I was first introduced to WWF in my pre-teen years by my
cousin Mark. He also introduced me to
Michael Jackson’s Bad album so it must be noted that he’s a decent bloke. I had heard the boys at school discussing WWF
at length but had largely ignored their fanboy fervour as I believed myself to
be far superior to such nonsense. Well,
thanks to me Cuz I now had a secret love.
Was it the spandex outfits? The
outrageous makeup? The mania of the
stadium? The over the top spectacle? The fact that my book-loving cultured parents
would not approve? Answer = D: all of the above.
As my teenage years went on I lost interest in the wrestling
world and all its glory. For instance I
never understood the significance of the Stone Cold Steve Austin fanboys
holding up “Austin
3:16” signs (until I read the Wikipedia article on it just now) and hadn’t
thought about it in decades until I was listening to our Pastor teach on Hermenuetics [the art and science of reading the Bible]. He mentioned John 3:16 and it transported me
back to those heady days of lycra and spray tan and then got me thinking some
deeper thoughts (thank goodness!).
So Pastor Travis was trying to get the group to think about
the context of verses and how that helps us to understand what they mean. There is debate in the Church about the
meaning of some of the words in the verse and who they apply to. Just google any Arminian vs Calvinism debate on
this verse and you will be drawn into an epic smack-down of Friday night
proportions. But I REALLY don’t want to
go there today because I think knowing who the speaker of the verse was
originally talking to can teach us so much more than a heated debate. But if that’s your bag baby, then go right
ahead…
So who is speaking in John 3:16? Why it’s Jesus! And who is he talking to? He’s talking to Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Now the Pharisees were the spiritual leaders
in Israel. They taught the ordinary plebs all about God
and now Jesus is teaching him. Nicodemus
wants to know if Jesus is truly from God and if he is how he can enter God’s
kingdom too. And Jesus tells Nicodemus
that if he puts his trust in him then he will be part of God’s kingdom. And not only that but whoever believes
in Jesus will be part of God’s kingdom.
By saying that God loves the world Jesus is stating that Gentiles and
sinners are also included in God’s kingdom.
For an Israelite at that time this was such a radical statement that it
got some other Pharisees so angry they had Jesus put to death.
For us this verse should be one of great comfort. Most of us are Gentiles and we can rejoice
that God wishes us to be part of His eternal Kingdom. We can be thankful that it was always Jesus’
intention to include all people. Oh Yeah!
The Rock* says: “Truly I understand that God
shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who
fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As
for the word that he sent to Israel,
preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning
from Galilee after the baptism that John
proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the
Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were
oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we
are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him
to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him
on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the
people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank
with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded
us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God
to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
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