Today’s Readings
Context
If there is one verse in all the Bible known more universally than John 3:16, I can't imagine what it is. God loved the world and gave his Son that those who believe would have eternal life.
This great truth is part of an exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Evidently not all those who were part of the religion of the day stood in opposition to Jesus. Some, like our Nicodemus, were seekers, inquirers, interested in finding truth. Jesus always gave frustrating answers to those who looked to confound him, but to those who came to him in sincerity he gave sincere answers.
But those answers sometimes were as indecipherable as the riddles he told his enemies. "You must be born again." Those famous (infamous?) words were a simple explanation to Nicodemus about what Jesus came to do, but in his natural state there was no way that he could grasp the meaning. Born again, or to be more precise, born from above. Jesus did not come to reform human institutions, to make human religion better, or to simply show us a better way. He came to give new life. As we were born physically we would now be born spiritually. Those born spiritually would be the ones to receive eternal life. We know that Nicodemus assisted in the burial of Jesus, and church tradition says that he was a follower of Christ, but we will have to await heaven's clarity to know for sure.
The second half of the chapter serves the same purpose but from a different source. As Jesus explained his purposes to Nicodemus, so John clarified to his disciples that Jesus must increase in prominence and he must decrease.
This great truth is part of an exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Evidently not all those who were part of the religion of the day stood in opposition to Jesus. Some, like our Nicodemus, were seekers, inquirers, interested in finding truth. Jesus always gave frustrating answers to those who looked to confound him, but to those who came to him in sincerity he gave sincere answers.
But those answers sometimes were as indecipherable as the riddles he told his enemies. "You must be born again." Those famous (infamous?) words were a simple explanation to Nicodemus about what Jesus came to do, but in his natural state there was no way that he could grasp the meaning. Born again, or to be more precise, born from above. Jesus did not come to reform human institutions, to make human religion better, or to simply show us a better way. He came to give new life. As we were born physically we would now be born spiritually. Those born spiritually would be the ones to receive eternal life. We know that Nicodemus assisted in the burial of Jesus, and church tradition says that he was a follower of Christ, but we will have to await heaven's clarity to know for sure.
The second half of the chapter serves the same purpose but from a different source. As Jesus explained his purposes to Nicodemus, so John clarified to his disciples that Jesus must increase in prominence and he must decrease.
Devotional - The Greatest Miracle
Nicodemus was no idiot. He was one of the scholars of Israel, a man of learning and wisdom. The people of God's Chosen Nation would come to him for advice and insight into the ways of God, into the things of the Law. But the simplest truth of God he could not understand.
You must be born again.The best and the brightest in this world do not get it. They look at the gospel and dismiss it as silly. I'm not so bad. I don't need someone to die for me, to pay for my sins. And, "born again?" That's just silly. Even the most intelligent people, in their natural condition, cannot grasp the simple truths of redemption.
That is because salvation does not start with a concept or that theological idea. It starts with a miraculous work of God. God's act of salvation is not to convince us of certain truths or to motivate us to certain actions. It is to raise the dead. We were born in sin and under God's judgment because of it. The Bible describes us as dead in our trespasses and sin. Dead. Helpless. Unable to fix what is wrong. So, God did what was needed. He gave us new life. A new birth. A birth from above (that's what "again" really means - "from above").
Salvation is not intellectual or emotional, it is divine and miraculous. It starts with God's great creative act. We become new creations. "The old is gone; the new has come."
That is why Paul reminds us over and again that pride has no place among the redeemed. We are not better or smarter or stronger than the lost. We are simply the recipients of God's grace. And there are only two responses that are appropriate to those who have been give a new birth in Christ.
- First, we must devote our lives to gratitude. If I spent every moment of the rest of my life giving thanks to God for all he has done for me, it would only scratch the surface of the gratitude the Savior is owed. Human words are inadequate to thank God for his amazing grace.
- Second, we must proclaim the grace of God to the world. The world must know that Jesus Christ saves and that he gives new life to those who believe. In fact, the best way that we can give praise to God and show gratitude to Christ is to tell the world about the salvation Christ gives.
It is never enough to be born in a Christian home, to attend church, or to be part of a Christian community. Jesus said we MUST be born again. There is no Christianity without Christ's miraculous work, without the new birth.
Think and Pray
Give thanks to God for his amazing grace.
Can you think of one person who needs salvation with whom you can share?
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