Saturday 26^th January

John 3:16-17

Yesterday we explored Paul’s teaching about how God values our physical bodies and how He sacrificed His own body as a ransom for our souls. We looked at how our bodies are the temple of God’s Spirit and how this knowledge leads us to keeping our bodies as holy and sanctified vessels for His presence. In today’s reading we will look at another scripture that enlightens us of God’s ultimate sacrifice for us, His beloved people.

The beginning of John chapter 3 starts off with a well-respected Jewish leader, Nicodemus, coming to Jesus during the night. His secretive visit to Jesus was most probably to save face and make sure no one saw him. For it was in submission to Jesus’ authority, as someone that had come from God, that Nicodemus came to hear His teaching. He knew that Jesus was ‘divinely’ anointed and admitted that unless He was from God, He would not be able to perform the miracles that He did. Jesus then proceeds to explain to Nicodemus that it is not enough to know the law and be religious. In order to truly be saved one must be born again. Not by a fleshly birth but by God’s Spirit living in us.

Nicodemus must have thought his salvation was guaranteed. He was a devout Jew and a leading Pharisee. Yet Jesus highlighted to him that his credentials were not enough to see him into the Kingdom of God. One must be born again by the Spirit of living God, whose cleansing power not only saves but also regenerates a person’s heart and life to become more like Christ. Believing in the Spirit’s regenerating work in one’s life and in God’s begotten Son leads an individual into Eternal life.

Jesus reminds Nicodemus of the story found in Numbers 21:4-9. The wandering Israelites in the desert grew impatient with the lack of food and water and started complaining and criticising Moses. God sent deadly poisonous snakes to punish the rebellious attitudes towards Moses and towards a God who had rescued them from the hands of slave driving Egyptians. As soon as they realised that their attitudes were wrong, they repented to Moses and asked him to remove the deadly snakes from their midst. So the Lord commanded Moses to fashion a bronze snake and attach it to a pole that whoever looked upon the bronze snake would be healed. Jesus used this example to explain to Nicodemus that we too have sinned and complained against God. We have fallen short and only when Jesus was lifted up on the cross and exalted after His resurrection would humanity receive healing from their sins for those who believe in Him.

Jesus then explains His identity to Nicodemus in the most known verse in the Bible, John 3:16. It is in the Father’s love for humanity, that He sent the undeserved gift of Salvation, His only and begotten Son, as propitiation for mankind’s sinful and rebellious ways. This saving act of love, grace and mercy, along with the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration, transforms lives and leads us into Eternal communion with our Heavenly Father, free from condemnation and guilt. The price that was paid is too great to put into a value, yet is a free gift from a loving Father. Acceptance of this gift, as unworthy as we are, gives us purpose, value and worth in Christ Jesus.

The weight of the law and the condemning pressure of following it would have burdened Nicodemus and left him in darkness. Yet Jesus in His conversation with Nicodemus, offers him Himself as a path into the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ today also offers you His unconditional love, His liberating grace and eternal life with Him forever. What is your response?