John 2 — The Wedding at Cana, Jesus Cleanses the Temple
John 3 — Jesus and Nicodemus, John the Baptist Exalts Christ
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
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Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
Chapter 3 of John’s gospel account is focused on belief. Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness (presumably so he won’t be seen by the other Pharisees) and asks, “How can someone be born when they are old?” (John 3:4). Jesus’ explanation centers on verse 12, “I have spoken to you on earthly things and you do not believer; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” John picks up the theme in the infamous John 3:16, “whoever believes in him” and repeats this in 3:18, “Whoever believes in him” will have eternal life along with the other side of the coin, “whoever does not believe…because they have not believed” is condemned.
John ends chapter 3 reminding us again, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life” (John 3:36). John makes it personal, it’s about belief, something that resides in each person individually. We all have an individual decision to make and there is no gray area: believe or reject, there is no middle ground. This is a huge barrier for our enlightened culture. The more we seem to know (or have access to knowledge), the more we want answers before accepting someone’s position. We’re wired to be skeptics in this country thanks to the news media culture and the “investigative reporters” that abound. John cuts through all of this and simply states we must believe. To believe we must have faith, to have faith there must be something to hope for or there is no reason for faith. This is a difficult lesson for many. My prayer is simply to help those who have no hope to see the hope of Christ and to help them on their journey of faith. Ultimately my prayer is they will individually believe and join us all in the great banquet prepared for all who worship Christ.