BG’s Top 10
So Bible Gateway posted the top 100 bible verse searches that occur on their website. I decided to examine the top 10. You are likely familiar with all 10 of the verses, but do you know the context? Do you know why those verses are really there? Are you sure that we are using those verses properly? I know that, while relatively well trained in interpreting Biblical text, I often take these verses for granted.
So, I am taking time to sit down with each verse. I start with my own examination of the book, then the chapter. Then I analyze the verse itself. Then I sit down and write my conclusions, thoughts and uncertain reaction to these writings. I’m curious to see what people think, if they care to read:
1. John 3:16
Certainly the most popular verse in the Bible, John 3:16 is Jesus’ gospel presentation in a nutshell. Interestingly enough, it is directed towards Nicodemus, one of the ruling Jews (Pharisees) of the time. It is actually quite ironic that the verse starts with “For,” yet I am willing to bet that most people don’t even know what the for references. We just take the verse for its direct contents, without regard to its context. I put the Message version below. I think it does a good simplification of the conversation.
10-12Jesus said, “You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics? Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God?
13-15“No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.
16-18“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
Jesus is bluntly telling Nicodemus “I am God.” This would have been a risky move and, despite the fact that it was 1-on-1, Nicodemus’ connections with (position on, I believe) the high counsel (Sanhedrin) made him a potentially scary man. We see later in John 7 and ultimately 19 that this simple, direct message was highly appropriate for a man who is well versed in OT history. (Side note: As a Pharisee, he already believed in a coming messiah and resurrection of that messiah…I wonder if there was justifying power in this pre-resurrection belief?)
So, how do I think this verse should be used? Well, to remind believers of the gospel, definitely. And I would say it’s pretty good for people with somewhat of a church history. I think this verse alone, however, is not useful to tell people who don’t grasp Biblical history or have heard about Jesus before. And yes, there are plenty of people, even here in the US, who don’t really know what Jesus is actually about.
Then again, my conclusion may be wrong. Jesus himself speaks of the simplicity of the gospel, and perhaps such a simple, direct verse is effective despite historical, cultural and theological ignorance. Perhaps I’m acting too prideful or elitist.
