The Chosen + BibleProject | Season 1 Reading Planናሙና

The Journey Is the Destination

Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus, whom he calls the “teacher of Israel,” opens up a new way of thinking for Nicodemus (and for us). We are not pursuing a distant destination in some imagined post-death future. Jesus says we’re invited to begin arriving at the eternal life destination right now, today, by believing in him. He calls us to trust him so much that we begin thinking and living like he does.

This doesn’t mean we must all behave like first-century Jewish rabbis. Instead, we are to live an entirely new way of life, one that is “born from above” and finds its direction from God and human instinct inseparably combined, not only human instinct. By doing so, we enter into “life unto the age,” which is another way of describing the New Testament concept of eternal life.

Jesus tells Nicodemus to be born again. That’s a weird statement. None of us made a choice to be born in the first place. How can we make a choice to be born now? Being born implies that we are passively receiving life from someone else, first from our mothers, but now also from our Father God.

Though we cannot make ourselves “be born,” we can choose to open our hearts to God’s work by willfully following his way, trusting that he will make us new. We participate with him while also resting in the fact that he is faithful and just to complete the good work he’s already begun in each of us.

That’s the eternal life goal—to accept Jesus’ invitation to enter a new way of life right now. Just as we cannot trace the path of the wind, so we will not always understand how the Spirit is working in us to bring about this new life.But like Nicodemus, we are drawn (perhaps insatiably at times) to the profound love of God given through Jesus, a love that promises to form us into new, fully alive men and women.

Reflection Questions

1. Sometimes John 3:16 can be interpreted as Jesus talking about believing in him at a point in time, like we decide at some point in time to believe in Jesus, and then the decision is done. But John writes “whosoever believes” with a Greek verb form that indicates continuous, active believing in the here and now. He’s saying that whosoever is continuously believing will be continuously receiving eternal life. How does this support or challenge the ways we have previously thought about belief in Jesus?
2. In your opinion, what are the most encouraging words from Jesus in this scene? What are the most confusing words from Jesus in this scene?
3. Jesus says he did not come into the world to condemn it. Instead, he was sent to save the whole world through his love, forgiveness, and restoration. How might our view of the world and everyone in it shift if we recognize that Jesus was and is in the process of rescuing and restoring everything?