Trinity Sunday (Jn 3:16-18)
We have the most quoted line in the Christian Scriptures as a point of reflection this Sunday (John 3:16). It would be good to recall when Jesus said these words and to whom.
A Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. He came immersed in the darkness of doubt. Nicodemus was a religious leader who was well versed in Jewish Theology. He kept the law of Moses scrupulously. Nicodemus was an expert in the law of Moses. When peers had questions about the ways of God they would have turned to Nicodemus. But Nicodemus felt insecure in his knowledge of God.
He saw how Jesus lived his religious life, this simple carpenter from Nazareth. Jesus projected virtue to everyone. Jesus could explain what he believed clearly. Nicodemus also witnessed the miraculous healings of Jesus. Nicodemus wanted the confidence Jesus had. He came to Jesus with questions. He called Jesus his rabbi (teacher). Nicodemus wanted to learn from Jesus. Jesus patiently described the tenants of faith.
Jesus used three symbols to explain who God is. We could call them the three w’s. He spoke of the womb. He spoke of water. He spoke of the wind. If we want to know about the one true God, we need only reflect on the three w’s.
The womb represents creation. Jesus said you must be born again. When a woman lives through a pregnancy it is an act of creation. From the moment of conception, through the development of the fetus in the womb until the baby travels down the birth canal, creation is happening. When one comes to faith in the one true God, it is because the person knows who has given them life and who keeps them alive.
Water is the second symbol Jesus used. Water sustains creation. At the molecular level, each individual raindrop is like a world unto itself. When we look at a single drop of water under the microscope it is alive with organisms. All these drops of moisture unite to form an ocean that refreshes our world.
The third great image that Jesus used to describe knowledge of God, is the wind. And this is a great representation of God. The wind is invisible as well as mysterious. We can have a gentle breeze on a sweltering summer day. We can also have a funnel cloud that drops from the sky with destructive power.
This trinity of symbols is a great description of God. We notice that Jesus doesn’t speak clearly of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He alludes to this reality with his words. And this is how it is in the whole New Testament. The dogma of the Trinity isn’t defined anywhere.
Only over the course of four hundred years did Christians come to understand how to name their God. Arguments took place in the early church over the nature of God. Many questions were asked by Christians. Was Jesus human? Was he divine? Which person came first? Did the Father exist before the Son? When did the Holy Spirit arrive? Only when the Nicene Creed was composed in the fourth century did the church find a way to begin to articulate what the nature of the Christian God is.
If we examine the Creed, we see that it’s divided into three parts. The three parts of the creed reflect the three proofs for the existence of God. We first see God described as creator. God is the supreme being who made the world. God made all we touch, see, hear, taste, and smell. Only God could have made the universe. Because we experience creation, we know God exists.
The other reassurance that God exists is the interconnectedness of everything. The Son came to be one with us. Jesus shows us what it is to live with others in community. Because we have each other, we know what love is. We also experience who God is.
Finally, we know God exists because there is mystery. Knowledge of God is constantly unfolding. Moment by moment we learn more about God. The Holy Spirit is like the wind; invisible but somehow perceptible. Our God is invisible but at the same time tangible.
Each year, on this Sunday, we reflect on the nature of God. We remember that God is present at each moment in creation, in community, and in the creed that we stand and proclaim each Sunday.