I’ve known a few folks over the years who exaggerate things. A lot. To the extreme. In some cases, you didn’t know if they were being serious or not. Hyperbole is a word that means extreme exaggeration, so much so that you should not take what is being said literally.

If someone tells me, “Pastor, that was the best sermon ever,” I thank them for the compliment but don’t for a moment believe those words. When my children told me, “You’re the greatest dad in the world!” I appreciated the sentiment behind those words but knew they were not reality. However, when I tell my wife “You are the most beautiful woman I know,” I mean it sincerely, and that is no exaggeration.

Hyperbole has its place, but it is important to distinguish what is hyperbole and what is reality. The Pharisees used hyperbole in the following passage:

John 12:19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

The Jewish leaders were afraid that Jesus was getting so many followers that they would lose their power and influence over the people. They didn’t believe that literally everyone in the world was following Jesus, but they over-exaggerated to stress that they should do something about Him before it was too late.

I think it is appropriate that the worst fear of the Pharisees is exactly what Jesus wanted to happen. He wants everyone in the world to follow Him, receive the forgiveness He earned for them all, and be saved. He said as much later in the same chapter as the verse above.

John 12:47 “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.

His first coming was not about judgment, but salvation. He earned that for us by being our substitute and taking our deserved punishment. He did that for everyone. God so loved THE WORLD. And this message of God’s desire for the world to be saved is repeated throughout Scripture.

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

1 John 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

These promises of God are not hyperbole. They are the Gospel, His truth, His promise to all who trust in Jesus.