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On Tuesday morning the pastors of Lutheran Saints in Ministry gather in Fairborn Ohio to discuss the texts for Sunday.

These are the contributions that are brought to the table.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

The Texts for the 3rd Sunday in Lent, March 19th, 2017

First Reading: Exodus 17:1-7

1From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” 4So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Psalm: Psalm 95

1 Come, let us sing to the LORD; 
    let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving 
    and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

3 For the LORD is a great God, 
    and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the caverns of the earth, 
    and the heights of the hills are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it, 
    and his hands have molded the dry land.

6 Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, 
    and kneel before the LORD our Maker

7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. 
    Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

8 Harden not your hearts,
as your forebears did in the wilderness, 
    at Meribah, and on that day at Massah,
    when they tempted me.

9 They put me to the test, 
    though they had seen my works.

10 Forty years long I detested that generation and said, 
    "This people are wayward in their hearts;
    they do not know my ways."

11 So I swore in my wrath, 
    "They shall not enter into my rest."


Second Reading: Romans 5:1-11

1Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Gospel: John 4:5-42

5[Jesus] came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” 26Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
27Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” 30They left the city and were on their way to him.
31Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

39Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

Comments on John 4

My Old Comments are found in a document called Ad Infra. Annoyingly organized but that is part of its beauty.

Greek Text Studies: John 4:4-26

Greek Study John 4:4-26 (27-42 not included in detail, too damned long!)

4:1-3 The reason for the Samarian Incursion.  Jesus is returning home from his first visit to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.  He had met the Sanhedrin’s representative, Nicodemus, at night.  

v4 διερχεσθαι (διερχομαι) pres. inf. "[he had] to go" - infinitive serves as the subject of the verb and carries the implication of divine necessity. Or John may just be stating the obvious; to get to Galilee it is necessary to pass through Samaria, unless of course one took the dangerous and dusty “long way around” via Transjordan. A pious Jew would travel through Samaria, but quickly, and having reached Galilee, purify themselves ASAP.
της Σαμαρειας (α) "Samaria" - When the Assyrians captured Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, in 722-721, they deported elite Jews and imported ‘common’ aliens who adopted the customs and religion of the local ‘common’ Jews, i.e. the poorest and least literate. They created and embraced a sort of ‘hillbilly religion’ – you know BYOS, (bring your own snake). When the ancestors of the elite returned in the early 6th century, quite a rift developed.  By 400, the Samaritans had built their own temple on Mount Gerizim in opposition to the temple recently reconstructed in Jerusalem, and by 200 BC they accepted only the Pentateuch as scripture. The final rift cam when the temple at Mount Gerizim was destroyed by the Maccabean (Hasmonean) rulers of Judea, around 107 BC. Worship continued at the temple site after its destruction. A small number of Samaritan villages existed to recent times in modern Syria, many Christian, but have been devastated by the civil war. There are still around 700 living in the West Bank near Shechem today.
  
v5
πολιν (ις εως) "a town" - a village in Aramaic, this is a Greek designation. 
logomenhn (legw) pres. pas. part. "called" – actually named.
Συχαρ "Sychar" - not known, possibly modern Askar on the edge of Mount Ebal.
tou cwriou (on) gen. "the plot of ground" - the field (See Gen.33:19, 48:22, and particularly Josh.24:32 from which the gift is assumed).
τω Ιωσηφ "to [his son] Joseph  - dative; indirect object.

v6 πηγη (η) "well" – actually spring [of Jacob]. The word "well" can be used of collected water. The well, assuming it is the one John speaks of, is some half mile South of Askar. If so, it is strange that the woman comes to a well outside the village. She may be embarrassed to collect water with the other women of the village being married 6 times and all, or she may just prefer the sweeter water.
κεκοπιακως (κοπιαω) perf. part. "tired as he was" – idiom, weary, owrn out from the journey.
εκαθεζετο (καθεζομαι) imperf. "sat" - was sitting, durative is a strange choice of tense.
ωρα ην ως εκτη "it was about the sixth hour" - noon. 

v7 αντλησαι (αντλεω) aor. inf. "to draw water" - infinitive expressing purpose; again, it seems somewhat unusual to come and draw water at this time of the day. 
δος (διδωμι) aor. imp. "will you give [me]" - imperative here should not be taken as a command, but rather a request; "would you please give me a drink …"
πειν (πινω) aor. inf. "a drink" – idiom, aorist indicates "just a sip" in Greek.

v8 απεληλυθεισαν (απερχομαι) pluperf. "had gone" - pluperfect expresses action with ongoing results; the disciples had gone away and left Jesus alone.

v9 ουστης (ειμι) gen. part. I am [a Samaritan woman]
πως adv. "how" - interrogative adverb, introducing a direct question.
ου ... συγχρωνται (συγχραομαι) pres. "do not associate" – idiom; are not friendly [with]/do not share cups /vessels with ("use nothing in common") = this more technical sense is intended here.

v10 την δωρεαν του θεου (ος) gen. "the gift [bountiful] of God" i.e. is "irrevocable".
ο λεγων (λεγω) pres. part. "[who it is] that asks [you for a drink]" - participle functions as a substantive. If the woman had been aware of Jesus' identity, she would have responded by seeking what he offers.
ζων (ζαω) pres. part. "living [water]" – perhaps referring to the life-giving water flowing from the temple in Ezekiel 47, or this image draws on the incident of the water that flowed from the rock during the wilderness wanderings. 

v11
κυριε (ος) voc. "Sir" – literally lord used here as a term of respect.
βαθυ adj. "deep" - The water table at this point is about 150 feet below the surface. 
ποθεν conj. "where" - for the woman "living water" refers to “running water” like that which feeds the well. In a dry region such as Samaria, where did Jesus think he was going to come up with running water?

v12 μειζων (μεγας) comp. adj. "greater than" In the Pentateuch, the only one greater than Jacob was Moses so the “One Greater” may refer to one coming to lead his people, like Moses.

v13 ο πινων (πινω) pres. part. "the ones who drink" i.e. anyone/everyone. 
διψησει (διψαω) fut. "will thirst [again]. This is dry country with limited sources of water, so thirst is a powerful Biblical image usually as a metaphor for spiritual desire, (Ps.42:2, 63:1, 143:6 et al). Water, from whatever source, satisfies but for a moment.
  
v14
ος πινων. .. αν + subj. "whoever drinks" – an aorist punctiliar. 
ου μη + fut. "[will] never [thirst]" – an emphatic negation, here with a future tense.
εις τον αιωνα into the age an idiom usually meaning "into the future."
αλλομενου (αλλομαι) pres. part. "[a spring of water] welling up [to eternal life]" participle is adjectival so "a bubbling over spring.". The covenant fulfilment imagery being expressed here is still drawing on Ezekiel 47.
εις ζωην αιωνιον "to eternal life" - metaphor of an internal fountain, gushing up suggests the richness of the new life made available through the Messiah.

v15 αντλειν (αντλεω) pres. inf. "to draw water" present tense used here, and for the verbs "give" and "thirst", is durative = "may not ever thirst again", "keep on coming here", and "continually drawing water".

v16
υπαγε (υπαγω) pres. imp. "go" imperative – a command

v17 ανδρα (ηρ ος) "man"  Jesus gently exposes the woman's secret, namely her numerous sexual relationships. Her answer is technically correct; she has no husband, she has a lover.

v18 εσχες (εχω) aor. "you have had" - you had.
ανδρας (ηρ δρος) "[five] men" husbands is a polite stretch of this word. The word is emphatic by position but the intent of Jesus' words is unclear. It is often taken that the woman has been married five times, ending in death or divorce, and the present relationship is at best a “common law” marriage. The Torah only allowed 3 marriages (assuming against our values 3 was enough to figure out if you were marrying material or not). The “divine ideal” was a one-flesh union allowing for one sexual union, which of itself in OT thinking constituted a marriage. The second clause more naturally implies that, other than the first relationship, all the others are on the same as the current one, i.e. she has had five "lovers" and this one is number six. The stress on the word "man" and the number "five", may indicate John intends a symbolic interpretation, cf. 2 Kings 17:24, but it seems more likely the purpose of the revelation serves to confirm Jesus' Messianic credentials and thee woman's response in v 19 underlines this. Given her obvious non-standing in polite society, little more needs to be said. She, like many in our world, is getting on with life as best she can. 

v20 An excurses on worship. It is often argued the woman is, at this point, changing the subject out of embarrassment. Not necessarily, rather she realizes she is speaking to a prophet or equivalent and as such can resolve a burning issue for her, and Samaritans as a whole. How can a person properly meet with God? Is it only at Mount Gerizim or in Jerusalem? Jesus' answer is that it was Jerusalem, but now it is neither. 
prosekunhsan (proskunew) aor. "worshiped" – a word often confused with latreuw  (ligurgy), or doing service to God. This word is rightlyunderstood as "doing obeisance."
τω ορει τουτω "this mountain" – i.e. Mount Gerizim/Ebal - the site the Samaritans claim was chosen by God as the authorized site for liturgical worship detailed by Moses.
υμεις "you [Jews]" – an emphatic plural.
ο τοπος (ος) "the one and only place" - "the holy place" is implied.

v21 γυναι (η αικος) voc. "woman" - technical address, not derogatory, "ma’am. believe me”.
ωρα "the hour [is coming]" - the eschatological "hour", day of judgment.
ουτε .... ουτε "neither ... nor" – a negated comparative construction; "neither/nor." The Samaritans will no longer be faced with a choice between two places of worship!
  
v22
υμεις "you [Samaritans]" – an emphatic.

v23 αληθινοι adj. "[the] true [worshipers]" – genuine/ authentic" is preferred.
πνευματι και αληθεια "spirit and truth" - Most commentators don't think that the phrase is a hendiadys (two ideas expressed as one) but since both nouns are without definite articles and governed by the same preposition  then the two words, "spirit/spiritual" and "truth/word" encompass the same idea. Some scholars see this expression as demanding worship that is conformable to the divine nature (spirit) and determined by the truth God has revealed concerning himself. 
ζητει (ζητεω) pres. "seeks" – enquires- the sense here is "demands" or "requires" given the verb dei, "it is necessary" (divine imperative).

v24 πνευμα ο Θεος "God is spirit" – so also God is light/ love, this statement describes God's means of action and work. God is "spirit" in the sense of being divine as opposed to human, life-giving and unknowable to human unless he chooses to reveal himself.

v25 οιδα (γινωσκω) perf. "I know" (some manuscripts have oidamen "we know").
Μεσσιας "Messiah" - She likely use the word for the Jewish messiah, but then one can certainly imagine her saying "I know the Taheb is coming, whom you call the Messiah". The Samaritan Taheb ("the Restorer", Deut.18:18) is equivalent to the Jewish messiah.
ο λεγομενος (ος) "the one called [Christ]" - participle serves as a substantive, standing in apposition to "Messiah". 
εκεινος dem. pro. "he [comes]" – the resumptive is emphatic.
αναγγελει (αναγγελλω) fut. "he will announce/tell/explain/ disclose/interprer - the Johannine use "interpret" is most likely.
παντα adj. "everything" - emphatic by position. A slight overstatement, regardless this is someone greater than Jacob (a la Moses) - a prophet knows everything but not necessarily one who will tell everything. 

v26 εγω ειμι "I [who speak to you] am he / I [the one speaking to you] am he" - This is the first of the great "I am" statements in John.

ο λαλων (λαλεω) pres. part. "who speaks " - it seems likely that the clause is parenthetical, forming an enclosure of revelation between this verse and verse 10. Some read it thus: "I (who am speaking to you) am the Christ you speak of." It is interesting how Jesus has no reluctance revealing his messianic credentials to a Samaritan.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

The Readings for the 2nd Sunday in Lent 2017, March 12

First Reading: Genesis 12:1-4a

1The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4aSo Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.


Psalm: Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills; 
    from where is my help to come?

2 My help comes from the LORD, 
    the maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved 
    and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.

4 Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel 
    shall neither slumber nor sleep;

5 The LORD himself watches over you; 
    the LORD is your shade at your right hand,

6 So that the sun shall not strike you by day, 
    nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; 
    it is he who shall keep you safe.

8 The LORD shall watch over your going out and
                             your coming in, 
    from this time forth for evermore.


Second Reading: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

1What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. 5But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
13For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
16For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Gospel: John 3:1-17

1Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
11“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Greek Text of John 3:1-17

Greek Study John 3:1-17

3:1 ανθρωπος εκ των Φαριαιων "a man of the Pharisees" - An unusual designation, possibly prompted by the point made in v25.
αρχων των Ιουδαιων "a member of the Jewish ruling council" - a ruler/ member of the Sanhedrin."
  
v2
νυκτος (νυξ τος) "at night" – night - John liked the symbolism of darkness and light, night and day, the realm of evil and the realm of light..... Judas leaves the light and goes out the night/dark, Nicodemus comes out of the night/dark and  into the light. 
οιδαμεν (οιδα) perf. "we know" - the Pharisees often spoke as one, an ancient example of ‘group think’.
τα σημεια (οϖ) "the miraculous signs" -  the proof that convinces/creates the knowing

v3 γεννηθη/ (γενναω) pas. "is born" in the passive also "begotten" identifying the function of the male in conception rather than the female in birth.
ιδειν (οραω) aor. inf. "see" - to behold; here in the sense of "experience", "encounter",  or "participate in", to whit “Unless a person is born from above they cannot participate in the kingdom of God."  

v4 γεννηθηναι (γενναω) aor. pas. inf. "be born" - Nicodemus has misunderstood Jesus to mean "born again" when he is saying "born from above." It John has employed this play on the meaning of the word to underline the truth that regeneration is a spiritual renewal from God  not something achieved by human effort. 

v5 εξ υδατος και πνευματος "born of water and the Spirit" - explanations for this phrase are endless, all seem unconvincing and move beyond the text. A meaning something like "washing of the Spirit" although grammatically tenuous, is more likely the intended meaning. There is some textual support ( Brown) that "water and" was addition. 

v6 της σαρκος "of the flesh” for John it is not "sinful flesh" as often with Paul, but rather just "fleshly existence."
το γεγεννημενον (γενναω) perf. pas. part. "[flesh] gives birth to [flesh]" - This phrase is often aligned with "born of water", but it more likely addresses Nicodemus' confusion of "born again" with "born from above." 

v7 υη θαυμασης (θαυμαζω) aor. subj. "you should not wonder/ marvel at/over” – an unusual grammatical formation; a subjunctive of prohibition. Bultman said this term was a typical Rabbinic statement. "Do not be surprised when I say…"

v8 το πνευμα (α ατος) "the wind/breath/spirit “ equivalent of the Hebrew word  'ruach', the wind/breath /spirit of God. Either the word here means "wind" and is used to describe the experience of a person who is born from above by the Spirit of God (spiritual birth, birth from above, is mysterious and invisible as is the wind), or the word means Spirit. The vulgate (Latin Bible) translates the word here as "Spirit" and therefore, the verse directly describes spiritual birth. Brown argues that the blowing of the wind is used as a simile for born of the Spirit.
πνει (πνεω) pres. "blows

v9 πως δυναται ταυτα γενεσθαι "how can this come to be"

v10 ταυτα ου γινωσκεις (γινωσκω) "do you not know these things" - Bultmann argues that Jesus is not critical of Nicodemus' failure to understand but rather is critical of the inability of Rabbinic scholarship to understand what he is talking about – except in v12 he says "'Are you the famous teacher of the famous Israel?'

v11 λαλουμεν (λαλεω) "we speak" – is the “we” the royal we/  Or is it the collection (Rabbinic) ‘we” 9I,.e. Jesus identifies himself as part of the club) or this the Evangelist using the NT phrase someetiems used of communicating the gospel; "we proclaim."
ο εωρακαμεν (οραω) perf. "what we have seen" – the word for “see”, “know” “light and dark” and “become/born” are as common to John as the word ιυθυσ (immediately) is to Mark – they are literary/theological flourishes.  

v12 τα επιγεια pl. adj. " the things belonging to or on the earth” does this refer to Jesus' teachings about the birth from above which he has tried to explain to Nicodemus in earthly terms, if so then but what are the "heavenly things"?  At least we can say that the 
τα επουρανια (ος) " things that belong to heaven" are things yet to be revealed.  

v13 αναβεβηκεν (αναβαινω) perf. "has ascended” implies that Jesus has already ascended to heaven, hence some argue that this reflects a ‘post ascension’ preaching. 
καταβας (καταβαινω) aor. part. "having descended” Scriptural references to the Son of Man are always to his his ascending, rather than his descending; he comes/ascends to reign. Yet, the point being made here is of Jesus' origin, namely, heaven, 

v14 υψωσεν (υψοω) aor. "lifted up" - The lifting up of the serpent on a pole by Moses serves as a sign to the people of salvation, not as some future reality but as a p[resent one.  This seems to point once again to the sacramental nature off John’s story.  Jesus’ power and presence  is for this world, now.
υψωθηναι (υψοω) pas. inf. "be lifted up" The infinitive serves as the subject of the verb δει, "is necessary."

v15 ο πιστευων (πιστευω) pres. part. "[everyone] who has faith" - the faithful ones 
εν αυτω/ .... εις αυτω/ "in him" the idea here may simply be of relying on Jesus for salvation, but may also convey the meaning of some kind of mystical union with Christ (once again a sacramental imagery). 
ινα + subj. "so that" forming a purpose clause; i.e. the purpose of the lifting up of Christ on the cross is that the believer may have. 
ζωην αιωνιον "eternal life

v16 ηγαπησεν (αγαπαω) aor. God "loved" - John is focused on this word, using this verb 36 times in the gospel. He notes the Father's love for the Son and the Son's love for the Father, the Son for disciples and disciples for the Son. The particular meaning is dictated by the context, the common thread involving a relational process rather than just expressing feelings. 
τον κοσμον (ος) "the world" - Not creation as such, but rather the world of humanity and human activity.
εδωκεν (διδωμι) aor. ind. act. "he gave" - in the sense of "sent”. 
τον μονογενη adj. "the one and only Son" - only begotten, unique. John is stressing Christ's unique relationship with the Father. John only uses the word "son" of Jesus - never of his disciples. 
ινα + subj. "that" – another purpose clause. 
ο πιστευων (πιστευω) pres. part. "[all the ones] who believe/ believing ones”
αποληται (απολλυμι) "destroy/perish”  the natural state of humanity is death. Only God possesses life, and by extension, those who believe in Christ.

v17 γαρ "for" - Expressing cause/reason. 
ου απεστειλεν (αποστελλω) aor. "did not send" (from whence the word “apostle” derives). -. Used of an authoritative sending and therefore constantly used of Christian mission. So God's mission, in the sending of Christ, is not the condemnation of mankind, but its salvation.
κρινη (κρινω) aor. subj. "decision/judgment/condemnation" either sense is possible. Technically the word is used to offset salvation which is the purpose of Christ's coming. God sent Christ in order to save, not to condemn, although a consequence of Christ's coming is the reiteration of the condemnation already hanging over humanity. Note, the agent of judgment remains God, not Christ.