What does “his only begotten Son” mean in Jn 3:16?

It means that Jesus had a natural birth. When people read a King James Bible they will say things like, “I don’t like reading all of those “begats” and “begots.” Those seemingly endless genealogies are hard to read at times. However, they show you that the word “begotten” has significance; it means that Jesus was literally born, that he had a natural birth. The prophecy in the Old Testament was, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,” (Is 7:14). Well, for a virgin to conceive, she has to receive seed without a man. In fact, she conceived by the Holy Ghost, who is God. Therefore, Gabriel said to her, “that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God,” (Lk 1:35). Mary was Jesus’ mother and God Almighty was Jesus’ Father. God prepared for the second person in the Trinity a body in which he could live on this earth (Heb 10:5). And that body was to be sacrificed as the perfect propitiation for our sins (1 Jn 2:1-2; Rom 3:24-25). He had to come as a man ...  more