John 3:35

Ver. 35. “ The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand. ”

The asyndeton between this verse and the preceding may be rendered by this emphatic form: “Because also the Father loveth...” This absolute communication of the Spirit results from the incomparable love which the Father has for the Son. These words are, as it were, the echo of that divine declaration which John had heard at the baptism: “ This is my beloved Son. ” The term ἀγαπᾷ, loves, is taken in the absolute sense, like the expressions: sent and the words. Jesus had used the term Son, when speaking with Nicodemus, John 3:16-18; the second Psalm already applied it to the Messiah in John 3:7; John 3:12 (where every other explanation seems to us untenable); Isaiah and Micah had expressed themselves in a similar way (Isaiah 9:5; Mic 5:2-3). John himself had heard it at the baptism. It is not surprising, therefore, that he uses it here. From this love of the Father flows the gift of all things. Some interpreters, starting from John 3:34, have applied this expression solely to spiritual gifts, to the powers of the Holy Spirit. But the expression into His hand does not accord with this sense. There is rather an advance upon the idea of John 3:34: “ Not only the Spirit, but all things. ” By the Spirit, the Son reigns in the heart of believers; this is not enough; the Father has, moreover, given Him universal sovereignty, that He may be able to make all things serve the good of His own. This is exactly the thought which Paul expresses in Ephesians 1:22 by that untranslatable phrase: αὐτὸν ἔδωκεν κεφαλὴν ὑπὲρ πάντα τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ. The hand is the symbol of free disposal. Thereby John meant to say: “I complain of being despoiled by Him! But He has a right to everything and can take everything without encroachment.” And from this follows the striking application which he makes to his disciples, in closing, of the truth which he has just proclaimed: