Sunday’s gospel (John 3:14-21) is part of Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who had come to visit him by night in the immediate aftermath of Jesus driving the animal sellers and money-changers from the temple (last week’s gospel). It contains many elements, and, in one way, seems to jump around a lot. In another way, it is a story about Nicodemus. We’ll revisit those two impressions again, later.

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While the gospel is part of Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus, it reads as a monologue on Jesus’ part.

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. 

The serpent in the wilderness appears in the Book of Numbers, the first reading for this morning. Freed from Egyptian slavery, the Israelites had followed Moses across the Red Sea and into the Sinai desert.

 … but the people became impatient on the way. and spoke against God and Moses, ‘Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no food nor water, and we detest this miserable food.’

Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among them…Many... died.

The people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.’

So Moses prayed … And the Lord said, ‘Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.’

So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

The reviled serpent became the sign of restoration of right relationship, healing and life. Though the analogy to himself was imperfect…. Jesus didn’t bite people so they died….he would become a similar sign of salvation, even while he was reviled by many.

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Lifted up refers to Jesus’ crucifixion, when the cross to which he would be nailed, while it lay on ground, was raised so he could die of asphyxiation and blood loss, and also, so he would be visible as a warning to others.

Still, the multi-layered allusions to the serpent in the wilderness, himself as the Son of Man and the verb lifting up, rather than crucified, veil the reference. It may have been hard for Nicodemus and Jesus' own disciples to follow.

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Jesus continued with one of the most repeated phrases of the gospels,

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.

The verse sums up the promise of the Messiah from Old Testament times and announces his mission: so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

The words, he gave his only Son, are highly emotive, stating that the Father held nothing back. The idea of Jesus’ death was not far in the background. God’s love and his desire that everyone… have eternal life outweighed deserved punishment, just as the sign of the serpent offered protection from deserved penalties for the Israelites’ complaints about God.

For Jesus, believing in him was not just an intellectual activity. It meant following through with actions. Synonyms were trusting in him or faithfulness to his teaching. Faith and commitment were one.

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‘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. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Jesus uses a form of condemn three times in these two verses. Condemn emphasized the justifiable consequence of the act, suggesting perhaps a death sentence. First, he contrasted condemnation with his offering of salvation. Then he linked non-condemnation with following him and believing in him.

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Jesus' next words were an extended metaphor of himself as the light.

And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’

One quality of physical light is that you don’t see it, you see because of it. Light, itself, is not something we perceive directly. Building on this, Jesus uses light to suggest that he came to help each person perceive and understand their own and God’s actions in their lives, clearly. It is as though Jesus wanted to offer each individual a new light by which to see the beauty and dynamism of God’s grace.

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The opening paragraph of this commentary said that the gospel seems to “jump around a lot”. It does. At the same time it captures a sense that Jesus had much to say, especially to a willing listener such as Nicodemus. In this exposition, Jesus situated himself in a biblical context of saving and hinted at his own crucifixion as a reviled person. He told Nicodemus that he was the son of God sent to save, not condemn and he gave Nicodemus the metaphor of light, by which to understand the grace he was providing.

Jesus must have seen something special in Nicodemus to have covered so much theological territory with him: remember, this is only part of their discussion. This impression that Nicodemus was worthy of special attention is reinforced by his kater argument with other Pharisees in John 7:51 when he took Jesus’ side by saying, Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, and: by coming with Joseph of Arimathea bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. (John 19:38)

For Jesus, every interaction seemed to be full of opportunity to shed light on his mission, his Father and the way of salvation. There was a lot to say. And there were many different individuals who would respond.

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  • ·While Jesus was addressing Nicodemus in this passage, how do you imagine his first followers heard his words? Did they regard Nicodemus, a Pharisee, one of the religious elite, as someone with whom they would not likely speak? How would they have interacted with him after they saw how Jesus spoke to him? Did Jesus confuse them? Had they already come to see Jesus as someone who was opening up whole new vistas of understanding by doing the unexpected?
  • What is it to believe in Jesus? Is it an intellectual exercise, like believing that E=mc2 when you have no personal way of proving it? Is it hedging your bets by saying “He was a great teacher of compassion and non-violent ways that we now follow…picking and choosing what we like of his teachings? Or is it acting as though all that he said is true and trying to imitate that spirit in all the ways of our daily lives?
  • If you had to pick one of the four themes of this gospel …. 1) the serpent lifted up 2) God loving the world so much that he sent his only son 3) condemnation/ non-condemnation and 4) the light… for leading a Lenten discussion, which would it be?

Peace

Michael