John Chapter 3

vs 13

When it comes to people talking about heaven, there's only one person's word you can really trust, and that is the Son of Man. Ironically, John would go on to write Revelation, but even then that is just a vision - John didn't get to heaven till he died.

vs 14-15

It's a fairly incredible comparison to make, and I wouldn't blame anybody for not being able to follow what he was saying at the time - but considering John is possibly the latest gospel written, looking back in hindsight, any Christian reading this should be able to put together the raising of the snake by Moses and the crucifixion of Christ. In his own words, apparently, he states that he will be doing this for the sake of eternal life for others. There is a little translation argument about whether it says "whoever believes in him" or "will in him have eternal life". The subject of the "in him" is still the same, Christ, and so the difference is miniscule. You can't read it and say that you have to have belief inside yourself.

Now we hit an interesting problem. You will notice that there is a note (in the NIV) which says that "some interpreters end the quotations after verse 15". The question, then, is whether John 3:16 and onward to vs 21 are the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, or even the words of Jesus at all - they could be the words of John. This might bother some people, but it's really not a big deal. The fact is that quotation marks don't exist in ancient greek, so you pretty much have to work it out from the context. Even if we had the original manuscript, it wouldn't be much help in this case.

Of course, if we are happy to accept that the gospel was written by John, and is an accurate account, then I assume we are happy to accept the second half of John chapter 3 as part of his gospel, even if it is John's words and not Jesus'. I don't think the inspiration of the chapter deserves any criticism.

vs 16

What can I say about this verse? This section tells us a lot about God and his love. The sacrificial love of God is something we read about constantly, and is the trademark of his love for us.

vs 17

It is the Law that through its revelation condemned us (or helped), but even though Jesus is the righteous judge, his arrival was not for our condemnation, but our salvation. Judgement has been coming for a long time, and we have been condemned through our inaction and sin for ages.

18

So there is condemnation for those who reject God's Son, but that was not his purpose in coming. His purpose was to allow people to believe in him so that they can no longer face condemnation.

vs 19

This is the fact - that brings us condemnation. When we were living in darkness, we were enjoying the darkness, and so were condemned already. But when the light came in Christ, we already had darkness and were enjoying it fine thank you very much, and so rejected him as well. It is a mark of God's incredible power that he was able to bring our salvation through our active rejection of God and his Son.

vs 20

It's no surprise that we find the light repulsive - it's a lot harder to hide the horrible things you do when someone's shining the spotlight on you.

vs 21

This stands in contrast a little bit with the typical Christian attitude of hiding the good deeds you do, because you aren't looking for praise for them, but God knows you've done them. That is true - God does know them, Jesus talks about left hand not knowing what right hand is doing etc. But John (and perhaps Jesus) points out here that those who do good deeds should not be afraid of doing them in the light, because it should be plainly visible that it is not them who are accomplishing this great thing, but it is God working through them. If you let the glory of your activities go to God, then there shouldn't be a problem.

vs 22

I'd never seen this before - but Jesus was a baptiser, like John TB. It makes me wonder if people would use that as a special mark, "Oh, I was dunked by Jesus himself". Possibly, but it would have lost its potency as 1) they all died out, but 2) because the baptism of the Holy Spirit is shared by all believers, and is just as potent surely.

Notice also that this verse shows that Jesus actually spent time with his disciples. It was an active relationship - he didn't just let them follow him around to see what he did. He taught them, talked to them, spent time with them.

vs 23-24

John TB had yet to be arrested, so it is to be expected that he would do some baptising. What amazes me is that so many people are coming to be baptised by John TB or by Jesus, that there is a need for both of them to be on baptism patrol. There really was a genuine heart for God in Israel, it seems. But God wanted more than just wet people.