He brings salvation (Fr. Bill Brown / Marcy St. John)

In John 3:16,
to give = love + sacrifice.

--Fr. Bill Brown,
OLMC Scripture Class,
May 28, 2026

    What is Jesus telling Nicodemus? He tells Nicodemus that he has come down from heaven to tell us of heavenly things, and that he will be lifted up like the serpent in the desert to bring eternal life to those who believe in his teachings. He is telling Nicodemus that he brings salvation, and this message is not something that can be reasoned out, or held in one’s hand, or seen with one’s eyes. It requires seeing with the eyes of one’s heart, the eyes of the heart that are open through Jesus’ death and resurrection, through our faith and baptism into that faith. Once one opens those heart eyes and lets in Jesus, the Holy Spirit, like the wind, comes right in and leads us to the quiet, gentle space where we can grow in Spirit and feel with our whole heart the words and message of Jesus. 

    Nicodemus doesn’t understand. He is still in the world, and he is caught between trusting his heart’s eyes and believing that Jesus is the Christ. 

    With Jesus’ death and resurrection, and our baptism, we are born of the Spirit, and our days on earth are to give us the many challenges and opportunities to become closer to that Spirit, to grow in gentleness, to grow closer to God, to God’s love for us, to Jesus’ love for us. 

--Marcy St. John,
Communion Service,
April 9, 2024

Image source: Henry Ossawa Tanner, Nicodemus Visiting Christ (1899), https://jesusscribbles.wordpress.com/2018/09/23/sermon-on-nicodemus-trinity-sunday/