Jesus and Nicodemus: John 3:1-21

Some English translations unfortunately sometimes translate several different Greek terms as world. There are four distinct concepts in Greek that can become conflated and confused by modern readers. The first is gē, which refers to land, ground, or earth. It means earth not in the sense of planet earth, or the world/kosmos, but simply land, dirt, or ground, and hence province or region—for example, the land/gē of Israel. It should not be confused with kosmos. When Jesus says, "the meek shall inherit the earth" (Mt. 5:5), he is saying they shall inherit the land/gē [of Israel] as the true heirs of the Abrahamic covenant, not that they shall inherit the earth in the modern sense of the planet Earth.

A second term is oikoumenē, which is sometimes rendered world. It means the civilized or inhabited world, but can mean essentially the Roman Empire. For example, in Luke 2:1, Augustus Caesar taxes the oikoumenē/world—that is, the Roman Empire—while in Mark 16:15 Christ commands the disciples to "go into all the kosmos—God's created world—to proclaim the gospel." Unfortunately, there is sometimes no way to distinguish between these terms in many English translations.

A final important term sometimes translated as "world" is aiōn—"an age, aeon, epoch, or period of history." It is usually translated as "world" in the King James Version, but often rendered "age" in modern translations. For example, when Christ tells the disciples, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Mt. 29:20), he is talking about the aiōn/age, not the kosmos. Indeed, all discussions of the "end of the world" in the New Testament refer to the "end of the aiōn/age." Likewise, New Testament discussions of "this world" and the "world to come" refer to the present and future aiōn/age, not the kosmos.

Finally, we must recognize that ancient Greek and Hebrew cosmology—the understanding of the world and universe—was quite different than modern cosmology. Although there were a number of alternative speculations, the standard view of antiquity was geocentric—the sun revolved around the earth. Furthermore, the stars were not perceived as separate suns many light-years away, but were small, lesser celestial lights in the heaven, likewise revolving around the earth. The universe as a whole was thus divided into two realms: the heavens and the earth.

To understand the concept of the kosmos in John, it is important to first recognize that the Father created and loves the kosmos, and that Christ has been sent to enlighten and save the kosmos. John is not a Gnostic who believes the material world was created by the Demiurge—a rival god. A number of passages in John reflect this idea:

1. The kosmos was made by the Word/logos (Jn. 1:9).
2. Jesus is "the light of the kosmos" (Jn. 8:12, 9:5, 11:9. 12:46)
3. God "loved the kosmos" and sent his Son so that the kosmos "should not perish, but have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16).
4. Jesus has "come into the kosmos to bear witness to the truth" (Jn. 18:37).
5. Jesus "takes away the sins of the kosmos" (Jn. 1:29).
6. Jesus is "the Savior of the kosmos" (Jn. 4:42, 12:47).
7. Jesus "gives life to the kosmos" (Jn. 6:33).
8. Jesus gives his flesh "for the life of the kosmos" (Jn. 6:51).

If God created and loves the kosmos, why is there such a strong antipathy between the kosmos and Christ and his disciples? The fundamental problem is that Satan is now the "ruler of this world/kosmos" (archōn tou kosmou); he has usurped God's place as its true ruler (Jn. 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). Satan controls the kingdoms of the kosmos, which Jesus has come to overthrow and replace with the kingdom of God (Jn. 3:3-5); when Christ emphasizes that "my kingdom is not of the kosmos" (Jn. 18:36), he is in part alluding to the fact that the kosmos is Satan's kingdom.

This antipathy between the kosmos and the disciples is described in many ways in John.

1. Jesus is "not of this kosmos" (Jn. 8:23, 17:14-16).
2. The kosmos does not know the Word/logos (Jn. 1:10, 17:25).
3. The kosmos "loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil" (Jn. 3:19).
4. The kosmos therefore "cannot receive the spirit of truth" (Jn. 14:17).
5. The kosmos "hates [Jesus] because I testify about it that its works are evil" (Jn. 7:7).
6. Likewise, "the kosmos hates you [disciples]; . . . it has hated me [Jesus] before it hated you" (Jn. 15:18).
7. Therefore, the disciples have been given to Jesus "out of the kosmos" (Jn. 17:6).
8. Jesus came to judge the kosmos (Jn. 9:39, 12:31, 16:8, 11; but see 3:17, 12:46).
9. Jesus has come to "cast out" "the ruler of this kosmos" (Jn. 12:31).
10. Jesus has "overcome the kosmos" (Jn. 16:33).