God's Word for You (Monday, Jan 18, 2010)
A Daily Devotion by Pastor Tim Smith
John 3:17-18
We return to Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus:
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in name of God’s one and only Son. (NIV)
The last phrase of verse 17 is good English in the translation, but in the Greek it’s passive: “...but that the world might be saved through him.” That’s a minor point, and I wouldn’t complain about it. But it’s worth noticing because we aren’t active in our salvation: we’re passive. It’s something God has done for us.
Let’s get ourselves back into the context: This meeting happened at night. That might be because the man who wanted to speak with Jesus had to walk a long way and the daytime crowds that surrounded Jesus would make such a meeting impractical, or it might have been because the man who wanted to talk with Jesus—his name was Nicodemus—was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Ruling Council) and he didn’t want to attack Jesus the way his fellow Sanhedrinians attacked Jesus. He wanted talk with Jesus, to ask him questions, and most of all, to be able to take the time to listen to Jesus’ answers.
Nicodemus began by bringing up the evidence of Jesus’ miracles, which were certainly impressive and were probably what many if not most of the people were talking about and which Jesus all but ignored in this conversation (John 3:1-2). Instead Jesus pointed Nicodemus to faith; being born again (John 3:3). When Nicodemus asked how anyone could ever be born again, Jesus explained by pointing to the rebirth we have through water and the Spirit in baptism (John 3:5-8), to which Nicodemus asked his best question: “How can this be?” This Pharisee who was a teacher of Israel in all of the Laws of Moses, didn’t understand where faith comes from, or perhaps even what faith is.
Jesus made it plain: Whoever believes in him, the Son of God, “is not condemned.” It’s as simple as that. Faith isn’t about believing “enough” or by having “more” faith. It isn’t about praying with your eyes closed tighter than mine, and it isn’t about getting rid of more and more things until you have nothing left but your faith. Faith is about trusting Jesus.
Let’s go back to that phrase at the end of verse 17. The word save in Greek, sozo (σῴζω) means to rescue from a hopeless situation, like saving a person who can’t swim from drowning. Jesus is the hand extended down to mankind by God to save us from drowning in our sin and guilt; to save us from eternal death. This is something God has done for us. We didn’t contribute to it: we were passive. But it all got done anyway.
What better god could there be to trust in, than the God who gave himself to save us?
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul's Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn's father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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