The Son of Man be lifted up ...

“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. -John 3:11-15 NRSV

What must it have like for God to visit earth and have spiritual leaders categorically reject him and his message. He wanted to speak to them about heavenly things and they closed their ears to earthly things. I think that it broke his heart. One like Nicodemus, one called to help and teach the poor, seems utterly clueless about matters like love, forgiveness and mercy. Easy to understand why Jesus was so frustrated with the religious establishment of his day.

Interesting how this passage does not speak of believing in the Father but of believing in Jesus. One can only conclude from this that Jesus believed that he was God in human form. Like the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up, one need only embrace the cross of Christ to be whole. Unlike the serpent, one does not have to actually see the cross but embrace the one who offers forgiveness as he hangs on it. The bronze serpent was a foreshadow ot the cross that Jesus hung on.

Open our hearts Lord that we might receive your testimony about matters of earth and heaven.

... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the Gospel of John.
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The wind blows where it chooses ...

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? -John 3:7-10 NRSV

Education and training will get you so far in life. Like Nicodemus we are all unable to see and understand the important things in life with our natural eyes. There is an entire world we are unable to discern until we are born from above. Yet when the Holy Spirit comes everything changes as our inner eyes are opened and our lives are turned upside down.

Yet many are not really prepared for this wild ride. I had a powerful new birth experience when I was young. My reaction was to contain it and cloak it in religion. I was not ready for this powerful blowing wind. Perhaps no one really is. Maybe it is a matter of trusting the Holy Spirit to take us to unknown places as we cede control of our lives to Him?

Lord, I am a control freak. I am uncomfortable not being in control. Help me to surrender to the wind of your Spirit.

... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the Gospel of John.
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Born of water and Spirit

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.’ -John 3:4-7 NRSV

Can you relate to the carnal mindset of the Pharisee? He seems to have absolutely no clue about what Jesus is speaking to him about. He digresses into a weird question about a grown person being naturally born again. It is a strange reaction but not a surprising one. Many very religious people are clueless concerning spiritual matters.

Yet even today there exists an ideology and theology that embraces the idea that all humans are born with immortal spirits. On all sides of the religious spectrum folks embrace the idea that we are all born with something immortal inside of us. Jesus contradicts this widespread thought of natural immortality when he says: ‘You must be born from above.’

Dear Lord, please open our hearts and minds to really understand what it means to be born from above.

... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the Gospel of John.
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Without being born from above ...

Now 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.” -John 3:1-3 NRSV

Without a doubt this chapter of John is my favorite in holy writ. I love this conversation between a leader of the Jews and the King of the Jews. Nicodemus recognized that Jesus was a great teacher. He also acknowledged that he was a man sent from God. In saying this he uttered what so many have said about Christ since then - great teacher and prophet.

Yet Jesus saw through the flattery and went right to the heart of the issue. Nicodemus, like many of the religious leaders, was absolutely blind with regard to who Jesus was. He lacked the inner vision that comes only from a heavenly birth. Apart from this second, and spiritual, birth he was, and all of humanity is, unable to see who Jesus really is.

Dear Lord, thank you for the new birth. Praise you for the day that I my inner eyes opened to see your kingdom.

... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the Gospel of John.
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Because they saw the signs ...

When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone. -John 2:23-25 NRSV

This passage reminds me of what Jesus told Thomas after the resurrection: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” The folks in this passage were like Thomas in that they believed more in what they saw with their outer eyes than with their inner ones.

John writes that such people are those whom Jesus would not entrust himself to. Does this speak to you about the importance of faith? It does me. Just this morning I was begging God for a healing sign. It is in me to want a sign - that part of me is not trustable. Yet somehow I know that trust does not require miracles or signs.

Lord, help me to not need a sign to believe. Author faith in me today where there is doubt.

... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the Gospel of John.
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After he was raised from the dead ...

The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. -John 2:18-22 NRSV

Don't you love the ways that Jesus speaks in metaphors. Must have driven the fundamentalist Jews crazy. The Jewish religious leaders has such a literal/narrow black and white view of the scriptures and of life. So much of their problems with Jesus is that the Lord spoke of deeper things that the law. They had no idea that they were so far off base.

Don't you love that even his disciples did not understand what Jesus meant by raising his body up in three days. Like the religious leaders they were clueless. Only in hindsight could they understand what he meant. And that is so true for us today. Sometimes we can only understand our lives in reverse. When we look back we can see his hand in our lives.

Help us to not forgot all of the times that your words came true in our lives Lord. Encourage us to remember.

... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the Gospel of John.
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He drove all of them out of the temple ...

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” -John 2:13-17

I recently read an opinion of this passage where the writer posited that Jesus was acting like a zealot when he drove out the marketeers. His point was that Jesus was motivated by something other than love. I reject that idea. As I read these sentences I see the love of Christ for those who were being abused by the temple market system. With each crack of the whip he was saying that religious leaders must not abuse the people whom he loves.

The temple was a symbol of God's presence - his earthly house. Seeing the corrupt system of religion at the temple angered the Lord. I think that God is often angered when it comes to religious leaders making a profit from religion. It is a good thing to remember when we gather with other believers. Do our religious practices help or hinder people coming into the presence of God? If Jesus showed up, would he enter in or break out a whip?

Open my eyes Lord to the ways that I have hindered myself and others from coming into your presence.

... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the Gospel of John.
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