I listen to a lot of music while studying and working – I find it helps me stay focused. While I was reading and studying John 3, an interesting (and tragic) song happened to pop up on my playlist. It’s from a punk rock band named “Rise Against.” They could be described as a socially conscious group, but are by no means Christian. This was made clear in the song that popped up – a song called “Miracle.” The lyrics struck me, which say; “But we don't need miracles; To tumble from the sky; To part the seas around us; Or turn water into wine; 'Cause we are the miracles; We happen all the time; We're not scared of what surrounds us; We're not waiting for a sign; 'Cause we are the miracles; Yeah, we are the miracles.” The lyrics struck me first because they reference John 2 and Jesus’ turning water into wine. They also struck me because of how profoundly wrong they are. The whole point of this song is that we don’t need to look to the sky or anywhere else for a miracle to save us. We have what we need inside to save ourselves, because of how wonderful we are. That thinking is exactly what Jesus opposes in John 3. Though we are “miracles” in the sense that we have a certain glory by virtue of being made in God’s image, we do not have what we need within us to save ourselves. In John 3, and especially in his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus emphatically teaches that we do need a miracle. We need salvation from above, from the Spirit. We need to born again, because people corrupted humanity cannot inherit the perfect kingdom of God. We do need the One who can turn water into wine. We need someone to come “from the sky” and bring us to heaven. I would want Rise Against to study John 2-3, and see and know that Jesus is the Savior they and we need. Maybe they could hear the lyrics of fellow punk rock group, “Thrice,” who sing this in their song “Listen Through Me” (which uses the “lifting up” language of John 3); “He laid aside his crown; All our crimes he carried; Was lifted from the ground; With our burdens buried; The shadows all had flown; In the light diminished; He emptied out his lungs; Crying it is finished.” It’s an interesting contrast of two punk rock songs, both with lyrics drawn from the gospels. One glories in human-centeredness, crying out that we don’t need a savior. The other glories in the cross of Christ, and the One who took our sins for us. Thank God for that miracle from above.