, being more convenient for their evil works; as by thieves, murderers, and adulterers: nor is the light of nature designed, with which every man is enlightened that comes into the world; which, though but a dim light, might be of more use, and service, than it is; and is often rejected, and rebelled against, by wicked men, and which will be the condemnation of the Heathen world: but rather the light of divine revelation, both in the law of God, and Gospel of Christ; especially the latter is here intended; and which, though so great a favour to fallen men, is despised, and denied by the sons of darkness: though it may be best of all to understand it of Christ himself, the light of the world, and who is come a light into it; see Joh 8:12, who may be called “light”, because he has set revelation in its clearest and fullest light; he has declared the whole mind, and will of God concerning the affair of divine worship, and the business of salvation: grace, and truth, are come by him; the doctrines of grace, and the truths of the Gospel, are most clearly brought to light by him; the types, and shadows of the law are removed; and the promises, and the prophecies of the Old Testament, are most largely expounded by him, and most perfectly fulfilled in him: and besides; he is the author and giver of the light of grace, by which men see themselves to be what they are, lost and undone sinners; and see him to be the only able, willing, suitable, sufficient, and complete Saviour: and he it is that now gives the saints the glimpse of glory they have, and will be the light of the new Jerusalem, and the everlasting light of his people hereafter. He, by his incarnation, may be said to “come into the world” in general, which was made by him, as God; and as he was in it, as man; though he was not known by it as the God-man, Mediator, and Messiah: and particularly he came into the Jewish world, where he was born, brought up, conversed, lived, and died; and into the Gentile world, by the ministry of his apostles, whom he; sent into all the world, to preach the Gospel to every creature, and spread the glorious light of it in every place:
and men loved darkness rather than light: the Jews, the greater part of them, preferred the darkness of the ceremonial law, and the Mosaic dispensation, and even the traditions of their elders, before the clear Gospel revelation made by Christ Jesus; and the Gentiles also, for the most part, chose rather to continue in their Heathenish ignorance, and idolatry, and to walk in their own ways, and in the vanity of their minds, than to embrace Christ, and his Gospel, and submit to his ordinances, and appointments; and the generality of men, to this day, love their natural darkness, and choose to walk in it, and to have fellowship with the works of darkness, and delight in the company of the children of darkness, rather than follow Christ, the light of the world; receive his Gospel, and walk in his ways, in fellowship with his saints: the reason of all this is,
because their deeds were evil; which they chose not to relinquish; and Christ, his Gospel and ordinances are contrary to them; for the doctrine of the grace of God, which has appeared, and shone out in great lustre, and splendour, in the world, teaches men to deny ungodliness, and worldly lusts; and therefore it is hated, and rejected, by men.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And this is the judgment ( ). A thoroughly Johannine phrase for sequence of thought (John 15:12; John 17:3; 1John 1:5; 1John 5:11; 1John 5:14; 3John 1:6). It is more precisely the process of judging (–) rather than the result (–) of the judgment. “It is no arbitrary sentence, but the working out of a moral law” (Bernard).
The light is come ( ). Second perfect active indicative of , a permanent result as already explained in the Prologue concerning the Incarnation (John 1:4; John 1:5; John 1:9; John 1:11). Jesus is the Light of the world.
Loved darkness ( ). Job (Job 24:13) spoke of men rebelling against the light. Here , common word for moral and spiritual darkness (1Th 5:5), though in Joh 1:5. “Darkness” is common in John as a metaphor for the state of sinners (John 8:12; John 12:35; John 12:46; 1John 1:6; 1John 2:8; 1John 2:9; 1John 2:11). Jesus himself is the only moral and spiritual light of the world (8:12) as he dared claim to his enemies. The pathos of it all is that men fall in love with the darkness of sin and rebel against the light like denizens of the underworld, “for their works were evil ().” When the light appears, they scatter to their holes and dens. (from , toil, , to toil) is used of the deeds of the world by Jesus (7:7). In the end the god of this world blinds men’s eyes so that they do not see the light (2Co 4:4). The fish in the Mammoth Cave have no longer eyes, but only sockets where eyes used to be. The evil one has a powerful grip on the world (1Jo 5:19).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
This. That is, herein consists the judgment. The prefacing a statement with this is, and then defining the statement by oti or ina, that, is characteristic of John. See Joh 14:12; Joh 17:3; 1Jo 1:5; 1Jo 5:11, 14; 3Jo 1:6. Light [ ] . Rev., correctly, the light. See Joh 1:4, 9.
Men [ ] . Literally, the men. Regarded as a class.
Darkness [ ] . See on 1 5. Rev., correctly, the darkness. John employs this word only here and 1Jo 1:6. His usual term is skotia (i. 5; Joh 8:12; 1Jo 1:5, etc.), more commonly describing a state of darkness, than darkness as opposed to light.
Were [] . Habitually. The imperfect tense marking continuation.
Evil [] . Actively evil. See on Mr 7:22; Luk 3:19.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And this is the condemnation,” (aute de estin he krisis) “And this is (exists as the essence of) the judgement;- This is the occasion and real cause of condemnation. It is not only the nature and love for sin in man but also practice of sin and rejection of Jesus Christ that brings it.
2) “That light is come into the world,” (hoti to phos eleluthen eis ton kosmon) “That the light has come into the world,” the true light, Jesus Christ has come, Joh 1:7; John 8; John 12. The condemnation is further justified on the grounds that Jesus came to exhibit or disclose the holiness, love, mercy, and compassion of the Father, so that man’s sin is no longer simply of an inherent nature or of ignorance of sin, but also by act of deliberate choice and preference, Joh 5:43.
3) “And men loved darkness rather than light,” (kai agapesan hoi anthropoi mallon to skotos e to phos) “And men loved the darkness rather than the light,” the light-giving one; they deliberately chose darkness, the ways of darkness; By their own volition they pursued sin and anarchy against God, His Son, His Word, and the Holy Spirit, Joh 1:11-12; Joh 12:48 asserts that to reject Jesus is to reject the Father and all holiness, Heb 12:14; Mat 21:42.
4) “Because their deeds were evil.” (en gar auton ponera ta erga) “Because their works were wicked,” in anarchy against God; Their works were pursued from a maliciously wicked and untamable heart, a forward and covetous, obstinate and rebellious choice of deliberate disregard for the claims of Christ upon them. As bugs and bats and snakes and snails and slimy creatures, reptiles of the lowest order of earth-life love darkness, so do all men with an inherent, depraved nature of anarchy against God and holiness; Their deeds are evil, first because their nature is evil, and second, because they deliberately choose to do evil, rather than acknowledge it, repent of their deeds, and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior, Jer 17:9; Mat 15:18-19; Mar 7:21; Psa 51:5; Psa 58:3; 1Ki 8:46; Rom 3:23; Rom 6:23.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
19. And this is the condemnation He meets the murmurs and complaints, by which wicked men are wont to censure — what they imagine to be the excessive rigour of God, when he acts towards them with greater severity than they expected. All think it harsh that they who do not believe in Christ should be devoted to destruction. That no man may ascribe his condemnation to Christ, he shows that every man ought to impute the blame to himself. The reason is, that unbelief is a testimony of a bad conscience; and hence it is evident that it is their own wickedness which hinders unbelievers from approaching to Christ. Some think that he points out here nothing more than the mark of condemnation; but, the design of Christ is, to restrain the wickedness of men, that they may not, according to their custom, dispute or argue with God, as if he treated them unjustly, when he punishes unbelief with eternal death. He shows that such a condemnation is just, and is not liable to any reproaches, not only because those men act wickedly, who prefer darkness to light, and refuse the light which is freely offered to them, but because that hatred of the light arises only from a mind that is wicked and conscious of its guilt. A beautiful appearance and lustre of holiness may indeed be found in many, who, after all, oppose the Gospel; but, though they appear to be holier than the angels, there is no room to doubt that they are hypocrites, who reject the doctrine of Christ for no other reason than because they love their lurking-places by which their baseness may be concealed. Since, therefore, hypocrisy alone renders men hateful to God, all are held convicted, because were it not that, blinded by pride, they delight in their crimes, they would readily and willingly receive the doctrine of the Gospel.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) And this is the condemnation.For condemnation read judgment; for light and darkness, the light and the darkness. The object is salvation, not judgment (Joh. 3:17); but the separation of the good involves the judgment of the evil. The light makes the darkness visible. Both were before men. That they chose darkness was the act of their own will, and this act of the will was determined by the evil of their deeds. The light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. (Comp. Note on Joh. 1:5.)
The words are general, but they must have had, for him who then heard them, a special force. It was night. He had avoided the light of day, and like men who go forth to deeds of darkness under cover of darkness, he had come in secrecy to Jesus. His own conscience told him that he was in the presence of a Teacher sent from God (Joh. 3:2); but he has checked the voice of conscience. He has shrunk from coming to this Teacher in the light of day, and has loved the darkness of the night.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. The condemnation Men would not be condemned had not Christ come. But for the provision of a Saviour for the race, the race would have died in Adam. But for the promise of the holy seed, given in Eden, the seed of Adam would never have been propagated. All condemnation, therefore, is summed up in the fact that the means of salvation, sanctification, glorification, are rejected. But though but for the light there would be no condemnation, the light is not, therefore, to blame for that condemnation; but the entire blame rests upon men for their rejection of the light. Men are most truly and justly “damned by grace” when they reject grace.
Light is come into the world Christ and his religion are what the sun is to the world. It is its own evidence, and sheds evidence that none have a right to reject. Yet the evidences of Christ and his religion do not compel conviction, permanent and undeniable; for as belief of the truth is one of the tests of our probation, so disbelief must be allowed to be possible. That degree of evidence is afforded which convinces the honest mind, and leaves rejection under condemnation. And this rejection is a rejection of that salvation, and of pardon for all other sins as well as for the sin of unbelief. The man’s entire amount of sin remains unpardoned to condemn him.
Because their deeds were evil Wicked deeds, and the love of sin, are the great cause of men’s hatred of religious truth. An evil life loves the darkness and error by which it can excuse itself. A wicked heart spontaneously and obstinately hates Christ and truth. Sometimes that wickedness of heart is of an animal and fleshly character, arising from a low brutishness in man. Sometimes it is of a higher nature; from intellectual pride; the sin not of the flesh but of the spirit. This is not from the brute, but from the devil in man; for the devil is the very model of unsanctified, proud, cold-hearted intellect.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil’.
God bases His condemnation on the fact that Jesus has come as ‘the light’ into the world (Joh 1:4-5; Joh 1:9; Joh 8:12), and by His life and teaching has offered the light of life and revealed the light of truth. But men turn from Him because they love their sins and His light therefore shines on them and condemns them. They do not want to give up their lives which ‘come short of the glory of God’ (Rom 3:23), the glory revealed by Jesus, and so they reject Jesus and even say evil things against Him, and thus are in danger of the unforgivable sin, final rejection of the clear testimony of the Spirit (Mar 3:22 with 28, 29). If we refuse to open our lives to the light of Jesus we have no one to blame but ourselves when we are finally condemned.
When we pick up a rock in the garden the light shines where it was previously dark and we find there many unpleasant creatures that immediately scuttle for cover. So when Christ’s light shines on men they too will respond or run for cover, depending on the state of their hearts, and the result of what they do will determine their eternal future.
‘The only begotten Son of God.’ Strictly speaking in earthly terms Jesus was not ‘begotten of God’ for on earth to be begotten is to come into existence after the begetter. The idea is rather that He is true God and of the same nature as the Father. Unlike all others He is not a created being.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 3:19. And this is the condemnation, That is, the cause of condemnation; they will not receive the light of the Logos, the God of Christians, because they will not obey him.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 3:19 . The is now more minutely set forth, and this as to its moral character, as rejection of the light, i.e. of God’s saving truth, the possessor and bringer in of which was Christ, who had come into the world, and as love of darkness. “ But herein consists the condemnation (as an inner moral fact which, according to Joh 3:18 , had already occurred), that ,” etc. is the judgment in question, to be understood here also, agreeably to the whole connection, of condemnatory judgment. But in (comp. 1Jn 5:11 ) we have not the reason (Chrysostom and his followers), but the characteristic nature of the judgment stated.
, etc., ] The first clause is not expressed in the dependent form ( , etc., or with Gen. abs.), but as an independent statement, in order to give emphatic prominence to the contrast setting forth the guilt. See Khner, II. 416; Winer, p. 585 [E. T. pp. 785 6].
] after it had come. Jesus could now thus speak already from experience regarding His relations to mankind as a whole ; the Aor . does not presuppose the consciousness of a later time. See Joh 2:23-24 . For the rest, . is put first with tragic emphasis, which object is also served by the simple (not and yet ). The expression itself: they loved the darkness rather ( potius , not magis , comp. Joh 12:43 ; 2Ti 3:4 ) than the light ,
belonging not to the verb, but to the noun, and comparing the two conceptions (Ellendt, Lex. Soph . II. p. 51; Buml. Partik . p. 136), is a mournful meiosis ; for they did not love the light at all, but hated it, Joh 3:20 . The ground of this hatred, however, does not lie (comp. Joh 3:6 ; Joh 1:12 ) in a metaphysical opposition of principles (Baur, Hilgenfeld, Colani), but in the light-shunning demoralization into which men had sunk through their own free act (for they might also have done , Joh 3:21 ). The source of unbelief is immorality.
, . . .] The reason why “they loved the darkness rather,” etc. (see on Joh 1:5 ), was their immoral manner of life , in consequence of which they must shun the light, nay, even hate it (Joh 3:20 ). We may observe the growing emphasis from onwards to , for the works which they (in opposition to the individual lovers of the light) did were evil ; which does not in popular usage denote a higher degree of evil than , Joh 3:20 (Bengel), but answers to this as evil does to bad ( worthless ); Fritzsche ad Rom . p. 297. Comp. Joh 5:29 ; Rom 9:11 ; 2Co 5:10 ; Jas 3:16 ; in Plat. Crat . p. 429 A.; 3Ma 3:22 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1612
MENS HATRED OF THE LIGHT
Joh 3:19-21. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
IT appears strange to many, that the everlasting happiness or misery of the soul should be made to depend on the exercise of faith. The declaration of our Lord, That he that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned, is regarded by them as a hard saying; they see no proportion between the work and the reward on the one hand, or between the offence and the punishment on the other. In the words before us we have a solution of the difficulty. We are taught that faith and unbelief are not mere operations of the mind, but exercises of the heart; the one proceeding from a love to what is good; the other from a radical attachment to evil. Our blessed Lord had repeatedly inculcated the necessity of believing in him, in order to a participation of his proffered benefits. He had also represented unbelievers as already condemned, even like criminals reserved for execution. To obviate any objection which might arise in the mind of Nicodemus in relation to the apparent severity of this sentence, he proceeded to shew the true ground of it, namely, That, in their rejection of him, men are actuated by an invincible love of sin, and by a consequent hatred of the light which is sent to turn them from sin.
In opening the words of our text, we shall shew,
I.
What is that light which is come into the world
Christ is called The light of the world, The true light, The Day-star, and The Sun of righteousness that arises with healing in his wings. But,
It is the Gospel which is here said to have come into the world
[The glad tidings of salvation were now published by Christ himself; and both the manner in which that salvation was to be effected, and the manner in which it was to be received, were clearly revealed. Our blessed Lord had in this very discourse with Nicodemus declared, that the Son of Man was to be lifted up upon the cross, as the serpent had been in the wilderness, in order that all who were dying of the wounds of sin might look to him and be healed. He had repeated again and again this important truth, on which the salvation of our fallen race depends. This mystery had from eternity been hid in the bosom of the Father; but now it was made fully manifest. This light was now come into the world.]
The Gospel, in this view of it, is fitly designated under the metaphor of light
[Light is that, without which no one thing can be discerned aright. And how ignorant are we, till the light of the Gospel shines in our hearts! We know nothing of ourselves, of God, of Christ, or of the way to heaven. We cannot even appreciate the value of the soul, the importance of time, the emptiness of earthly vanities. We may indeed give our assent to the statements which we hear made upon these subjects; but we cannot have an experimental and abiding sense, even of the most obvious truths, till our minds are enlightened by the Gospel of Christ.
Light causes all other things to be seen in their true colours. Thus does also the Gospel: in setting forth the Son of God as dying for our sins, it shews us the malignity of sin; the justice of God which required such an atonement for it; and, above all, the wonderful love of God in giving us his only dear Son, in order that we might have peace through the blood of his cross.
Light carries its own evidence along with it. Thus does also that glorious Gospel of which we are speaking: it is so peculiarly suited to the necessities of man, and at the same time so commensurate with his wants; it is so calculated to display and magnify all the perfections of the Deity, and is in every respect so worthy of its Divine Author; that it commends itself to us instantly as of heavenly origin, the very masterpiece of Divine wisdom.]
One would imagine that such light should be universally welcomed: but since this is not the case, we shall proceed to shew,
II.
Whence it is that men reject it
It is but too evident, that, as in former ages, so now also, men reject the light. But whence does this arise? It is not because they have any sufficient reason to reject it
[If there were any thing in the Gospel that rendered it unworthy of mens regard, they would have some excuse for rejecting it. But,
They cannot say that it is inapplicable in its nature.We will appeal to the world, and ask, What is there, that guilty and helpless sinners would desire? Would they wish for a Saviour? Would they be glad that the whole work of salvation should be committed into his hands? Would they be especially desirous that nothing should be required of them, but to receive with gratitude, and improve with diligence, what the Saviour offers them? In short, would they be glad of a free and full salvation? This is precisely such a salvation as is provided for them in the Gospel.
They cannot say that it is inadequate in its provisions.If the Gospel brought salvation to those only who were possessed of some amiable qualities, or to those who had committed only a certain number of offences; if it made any limitation or exception whatever in its offers of mercy; if it provided pardon, but not strength, or grace to begin our course, but not grace to persevere; if, in short, it omitted any one thing which any sinner in the universe could need, then some persons might say, It is not commensurate with my necessities. But we defy the imagination of man to conceive any case which the Gospel cannot reach, or any want which it cannot satisfy.
They cannot say that it is unreasonable in its demands.It does indeed require an unreserved surrender of ourselves to God: and on this account it appears to many to be strict and severe. But let any one examine all its prohibitions and all its commands, and he will find them all amounting in fact to these two; Do thyself no harm; and, Seek to be as happy as thy heart can wish. If there be any thing in the Gospel which bears a different aspect, it is owing entirely to our ignorance of its real import. The more thoroughly the Gospel is understood, the more worthy of acceptation will it invariably appear.]
The only true reason is, that they hate the light
[Till men are truly converted to God, their deeds are universally evil; yea every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts is evil, only evil, continually. Now the Gospel is a light which shews their deeds in their proper colours.
It reproves their ways.They have been calling good evil, and evil good; and putting bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. In reference to these things, it undeceives them. It declares plainly, that they who do such things as they have done, and perhaps have accounted innocent, shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Ii mortifies their pride.It not only shews them that they are obnoxious to the wrath of God, but that they are incapable of averting his displeasure by any thing which they themselves can do. It brings down the proud Pharisee, and places him on a level with publicans and harlots. It requires every man to acknowledge himself a debtor to divine grace for every good thing that he either has or hopes for. All this is extremely humiliating to our proud nature.
It inculcates duties which they are unwilling to perform.Humility and self-denial, renunciation of the world and devotedness to God, enduring of shame and glorying in the cross; these, and many other duties, it enjoins, which to our carnal and corrupt nature are hateful in the extreme: yet the Gospel inculcates them with a strictness not to be lowered, a plainness not to be misinterpreted, and an authority not to be withstood.
These, these are the grounds on which the Gospel is rejected. If it would admit of persons following their own ways, or of their accommodating its precepts to their own views or interests, they would give it a favourable reception. But as it requires all to be cast into the very mould which it has formed, and will tolerate not the smallest wilful deviation from its rules, it is, and must be, odious in the eyes of the ungodly: they love darkness rather than it; nor will they come to it, lest their deeds should be reproved.]
A just view of these things will prepare us for contemplating,
III.
Their guilt and danger in rejecting it
Doubtless every kind of sin will be a ground of condemnation. But mens hatred of the light is that which chiefly, and above all other things,
1.
Aggravates their guilt
[The Gospel is a most wonderful provision for the salvation of fallen man. It is the brightest display of Divine wisdom, and the most stupendous effort of Divine goodness. The rejection of this therefore, especially as proceeding from a hatred of it, argues such a state of mind as no words can adequately express. The malignity of such a disposition rises in proportion to the excellence of the Gospel itself. We presume not to weigh the comparative guilt of men and devils, because the Scriptures have not given us sufficient grounds whereon to institute such a comparison: but the guilt of those who reject the Gospel far exceeds that of the heathen world: the wickedness of Tyre and Sidon, yea, of Sodom and Gomorrha, was not equal to that of the unbelieving Jews: nor was the guilt of those Jews, who rejected only the warnings of the prophets, comparable to that of those who despised the ministry of our Lord. In like manner, they who live under the meridian light of the Gospel in this day will have still more, if possible, to answer for, than the hearers of Christ himself; because his work and offices are now more fully exhibited, and more generally acknowledged. And in the day of judgment the Gospel will be as a millstone round the neck of those who rejected it: not having been a savour of life unto their salvation, it will be a savour of death unto their more aggravated condemnation.]
2.
Insures their punishment
[If men did not hate the Gospel itself, there would be some hope that they might in due time embrace it, and be converted by it. If they would even come to the light in order that the true quality of their works might be made manifest, then we might hope that they would be convinced of their wickedness, and be constrained to flee from the wrath to come. But when they dispute against the truth, and rack their invention in order to find out objections against it; when they indulge all manner of prejudices against the Gospel; when they withdraw themselves from the ministry of those who faithfully preach it, and say, as it were, to their minister, Prophesy unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits; what hope can there be of such persons? Their hearts are so hardened, that it is scarcely possible to make any impression upon them: if a ray of light do shine into their minds, they will endeavour to extinguish it as soon as possible; they will go to business, to pleasure, to company, yea, to intoxication itself, in order to stifle the voice of conscience, and to recover their former delusive peace. Alas! they are not only perishing of a fatal disorder, but they reject with disdain the only remedy that can do them good: they therefore must die, because they persist in drinking of the poisonous cup that is in their hands, and dash from their lips the only antidote and cure.]
Application
In so saying, thou reprovest us
[Behold! we declare unto you, that light, even the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ, is now come into the world
Ye lovers of darkness, reject not this blessed Gospel. Little can sin contribute to your happiness, even while you are most capable of tasting its pleasures: but what it can do for you in a dying hour, or in the day of judgment, it is needless for me to say. Let it not then keep you from coming to the light. Surely it is better that your deeds should be reproved, while you have opportunity to amend them, than that you should continue in them till you experience their bitter consequences. You would not travel in the dark when you could enjoy the light of day, or refuse the assistance of a guide that would lead you into the path which you professed to seek. Only then act for your souls as you would do in your temporal concerns, and all shall yet be well. Believe in Christ, and you shall yet be saved by him; as well from the commission of sin, as from the condemnation due to it.
Ye who profess to love the light, be careful to walk as children of the light. Bring every thing to the touchstone of Gods word. Try your spirit and temper, as well as your words and actions by this test. See whether you take the precepts of Christ as your rule, and his example as your pattern. For the sake of the world too, as well as for your own comfort, you should come continually to the light. If you would conciliate their regard for the Gospel, or remove their prejudice from yourselves, you should make your works manifest that they are wrought in God. You should let your light shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify your Father that is in heaven.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Ver. 19. This is the condemnation ] This is hell above ground and aforehand. Affected ignorance is the leprosy in the head, which makes a man undoubtedly unclean and utterly to be excluded, Lev 13:44 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
19. ] The particular nature of this decided judgment is now set forth, that the Light (see ch. Joh 1:4-5 ; Joh 1:7 , and notes) is come into the world ( , in reference perhaps to , Joh 3:2 ), and men (= , men in general; an awful revelation of the future reception of the Gospel) loved (the perversion of the affections and will is the deepest ruin of mankind) the darkness (see note on ch. Joh 1:5 ; = the state of sin and unbelief) rather than (not = ‘ and not ,’ but as Bengel says, “Amabilitas lucis eos perculit, sed obhserunt in amore tenebrarum,” see ch. Joh 5:35 ; Joh 12:43 : 2Ti 3:4 ) the light, because their deeds were evil (their habits, thoughts, practices, all these are included, were perverted).
and are the indefinite aorists , implying the general usage and state of men, when and after the . .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 3:19 . This is further explained in the following, . The ground of the condemnation lies precisely in this, that since the coming of Christ and His exhibition of human life in the light of the holiness and love of the Father, human sin is no longer the result of ignorance, but of deliberate choice and preference. Nothing can be done for a man who says, “Evil, be thou my good”. The reason of this preference of darkness and rejection of Christ is that the life is evil, . . .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
this is = this is what it consists in; viz:
condemnation = judging: i.e. the process rather than the result. Greek. krisis. App-177.
light = the light. App-130. See note on Joh 1:4.
men = the men. As a class. App-123.
darkness = the darkness.
deeds = works. Plural of ergon. A characteristic word of this Gospel. See note on p. 1511.
evil. Greek. poneros = active evil. App-128.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
19.] The particular nature of this decided judgment is now set forth,-that the Light (see ch. Joh 1:4-5; Joh 1:7, and notes) is come into the world (, in reference perhaps to , Joh 3:2), and men (= , men in general; an awful revelation of the future reception of the Gospel) loved (the perversion of the affections and will is the deepest ruin of mankind) the darkness (see note on ch. Joh 1:5; = the state of sin and unbelief) rather than (not = and not, but as Bengel says, Amabilitas lucis eos perculit, sed obhserunt in amore tenebrarum, see ch. Joh 5:35; Joh 12:43 : 2Ti 3:4) the light, because their deeds were evil (their habits, thoughts, practices,-all these are included,-were perverted).
and are the indefinite aorists, implying the general usage and state of men, when and after the . .
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 3:19. , the judgment [condemnation]) i.e. the cause of judgment.- , the Light) After the mention of life, the mention of light follows, as in ch. 1. The Light, Christ. See what follows. In Joh 3:19, the hypostatical [personal] Light [Jesus Christ, its embodiment] is praised: afterwards, in the latter part of Joh 3:19, in antithesis to darkness, of which there is no hypostasis [personality], and in Joh 3:20-21, the discourse treats of Light indefinitely in the thesis, but so as that, in the hypothesis, it answers chiefly to the hypostatical [personal] Light.-, loved) They did not pay back love for the love on Gods part, Joh 3:16.-, rather than) The comparison is by no means inappropriate. The loveliness of the light struck them with admiration; but they were held fast in the love of darkness. Comp. Joh 5:35, He was a burning and a shining light; and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. A similar comparison occurs, ch. Joh 12:43, For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.-, evil [maligna, evil-disposed]) This is indeed worse than , vile [worthless, wrong], Joh 3:20.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 3:19
Joh 3:19
And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.-The coming of Jesus and the additional light he shed abroad showed more clearly that they loved darkness rather than the light, and he teaches that their love for darkness was because their deeds were evil and they did not wish their deeds exposed to and tested by the light.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
world
kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield “Mat 4:8”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
this: Joh 1:4, Joh 1:9-11, Joh 8:12, Joh 9:39-41, Joh 15:22-25, Mat 11:20-24, Luk 10:11-16, Luk 12:47, Rom 1:32, 2Co 2:15, 2Co 2:16, 2Th 2:12, Heb 3:12, Heb 3:13
because: Joh 5:44, Joh 7:17, Joh 8:44, Joh 8:45, Joh 10:26, Joh 10:27, Joh 12:43, Isa 30:9-12, Luk 16:14, Act 24:21-26, Rom 2:8, 1Pe 2:8, 2Pe 3:3
Reciprocal: Gen 1:3 – Let Lev 11:16 – General Lev 13:10 – quick raw flesh Deu 30:17 – if thine 1Sa 28:8 – disguised 1Ki 22:8 – but I hate him Job 21:14 – for we Job 24:13 – rebel Job 33:14 – perceiveth Psa 14:1 – abominable Psa 82:5 – walk Psa 95:10 – and they Psa 119:30 – chosen Pro 2:13 – walk Pro 5:12 – How Pro 8:36 – he Pro 10:21 – fools Pro 21:16 – wandereth Isa 5:13 – because Isa 6:10 – lest Isa 28:9 – shall he teach Isa 29:15 – and their works Isa 50:2 – when I came Isa 60:1 – General Jer 5:31 – my people Jer 6:19 – nor to Jer 9:6 – refuse Jer 17:23 – nor Eze 8:12 – in the Hos 5:4 – They will not frame their doings Hos 11:2 – they called Hos 14:9 – but Zep 3:2 – correction Zec 7:12 – lest Zec 14:19 – punishment Mat 13:13 – General Mat 13:19 – and understandeth Mar 4:8 – fell Mar 16:16 – but Luk 10:14 – General Luk 14:24 – General Luk 20:7 – that Joh 1:5 – General Joh 5:40 – ye will not Joh 7:7 – because Joh 9:5 – long Joh 12:46 – am Act 26:18 – and to Rom 1:18 – who hold Rom 1:21 – when Rom 8:1 – no Rom 10:10 – For with Rom 13:12 – works 1Co 2:8 – for Eph 5:11 – works 2Th 1:8 – that know 2Th 2:10 – they received 1Ti 6:5 – men 2Ti 4:3 – but Heb 3:10 – err Heb 11:6 – without 2Pe 3:5 – they willingly 1Jo 1:6 – walk Rev 20:15 – whosoever
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
OUT OF DARKNESS INTO LIGHT
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:19
Is any one liable to this reproach of loving darkness more than light? It sounds, as it is, a very shameful thing, but it does not necessarily imply that debasement of the whole nature which characterises persons of reckless and abandoned lives.
I. Avoidance of the light is quite consistent with a truth-loving disposition, according to an imperfect idea of truth.This is an age of earnest seeking after truth. Men would like to find out what are called the great problems of life; to know whence man comes and whither he is going; to understand the mystery of pain and sorrow and death in the creation of a God of Love; to understand the way in which prayer acts; and many such things, which are so much talked and written about in our day. How welcome would be considered any ray of light which would tend to clear up these difficulties! But has not the light itself come into the world in the person of Jesus Christ? Why, then, do you not come to it? Why do you not bring all your dark questionings to be illumined by it?
II. The light will illumine your deeds which you know are evil, and do not wish to have reproved.You would be glad to study the wise sayings of Christ, only they oblige you continually to bring your own life to the rule of His life and precepts, and pronounce judgment upon it by that rule. You have a high respect for Christian morality as a system, but you cannot endure the continual conviction of sin, and the stinging words, Thou art the man, especially when pronounced by human lips. You are not insensible to the wholesome general influence of religion, and you linger on the outskirts of an atmosphere warmed and brightened by other mens piety; but you are afraid of entering in; afraid of forming distinctly religious habits yourself, lest you should gradually be brought into a position in which the inconsistencies of your own conduct will be more apparent, and a painful and humiliating alteration of your life, perhaps at an advanced age, be required of you. All this is undoubtedly avoiding the light. And yet you want to attain to truth, which dwells in the light! Do not think to make a distinction between one light and another; there is but one light for the soul of man, and that illuminates both the mind and the conscience. God does not reveal mental truth separately; thinking right is inseparably bound up with doing right. The riddance of mental darkness about religion must be accompanied by ceasing to do the works of darkness.
III. He that doeth truth cometh to the light.Observe that the corresponding expression to doing evil is not doing good, but doing truth; because good actions wrought in Christ are the putting truth into operation as a living power, instead of treating it as a mere abstract idea. On the other hand, doing the truth is not to be diluted into dealing truly. It involves, of course, being honest and straightforward and open in ones actions, as well as sincere of purpose, and simple-minded. But it reaches much further and deeper than this. It is thinking and feeling, speaking and acting in all things in harmony with the life of Christ.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
9
The condemnation that rests upon the world is not an arbitrary decree of God, but is based on the truth that men prefer darkness to light. The reason for their unwise choice is in their wanton manner of life, which is an evil one.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 3:19. And this is the judgment,the judgment is of this kind, takes place thus,because the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were wicked. These words bring out clearly that the not believing spoken of in the last verse signifies an active rejection, and not the mere absence of beliefa rejection of the true light which in the person of Jesus came into the world, and henceforth ever is in the world. Men loved the darkness, for their worksnot single deeds, but the whole expression and manifestation of their life-were wicked. The word used (wicked) is that which elsewhere expresses the character of the arch-enemy as the wicked one (Joh 17:15; 1Jn 3:12). It denotes active evil, positive and pronounced wickedness.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. The worth and dignity of a choice and invaluable privilege declared, Light is come into the world. A personal light, CHRIST; a doctrinal light, the Gospel.
Observe, 2. The unworthiness, abuse, and great indignity which the world, through infidelity, offers to this benefit: they reject it, and love darkness rather than light.
Observe, 3. The dreadful sentence of wrath which the rejection of this benefit, and the abuse of Christ, brings upon the impenitent and unbelieving world. It terminates in their full and final condemnation: This is the condemnation; that is, ’tis a just and righteous condemnation, ’tis an inevitable and unavoidable condemnation: ’tis an heightened and aggravated, ’tis an accelerated and hastened, an irrecoverable and eternal condemnation.
Learn hence, That the greater and clearer the light is, under which the unregenrated and impentient do live in this world, so much the heavier will their condemnation and misery be in the world to come, if they wilfully and finally reject it.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Ver. 19. Now this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.
In rejecting Jesus, man judges himself. The strictest inquiry into his whole life would not prove his disposition, as opposed to what is good, better than does his unbelief. The final judicial act will have nothing more to do than to ratify this sentence which he pronounces on himself (Joh 3:28-29). In order to make the matter understood, the Lord here calls Himself the light, that is to say, the manifested good, the divine holiness realized before the human conscience.
It follows from this, that the attitude which the man takes in relation to Him, reveals infallibly his inmost moral tendency. To the view of Jesus, the experiment has been already made for the world which surrounds Him: Men loved rather … There is in every servant of God, in proportion to his holiness, a spiritual tact which makes him discern immediately the moral sympathy or antipathy which his person and his message excite. The visit of Jesus to Jerusalem had been for Him a sufficient revelation of the moral state of the people and their rulers. They are the men of whom He speaks in this verse, but with the distinct feeling that they are in this point the representatives of fallen humanity. The expression loved rather is not designed, as Lucke thinks, to extenuate the guilt of unbelievers, by intimating that there is still in them an attraction, but a weaker one, towards the truth. As has been well said, the word does not mean magis, more, but potius, rather. This word, therefore, aggravates the responsibility of the Jews, by bringing out the free preference with which, though placed in presence of the light, they have chosen the darkness (comp. Joh 3:11). What is, indeed, the ground of this guilty preference? It is that their works are evil. They are determined to persevere in the evil which they have hitherto committed; this is the reason why they flee from the light which condemns it. By displaying the true nature of their works, the light would force them to renounce them. The term , the darkness, includes with the love of evil the inward falsehood by which a man seeks to exculpate himself. The aorist , loved, designates the preference as an act which has just been consummated recently, while the imperfect , were, presents the life of the world in evil as a fact existing long before the appearance of the light. The word , works, denotes the whole moral activity, tendency and acts. In the following verse, Jesus explains, by means of a comparison, the psychological relation between immorality, gross or subtle, and unbelief.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Verse 19
The condemnation; the ground of their condemnation. Compare John 3:19,20; John 1:1-14, for evidence that these are the remarks of the evangelist, and not of Jesus.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
3:19 {7} And this is the {r} condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
(7) The only reason why men refuse the light that is offered to them is wickedness.
(r) That is, the cause of condemnation, which remains in men, unless through God’s great benefit they are delivered from it.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
John explained the process of mankind’s judgment (Gr. krisis, separating or distinguishing, not krima, the sentence of judgment). Even though light entered the world, people chose darkness over light. The light in view is the revelation that Jesus as the Light of the World brought from the Father, particularly the light of the gospel. The reason people choose darkness over light is their deeds are evil. They prefer their darkness to God’s light because of what the darkness hides, namely, their sin.