Holy Trinity Sunday: John 3:1-21, Romans 8:12-25 and Isaiah 6:1-8 (Year B)

There is a lot of rich and beautiful imagery, word play and of course, theology in this week's passages. (Holy Trinity for Year B).

John 3:
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2014/01/john-31-21-nicodemeus.html
This is a broad look at the story of Nicodemus.  I find an interesting connection with the Holy Trinity Isaiah text in this way -- In Isaiah, there is a death.  The story of Israel's people seems coming to a grinding halt, if not end.  But God is King and so the story moves on.  In the same way, Nicodemus' story seems at an end; but God is King; the Spirit is ALIVE and so the story moves on.

http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2012/03/john-314-21.html
breaks down John 3:16
We've heard John 3:16 a million times before. For this week, I broke it down, word by word. Awful for a sermon, yes, but a closer look reveals how this really is the Gospel in a nutshell. Fun Greek fact: The phrase eternal life is literally "eons of a zoo." God's eternal party is a zoo! Helpful Greek fact: This eternal zoo is not a future reality, but a present one, available here and now.


Romans 8:12-25
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2011/07/romans-812-25.html
is a very thorough review of Romans 8:12-25.  Summary:
Paul describes in some beautiful and novel ways our relationship to God through the work of the Holy Spirit. First, Paul uses the word adoption (υιοθεσια); he, alone among NT writers, uses this concept to talk about our relationship to God. Second, Paul uses a string of "συν" verbs to talk about our togetherness with God: We have inheritance, suffering and glorification WITH Christ. Lastly, Paul says we have the first-fruit of the Spirit. EVERY time before this, first-fruits went to God to appease him. Now, God is offering us the first-fruit (απαρχη) of the Spirit. I am still pondering the interpretation of verse 23, but it is clear that Paul is pushing the dimensions of the God-humanity relationship in new (and strange) directions, made possible by the work of the Holy Spirit through Christ.


Also, here is the link to my previous work on Isaiah:
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2009/06/isaiah-61-8.html