February 9. John 3:1-21
And here we are, this fine Tuesday morning, looking at one of the most famous passages in the Bible – the passage that holds John 3:16 within it. Did you know the context of that verse before reading it in context today? Did you notice the follow up verse, John 3:17 that stresses that Jesus’ first coming was to save and not to judge? Oh, there is a richness in reading verses within their setting in Scripture! The setting is a conversation that Jesus has with a religious leader who actually believes that Jesus is from God because of the miraculous signs he has seen. He comes at night, Nicodemus, does, so he’s not quite ready to give up his status in his community and be seen with Jesus yet, but he comes and learns and listens and questions. I love that Jesus doesn’t scold him for tippy toeing in at night. Jesus welcomes true seekers. And Nicodemus wasn’t trying to trap Him; Nicodemus was seeking.
We learn right along with Nicodemus, don’t we? We learn that we must be “born again.” We learn that trying to fully understand what happens when the Holy Spirit enables us to be born again is not possible. It’s like the wind. We can’t fully understand the wind, but we feel it and notice it by what it does and how it changes our environment. When someone is born again, there will be changes over time as well! We learn that Jesus’ purpose in coming is to save us. And that’s just scratching the surface.
I love the references to light we are seeing in John’s Gospel. In our first passage, we read “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it” in verse 5 and “The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” in verse 9. Today, John’s back to talking about how Jesus is the light and how He shines: “And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” (verses 19-21) It’s a perfect analogy. The closer we get to the light the more beautiful He is and the more we see our need of His cleansing, which He so freely gives! There’s no shame in the light, for He makes us beautiful. The shame and condemnation lie in the darkness where they try to hide. Oh, let’s not hide! Let’s step into the light!
My verses: John 3:19-20 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.
My response: This reminds me of a recent book I read that had the title “Afraid of the Light.” Oh Father, Your light does expose sin and shows where I’ve failed, but You also purify me when I come to Your light and make me shiny-clean! Help me never to be afraid of the Your light, for it is the way to Your deep love as You cleanse me.
