The sixteenth verse
of the third chapter of the Gospel of John tells us, “For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in
him should not perish but have eternal life”. The setting for
this well known verse is quite compelling. The Gospel tells us that
an important religious leader, a Pharisee named Nicodemus came at
night to speak with Jesus.
Nicodemus was not your run-of-the-mill Pharisee. We
are told that he was, “a ruler of the Jews” (v. 1). This
means he was an elite Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin – today's
political equivalent of a U.S. Senator.
Nicodemus starts things off by saying, “Rabbi,
we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these
signs that you do unless God is with him” (v. 2). In essence
he was saying, “Hey Jesus – some of us in our group have been
watching you and we are really impressed with the cool things you're
doing. We're convinced you're from God and in fact, we'd like to
welcome you to our little club.”
Jesus
could have said to him, “Gosh, thanks for noticing the fine details
of my ministry. You know, we should grab some coffee sometime. Can
I get your email?”. Jesus didn't do that. He came right to the
point. It's the point that Nicodemus had completely missed. Jesus
spoke right to the heart of the matter and said, “Truly, truly I
say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of
God” (v. 3). Jesus is really telling Nicodemus, “You are
missing it – you've missed the most important thing all your life.
You are an expert in the scriptures, but you've missed what the
scriptures are all about...me” (John 5:46). Jesus is saying, “It's
not about your knowledge of the Law. In order to enter God's
Kingdom, you must first die to yourself and put your total faith in
me. That's what born again means.”
Right
away, Nicodemus was caught off-guard and admitted it. And Jesus
looked right at him and said, “You are Israel’s teacher, and
do you not understand these things?” (v. 10).
Nicodemus had come to believe that a specialized
knowledge called legalism brought him close to God. This
specialized knowledge constructs man-made rules which appear to draw
us near to God. The illusion is very convincing, but legalism
actually moves us away from God and will only bring us to ourselves.
Legalism will artificially assuage our need for a Savior. In
reality, our need for him is relentless. Nicodemus was drowning in
himself, but ignored that he desperately needed Jesus to save him.
He should have known this from reading the scriptures, but he was
oblivious.
Some doubt that Jesus actually uttered the
words of John 3:16. They believe that these words were not part of
this conversation, but that they are merely commentary by the author
of the Gospel. I reject this notion for several reasons (which I
won't cover here). But let's assume for a minute that it was
actually Jesus who spoke the words of John 3:16.
What's amazing is what he said right before those
famous words: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever
believes in him may have eternal life.” (vv. 14-15). In the
Old Testament, the Jews were dealing with a self-imposed problem of
snakes biting and killing people, so the Lord told Moses to make a
bronze snake and raise it up on a pole. Then when anyone would get
bit, they would merely look up at the pole and they would be healed
instantly (Num. 21:9).
Think about that for a minute – in order to be
healed, they had to look at an image of what bit them in the first
place. Jesus knew that one day he would die on a cross – and he
knew that he would “become a curse” in order to redeem us from
the “curse of the law” (Gal. 3:13). Jesus died on a cross to
save us from our sins, but he also saved us from the Law – from
legalism. Jesus is telling Nicodemus, “In order to be completely
acceptable to the Father, you need to look to me and place your trust
in me. That's what it means to be born again – it means to stop
relying on yourself and trust in me.
Jesus then looked him in the eye and said: “For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (v.
16). The Gospel of John places an emphasis on how Jesus reveals and
honors his Father. And now he is revealing the Father to a
high-ranking Jewish official. John 3:16 is from the Father's point
of view – it is God
who so loved the world...and it is God
who gave his only Son. It is the ultimate act of a Father who loves
us and wants to fellowship with us.
On the surface, legalism offers many benefits. It
allows Christians to feel like they are in a club, where all that's
required is to pay their dues. None of us are completely immune from
the promises of legalism, but John 3:16 is a reminder and a promise –
it's a reminder that Jesus died on the cross and a promise that we
are saved by God's grace.
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