I was in the middle of the “unknown” until I had a divine visitation on February 12th, 1996, during my seminary formation days. I dreamed of the appearance of Jesus bleeding profusely and the blood was dazzling. Initially, I couldn’t recognize Him because he presented himself as a priest I know. The second time I dreamed, He was hanging on the Cross bleeding as well, and I could recognize Him. The awe-inspiring sight brought my attention to a biblical text: “Knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a faultless and pure lamb, the blood of Christ” (1 pt. 1:18-19).
This religious experience changed my life in every ramification and enhanced my determination to embrace the call to the ministry. It has continued to have a positive impact on my spiritual growth and commitment to the pastoral ministry.
As I have been going through this spiritual growth for a very long time, I pray that my spiritual rebirth will improve daily as I grow in the Lord Jesus. As I continue my “vision” process, today’s passage of Saint John’s narrative stroke me in a particular way with new insight.
It’s clear that Nicodemus comes to Jesus in a state of confusion and spiritual blindness. He can’t seem to grasp what Jesus is trying to teach him. Whether he’s being stubborn or simply misguided in his lack of understanding, Nicodemus is completely in the dark when it comes to comprehending how God works.
It’s also clear that Nicodemus has been keeping an eye on Jesus. He has seen him teach in the synagogues. He recognizes that Jesus teaches with an authority he himself would never dare to claim. The conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus is focused on the idea of new birth, of being born anew not simply in the flesh, but “of spirit.” When Nicodemus leaves Jesus, we aren’t sure if he has decided to become a disciple or not. We won’t know that for several more chapters.
If you don’t get anything else out of John’s Gospel, be sure you get this: God loves you. These words of Jesus go deep into describing the way God loves us—not “how much,” but how.
- God loves us by lifting up his Son so we can believe in him. (14-15)
- God loves us by sending his only Son to give us eternal life (16)
- God loves us by saving us from our sin (17) – not just our petty little everyday sins but from all our Sin with a capital S.
- God loves us by shining the light of Christ into the dark places in our lives, the places where we try to hide our sin (19)
- God loves us by drawing us into the light, so that what we do is “done in God” (21)
Why would God bother to love us in this way? Why doesn’t God just write us off as a loss? It seems rather foolish of God to waste divine love on our sorry state. But that’s who God is. God loves us because of God, not because of our worthiness. God loves us because God is love. That’s the primary identity out of which God operates.
God is willing to be a fool for love, giving us his own self, even when we don’t deserve it, can’t grasp it, and don’t love him back. He keeps loving us through it all. He keeps loving us through our rebellion, through our complacency, through our poor attempts to keep control in our own hands. If this were anyone but God, we’d laugh at how foolishly he loves.
As we grow closer to Jesus, we see things spiritually that we could not see before. When our eyes, spiritually, are opened, when we are truly reborn, we know that we did not do it. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast” We are just grateful. “Whoever lives the truth comes to the light.”
I really enjoyed your reflection this morning. You pulled of the Gospel certain insights that I had only superficially reflected before. You blessed me, and I thank you for it