John 3:14-21 (NRSV)
14And just as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him
may have eternal life. 16 ‘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. 17 ‘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. 18Those 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. 19And this is the judgment,
that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than
light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the
light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But 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.’
My text this morning is written in John 3.21:
21But 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.’
The incident that John refers to here is the
time in the desert when there was a plague of snakes and people were dying and
Moses was instructed to make a brazen image of a snake and when he lifted it up
and the people gazed upon it, they were saved.
This is recorded in Numbers 21:4-9 and is a remote story only really
known in Christian circles because John makes the link with Jesus.
The people began worshipping the image as an
idol and, finally, in the days of Hezekiah, it had to be destroyed because of
this (2 Kings18.4). The healing power lay not in the brazen serpent; it was
only a symbol to turn their thoughts to God. When they did this, they were
healed.
Jesus was lifted up on the Cross and when we
look on the cross, sign ourselves with the sign of the cross or offer the
Blessing – Jesus is lifted up - our thoughts are turned to God and we are
touched by God’s peace.
We are reminded that Jesus did not take the
easy way and so must we avoid taking the easy way. Jesus did not refuse the
Cross, neither must we; because the Cross was the way to glory for Jesus and it
will be for us too.
This first point ends with the words in verse
15: “…whoever
believes in him …” These are important because they include the words “…may
have eternal life …”
What
does it mean to “… believe …?”
I
believe that it means believing that God loves us, cares for us and wants
nothing more than to forgive us. This would not have been easy for a Jew of
those days to accept, because they looked on God as law-giver, a judge and one
who demands sacrifices and offerings. To get into God’s presence one had to pay
a price. Now Jesus reveals that God is a Father, “… who longed for nothing so
much as to have his erring children come back home.”
God
had tried to make this clear through His intervention into the life of the
people of Israel Judah
How
can we be sure of this? Because John begins his Gospel by explaining that Jesus
is the Word of God – the same as God – one of the great mysteries of faith, and
so whatever Jesus says about God is true. It also means accepting Jesus’
message and obeying his commands. In Sum: Belief that God is a loving Father,
that Jesus is the Word of God and then following him in obedience, are all
vital ingredients in what it means to “believe in him”!
What
does it mean to have “eternal life”?
Barclay
suggests that eternal life is the “very life of God Himself”. If we possess
eternal life, what do we have? Peace with God – having God as a loving and
forgiving Father; peace with others whom we are ready to forgive because we are
so freely forgiven; peace with life – even though we do not understand it any
better and are perplexed by it - but we will not resent it anymore, and peace
with ourselves. Barclay comments on what this means for us as individuals:
“He knows his own weakness;
he knows the force of his own temptations; he knows his own tasks and the
demands of his own life. But now he knows that he is facing it all with God. It
is not he who lives, but Christ who lives in him. There is a peace founded on
strength in his life.”
And
this peace is only a shadow of the peace which is to come.
It
is good to be reminded that we have the peace of God which passes all
understanding – the words I often use when introducing the Blessing after
having begun an act of worship with the words: “The peace of the Lord be with
you …”
Linked with your thoughts here again we see
that it is God who takes the initiative and is motivated by His love for all
that he was willing to make it possible for people to have eternal life which
is to share life with God.
God does not need to be pacified; He is not a
wrathful God, and Jesus is not the lightning conductor that deflects God’s
wrath and satisfies it at the moment when he cries out “My God, My God, why
have you forsaken me!” In my heady days as an undergraduate, I preferred the AV
translation of ‘hilasterion’ in Romans 3:24 as ‘propitiation’ because all this
is encapsulated in this word. But over the years, as I have walked with our
Lord, I have come to the understanding that ‘expiation’ is far more appropriate
(and equally valid translation of this word) – and refers rather to “atonement
for sin” and ‘atonement’ is the word most translators prefer. God is not angry
and Jesus not the gentle one ready to forgive; it is the mystery of both
incarnation and atonement that I do not need to understand; it is something I
know because it is part of my being, or as Paul puts it in Romans 5 because “I
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is something more
profound than just cognitive, mental understanding, it is part of one’s very
existence – God’s Spirit testifying with my Spirit that I am one of his
children – unearned and undeserved – a gift!
Wow!
It all started with God, who sent his Son,
because he loved the people of the world.
Indeed, this is central to John’s
understanding of God and this is beautifully represented in his Epistle where
he simply states: “God is love!” Barclay puts it this way:
“God acting not for his own sake, but
for ours, not to satisfy his desire for power, not to bring a universe to heel,
but to satisfy his love … God is the Father who cannot be happy until his
wondering children have come home. God does not smash people into submission;
he yearns over them and woos them into love …”
Augustine puts it even better: “God loves each
one of us as if there was only one of us to love.” I will never even get close
to the example of people like Mother Teresa – but God will still love me as
much as he loves Mother Teresa – all because of Jesus and his grace.
Here we encounter the paradox of love and
judgment. The experience of love can turn out to be an experience of judgment. Barclay
tells of an art gallery where there are some of the world’s great masterpieces
and one of the visitors comes to the end of the tour as states:
“Well, I don’t think much of your old pictures.”
The attendant answers quietly: “Sir, I would remind you that these pictures are
no longer on trial, but those that look on them are.” All that the man’s
reaction has done was reveal his own blindness.
When people are confronted with Jesus, their
souls ought to be attracted to him – “But if, when he is confronted with Jesus,
he sees nothing lovely, he stands condemned.”
God sent Jesus in love, so that man might be
saved, but it can become a condemnation when man condemns himself. This is because, in our natural state, we
love darkness rather than light.
I believe this is one of the reasons why our
churches are emptying. People in the west are increasingly attracted to the
darkness. When they come into the light they become acutely embarrassed because,
deep down, they know of their guilt. The experience of Christians ought to be
different; when we compare ourselves with our Lord we see ourselves as we
really are, but the difference is that we want to be like Jesus and so we
invite him into our lives, we repent and seek God’s grace and His Spirit so
that we can become more like our Lord.
When preaching is faithful, it will show us
who we really are. For those who place themselves under judgment and
condemnation, this is the last thing they will want to see. They prefer being
able to hide in the darkness. If a person loves Jesus, they will want the light
to reveal where they fall short so that they might be transformed by the love
of their Lord.
To put it starkly: If anyone was to have
challenged someone like Mother Teresa and pointed out her weaknesses and
shortcomings – she would have wholeheartedly have agreed with them and prayed
for forgiveness. Suggest to anyone who is not a Christian that they are not a
good person and they will be outraged and will defend themselves most
vehemently. And in so doing they reveal that Jesus, who was sent in love,
becomes to them, judgment. This is beautifully illustrated in Zechariah’s
prophecy:
“Then he showed me the
high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord,
and Satan standing at his right
hand to accuse him. 2And the Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you,
O Satan! The Lord
who has chosen Jerusalem
Coming into God’s presence is like coming into
a great light – and reveals that our garments of righteousness are like filthy
rags. But he clothes us “… in righteousness divine …” and gives us the command
to “… walk in his ways and keep his requirements …”
We are justified by grace through faith and
this is not our own doing – it is a gift of God – so that no one can
boast. And so we love coming into the
light, because we know we are not condemned. We also want to become what we
have been declared to be and so we want to light to reveal our shortcomings.
Jesus put it this way:
21But 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.’
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment