Can you imagine the scene of all those creatures streaming
out of the ark? Orderly was probably not
a way it could be described. As soon as
they come out of the ark Noah builds an altar and makes sacrifice to the
Lord. The new creation began with the water
receding and dry land appearing, chaos was being replaced with orderliness and
yet a deep sadness had to have pervaded the hearts of those who had just come
out of the ark. Everything was changed,
people they had known were all gone and now they were to be the new
beginning. The Lord received the
sacrifice and promised a new covenant with the earth and with humankind but it
was based in acknowledgment of the depravity of man that could not be
eradicated, it was in the DNA. The
reality after the flood required that any new covenant be based in grace and
mercy. Innocence was forever lost.
Jesus, like the Father in the first lesson, knew and knows
what was in the heart of man. For that
reason, John says, He didn’t entrust Himself to those who were in Jerusalem and
who had believed in Him because of the signs.
He knew what was to come and that they were attracted mostly to the
signs, the things He did for them, though John does not tell us what those
were. Nicodemus comes to speak to Jesus
apart from the crowds Jesus attracted during the day. He comes as a representative of the
Pharisees, speaking in the first person plural, “we.” Jesus immediately bores in on him and speaks
of spiritual birth but Nicodemus has no idea what Jesus means by this. He is thinking in terms of the physical and
material while Jesus speaks of spiritual things. In the end, Jesus compares Himself to the
bronze serpent on the stick Moses held up according to God’s command, for the
people to gaze upon and be healed. It
required faith to act in obedience to God’s command and gracious provision in
Numbers 21 and not works, in Jesus, we are to have faith in the One who is
raised on the cross, that we will also be saved from certain death through Him,
God’s gracious provision for a humanity beset by sin. Not only does He not destroy all flesh again,
He provides the way for us to live forever.
There is no place
where earth’s sorrows
Are more felt than up in Heaven;
There is no place where earth’s failings
Have such kindly judgment given.
Are more felt than up in Heaven;
There is no place where earth’s failings
Have such kindly judgment given.
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