Jesus' words about Judgment, it would seem, should by no means have sounded new or unexpected to Nicodemus. After all...
Jesus' words about Judgment, it would seem, should by no means have sounded new or unexpected to Nicodemus. After all, Nicodemus, as a learned rabbi, should have known well the holy Scripture of his time, which included not only the Torah but also the prophetic books. And what Jesus says about Judgment had already been said by them more than once. Amos was the first to speak about Judgment as a meeting with God face to face. He was also the first to warn his fellow tribesmen and fellow believers that Judgment might turn out for them not at all to be the triumph of victors, as many expected, but a moment of truth - and for many, a very unpleasant truth. And there will be no other Judgment: for God wants to save the human being and open to him the fullness of life intended for him, not to sentence him.
Jesus says the same thing when He speaks of Himself as Judge, not in the sense in which the believing majority understood this at the time, but in the prophetic sense: He brought the Kingdom into the world, whose light shines on everyone, and people judge themselves by choosing darkness.
That is why the outcome of Judgment for each person depends on his attitude toward Jesus, or more precisely, on his relationship with Jesus. If a person trusts the One who brought the Kingdom into the world, then he has made his choice, and in principle the outcome of Judgment over him is determined: the Kingdom will be given to him, even if this does not happen immediately. If there is no trust, then the person thereby judges himself, depriving himself of the possibility of entering the Kingdom. Thus, fully in the spirit of the prophetic tradition, Jesus resolves the question of Judgment, while at the same time pointing to Himself as the One to whom it has been given to bring into the world both the Kingdom and Judgment.
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3:16 Yea, and this was the very design of God's love in sending him into the world. Whosoever believeth on him - With that faith which worketh by love, and hold fast the beginning of his confidence steadfast to the end. God so loved the world - That is, all men under heaven; even those that despise his love, and will for that cause finally perish. Otherwise not to believe would be no sin to them. For what should they believe? Ought they to believe that Christ was given for them? Then he was given for them. He gave his only Son - Truly and seriously.And the Son of God gave himself, Gal 4:4, truly and seriously.