April 19, 2015 – John 3:9 – 22

Download discussion questions:  John 3_9-22 For God so loved

In our discussion group the previous week, several members had asked to receive the text of the passage and discussion questions before the meeting.  (You can download the handout for each week from the links in each of these blog entries.)  One of the goals I have had for the group is to grow in desire and skill for independent Bible study and for every participant to gain confidence in leading a group study.  I sent out the passage, encouraging each person to look at the text and learn for themselves.  I also suggested they think about how to help others see more about the passage.  So this week’s discussion had a new dimension, with several members taking the role of asking questions to help each other dig deeper into the text of a very familiar passage.

The first suggestion offered in the group was to note all the verbs in the passage.  It quickly became clear that one of the most repeated actions in the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus is “believe.”  The subject of that verb in the passage is frequently quite general, “whoever” or “he who.”  Evidently Jesus’ responses to Nicodemus were intended for more than this one nocturnal visitor.

Another observation question recommended finding all the contrasts in the passage – earthly things, heavenly things; ascending, descending; belief, unbelief; eternal life, perishing; light, darkness; evil deeds, practicing truth; hating light, coming to light.  There is little room for middle ground in the passage.  Two categories are sharply distinguished by numerous pairs of contrasts.  Such clear distinctions seem especially strong in our compromising culture.  As one commented, “Our world is good at gray.”

One feature of the handout was intentional:  I had removed all the quotation marks in the dialog.  I typically remove chapter and verse numbers and paragraph divisions, simply for the purpose of providing a fresh look at the text itself.  Sometimes those artificial breaks in the flow can unintentionally mask some connection between thoughts of the author.  For the same reason, I removed the quotation marks (also not part of the original writing, just like the chapter and verse numbers) to move us to a more detailed inspection of who said what in the passage.  Most of the discussion on this point centered on John 3:16 – is this part of the response Jesus made to Nicodemus?  Or is verse 16 the beginning of commentary made by the Apostle John?  John’s purpose (as mentioned in the beginning discussion on the first week of the study) is, “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).  A group member pointed out the indirect use of third person pronouns starting in verse 16, and another noted the different titles used for Jesus, from “Son of Man” to “only begotten Son,” and “only begotten Son of God.”  The powerful statements in John 3:16 and following may have been words of Jesus to Nicodemus, or they may be John’s further explanation of what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus.  Either way, they are the words of Scripture, inspired by the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus more fully to us.

Another direction of the discussion focused on the last part of the passage, where the images of light and darkness appear again (cf. John 1:4-9).  Two participants had marked all the references to belief and life, then marked separately other references to unbelief and judgment.  The passage became visually divided into three general sections:  vv. 14-16 focused on belief, vv. 17-20 more about judgment, and vv. 21 about “practicing” or “doing” truth and coming to the light.  Some discussion suggested that the distinction between hating the light or coming to the light was about those who had believed or not believed.  Or perhaps (another idea shared by several) those last verses describe a “natural judgment” or, when John says “This is the judgment” in verse 19, the meaning is, “This is how judgment works.”  The judgment described in this passage is not arbitrary.  The judgment is the natural consequence of two very different mentalities.  The distinction John makes is between two mindsets or approaches to life.  There are those who are primarily interested in their deeds, in living the life the way they want.  They are not willing to make changes.  They fear exposure, the light that might reveal the basic self-centeredness of whatever their deeds are.  In the other category are those who “do” or “practice” or “live” (depending on various translations) the truth.  These are people who are primarily interested in what is true and genuine and authentic, and are willing to submit their lives and behavior and values to that truth.  The first group is determined to maintain the life they want on their own terms with absolutely no interference from anyone, especially a God they don’t want to believe in.  The second group, the “truth seekers,” are drawn to the reality of God displayed in the life of Jesus (and ideally in His people, us).  One group loves darkness and hates light.  The other group simply “practices truth” and pursues the light of truth, which leads them to the Truth.  That distinction may be helpful in our conversations with others.  Our conversations may be more fruitful if we try to discern if a person is genuinely seeking truth or is fearfully, even angrily hating and avoiding light.

That principle can apply even in our conversations with other Christians.  As one member commented during the earlier discussion about the absolute nature of Jesus’ contrasts (light, dark; belief, unbelief; etc.), even we as believers often struggle in our hearts between our desire for truth and light, and our desire to hide in darkness.  We waver between belief and trust in God and our doubts and tenuous trust in difficulties.  We need each other to continually remind us to be those who “practice, do, and live” truth to keep us pursuing the One who is Truth.