The Labor, Life, and Love of God

John 3:1-17

In chapter 3 of the Gospel of John, we meet Nicodemus, who comes to Jesus at night. We don’t know the ultimate reason for Nicodemus visiting Jesus, but we do know that Jesus uses this visit as an opportunity to reveal that he is more than just a “teacher” sent from God. Jesus reveals to Nicodemus that God is Father, Son, and Spirit. And that the Spirit labors for, the Son gives his life to, and the Father Loves, the world so that they might be saved. 

Jesus tells Nicodemus that the only way to see and enter the Kingdom of God is by being born again. This is the labor that the Spirit performs. To help Nicodemus understand how someone is born of the Spirit, he uses a metaphor of wind. This metaphor might have led the mind of an Old Testament Scholar like Nicodemus to Ezekiel 37 and the vision of the valley of dry bones. In this vision, God takes Ezekiel into a valley and shows him a “roundabout.” Ezekiel sees many “very dry” bones. God asks Ezekiel if these bones can live, to which Ezekiel replies, “Lord, you know.” God tells Ezekiel to preach to the bones and the wind to bring life back to these bones. Ezekiel preaches, and an entire Israeli army is resurrected.

Jesus tells Nicodemus that if he wants to see and enter the Kingdom of God, it begins by being born of the Spirit.

Then Jesus continues. If you want to see and enter the Kingdom of God, you have to believe in the life of the Son of God, who descended from Heaven. Jesus references another Old Testament story to help Nicodemus understand the role the Life of the Son plays in our entrance into the Kingdom. He references Numbers 21, where the people of God grumble, and God sends poisonous snakes to bite them, causing them to die. When people become sorry for their grumbling, they ask Moses for help. Moses mediates for the people, goes to God, and asks Him to have mercy. God tells Moses to form a Bronze Serpent, put it on a pole, and raise it in the middle of their camp, and anyone who looks upon that Bronze Serpent will be healed.

The Serpent that caused the illness and death was also the means for healing and life. This signifies that when we look to the life of the Son on the cross, we see sin (our disease), our solution (penalty of sin being paid), and our Savior (the only way to be healed and live).

Jesus is telling Nicodemus that if he wants to see and enter the Kingdom of God, he not only needs to be born of the Spirit but also believe in the life of the Son.

This visit between Nicodemus and Jesus starts winding down as Jesus tells Nicodemus about the Love of the Father. It’s the Love the Father has for the world that allows anyone to even see or enter the kingdom in the first place. The Spirit labors over the world because of the Love of the Father, causing people to be reborn. Because of the Love of the Father, the Son gives his life for the world, and all who believe in the Son will be granted access into the Kingdom.

Nicodemus initiated this conversation by telling Jesus he believed he was a “teacher sent by God.” Jesus then takes Nicodemus to school and tells him he is more than a teacher sent by God; He is the Son sent by the Father.  

We learn from Jesus how it is we come to be saved. That our salvation is accomplished by God, who is three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. The Father, Son, and Spirit accomplish our salvation by their Labor, Life, and Love.

Peace be with you,

Pastor Bruce