Verse 3
Jesus proceeded to define the nature of eternal life. Eternal life is essentially knowing (Gr. ginoskosin, cf. Genesis 4:1 LXX; Matthew 1:25) God experientially through faith in His Son (cf. John 3:5; Jeremiah 31:34; Habakkuk 2:14; Hebrews 8:11). Jesus described it in terms of relationship rather than duration. Everyone will live forever somewhere. However the term "eternal life" as Jesus used it means much more than long life.
"Life is active involvement with environment; death is the cessation of involvement with the environment, whether it be physical or personal. The highest kind of life is involvement with the highest kind of environment. A worm is content to live in soil; we need not only the wider environment of earth, sea, and sky but also contact with other human beings. For the complete fulfillment of our being, we must know God. This, said Jesus, constitutes eternal life. Not only is it endless, since the knowledge of God would require an eternity to develop fully, but qualitatively it must exist in an eternal dimension." [Note: Tenney, "John," p. 162.]
Jesus described the Father here as the only true God. He is knowable only through Jesus Christ whom He sent (cf. John 1:18; Matthew 11:27). We sometimes say that it is a blessing and an inspiration to know certain people. This is all the more true when we know God. Knowing Him changes us and introduces us into a different quality of living. [Note: Morris, p. 637.]
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