Jesus the Life Giver
John 1:1-21
I once saw a post on the internet, a 2-year-old had found out that a tooth fairy wasn’t real. I could see the disappointment in the parents’ eyes when they had to explain everything. The caption said something along these lines “We are so sad Charlie finally found out that the tooth fairy wasn’t real. The struggles of parenting, an imaginary figure was our hope in keeping our little boy happy until his eyes are open to what the world is really like. Send prayers”. The disappointment wasn’t that little Charlie found the truth but that what the parents believed could build his hope and confidence has been taken away. We will learn from our text that there is no need for the world to believe in an imaginary figure because God has sent his son Jesus Christ to give the world the greatest gift and hope possible: eternal life. Our text will show us that Jesus gives us new birth into eternal life because he has been sent by a loving father to a sinful world and John calls us to believe in this Jesus.
We need to look at two things from our text:
First part (v1-15):
Humanity’s deepest need and, contrast between Jesus(spiritual thinking) and Nicodemus (human logic).
Second part (16-21):
Solution to humanity’s need and how we can apply that in our lives.
This is an interesting passage because it is a conversation in which, you get to see each person’s point of view. Verse 1-2 we have a Jewish leader,Nicodemus who sneaks out at night to meet Jesus to avoid being seen. Due to the challenging relationship between the religious leaders and Jesus. Apart from that he has a burning need.
He wants to know truly if Jesus is from God because of the signs in verse 2, but we see in verse 3 Jesus does not engage in small talk. He tells him he is missing the bigger picture. Jesus tells him what he truly needs in verse 3…. “you must be born again to see the kingdom”. So, we see humanity’s problem, the need for rebirth and blindness (because we cannot see the kingdom).
Nicodemus’ second question is a no brainer in letting us know his thinking is limited or carnal compared to Jesus’ way of thinking. In verse 4 he wants to know how a person can be born again. Nicodemus and Jesus are not on the same page. So far in the conversation, we can see ourselves through Nicodemus. I am 100% certain that you and I would have asked the same question because our thinking is of the flesh and we are limited. Jesus answers in verse 5 that it’s through the Spirit who can not be bought but does as he pleases (verse 8). In verse 6 the difference between the spirit and the flesh is that flesh dies but spirit is eternal. We see the language of rebirth being used in chapter 1 verse 13 as well and it states this kind of rebirth is not the one we understand of a woman getting pregnant and gives birth to a baby. This birth is orchestrated by God, and it is spiritual, he initiates it and sustains it. Our deepest need is not just to see signs but to be born again, to see the Kingdom of God, then be transformed and made new.
With every question Nicodemus asks even after Jesus has explained things seem to escalate . In verse 9, it seems like Jesus is speaking gibberish to him because he asks, “How can this be?”. Jesus goes to reveal who he is (verse 11-13), he is not just a teacher but a Son of Man who came from heaven, (equal to God, he is more than a Rabbi.) and that is why he understands these spiritual things.
Jesus looks back to Numbers 21:9, it is Jesus who gives this new birth through the Spirit because just as Moses lifted up the bronze snake; so the son of Man will be lifted up. In Numbers we see that all those who were bitten by the snakes because of sin and rebelling against God were bound to death unless they looked at the bronze snake, so they can live. So it is with Jesus: All those affected by sin who realise that apart from Jesus they will not inherit the kingdom of God, if they look to Jesus who is lifted up on the cross, they will live eternally.
In verses 16-21 we reach the focal point of this passage because it is a solution to our blindness and dead spirits. Verse 16 is the solution, “For God so loved the world (even in its blindness and rebellion) that he gave his one and only son (here we see that Jesus is more, he is God’s one and only son) that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. The solution to our problems has been revealed, God has sent his one and only Son to die for us, God’s love for us is fully shown in this action.
We see here that God gives solutions, he was the one who told Moses what to do. And all the Israelites had to do was look and God did all the work of healing in their physical bodies. So, it is with us as well, Jesus does the same with our spirits. All we need to do is look (and believe) and God does the work in our dead spirits and blind eyes. Jesus does the work of dying so that we may live and see.
Verses 19-21 Jesus mentions that the light has come into the world, but people have loved the darkness instead. The light Jesus is talking about is himself chapter 1 verse 4-5. He is the light that heals our blindness and helps us see God’s kingdom. So, there are only two responses here, whether you choose to live in the light or in darkness.
For us Christians who know Jesus and believe in him, are we still beholding him the same way? Do we still see his love through his death? If you stand before the throne of grace, will Jesus recognise you as he died to give new life or will he see a hypocrite who hid under the information from the bible? And does your daily life reflect the decision you have made to believe and trust in the revealed Son of God?
For the non-Christians, I want to ask you what is your opinion about Jesus, who do you think Jesus is? Everyone has an opinion about Jesus. There is no neutral ground; either you think believing in Jesus is the only way you can be saved, or you ignore his existence and go on with your life and that is an opinion (Jesus is not worth your attention). Maybe you think Jesus is white and doesn’t understand you and ancestors seem like a viable option but as you see in v16 “God loved the world” not a specific race, gender or group. He is our hope for eternal life. John’s purpose statement in Chapter 20v31 is that this real story is written that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that by believing in him you may have eternal life. Unlike believing in a tooth fairy, like Charlie, Jesus is real, not an imaginary figure to give you your daily dose of hope. In him we have real joy of eternal life which will not be taken away. Now that you have heard this precious truth about Jesus, what will you do with this information? Who are you finding your hope ii? And is it that source worth more than Jesus?
