Kiri and Mason welcome Lars Olson to the podcast to break down the verses surrounding one of the most well-known verses in the Bible: John 3:16. 

This week’s lectionary text begins with, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness…” Lars explains the story about God sending snakes to bite His people in Numbers and Moses lifting up a bronze snake. 

Then we ask, “What does it mean that God so loved the world?” Lars teaches us we think of love as an exchange: if I love you, there’s an expectation you love me back. But that’s not how God loved the world.

God loves the world so much that He gave His own Son to die. Why? So you know His mercy and have everlasting life. 

That’s when we got to the most interesting part of the conversation in my opinion: the discussion about Jesus’ judgment that people loved darkness over the light.

Jesus came to save you from darkness, but you love it. We like to hide our evil deeds. We like to think evil is like the Joker or Hitler, but it’s actually saying I don’t need what God is giving me. I’m good enough. My intentions are good. Evil comes out when we’re trying to get away from God by “being good.”

Lars explains that is what John 3:16 is about. Jesus came into the world to not show us a way to stop being so sinful, but to expose how much we love the darkness. In order to understand the depth of God’s mercy, we first must know the depth of our depravity. 

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SING TO THE LORD

Listen to Luther House of Study's newest podcast: Sing to the Lord! Martin Luther said, "Next to the word of God, the art of music is the greatest treasure in the world." To understand the importance of hymnody in the Lutheran church, Lars Olson and Mason Van Essen sit down with Zachary Brockhoff each week to discuss the lectionary's hymns, their meaning and history, and how the music preaches the Gospel.

• 🎙️ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3IjGmMa
• 🎧 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3VHikh3
• 💻 Luther House of Study's website: http://bit.ly/SingtotheLord

GOSPEL

John 3:14-21

14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

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