John 3:16-21

It is much disputed whether what follows is a continuation of Christ's discourse, or the comment of the Evangelist upon it. The fact that terms characteristic of S. John's theology are put into the mouth of Christ, e.g. -only-begotten" and -the Light," cannot settle the question: the substance may still be our Lord's, though the wording is S. John's. It seems unlikely that S. John would give us no indication of the change from Christ's words to his own, if the discourse with Nicodemus really came to a full stop in John 3:15. See on John 3:31.