Trust & Obey, Week 1: John 3 & John 14, Part 2
“How can an adult be born a second time?” So asked Nicodemus to Jesus, who had just said to Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” Good question, if you’re thinking very literally. My daughter-in-law just recently gave birth to my 8lb, 4oz, grandson, a that was difficult, as so many mothers well know.
Again, thinking literally here, as Nicodemus was, can you imagine a mother somehow giving birth to a full-grown adult, even a very small one? It’s a ridiculous scenario, and it makes me wonder how Nicodemus could have been stuck in the literal. Jesus was obviously using metaphor. As Jesus himself said, the second birth is being born of the Spirit. But even that is mysterious. How is one born of the Spirit of God?
That brings us to John 3, verses 10-15, in which, answering Nicodemus’ question about how to be born again, Jesus features the word, “believe.” Look at verse 12, “I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?”
Clearly for Jesus, believing him is important.
Then in verse 13 we read this interesting, and also confusing, sentence, “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.”
What does that mean?
It seems Jesus means that you don’t just up and go to heaven because you want to. You can’t make it on your own. Only Jesus can do that. And with that important context, Jesus is now ready to explain how people can be born of the Spirit and thus access the eternal life of the Kingdom of God.
To explain how to be born of the Spirit, Jesus refers to a story in the Old Testament, in the book of Numbers, chapter 21. God had freed Israel from slavery in Egypt, after which the wander in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land of Canaan. But they act out, rebel, and God allowed a plague among them. Moses pleads with God to stop the plague. God responds, saying that if Moses displays a snake up high on a pole, the people can look to the snake and be healed. This is why a snake on a pole is the universal symbol of medical personnel like doctors and nurses.
Jesus says, just like the people who believed by looking at the snake were healed, those who believe in Jesus (and here he notes that he too will be lifted up, which seems to be a reference to the way he would die) will have eternal life. But they will not have eternal life in and of themselves. Notice the final two words in verse 15, eternal life is in him. Eternal life is made possible by Jesus. We do not make it happen. We believe in him and what he did.
That gives John the motivation to do some further explaining, which brings us to John 3:16. Notice that in John 3:16 this whole amazing “born of the Spirit to enter the Kingdom” thing is rooted in God’s love for the world. God gives of himself sacrificially for us. That is love. Love sacrifices. We believe in that love.
And there’s that all-important word in John 3:16, “believe.” What does “believe” mean? At the risk of overstating the obvious, here’s a definition: “to believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance—‘to believe in, to have confidence in, to have faith in, to trust, faith, trust.’” (Louw & Nida)
I like that definition’s combo of trust and reliance. It could be very easy to think that belief is just thinking ideas are true. That kind of belief is called intellectual assent. “In my mind I agree with an idea. I believe it,” we say.
But notice that the definition says that the kind of belief Jesus is talking about is not intellectual assent. The definition says, “to believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance.” This is an active belief. It’s like the famous saying, “Your actions speak louder than your words.”
See how that definition starts to bring the two words of the blog series together? Trust and Obey. Belief is active, complete trust and reliance.
If a person says they believe in Jesus, but don’t rely on him, their belief has been revealed as simply intellectual assent. And intellectual assent is not what Jesus wants.
What kind of belief is the belief that Jesus wants? Or to put it another way, what kind of belief will actually empower someone to access and participate in God’s Kingdom?
To answer that question, we are really getting at the second word of the blog series title, “Obey.” What did Jesus say about that second word, about obeying him?
We find out in the next post.
Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash
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