John Chapter 3

John 3. This chapter is home to the New Testament's most famous verse, John 3:16, which is also the memory verse for our core belief of Humanity. Jesus makes this great statement about his life and mission to Nicodemus, a man we'll see two more times in the book. During Jesus' earthly ministry, Nicodemus was a "secret disciple" of Jesus. He was a member of the Jewish ruling council, the same group that eventually condemns Jesus to death, but he is obviously drawn to Jesus and even advocates for him on the council, although weakly, in chapter 7. Nicodemus is a man caught between his conviction that Jesus is actually the Messiah, and his desire to maintain his position of power and prestige. So he comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness--he couldn't be seen talking with Jesus in the light of day. Jesus challenges him with a metaphor of being born again, an image of radical life transformation for a man struggling to prevent his faith in Jesus from changing too much about his life. But Jesus saves his most devastating comment for verse 19: "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil....those who live by the truth come into the light." Jesus says, in essence, "Nicodemus, why are you hiding your faith in me under cover of darkness?"

Until Jesus is crucified, Nicodemus is never able to bring himself to publicly confess his faith in Him. He even remains silent as the council on which he sits condemns Jesus to death. I can imagine him recalling this entire conversation in John 3 as Jesus is hauled off to die, and crumbling under the weight of his own cowardice before a man he knows in his heart of hearts is actually the Son of God.

But the story of Nicodemus doesn't end in tragedy. Stay tuned for the rest of the story....

In contrast to Nicodemus, John ends chapter 3 with a story of John the Baptist. John's disciples actually grow jealous that people are leaving them to follow Jesus instead. But John is overjoyed that his role as the precursor to Jesus is being fulfilled. "He must become greater; I must become less." No words may be more difficult for any of us, and no words unleash the power of God in our lives more than these. What Nicodemus could not relinquish--namely himself--John freely released.

Jesus said in Luke 9:24, "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it." What prevents you from abandoning yourself and publicly embracing Jesus Christ? Do you have doubts or questions? What are you afraid of losing or letting go of?