This verse seems to say the same thing three different ways in quick succession. Jewish thought and writings use a generous amount of parallelism. It is a way to restate something using different words or imagery to reinforce the original thought. Read Psalm 1 and you will see this literary technique right off the bat and repeatedly used all across the entire Book.
This
use of parallelism is also intended to add emphasis. We find examples of repetition in the old
King James Version of the original Greek text. It uses the words "Verily,
Verily, I say unto you..." as a way to denote importance to what is about
to be stated. It is important to pay
attention when Jesus begins a statement with "Truly, truly I tell
you..." or something to that effect.
Imagine then how important this text is considering Jesus states the
same concept three different times in one sentence. I can't help but think this is pretty
significant. If saying it two times
makes it important, can you imagine when the concept is repeated three times?
Here
it is: If I believe in the Son of Man I
live. If I do not believe in the Son of
God I die. Jesus has not come out and
explicitly attributed the term "Son of Man" to himself, but there is
little doubt that Nicodemus will end the evening convinced that this is where
he is being led. That part of the
equation is pretty much settled. On the
other hand, what does it mean to "believe" in the Son of Man? I am convinced that understanding the
practical meaning and application of "believe" is the difference
between me remaining in the state of condemnation and me being lifted into the
state of grace. Is my believing a
product of my human effort? According to
what Jesus delineated, it cannot be. On
the other hand, how can my believing be anything but an act of my human desire
to reach out to God? Stay tuned....
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