Galatia 5:6

5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight – the only thing that matters is faith working through love. ¹ 

Galatia 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ²  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ³  of slavery.

Yohanes 3:14

3:14 Just as ⁴  Moses lifted up the serpent ⁵  in the wilderness, ⁶  so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ⁷ 

[5:6]  ¹ tn Grk “but faith working through love.”

[5:1]  ² tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

[5:1]  ³ sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

[3:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “And just as.”

[3:14]  ⁵ sn Or the snake, referring to the bronze serpent mentioned in Num 21:9.

[3:14]  ⁶ sn An allusion to Num 21:5-9.

[3:14]  ⁷ sn So must the Son of Man be lifted up. This is ultimately a prediction of Jesus’ crucifixion. Nicodemus could not have understood this, but John’s readers, the audience to whom the Gospel is addressed, certainly could have (compare the wording of John 12:32). In John, being lifted up refers to one continuous action of ascent, beginning with the cross but ending at the right hand of the Father. Step 1 is Jesus’ death; step 2 is his resurrection; and step 3 is the ascension back to heaven. It is the upward swing of the “pendulum” which began with the incarnation, the descent of the Word become flesh from heaven to earth (cf. Paul in Phil 2:5-11). See also the note on the title Son of Man in 1:51.