Happy Saturday! It’s Day 3 of our Countdown to Christmas in the Gospel of John and we will be reading chapter 3. There’s a lot to unpack here, but it’s important stuff, so take your time in todays reading.
Before diving in though, I thought I’d offer some insight:
The word Gospel is Old English for “good news”. It’s a word that Christ followers use to describe the first four books in the New Testament of the Bible. The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
These books all share witness accounts of Jesus’ life on earth. The good news is in His resurrection from death on the cross. That he died for us and rose again so that we may be forgiven of our sins. Our debt been paid for by the Son of God, and we are offered eternal salvation in his name.
It really is the best news of all time, and the offer is available for you as well! Ask God to open your heart to Him as you read today.
As always, the following headings and verses were all taken from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. The red are Jesus’ words and the blue is my own commentary.
I will have a recording of today’s reading linked at the bottom of the page.
Now let’s dive in to John chapter 3.
John Chapter 3
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.
For God so loved the world…
16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Read this last part again. This is so important.
Your Father loves you so much that He sent His Son to save you. The moment you accept that Jesus is who he said he is , his salvation covers you.
Oh, and this gift was freely given. We don’t deserve it, and we certainly couldn’t earn it. But we can come to Jesus as we are and receive it.
John Testifies Again About Jesus
22After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24(This was before John was put in prison.) 25An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan — the one you testified about — look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30He must become greater; I must become less.”
John is speaking about himself here, as the “friend who attends the bridegroom”. His disciples are getting jealous that the people are now going to Jesus to be baptized instead of John. But John is overjoyed; this is exactly what should be happening!
John’s disciples aren’t seeing the bigger picture. But he presses in to help them understand. This is more than just a fatherly lesson to bitter children. Their lives depend on whether or not they believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And this has been John’s mission all along: leading people to salvation.
31The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Three chapters down, 18 to go! See you tomorrow for chapter 4.
~Ari
P.S. If you missed Day 2, you can read it by clicking here.
