The Words of Jesus

The most often-quoted part of John's gospel is this: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  This short passage reveals several important aspects of the love of God. First, the character of God's love is shown by the word "so". It indicates an infinite degree of love. The past tense of the verb ("loved") shows that the love of God reaches back into eternity and has effect in the present. Second, the author of this love. God so loved. God is eternally full of love just as John wrote earlier in his gospel that "in him was life" . God possesses love and it is intrinsic to who God is. Third, the object of this love. God so loved "the world". The term here most naturally refers to the people of the world. John, the gospel writer, often comment...

Nicodemus is still baffled about what it means to be 'born again'. As we have seen , Jesus has explained to him that a spiritual re-birth from above is necessary if anyone is to see or to enter the Kingdom of God. The educated religious teacher still struggles to understand what Jesus means:  “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.  “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”   It is now Jesus' turn to be surprised. Although a well-trained teacher of ...

In our previous post we saw the beginning of a conversation between Jesus and a high-ranking Jewish religious leader called Nicodemus. Jesus had told Nicodemus that he needed to be 'born again'.  Nicodemus is startled: “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Despite his lifetime of studying the Jewish scriptures, Nicodemus was rather rigid in his understanding of spiritual things. He understood the idea of being 'born again' as literal not as a metaph...