11I tell you the truth, 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 desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16"For 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 he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men 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 his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
Jesus and Nicodemus here are pictured having quite the conversation. Nicodemus is asking Jesus some honest questions about what Jesus is saying and trying to understand it from his own perspective. Jesus response is a challenge to Nicodemus that makes him look at the world and what he assumed was correct in a whole new way. One of the things I find fascinating about this exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus is that we are left wondering what happens next. We are not told that Nicodemus left everything and followed Jesus like the other disciples did, in fact it would appear that he didn't become one of those following Jesus at that time. We see Nicodemus next in the midst of the Jewish leaders arguing about Jesus in John 7 and then finally in John 19 when Nicodemus brings spices to prepare Jesus body following his death.
How did Nicodemus go from this conversation to putting his whole career and maybe even his life on the line by publicly appearing to care for Jesus body? That is something we don't know and yet many of us know it through our personal stories, we find it impossible to tell the day and the date that we went from wondering about Jesus to believing in Jesus. There does come a time though that we willingly step into the light and say through both or words and deeds that it is Jesus we believe in. When we make that proclamation others notice just as they must have noticed Nicodemus.
Some thoughts to ponder and share with others:
- When you see signs saying John 3:16 what is the first thing that comes to mind?
- Are you one of those people who knows exactly when you first believed in Jesus or did you grow into faith?
- What conversations have you had that helped you understand God in a new way?
- Who can you talk to about your faith that might find encouragement and hope because of what you will say?
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