A Simple Matter of the Reach

Here's something that makes me laugh like a hyena; it's a great ice-breaker activity. Try it. Say the word "limit" fifty (or a lot of) times over. Hilarity is increased if you have also been inhaling sugar like there's no tomorrow.

Look at the word. You know what "limit" means. You see it on speed limit signs, you understand that it represents boundaries, edges, cut-offs.

But when you say it fifty times, it takes on a whole different cast. No matter the fact that you know its definition, that it has been ingrained in the language centers of your brain since you were a young child: the word "limit" loses its meaning after fifty repetitions. (This is true of any word, often enough repeated). 

Part of me squirms to say this, but this same phenomenon happens to me with John 3:16. It's the first verse that many of us memorize, or one of the first. It's likely the most often repeated verse that I've heard throughout my lifetime, and for good reason: John 3:16 is one of the "nugget" verses that wraps up the entire message of our redemption, through Jesus, on the cross and through the resurrection. 

How I love this message and the Bringer of this message! But how I need refreshing of this Word sometimes.

So, landing on John 3:1-21 today, I found myself asking the Lord, "How can I make this new? How can I pull back from the repetition of the words and return to the meaning of the words? What's a fresh take?"

Context usually helps. Let's look at Nicodemus. This man is a seeker. He has studied the Law of Moses all his life. In order to be a Pharisee (which he is), he's got to know Moses' Law inside and out, upside-down and backward. His mind is full of how far one is allowed to walk on the Sabbath, what kind of activities are allowed on the Lord's day, ceremonial cleansing procedures, the whole works.

But this man knows something is missing. He recognizes that the Law of Moses is not the end of the picture. There is something about Jesus, this Teacher, this Rabbi, who has been saying radical things, and most of the rest of Nic's colleagues over at the Jewish Ruling Council (the JRC) hold an intense distrust for the Man.

The JRC sees Jesus, but they don't understand Him. Like blind guides, they are "ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding" (Mark 4:12). Nicodemus says: "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with Him" (John 3:2). He's acknowledging his curiosity and the curiosity of the JRC. 

But Nicodemus is the one who takes it a step further, who puts feet to his questions, who actively pursues answers.

Jesus dips right into Nicodemus' wheelhouse, touches on Nic's expertise. He gets down onto Nic's level, looks him in the eyes, and brings up Moses himself. "Look," He says (in my paraphrase of John 3:14-15), "remember how the whole Israelite camp got that plague and everybody was dying? What did Moses do? He fashioned a bronze serpent, put it on a pole, and stuck it in the middle of the camp (The original story can be found in Numbers 21:4-9). And all anyone had to do was open their eyes and look at that serpent... and they were healed. I am just like that. I am that bronze snake on a pole, lifted up, and all you have to do is believe that I am God's Son, and that I am on that pole for you, to give you eternal life. I'm not talking about saving you from physical plagues and sicknesses; I'm talking saving your spirit, your soul." 

I admit that I spent years wondering why Jesus compared himself to a snake on a pole; after all, wasn't the serpent the symbol of the enemy? The serpent appeared to Eve in the garden and tempted her. She gave in to his temptation, took the fruit he offered, and ate it, and then gave it to her husband, and he ate it, too.

Okay, so let's jump back to Genesis 3:15 and look at that original snake.

"I will put enmity between you and the woman," God says to Satan the serpent, "between your offspring and hers (her offspring being Jesus many, many centuries later); He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel."

It's a pretty decent blow Satan deals to Jesus when He is placed on the cross, nailed there, and seemingly... defeated. All of evil seems to have triumphed the day the cross is raised up on the hill called Calvary. The legions of the enemy appear to have won. That's quite the heel-strike. The serpent has covered over the Man on the pole.

But in that very act, the sinless sacrifice takes the place of every person out there who looks to the cross for salvation, a la Abraham putting Isaac on the altar per God's command before God halts the process and provides a replacement ram, caught in the bushes. Jesus is the replacement for our penalty, which is death, eternal death. He provides life, eternal life, because He took our place.

And all Nic and company have to do...
All you have to do...
All I have to do... is look at the Man on the cross. 

And believe.

You know, when those sick Israelites were dying on their cots in the wilderness, the only thing they needed to do for healing was turn their heads and open their eyes. In that movement, there was a tremendous act of faith, a pushing aside of their own doubts and an acceptance of the fact that this action would bring them life. It wasn't a hard ask. It wasn't a pilgrimage from their cots to the pole. 

It was a simple transition from stillness to the slightest movement. It was a simple matter of the reach.

It's the same for us. A simple transition from no to yes. From not yet to save me. It's Jesus, holding out His hand with the best present ever, and it's you and me with our hands dangling at our sides, reaching, stretching out our fingers to take that perfect gift.

There is life in movement.

This is a nugget of Truth that never grows old. Please, please don't let the words encapsulating that Truth get stale. Seek the answer, open your eyes. Like Nicodemus, who has been immersed in the Law and knows it like the back of his hand, step outside of what you think you know, and look at that bronze snake, lifted up in the wilderness.

Jesus is the Way, the only Way, to eternal life.
Jesus is the Truth, the only Truth. There's no such thing as your truth or my truth. There is Jesus, who is the Truth.
Jesus is the Life, the only Life. Eternal life. 

"You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again'" (John 3:7). Notice He didn't say: "You could be born again." He didn't say: "It'd be nice if you were born again." He didn't say: "If you choose this package deal, benefits include and are not limited to eternal life and favor with the Father..."

There is one door, and don't let anyone tell you that through inclusivity and compromise, there is any other way to eternal life. 

Eternal life only comes through Jesus.

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me" (John 14:6).

I hope this has been a fresh take on that amazing gift. Now, if you haven't already...

Reach for it.