John 3:1-21
Nicodemus, unlike the Pharisees that opposed Jesus, came to see Jesus as he was convinced that Jesus was a teacher sent from God because of his miracles. This prompted Jesus famous saying “You must be born again/from above!” (John 3:7.)
Another gem: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 13:14-15)
Which then leads right into that most famous of verses:
For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.- John 3:16,17
Indeed, God loved us so much that He sacrificed His only begotten Son for us! That's the inspiration for the song “Favourite song of all”.
Favorite Song Of All
by Dan Dean (of Phillips, Craig and Dean.)
He loves to hear the wind sing
As it whistles through the pines on mountain peaks
And He loves to hear the raindrops
As they splash to the ground in a magic melody
He smiles in sweet approval
As the waves crash through the rocks in harmony
Creation joins in unity
To sing to Him majestic symphonies
But His favorite song of all
Is the song of the redeemed
When lost sinners now made clean
Lift their voices loud and strong
When those purchased by His blood
Lift to Him a song of love
There's nothing more He'd rather hear
Nor so pleasing to His ear
As His favorite song of all
And He loves to hear the angels
As they sing, "Holy, holy is the Lamb"
(Holy, holy, holy is the Lamb)
Heaven's choirs in harmony
Lift up praises to the great I Am
(Hallelujah, hallelujah)
But He lifts His hands for silence
When the weakest saved by grace begins to sing
And a million angels listen
As a newborn soul sings, "I've been redeemed!"
'Cause His favorite song of all
Is the song of the redeemed
When lost sinners now made clean
Lift their voices loud and strong
When those purchased by His blood
Lift to Him a song of love
There's nothing more He'd rather hear
Nor so pleasing to His ear
As His favorite song of all
It's not just melodies and harmonies
That catches His attention
It's not just clever lines and phrases
That causes Him to stop and listen
But when any heart set free
Washed and bought by Calvary
Begins to sing
That's His favorite song of all
It's the song of the redeemed
When lost sinners now made clean
Lift their voices loud and strong
When those purchased by His blood
Lift to Him a song of love
There's nothing more He'd rather hear
Nor so pleasing to His ear
As His favorite song of all
Now, I don't know if God really does shush all the other sounds of heaven when a newly saved person sings praise to Him, but I do know the Bible tells us “there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents” so even if the words of this song isn’t exactly correct, the sentiment is.
Born again or born from above? The NET footnote explains:
The Greek word ἄνωθεν (anōthen) can mean both “again” and “from above,” giving rise to Nicodemus’ misunderstanding about a second physical birth (v. 4). tn The word ἄνωθεν (anōthen) has a double meaning, either “again” (in which case it is synonymous with παλίν [palin]) or “from above” (BDAG 92 s.v. ἄνωθεν). This is a favorite technique of the author of the Fourth Gospel, and it is lost in almost all translations at this point. John uses the word 5 times, in 3:3, 7; 3:31; 19:11 and 23. In the latter 3 cases the context makes clear that it means “from above.” Here (3:3, 7) it could mean either, but the primary meaning intended by Jesus is “from above.” Nicodemus apparently understood it the other way, which explains his reply, “How can a man be born when he is old? He can’t enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” The author uses the technique of the “misunderstood question” often to bring out a particularly important point: Jesus says something which is misunderstood by the disciples or (as here) someone else, which then gives Jesus the opportunity to explain more fully and in more detail what he really meant.
Only begotten son or one and only son? The NET footnote explains:
Although this word is often translated “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12; 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant. 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God (τέκνα θεοῦ, tekna theou), Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 18; 3:16, 18).
However, it's worth considering that Jesus and Nicodemus would have been speaking in Aramaic, not Greek. The Gospel of John was originally written in Greek, but it's likely that the original sayings of Jesus were spoken in Aramaic. If we consider the Aramaic translation of the word, it's "min 'elyana" (מִן עַלְיָא). The word "alya" (עַלְיָא) can mean both "again" and "from above," so the ambiguity is present in both the original Aramaic and the Greek translation.Therefore, it's plausible that Jesus' statement was misunderstood by Nicodemus due to the double meaning of the Aramaic word, not just because of the ambiguity in the Greek translation. The author of John likely used this "misunderstood question" technique to explore Jesus' deeper teachings on spiritual rebirth and the connection between heaven and earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment