CAMINANDO WITH JESUS: The Next Verse

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

- John 3:1-17

If you watch the televised crowd scenes long enough at an NFL football game, you’ll find it. Be it a field goal or an extra point, the long view of the ball boinging between the posts, there at the bottom:

John 3:16.

On a sign, held up for all to see. For some it is their favorite verse of the Bible:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

A verse that is meant to convey love but often doesn’t, because it is often used as a threat or as blackmail to force “the other” to believe.

My favorite? John 3:17.

Although I have NEVER seen it written on a sign and held up at a game, it completes the first thought in a way that cannot be used for judgment or threat.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Indeed.

You CANNOT use Jesus to condemn. Jesus gives everyone an opportunity.

You cannot use Jesus to shame, to guilt, to harass, to embarrass or to send someone to hell (as if God would ever entrust us with that power).

Jesus cannot be used to condemn. ONLY to save.

John 3:16 without John 3:17 is incomplete.

It’s like Jesus’ actions without them also being signs of the presence of God.

It’s like trying to enter into the Kingdom of God without being born of (water and) the Spirit.

It’s like being a teacher without understanding what you’re teaching.

It’s like trying to understand Jesus’ teaching about heavenly things when you cannot even grasp the earthly things he used as illustrations.

It’s like trying to understand the resurrected/ascended Jesus without knowing the earthly/descended Jesus.

Moses lifted up a serpent that all who looked upon it would be saved from their peril. God lifted up Jesus in life, in death, in ascension, that we might be saved from ours. Not to leave us to condemnation, but to lift us out of it. God loved us so much that he gave his only Son, for us to believe, to not perish. Indeed: not to be condemned, but to be saved.

When the Bible is wielded in order to hurt, those wielders are exactly like Nicodemus, who just could not understand, even as he claimed to be a teacher of the law. Nicodemus, stuck in the flesh. Nicodemus, asking his questions in the dark.

I think you may be able to have 3:17 without 3:16, but not the other way around.

All of this - all of Jesus’s thoughts, actions, teachings, works, signs - all to save. Just that. To save.

3:17 is all you need.

Indeed.

The Rev. Greg Brown is the rector of Holy Comforter, Charlotte.