Jesus: Reliable Truth about Heaven
Today’s reading: John 3:1-4:54
My selection: John 3:9-15
9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
My reflections: A theme running throughout the Gospel of John (as well as the other gospels) is the authority of Jesus. How does He know what He is teaching? Who is He to speak this way? Can we trust Him and His words?
Nicodemus seems honestly to want to know the answers. Jesus tells Nicodemus that He (Jesus) is the only one who has come down from heaven and is in the unique position to speak knowledgeably of heavenly things.
What is at stake? It is not merely a matter of satisfying our curiosity about the world to come or the invisible, spiritual world. It is about seeing our need to believe in Him and have eternal life.
My challenge: Jesus Christ is the way to the Father and to life eternal. He has descended from heaven into this world. He speaks truth. Hear Him. Believe Him. Worship Him. Through Him, by faith, aristocrats, like Nicodemus, and Samaritans, like the woman at the well, gain true life, a spring of water that wells up within to eternal life. They enter the Kingdom of God. Have you?
Tomorrow’s reading: John 5:1-6:24