So apparently today is “3/16” day since it’s March 16th. I saw on a friends blog that her radio station was talking about it and referencing John 3:16.
Here’s a link to the whole passage: John 3:1-21 http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=167367397
This is also the passage that I will be preaching on this weekend, since it is the Gospel lesson for the 2nd Sunday in Lent, Year A. I’ve been spending a lot of time this week looking at this conversation between Jesus and Nichodemus. What was Jesus’ tone in this conversation? I so wish we had a recording of it! I so often hear “born again” as a catch phrase or way to judge another person. Are you Saved/Born Again/righteous like me? Is this question really helpful at all? (I admit most of the time when I hear “Saved/Born again” my antenna go up, and I end up frustrated and/or mad, since I believe it’s taking it completely out of context and is unhelpful, but that’s another story for another post.)
Is that really what Jesus is talking about here? Does our culture’s use of John 3:16 (signs at ballgames, billboards, etc) diminish or help the meaning of the Scripture? Is this one verse truly the WHOLE story of Scripture, or just a part of a long story of God and God’s people, and are we doing harm by pulling out one verse to represent the entirety of all 4 Gospels (and the rest of the Bible as well?)? These are just some of the many questions I’m wrestling with for this passage… what questions does it bring to mind for you?
Living On Emmaus Ave 
If the whole Gospel (or Bible) could be truly encapsulated in one verse, God would have just given us the one verse.
It doesn’t bring up that the wages of sin is death, to make the promise of not perishing worthwhile. It doesn’t bring up that Jesus is not only God’s son, but is himself deity.
I like John 3:16 much better with John 3:17, personally, as I think it answers a question more commonly implied through non-believers – For God did not send His son to condemn the earth, but to save the earth through Him.
Christianity is too often labeled a religion of condemnation (and, like to not, hypocrisy), when the truth is right there that it is a relationship of salvation.