John 3:10-21 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
it is likely that John 3:16 is the most widely quoted verse in the Bible; however, we rarely think about the context in which Jesus first spoke these words. Nicodemus, a religious leader and teacher and a true seeker after God, has come to Jesus because he recognizes that Jesus may be the promised Messiah. Jesus is imparting complicated and timeless truths because he in turn recognizes Nicodemus to be someone who can understand and appreciate these truths.
First, Jesus speaks of the need for a new spiritual birth by water (baptism) and the Holy Spirit. Next, Jesus challenges Nicodemus to follow as Jesus explains heavenly things to him. The reference to Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness comes from a story recounted in Numbers 21:4-8. “Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.”
There have been many speculations as to the nature of these “fiery serpents,” including the possibility of guinea worm, venomous snakes, etc. Personally, I suggest venomous snakes because people with guinea worm don’t die swiftly, and the people bitten by the fiery serpents did so. Sadly, the Israelites turned that bronze serpent into a fetish and worshiped it right up until righteous King Hezekiah destroyed it. (2 Kings 18:4) But the most interesting part of the original story of the bronze serpent is this: anyone who LOOKED on the bronze serpent would live, presumably because they believed enough to look. We don’t know the number of people who refused to look at the bronze serpent and died; however, there must have been traditions regarding those people as well.
Jesus is now telling Nicodemus that He, the Son of Man, will be lifted up (on a cross) and that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Evidently, there must have been those who refused to look at the bronze serpent and who died, because Jesus continues, ““He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
While Nicodemus might have been a little confused when Jesus was speaking about new spiritual births, now Jesus is describing good and evil, something with which Nicodemus is intimately acquainted. Notice that the words Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus mirror the words of John 1:11-13 “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
What happened to Nicodemus? We know from John 19:39-40 that when Jesus died, Nicodemus came with Joseph of Arimathea to collect the body and to anoint it with spices. From the night during which Jesus imparted glorious truths, Nicodemus became a believer. But what about you? Nicodemus was willing to set aside his prejudices and his position as a Jewish religious leader to follow Jesus. Are you willing to set aside pride in possessions, training, profession, and anything else to accept God’s magnificent gift of eternal life? God so loved YOU that He gave His only begotten Son so that YOU would have eternal life. Nothing you do by yourself can possibly earn that gift. If you have already accepted that gift, then continue throughout this year celebrating what God has done for you. But if you are wavering, why not look at Jesus and trust in what He’s done for you? Let’s pray.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and that nothing I can do is good enough to make up for my sins. Please forgive my sins and clean up my heart. I do believe that You died on a cross so that all who accept You might have eternal life. Help me to live for You from this day forward. Thank You for giving me eternal life in heaven with You when I die. I pray in Your mighty and precious Name, Lord Jesus. Amen.
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