In today’s passage we meet a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Pharisees were a sect of Jews who responded to the oppression of Israel by doubling down on Jewish regulations and identity markers like food laws, circumcision, and ritual purity… all in an attempt to separate the truly faithful Israelites from those whom they saw as the the unfaithful compromisers.
In this passage Jesus names a new identity marker and redraws the lines of belonging to include the whole world. In fact, the Greek word for world in this passage is the wordCOSMOS. Jesus is telling Nicodemus that He has come to redeem and restore not just one small well-regulated sect in Israel, but the entire created order.
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1. What word or phrase stands out to you in this passage?
2. If you’re a Christian, it can be easy to forget the irony of following a crucified servant king. Like the serpent and Moses’ staff, reflect on the strange gift of the crucified savior being our source of redemption and renewal.
3. Consider the implications of Jesus' words, "For God so loved the COSMOS." How does that affirm your understanding of God? How does that stretch your understanding of God?
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