Our Gospel reading this week in the Lectionary from the Book of Common Prayer contains one of the most recognized and possibly most memorized verses, John 3:16. Let’s take a quick look and study the background of this most famous and favorite Bible verse.
One evening early in His ministry, Jesus had a visitor. A gentleman named Nicodemus came to talk to him (vs. 1-2). He came at night, possibly for several reasons. One was that he was a Pharisee, and also a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest governing body of the Jewish people. Jesus was already being questioned and under suspicion by the Pharisees, so Nicodemus might not have wanted others knowing he was interested in Him and His message. Also he possibly wanted a good amount of time to sit and talk to Jesus one-on-one, without being disturbed by the crowds, and night would be a good time to be alone with Him. As a Pharisee, Nicodemus was depending upon his good works, his keeping of the Old Testament Law and his religious rituals to earn him acceptance with God and a place in heaven. He was like the many religiously devout people we all know, ones we feel are really good people, and will certainly go to heaven. Yet Jesus immediately tells Nicodemus that all of the religious good works he does is not enough for salvation. It is not enough, and one must be born again (vs. 3).
We are all born sinners, with a sin nature, and no amount of goodness can erase or change a person’s nature. One needs a real relationship with God, which can only happen when one accepts Jesus as their personal Savior. We cannot get into heaven because of any good works or kind behavior. As Jesus told Nicodemus, we must be born again, to become a child of God through trust in the Name of the Incarnate Word, appropriated by an act of faith. The new birth is when the Holy Spirit leads a person to understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross to provide forgiveness for their sins. When we accept that Jesus Christ is the only one who can redeem us, and we confess Him as our Savior and Lord, we are born again. When we stand before God, only our relationship with Him will matter.
Belief is more than intellectual agreement. It means to put our trust and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, belief that He alone can save us. We must believe that Jesus is God’s only-begotten Son, and that He saves us by His sacrificial death on the cross. It is more than intellectual consent or head knowledge. One must believe in their heart that they cannot earn their salvation, and trust in the Blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
God paid dearly for our salvation with the life of His Son, the highest price He could pay. Jesus accepted our punishment, paid the price for our sins, and then offered us the new life that He had bought for us. This was the message that Jesus had for Nicodemus, and everyone He came to redeem, that we must be born again in order to enter God’s kingdom.
Jesus then points to the account of Moses in the wilderness (vs. 14). In Numbers 21:4-9, we read of how the Israelites continued to be faithless and complaining, so God sent poisonous serpents, whose bite would kill people. God instructed Moses to make a bronze image of a snake, and place it on a pole. The only thing that could save those bitten was not some medical treatment, but to look upon the image. Whoever looked at this image after being bitten would live. That would hardly seem to be a suitable cure, and many did not believe. Jesus said that we needed to look to Him and His sacrificial death on the cross, and we will have eternal life. Those who face the penalty of death and damnation (all of us), need to look to Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross, and we will be saved. Many people think that is just as outlandish as looking at a bronze figure of a snake to be healed from the snakebite. However, that was the only cure from the poisonous snake, and is the only way one can receive eternal life, by looking to Jesus.
In closing this passage, Jesus told us that God does not show favoritism (vs. 17), for His mercy extends throughout the globe. God’s love and mercy can reach anyone. He does not select some people to enter heaven, and others to go to hell. The good news of Jesus is offered to all humanity. We only need to accept it. As the old-time hymn says, “Look and live, my brother, live! Look to Jesus now and live; ‘Tis recorded in His Word, hallelujah! It is only that you look and live.”
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