Context of John 3:16
.
Scene: Jesus
and many others were in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast.
John 2:23
.
Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council, came to
Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has
come
from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing
if
God were not with him.”
John 3:1-2
.
Jesus
responded that one must be born again.
John 3:3
.
Nicodemus misunderstood how one could be born again.
John 3:4
.
Jesus
elaborates that one must be born of water and the spirit, not
a physical birth but a spiritual birth.
John 3:5
.
Jesus explains that no one can see the wind, only the effects of it.
In the same way with the Holy Spirit, one sees the effects when one is
born again.
John 3:6-8
.
Nicodemus is
starting to understand.
Jesus elaborates more that he is speaking of heavenly things.
John 3:10-13
.
Jesus gives an
example from the past to explain the new birth. Just
as the people who did not look at the pole, died. Those who obeyed
and looked at the snake on the pole, were saved.
John 3:14
.
Whoever believes and is led to obey, is saved.
John 3:15
.
Jesus and his
disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he
spent some time with them, and baptized. This shows the necessity of
obedience along with the belief.
John 3:22
.
God loved the
world so much that He gave His only son. Look at the whole
conversation to understand. Believe has many shades of meaning:
convinced, accept as true (James 2:19), faith or trust in. The
meaning is
determined by the context. A better translation is “the believing
ones.”
John 3:16
.
Children of God must be born again, obeying by being baptized.
Galatians 3:26
.
The obedient believing ones have eternal life.
John 3:36
.
In the beginning of the church, all who believe, the believing ones, are in
Christ. Belief gives the power to become in Christ.
When one has trust and acts, he will have eternal life.
Acts 2:44
.
The meaning is
determined by the context.
John 2:23 -3:16
Bobby Stafford
February 13, 2011
