John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, "You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just 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. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Ah, John 3:16 – the most infamous passage in Christian scripture. We see signs at sporting events with John 3:16 in big letters. We can buy gold jewelry and rubber wristbands with the verse inscribed on it. And if the average Christian has memorized any verses in the Bible, this one would be it.
If we had to boil the entire Christian scripture down to one verse, this would be the best option. After all, we as Christians are called to proclaim the good news. And John 3:16 is good news. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes may not perish but have eternal life.”
Of course, if there’s one thing we as Christians should not do, it is to try and reduce the Bible down to only one verse. One verse is not a theology. One verse is not a complete picture of God. One verse cannot describe how crazy in love God is with us. One verse cannot really answer any of our questions. One verse cannot influence how we relate to others. One verse is not fertile soil for deep spirituality.
When we look at John 3:16 by itself, we get the impression that faith is about our choice to believe. If we believe, then we will have eternal life. The responsibility is on us. So, I ask you, is this good news? Is it good news if our salvation depends entirely on our decision to believe or not?
Personally, I don’t hear this as good news. In fact, it’s terrifying. What if I screw up? What if I keep making poor decisions? What if I doubt God’s grace or question God’s activity in the world? Am I risking my salvation?
These questions frustrated Martin Luther, also. He never felt that he nor his faith were good enough. His faith always needed one more coat of paint; it was never clean enough; it was too messy. You live like that long enough and it severs the relationship with God that you were so concerned about in the first place.
Luther was a victim of one-verse Christianity. His first several years as a monk were spent believing that God demanded perfection from believers. It wasn’t until Luther read the entire New Testament for himself that he began to hear a new message – the message that the Christian faith is all about what God has done for us; and not what we do for God. Such a revelation was only possible when he began to look at the context of the verses.
It’s amazing how the focus shifts even when you add only one verse, like John 3:17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.” I’ve often wondered why people don’t hold up signs that at least say John 3:16-17. Maybe they just always run out of room on the sign. When we add verse 17 the emphasis completely shifts. The verse underscores that it is God, not you or I, who has decided our salvation. This is the good news that Luther was waiting for. This was the type of good news that ultimately freed him from the clutches of a fictional abusive God and allowed him to embrace God’s very real love.
Now, of course, a two-verse faith is not that much better than a one-verse faith. There’s more we need to look at. So, we look at what else the gospel writer has to say.
John 3:16-17 is set up by the story of the pharisee Nicodemus, the one who can’t get his mind around the idea of literally being born again from his mother’s womb. Nicodemus is a religious teacher who approaches Jesus and calls him teacher. This is a term of respect that falls short of the mark, for Jesus is more than someone who is teaching about the way, the truth, and the life; He, of course, IS the way, the truth, and the life.
Jesus has a fundamental problem with Nicodemus’ assertion that teaching about God is the primary function of one who professes to follow God. The primary function is, as Jesus states, to live the kind of life he lives, which is only possible if one is born again. That is, one who invites and cooperates with the Holy Spirit’s work of forming one into a Christ-like life. Or, in other terms, the waters of baptism sweep us away from the mundane surface-level, run-of-the-mill, just like everyone else, way of life and carry us into a life oriented around concern for higher things.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus looking for something. We’re not told exactly what he’s looking for, but he’s curious enough about Jesus that he sneaks off to see him alone at night; which means he’s looking for something beyond what his intellect or his religion or his peers have brought to his life. He needs more than one verse. He wants to understand the whole story. So Jesus tells him the whole story. God is love, that love is being lived out in real time through the words and actions of Jesus, and the Spirit will help Nicodemus live a life fueled and directed by that same love.
Nicodemus must have accepted this invitation and believed Jesus because the last we hear of him, he comes to help Joseph of Arimathea properly care for Jesus’ crucified body. He could have looked at Jesus’ gruesome end and said to himself, “Well, I guess that guy did not actually know what he was talking about.” But instead he was able to look at Jesus’ bloody body and see that Jesus was right all along. That is a gift of the Spirit; that is an action that springs from a loving heart; that is a faith that is willing to stare death in the face and declare it is powerless in the face of God’s love. If that’s what it means to be saved by God’s love, may we all be swept away by the waters of the Spirit, for that is where the only true hope for our world resides.
Amen.
