September 11, 2023

John 3:1-21 (HCSB)
Jesus and Nicodemus
3 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one could perform these signs You do unless God were with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 “But how can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked Him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. 11 “I assure you: We speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. 12 If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and OnlySon, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.19 “This, then, is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. 21 But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

BJ Stahlin
At the end of the exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus, we have a set of verses that, for those of us raised in the church, includes what was probably our first memory verse, and for good reason; it is the essence of the Gospel. We might see John 3:16 plastered on billboards, or on TV during sporting events, almost to the point it is disregarded. Are we, as believers, too quick to read these words and not feel the full gravity of their meaning? Do we stop there and exclude the very next sentence which disproves the world’s concept that God is somehow watching and waiting to catch us doing something wrong or to beat us up for it? These verses contain the very truth our hope is founded on; why we celebrate at the end of a believer’s life, why we offer Him praise, honor, and glory. I encourage you to take a moment to reread Jesus’ words, particularly verses 16 and 17, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak directly to you about how the Father sent His Son, to suffer and die for a world that continues to reject Him. If you have not believed yet, I pray today is the day you do. He did all of it because He loves YOU!