To explain further the gracious act of God in giving his one and only Son, the evangelist adds, For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. The idea of being sent is found in several places in the Fourth Gospel. However, it does not necessarily carry the idea of being sent into this world from outside. Speaking to his Father, and referring to his disciples, Jesus says, ‘As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world’ (17:18). In this context, to be ‘sent into the world’ means to be commissioned for a ministry to the people of the world; it does not mean entering the world from the outside. A couple of other texts are susceptible to the same interpretation (6:14; 11:27). However, there is one text which clearly implies that Jesus entered this world from the outside
