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<DIV><FONT size=4>That particular play on words works only in Greek, not in the
Hebrew or Aramaic of Jesus' daily life in Palestine. In contrast, the analogous
wordplay on "wind" and "spirit" (3:8), which both translate the Greek word
<I>pneuma</I> and the Hebrew word <I>ruāh</I>, would be effective in either
setting. The key word <I>anōthen</I>, however, makes it clear that whatever the
historical core of the story may be, it received its theological polish in one
of the Greek-speaking communities of the early church.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=6/7/2009&tab=4">http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=6/7/2009&tab=4</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><EM style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><FONT
size=4>Sharon H. Ringe, 2009</FONT></EM></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Nicodemus literally means “<STRONG><EM>conqueror of the
people</EM></STRONG>”. Small wonder he rose to the ranks of the party of
the Pharisees. If James Hillman, the Jungian writer, is correct, that “<EM>the
whole oak tree is already in the acorn”</EM> then perhaps the whole of
Nicodemus’ life was prophetically packed into that name. Nicodemus, the
conqueror of people would expect “baasskap” in his life. He would lead, he
would command, he would conquer.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://thelisteninghermit.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/rebirthing-the-powerless-rabbi-lent-2/">http://thelisteninghermit.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/rebirthing-the-powerless-rabbi-lent-2/</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Peter Woods, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Nicodemus is mentioned only in John and is a fairly
significant character in the Gospel. He may in fact stand for a group of people
with inadequate faith based on signs.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Nicodemus represents people who carefully and cautiously must
examine the new things that God may be doing and subject these to painstaking
scrutiny in light of past traditions and experiences before jumping in and
embracing them. We must allow people to respond to God in a variety of ways
rather than prescribing a single mode.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.cresourcei.org/lectionary/YearA/Alent2nt.html">http://www.cresourcei.org/lectionary/YearA/Alent2nt.html</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Jirair Tashjian</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The passage is not meant to be historical reporting. It is
rather one of those typical scenes in John which draw on the tradition and make
from it a drama which both has enduring value and addresses what must have been
issues of his time. These obviously included challenging inadequate responses to
Jesus which resulted not only in failing to understand what his coming mean, but
also (as 3:12 suggests) the meaning of his death and return to the Father’s
glory as the exalted ‘Son of Man’. The eyes of inadequate faith see the death as
a disaster when Jesus was lifted onto a cross of shame, only to be compensated
for by another miracle, the resurrection, so the show could go on. John’s faith
sees through these appearances to the fact that really Jesus was being lifted to
God and that as a result of his return the life he brought would abound in all
the world through the Spirit and the Spirit-bearing disciples who would succeed
and serve him.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MtLent2.htm">http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MtLent2.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>William Loader</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=4>To be fair, I can understand why classic universalism leaves
many Christians -- including myself -- underwhelmed. The idea that whatever
religious path you choose is as good as any other seems detached, generic, and
rather anemic, hardly representative of the passionate faith of those who follow
Jesus. But to assume that God cannot in God's infinite power, love, and wisdom
save all persons if God desires? ... Or to assert that there must be a hell if
heaven is to be meaningful? ... Such sentiments seem at the very least to
underestimate the God of biblical faith.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>If Rob Bell advocates that the God revealed in Jesus will not
stop until all God's creation is redeemed and recreated -- and I suppose we'll
know soon! -- he will not stand alone. Theologians as diverse as Clement and
Origin in the third century, Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Paul Tillich in the
twentieth, and countless in between also chose not to limit just how far
Christ's redemptive love can reach. </FONT></P>
<P><A
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-lose/rob-bell-hell-and-john-31_b_833627.html"><FONT
size=4>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-lose/rob-bell-hell-and-john-31_b_833627.html</FONT></A></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>David Lose, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><STRONG>Try to hear the “so” in that sense: “God <EM>so</EM>
loved the world. God loved the world <EM>in this way. </EM>God <EM>so</EM>
loved the world. God loved the world <EM>in this manner</EM>.” </STRONG>You
can see this understanding represented in a handful of recent versions that have
resisted the influence of traditional translations like the King James Bible. It
is difficult sometimes for translation committees to agree to change the wording
of well-known verses, but sometimes it happens:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The Holman Christian Standard Bible says, “For God loved the
world <EM>in this way</EM>.”</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The New English Translation: “For <EM>this is the way</EM> God
loved the world.”</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The New Jerusalem Bible: “For <EM>this is how</EM> God loved
the world.”</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.patheos.com/community/carlgregg/2011/03/12/lectionary-commentary-john-316-the-rest-of-the-story-for-sunday-march-20-2011/"><FONT
size=4>http://www.patheos.com/community/carlgregg/2011/03/12/lectionary-commentary-john-316-the-rest-of-the-story-for-sunday-march-20-2011/</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Carl Gregg, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM><FONT size=3>Linda Stueve</FONT></EM><EM><FONT size=3>
Says: <BR></FONT></EM>
<P>I think Nicodemus though a real person may also be part of the double
entendre metaphor. Nick is us. Nicodemus is present at the edges of John’s
Gospel, never a central player, but standing off looking on trying to get the
whole Jesus thing. Just like us keeping to the edges, playing it safe, looking
in from the outside, testing the waters. And then there is the cross and
commitment.</P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://thehardestquestion.org/yeara/lent2gospel/">http://thehardestquestion.org/yeara/lent2gospel/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Russell Rathbun, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Tom, a member of our congregation, told me a story. Several
nights earlier, Tom's six year-old son Benjamin protested his bedtime.
Frustrated by his father's refusal to budge, Benjamin finally became so
frustrated that he said, "Daddy, I hate you!" Tom, possessing the presence of
mind I wish I more frequently displayed, replied, "I'm sorry you feel that way,
Ben, but I love you."<BR><BR>To which Benjamin replied, "Don't say that!"
Surprised, Tom continued, "Ben, but it's true – I love you." "Don't say that,
Daddy." "But I love you, Ben." "Stop saying that, Daddy! Stop saying it right
now!" And then it came: "Benjamin, now listen to me: I love you...like it or
not!"<BR><BR>Even at six years old, you see, Benjamin realized that in the face
of unconditional love he was powerless.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=463">http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=463</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>David Lose, 2011</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Nicodemus is a "leader of the Judeans," which places him
firmly in the camp of those who were opposed to Jesus. In the fourth
gospel, a "Judean" frame of mind represents temple corruption and a
divide-and-conquer attitude in the hinterlands</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2011/03/lectionary-blogging-john-3-1-17.html">http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2011/03/lectionary-blogging-john-3-1-17.html</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>John Petty, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4><FONT
face=TimesNewRomanPSMT>
<DIV align=left>The Greek verb, </FONT><I><FONT
face=TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT>krino, </I></FONT><FONT
face=TimesNewRomanPSMT>usually translated as “condemned” has a range of
meanings: “to</DIV>
<DIV align=left>judge, think, consider, distinguish.” In my opinion, “judged” is
a better translation</DIV>
<DIV align=left>because the context of these statements is the conversation with
Nicodemus.</DIV>
<DIV align=left>Condemnation is a particularly jarring and harsh term. To
describe those who do not</DIV>
<DIV align=left>believe as “judged” is a direct reference to the judgment that
those persons have made.</DIV>
<DIV align=left>Those who have believed are, in Paul's terms, justified, that is
judged as righteous. Those</DIV>
<DIV align=left>who do not believe are already judged because of their
continuing to maintain a position</DIV>
<DIV align=left>of rejection of the one whom God has sent. They have judged
themselves by separating</DIV>
<DIV>themselves from the possibility of this new life.</DIV></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.gotell.org/pdf/commentary/John/Jn03_01-21_commentary.pdf">http://www.gotell.org/pdf/commentary/John/Jn03_01-21_commentary.pdf</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4><FONT face=Arial-BoldMT>Thomas E.
Boomershine</DIV></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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