March 14, 2021 - 4th Sunday in Lent

(2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21)

In this passage, the Pharisee Nicodemus has come to Jesus at nighttime to ask him questions about who he is and where he comes from. Jesus here explains that the ancient bronze serpent Moses made (Numbers 21:9) served as a fore-shadowing of his role as Savior. While the ancient Israelites had to look at the bronze serpent on a pole to be healed from snake-bites, Jesus will be “lifted up” on a cross. To be saved from the “snake-bite” of sin, we must look to Him, raised up on the Cross. Then Jesus hands us the heart of the Gospel message—He loves us and wants us to know how dear we are to Him so much so that He sent His own beloved Son to die on the Cross so that we might know His love, His mercy, His forgiveness and His desire to spend eternity with us. God does not want to condemn us, but heal us and rescue us from sin. God is working tirelessly to bring us back to Him.

• There is a constant pattern in our lives of us rejecting God to follow our own way, God reaching out to us to invite us back to Him, and then us turning back to God, seeking His forgiveness and a new beginning. Do you sometimes doubt how He really could forgive you again? What could help us with these doubts?
• We often think we can figure things out on our own with enough thought and careful calculation, but God can have a different plan for us. When have you rejected God’s path to follow your own ideas? How did it turn out for you? Have you experienced a time when God provided for you, in spite of your turning away from His plan?
• Paul teaches that we do good works because we have been saved by Christ, not in order to be saved by him. Faith and good works go hand-in-hand. What good work has your faith lead you to do? How could you make good works more a gift of faith in your life?