It was the early spring of 2003 and snow still covered everything in a northern city in Siberia. In the outdoor market old women sat on flimsy chairs selling cupfuls of sunflower seeds for about 20 rubles. A younger one, dressed in a fur coat, sold ice cream from a box on the ground. We walked past the tables of decaying fruit and stepped into the little building where the indoor shops were. And that’s where I saw Sasha again. He looked older and harder now, and he stood with three other rough looking boys eating candy.
We had befriended young Sasha five years earlier on the streets of this old city. At his apartment I realized why he preferred living on the streets. The dirty room had few comforts. I couldn’t understand the Russian his parents spoke, but I felt the tone of their voices. Sasha was an unwelcome annoyance there.
We taught him the first half of John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16), in Russian, of course. “God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son.” With the interpreter’s help we could scarcely help him comprehend that Somebody loved him.
He wondered, “What is God? And who is this Jesus? Why would He come here?” The rest of the verse says, “Anyone who believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life.” We were not able to teach him this part. It was too much, beyond what he could absorb.
For five years I wondered if I would ever see my “friend” again. Now on the first day back in this city of 50,000 people we met. I was a little surprised that he was still living.
We spoke to each other through the interpreter. “I’m fourteen now,” he said. “Life is tough. We live in a nearby village now. The old log apartment is falling apart but it’s all we can afford. Mom finds bottles in the garbage bins every day and we trade them for bread and cigarettes.”
We visited his home several times in the next couple of weeks and left food, glasses for mom, and other things. Most importantly, we were able to talk about that great verse in the Bible again. “Yes,” we explained, “God does love our world. No, He doesn’t like the injustice, the stealing, the swearing, the sin. But He did send Jesus Christ.”
Sasha and his mother sat across from us on one of the two dirty cots in the room that was both living room and bedroom. She peered through the new glasses at the simple verse. “Who is God’s Son? Why would He love us this much?” She could read the words clearly, but the sense of the words was too much for her understanding.
We tried to explain simply how God loved a dark sinful world of sinners, and how He proved that by sending Jesus Christ to die on a cross as the sacrifice for our sins. Have you ever given it much thought? Have you ever thanked God for His wonderful gift? Maybe you’ve known this verse for many years. Are you also in the dark still?
It is just so simple! “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
Have you believed in Him?