Mark 16:1-8 Good News-He is Risen

 

The cross is empty. Jesus was crucified, rejected by humanity and God in our place. After that horrific moment when Jesus breathed his last breath, everything changed. Joseph of Arimathea goes to Pilate to ask him for Jesus’ body. Pilate’s surprised that Jesus died so quickly, so he asks the centurion if it’s true that Jesus is dead. The centurion confirms that Jesus is dead, so Pilate gives Joseph Jesus’ dead body. Mark mentions a number of times that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James see Jesus die and where he’s buried. Tim Keller, quoting Richard Bauckman, writes that “this is another way that Mark is letting us know that he’s recording a historical account, not writing a legend.” Mentioning the women by name so often is Mark’s way of telling his readers to go talk to them and check out the truth of what he’s writing.

But now what? The cross may be empty, but Jesus is dead and his body, along with their hope, lay in a dark tomb. When you don't know what to do, it's easiest to simply do the practical thing right in front of you; so, the women get together to go and anoint Jesus' body with aromatic spices.

But there’s a large stone in front of the tomb. How are they going to roll it away? They don't let their worries stop them. They'll figure out what to do when they get there; simple practical decisions, figuring things out one step at a time. Imagine their surprise when they arrive at the tomb and it's open already. I wonder what goes through their minds as they see the stone rolled away. They go into the tomb with perhaps a sense of fear, of hope, of worry about what they might see, or maybe what they might not see? I'm certain they didn't expect to see a young man dressed in white, sitting on the right side of the tomb.

Mark calls us to respond in amazement at who Jesus is. The women are alarmed, but in their alarm, they're also amazed and overwhelmed with wonder at this young man and his message. These emotions are wrapped together, much like it is for us still today as we follow Jesus and encounter him. This is a normal human reaction to encountering the sacred, the unknown, the unexpected. We often find it so hard to change or adapt because we first need to deal with all the emotions swirling around inside us as we encounter the sacred, the unknown or the unexpected. Listening and opening ourselves up to the unexpected, the possibilities that the unknown and sacred hold makes it easier.

The young man speaks, "Don't be alarmed, you're looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him!" Jesus isn’t there! Jesus is risen, he's alive! The disciples are told to go to Galilee and meet him there. They're told to remember what he had told them. Here’s a call to trust and believe what Jesus has taught them and to respond in faith and go. Jesus' followers have mourned, they've grieved. It's hard to remember what Jesus taught in times of darkness and suffering. Loss goes deep, especially the loss of relationships, of those we love or have loved. The present may feel dark, Scripture encourages us to then look back to remember and believe as you look for where God was so that you can find hope for right now and the future. The women have walked through the darkness of hopelessness and loss, but now light is beginning to shine through, and just as the sunrise marked the beginning of a new day, this young man in shining white robes offers the light of hope to the women.

"But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'" The ones being called to come see Jesus are the very ones who abandoned and denied Jesus; they’re being called to come see the one who is more powerful than death. "Tell his disciples and Peter," Peter’s singled out by the messenger. You know why, brash bold Peter couldn't live up to his boasts, brave Peter turned out not to be so brave after all and now he cowers in shame and embarrassment, but that's not Jesus' desire for Peter or for you, he offers us renewal and forgiveness.

Jesus' death and resurrection brings freedom from sin, but it's also about new life, free from our old identity shaped by shame and guilt and given a new identity shaped by the image of God we're created in; disciples and followers of Jesus striving to look more and more like Jesus as we embrace his teachings, his life and his Spirit. Jesus' death and resurrection is confirmation of God's deepest love and commitment to us. God never gives up on us and is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to show us that "neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, not any powers, neither height nor depth, not anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord," as Paul writes in Romans 8.

"Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid." The tomb is empty and the call is to go see Jesus. They’re trembling and bewildered; the words used also mean they’re astonished and amazed; wonder at what they've learned merges into fear because of the unexpected and unknown. They're told to look for him somewhere else because he’s no longer dead, but alive and well and waiting for them, can this be true? Are they afraid of getting their hopes up only to be dashed again as they were a few short days ago?

The women's voices are silenced by their fear. Is it fear because of the awe and reverence that comes from meeting a messenger from God, or maybe it’s the fear that comes from fearing that with Jesus gone, it’s all over? Perhaps it’s the fear that comes because they don’t think they will be believed, but mocked because of who they are. Fear’s powerful, fear takes away confidence and strength, fear creates doubt and more fear, and here, even with glorious news, fear takes away their voices.

Does fear silence you? Does it prevent you from going out and inviting others to come and see, to go with you to find Jesus and follow the one raised from the grave? At some point you need to choose to work through it or allow yourself to be stopped dead in your tracks because of it. Running often seems like a good response to fear, but fear is like your shadow; it follows you wherever you go. You can run but you can’t hide from your fear, you cannot let it silence you forever. The women do find their voice again as we discover in the other Gospels, and the disciples learn of the empty grave and hear the command to go see Jesus.

How can we deal with fear? Begin by admitting your fear honestly, calling it what it is. You can voice your fear straight to God in prayer, or gather a small group of trusted people together where you can be honest about your fear and how it stops you from really following Jesus and trusting Jesus completely with your life. This is why God has given us the gift of the church; a place where followers of Jesus can share their fear and find hope, encouragement, direction and strength and be reminded of the good news that we follow a living God in Jesus.

When we begin to face our fear, we discover that the Holy Spirit is with us, helping us find our voices again. As the young man in the tomb reminds the women of Jesus' words, so the Holy Spirit reminds us of who Jesus is; the risen Son of God, our Saviour and Redeemer. The Holy Spirit guides us to Jesus as we look for him, so that you can see him and how he’s with you through the Spirit and the church. The Spirit reassures us of the truth of Jesus' death and resurrection, of the restoration and forgiveness that’s found in the empty cross and tomb. This builds our trust and hope in Jesus.

Catherine Marshall sums up the benefits of trusting in God when she writes, “There is only one way to get rid of fear; like any sin, we must recognize it, confess it in true repentance, claim God’s sure promise of forgiveness, cleansing and renewal, accept these gifts, rise and get on with life. Not only new confidence, but real growth in character, follows this facing up to what we fear, provided we are acting under God’s direction.” The empty cross and tomb call us to step forward in faith and trust to declare to the world the good news that Jesus is risen and is Lord and Saviour of all; inviting the world to join us in following the risen Lord where they too can find hope, grace, healing, peace, forgiveness and acceptance into God's family.

 

Zechariah 9:9-13; Acts 2:39 Good News: Even Better Than Expected

 

Baptism and Palm Sunday are celebration days, both filled with promises and God acting among his people in special ways, pointing us to who he is and who we are. In baptism, we’re reminded of God’s saving grace and the claim he places on us as his children. Palm Sunday, reminds us that Jesus is our king. Both days are filled with good news pointing to the good news that rests in Jesus as our king and saviour; the one who frees us from slavery and oppression.

Zechariah was born in Babylon and returned with the exiles to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel and Joshua. Zechariah is sent to rebuke the people of Judah and push them to finish rebuilding the temple. The people have returned, rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, were building their homes and had begun rebuilding the temple, but daily life things kept getting in the way of finishing it, so Zechariah has to keep pushing them to remember the Lord is with them even though there is opposition to their rebuilding the temple from the people around them. In Zechariah 4:6 we hear, “So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” Here the Lord is reassuring Zerubbabel that even though he doesn’t feel strong, the Lord is powerful enough to accomplish all his plans to re-establish the people back in the Promised Land.

The people of Israel aren’t much different than we are, it’s not uncommon for us to have all kinds of good intentions to do things for Jesus, even start them, and then find ourselves repeatedly distracted and sidetracked from actually finishing them. We’re not building a new temple here, though we did do a pretty great reno, but how often do we put off inviting our neighbour to come to church with us, or to have that first or second faith conversation, or maybe it’s something else that we’ve been planning to do, or an area of our own faith life that we keep meaning to work on.

Zechariah talks a lot about the coming Messiah: that he’ll come in lowliness, about his humanity, rejection and betrayal for 30 pieces of silver, his crucifixion, priesthood, kingship, and more. In this passage that Brad and Grace chose, we’re told that the Messiah will come like a king, but not a warrior king, but a king who will bring peace, renewal, and restoration of the kingdom. Zechariah 9:9–10, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”

Zechariah is contrasting the coming Messiah with the military strength of Babylon, a mighty empire who conquered numerous nations, often dispersing the people throughout the various nations in its empire so that the conquered peoples would marry among the other nations, losing their identity except for their identity as part of the Babylonian empire. Israel’s messiah king is riding a donkey, a humble work animal. Israel’s messiah king is going to break the military might of Israel and Judah, bringing universal peace rather than war. We hear the contrast between the ways of the Lord and the ways of empire and power where the Babylonians’ unjust ways are condemned. But the coming Messiah is also a king who calls his people to find their identity in him and his kingdom.

This is where we hear the echo ahead to Palm Sunday and the account in all 4 Gospels of Jesus riding into Jerusalem as the Passover is about to begin, riding in on a donkey rather than a horse as a sign he comes as a king of peace rather than a conquering king. Israel was placing its hope in a Messiah in the tradition of David or Solomon, kings of power and strength but Jesus is about bringing shalom and peace to the nations, not only Israel, and establishing his kingdom to the ends of the earth. As king, Jesus comes to reconcile us to God, as we hear in Romans 5:10, ^“For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” We quickly think of others being enemies of God, especially those who don’t live according to God’s and Jesus’ teaching in the Bible, but Paul reminds us that we were all enemies of God and Jesus came to reconcile us to God through his death, through the blood of his covenant that God talks about in Zechariah 9:11, the blood that frees the prisoners from the waterless pit.

As Jesus comes as a king of shalom and peace. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, the cross he’s riding towards on Palm Sunday, brings us peace and reconciliation with God, that kingdom of peace talked about by the prophets in the Old Testament. Jesus comes to save us from our sins; to bring the people back to God so we can experience peace that is more than an absence of conflict, a peace that brings hope, that encourages us to come together in order to bless, a peace that brings growth and flourishing. What a huge reason to be a people of celebration!

This is why the people were so excited when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields, as Mark tells us. As Jesus rode the donkey to Jerusalem, the crowds shouted “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” These shouts of joy echo back to Psalm 118. The people were crying out for salvation from the Roman occupation. The crowd expected the Messiah to be an earthly king who will sit on David’s throne. While they were wrong about the kind of king Jesus is, they were right to connect Psalm 118 to Jesus. Psalm 118:25–29 cries out, “Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you… With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you.”

Jesus rides in as king. He’s not just any king, he’s the King of kings and Lord of lords, as we are reminded of in Revelation 17:14, “They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.” Jesus’ kingdom stands in sharp contrast to the kingdoms of the day. We hear this is Jesus’ response to Pilate in John, “Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” … Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

 Rather than an earthly kingdom built through sword and might, Jesus comes humbly as a king of shalom, a king who comes to protect his people from the prince of this world, who is Satan. Satan brings chaos and condemnation; King Jesus brings renewal and forgiveness. Timothy Keller writes about this passage from Zechariah, “This odd juxtaposition that Jesus was King, but that he didn’t fit the world’s categories of kingship. He brought together majesty and meekness.” Keller goes on to refer to a sermon by Jonathan Edwards where Edwards writes, “In Jesus we find infinite majesty yet complete humility, perfect justice yet boundless grace, absolute sovereignty yet utter submission, all-sufficiency in himself yet entire trust and dependence on God. But in Jesus the result of these extremes of character is not mental and emotional breakdown. Jesus’ personality is a complete and beautiful whole. Watch this mighty King ride a little donkey into Jerusalem and deal with what he finds there.”

The good news of the gospel for us today is that Jesus saves us from our sins even while he’s with us in our struggles. We can cry out “Hosanna!” to him, “Save us,” and know that he will. As Peter remind us in Acts 2:39, “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” This calls for celebration!

 

John 12:20-33 Good News For All

Jesus is preparing his followers and disciples for his death which is coming close. He’s in the temple teaching, perhaps in the area where the Gentiles aren’t allowed to be. We often think that the only ones who worshipped Yahweh, or God, were the Jews, but there were many Gentiles who were attracted to the belief that there is only one God, called monotheism, to the morals in the Jewish faith and what God stands for in his justice, righteousness, and mercy, while at the same time hating the nationalism of the Jewish faith. They would come to the Jewish festivals to worship and learn more through the festivals who God is and who God wants his people to be.

The Passover is about to be celebrated and so there are a number of Greeks who show up to celebrate the festival. While they’re there in Jerusalem, it’s almost impossible not to hear about Jesus, how he raised Lazarus from the dead, rode into Jerusalem as a king, drove out the animals and money changers from the temple, and who is teaching about God. They go to Philip, since he has a Greek name and comes from the northern Galilee area where a number of Greek cities had been built, since they likely felt more comfortable coming up to him, and ask, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Just a side note, many churches have this request carved into the pulpit for the preacher to read before they begin to preach.

These Greeks want to see Jesus, to come close to him to hear him teach, to ask him their questions, and to experience being in Jesus’ presence. Faith is both knowledge of Jesus and the experience of being with Jesus. It’s like when your mom and dad first started to get to know each other; they began by asking friends and other people about each other and getting to know about each other, but they really started to get to know each other by spending time together, talking about what they liked and didn’t like, the things they’d done and things they hoped to do. This is what the Greeks want to do to get to know Jesus in that personal way. This is still true today. When you share your faith, when you invite someone to follow Jesus with you, they don’t want to know facts about Jesus, they want to meet and experience Jesus with you. This is Holy Spirit work, but the Spirit uses our experiences of meeting Jesus to help others to meet him too.

One of the things that interests me is that at the beginning of Jesus’ life, wise men come from the east to meet Jesus, and now near the end of his life, men come from the west to meet Jesus. It gives us a glimpse in Jesus’ life how people from all the nations are drawn to Jesus, that the good news is for all humanity, not just one small nation in the Middle East. After the Greeks ask Philip to help them to see and meet Jesus, Philip goes to tell his brother Andrew about the Greek’s request and they go to Jesus and tell him that there’s a group of Greeks who would like to see him.

But it’s like Jesus completely ignores what Philip and Andrew have just told him and starts talking about kernels of wheat, loving life, and glorifying God’s name. Jesus is focused in on his coming death and preparing his disciples for the coming time, helping them understand why he has to die. Jesus realizes that what he’s telling the disciples isn’t going to be understood by them right away, that it’s only going to start to make sense after they witness his death and resurrection. The disciples aren’t a whole lot different then we are; there’s a lot of what we read in the Bible that we don’t always understand at first when we start following Jesus and dig into the Bible, but the more we read the Bible, study it together, talk to Jesus in prayer, and learn to see the world around us through God’s eyes, the more we start to understand why Jesus came and had to die the way he did. Jesus came to take the curse that comes from our sin and is ours to carry, but Jesus takes it on himself in order to destroy that curse on the cross so that we don’t have to walk that journey. Jesus’ death brings us new life, as we reflected on last week.

Jesus tells Philip and Andrew and all those around him, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it does, it produces many seeds.” Jesus sees his coming death as a way of being glorified, of bringing glory and honour to God. Last week we saw that Jesus’ reference to himself being the Son of Man looks back to Daniel’s vision of the promised Messiah coming down from heaven to earth. It’s a vision of power and strength, not of weakness, Daniel 7:13–14, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

Jesus talks about dying, but it’s a death that’s going to produce a whole lot of fruit because of the death. You can use the kernel of wheat and grind it to make flour for bread, or you can place it in the ground and it will produce many more seeds, some of which can be made into bread while more seeds can be planted to create even more seeds. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, a movement began that is still around and still growing even today; this movement is what we call the church and it’s still on the move today. We often mourn about how the church in Canada is getting smaller and less influential than it was in the past, but perhaps the church here needs to do some dying to parts of who we were, and maybe even still are today, in order to grow again. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded that we are a church called to share the good news of Jesus by serving on our knees with humility and grace. We want to be relevant, but relevance doesn’t mean being just like everyone around us, it’s about answering the questions and hurt today by pointing to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit who is active in the world.

John’s hearers of his gospel lived in a shame and honour society, and it’s good to listen to what Jesus is saying here through those lenses. Death shows commitment and a willingness to die for a higher cause, which brings honour, important in that culture. By dying for sin of the world, Jesus receives honour from God. We hear this is God’s response to Jesus’ cry, “Father’ glorify your name!” when he says, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” This is why martyrdom has had such a powerful effect on the church, the honour in dying for Jesus has always strengthened the church and grown the church, especially in the majority world, reflecting back to Jesus’ parable on the dying of the kernel of wheat in order to grow more kernels of wheat. In talking about loving or hating their life, Jesus is talking about commitment here; for those committed only to their own life, a selfish life, they will lose their life since their have separated themselves from Jesus, while those who are committed to offering their life to Jesus, to shaping our lives around his teaching, will gain eternal life with Jesus. The call is to follow Jesus as a servant. As we humble ourselves in service to Jesus, the Father will honour us.

In Jesus’ day, people were divided by ethnicity, gender, and social and economic class. The Pharisees liked to keep people in their place and were disturbed at how Jesus upset the social order. Our culture today is still divided. In this passage, Jesus tells us that when he is lifted up on the cross, all will be drawn to him. In a world of division, we’re reminded that Jesus draws all people to himself. The divisions today may be different, today those on the outside may be First Nations, LGBTQ, those battling addictions, those from different cultures, or whoever we choose to keep away so we feel safe and unchallenged. I’ve been wondering all week on how do we understand Jesus when he says, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.” Jesus draws all people to himself through his death on the cross; through the forgiveness, grace and new life he offers all those who believe in him. Life change comes when we are drawn to him, life change we model to the world which then draws others to Jesus. How are we drawing all those in our community to Jesus, to the good news of salvation?

 

 

John 3:1-21 Good News: A Fresh Start

This story of Nicodemus coming to see Jesus seems to happen soon after Jesus clears the temple area, which explains why Nicodemus shows up at night, he’s not sure yet if he wants to be seen around Jesus and wants to get to know who Jesus is and what Jesus is all about. Nicodemus is an important person, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council, meaning he’s a success, and yet there’s still something missing in his life, and Jesus might have an answer for that. Is Nicodemus looking for meaning beyond the success and the rituals of his faith?

Nicodemus starts off by praising Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Nicodemus acknowledges that Jesus is no ordinary rabbi and that the things he is doing can only happen because they’re blessed by God. He may be thinking that Jesus is a prophet from God, but he wants to make sure before he commits to Jesus. Now Jesus takes the conversation in an unusual and likely unexpected direction, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Nicodemus comes back with a smart aleck remark, “How can a man be born again when he is old? Surely, he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” This conversation is getting sharp.

Jesus comes back at Nicodemus as rabbi does, with images and examples pointing to a greater reality beyond what’s right in front of them. Jesus goes deep since Nicodemus is a Pharisee, trained to think deeply about faith and God, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” Jesus wants Nicodemus to start listening as a man of faith, as a man taught about who God is, a man who has committed himself to following God. Jesus is talking heart stuff here.

Jesus is a master at using what’s around him to explain faith and spiritual things. They’re likely sitting on a roof top around a small fire pit, and a breeze comes up and stirs the embers in the fire pit into flames. Jesus, looking at this tells Nicodemus, “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Jesus uses word play here, another thing rabbis often did, the word for spirit and wind is exactly the same, so just as a breeze can get an ember burning, in the same way the Spirit can re-ignite our hearts and faith. It’s not something we do, it’s something God does in us, we simply need to be open to the Spirit’s moving.

Nicodemus doesn’t seem to understand what Jesus is getting at, even though he’s a scholar and has spent his life studying and living the scriptures out in his day-to-day life. He asks, “How can this be?” Now Jesus pushes back at Nicodemus, asking him how he can’t understand what Jesus is saying since he’s supposed to be a teacher to Israel, he’s obviously been listening to Jesus, and has seen or at least heard of some of Jesus’ miracles. Jesus answers him sarcastically, “Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 

Jesus is challenging Nicodemus to listen to what he’s teaching, how he’s calling the people of Israel to be God’s people, to come back to God in repentance and belief, his main message. Jesus turns to the prophet Daniel, referring to himself as the Son of Man who comes down from heaven as the Messiah. Nicodemus knows what Jesus is referring to here, that he’s claiming to be the Messiah. Jesus goes on and uses another image from the time when Israel was wandering in the wilderness and grumbling against God again, so God sends venomous snakes into the camp who bit people and many Israelites died. The people come to Moses and confess they’ve sinned, “The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.” Jesus points to himself as the one who will be lifted up to bring life, new life to the people.

It’s with this image of life in mind that John writes the most beloved verses in all of Scripture, “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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” This is not just good news, this is the greatest news in the world, in history and today. The laws, the rituals, and the sacrifices don’t save us, going to church doesn’t save us; believing in Jesus who saves us brings us eternal life with God and Jesus does. John writes in 1 John 4:9–10, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” God’s love for humanity drives his plan of redemption, the plan to save his people from sin and brokenness, a love that moves God to call us his children. God’s love leads to action.

Nicodemus comes in the darkness of the night, Jesus calls him into his light, “Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” We hear the echoes back to the beginning of John, “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind… The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world… Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

We live in a time and place where there is much wealth and success. There will always be those who struggle with poverty and failure, but we live in one of the wealthiest times and places in history, and yet so many people are unhappy and dissatisfied. Many young people are wondering about what life is going to hold for them, hoping that there is more; more meaning and a greater purpose or reason in life. Henry Nouwen writes, “I am what I have. I am what I do. I am what others say about me.” When we embrace this way of seeing ourselves, it leads to unhappiness and even depression. It leads many into escapist living and brokenness. Nicodemus has it all and still he seeks out Jesus, hoping there’s more. Jesus calls Nicodemus into truth that what we have, our accomplishments do not bring meaning into our lives, that even in our success we are missing something, someone. Jesus has come to give us a full life, showing us who we are: children of God, and that we find our worth as children of God rather than in our work or accomplishments, that our purpose is to be children of God shaped by the Holy Spirit who are disciple-makers inviting others to meet Jesus. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we receive a fresh start in life, a new identity and purpose centered in Jesus.

Jesus brings light into the darkness, pointing to the injustice and evil prevalent in our world, but it also points to the unhappiness, fear, anxiety, or brokenness that so many people live with today. We are not our own saviour; our sin reveals just how hopeless we are without Jesus. He is the one who brings hope, healing, value, meaning, identity and purpose into our lives; Jesus offers us new life, a life rooted in him, given a fresh start by the Holy Spirit.