John 3 contains some of the most well-known verses in all of scripture: Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus regarding the necessity of being born again, as well as John 3:16, the most well-known verse in all of scripture (it is on bumper stickers and posters at sporting events.)  As great as those verses are, we lose some of their meaning when we look at them isolated from the rest of the chapter. While we know chapters and verses were not part of the original writings of the Bible, but were added to make references easier, the 36 verses of chapter three definitely are a unified thought. John 3 is written with literary devices that unify the 36 verses, clarifying the deeper meaning they possess. Sunday we will see this chapter starts and concludes with references to things from above, namely Jesus and how the Kingdom is offered through Jesus. John 3 is truly a masterpiece of writing that reveals the beauty of God in profound ways. Join me this Sunday as we consider things “From Above.” 

Last Sunday we looked at the first half of John 2 where Jesus turned water into wine. That miracle, His first, revealed the kind of ministry Jesus would have: He is the true source of Joy. The narrative quickly changes gears from Jesus being the life of the party at the wedding in Canna, to a dramatic display of righteous anger over the merchandising taking place in the temple during the Passover feast. Why the drastic change?

The temple provided the answer to the question “How can sinful man have a relationship with a holy God?” The temple became the earthly home of God through much of the Old Testament and through a series of sacrifices or feasts, a repentant person could experience a relationship with God. They could pray and worship him. In John 2, when Jesus arrives at the temple for the feast of Passover, the true purpose of the temple (relationship with God) had been replaced with merchandising and profit seeking. In righteous anger, Jesus took dramatic action.

In this passage Jesus also reveals Himself as the true and perfect temple: the way to relationship with God. Jesus said “destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.” The temple sacrifices and traditions merely pointed to what Jesus came to do: to provide the final and complete way for sinful man to have relationship with God. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Join me Sunday for this important message on the deep theology of the temple.