God so loved the world…
John Chapters 2 – 3
Another of the clearest explanations in scripture of the Holy Trinity occurs in 3:34, when John is speaking of Jesus: “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.”
Some familiar stories appear in today’s reading, with Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana and the clearing of the Temple courts.
Chapter 3 also contains some of the most-quoted words of scripture.
In Verse 3 Jesus tells Nicodemus that in order to see the kingdom of God a person must be “born again.”
In 3:14 we are reminded of a story from Numbers Chapter 21 when Moses lifted up a bronze serpent on a pole that the people could look upon and be healed. He equates the lifting up of the serpent to the lifting up of Jesus, which could refer to his lifting up on the cross or his exaltation in the resurrection.
Verse 3:16 is probably the best known scripture citation in the Bible: “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.”
John also speaks of Jesus as the light that reveals both evil deeds and living by the truth.