By now anyone who keeps up with NFL football knows
that often maligned, high profile Christian, Tim Tebow led the Denver Broncos
to a win over the favorite Pittsburgh Steelers in their match up on Sunday as
part of Wildcard Weekend.
It has now also been widely reported that Tebow, who
has been ridiculed for his public displays of faith in Jesus Christ racked up
some divine numbers in the game. Tebow
passed for 316 yards in the victory.
Tebow averaged 31.6 yards per pass and the final quarter-hour television
rating for the game was 31.6 according to the Sports Business Journal.
Tebow wore eye black with the Bible verse John 3:16
during the 2009 BCS Championship game.
John 3:16 is the most widely known verse in the Bible and has become
part of Tebow mania.
John 3: 16 which says, “For God
so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life,” is the favorite verse of many
Christians including Tebow.
Secular sports outlets like Yahoo’s “Shutdown Corner”
predictably call the repetition of the number 316 mere coincidence.The blog reports, “The coincidental stats
caused millions of fans to perform Google searches on the Bible passage in the
past 24 hours.”
A threefold representation of the
number 316 is not coincidence. Once might
be considered coincidence, twice is freaky, but three is Biblical.
Three is a Biblical number occurring
in hundreds of instances throughout the Bible.
In Revelation 21:13 John
describes a triple entrance way that marked all four sides of the city of the
New Jerusalem.
David “bowed down before Jonathan
three times, with his face to the ground” (1 Samuel 20:41).
Daniel regularly prayed three
times a day giving thanks to God (Daniel 6:10, 13).
Satan tempted Jesus three
times. Jesus answered by citing three
scriptural passages (Matthew 4:1-11).
Peter denied Christ three times. (Mark
14: 66-22).
Christ was crucified, dead and
buried then arose on the third day. (Matthew 16: 21, Matthew 20: 18-19, 1
Corinthians 15:4).
The hard hearted will not
believe. Those who believe already will
be lifted by these facts. It is those
who seek, or search that will be most affected.
The number one search on Google on Monday was “John 3:16.”
Exposing the glory of God to
those who do not know him, or do not yet accept him, is the duty and responsibility
of all Christians (Matthew 28: 19-20).
Christians know that standing for Jesus Christ is risky, but we are all
called to spread the good news.
To speak the truth of Christ
invites skepticism, derision and blatant hostility. In Tebow’s case it got his critics, many of
whom are Christ’s critics, to attempt to belittle and embarrass the
quarterback. Tebow has faced a gamut of
pushback for publicly displaying his faith, from a vile profanity-laced Tweet
by Bill Maher to a blasphemous skit on Saturday Night Live to harsh criticism
from fellow football players and ex-players…even those who call themselves
Christians.
Tebow has withstood it all, never
wavering in his faith in Christ and not giving in to the pressure of the
world.
In our society, no one wants to
see a Christian expressing their faith. Political
Correctness dictates that negative expressions of all faiths are outlawed,
except for those targeting Christians.
In other societies Christians are
denied jobs, food, and freedom for following Christ. Many are killed for calling Christ their
savior. (More HERE).
Tebow knew all of that back in
college when he wrote John 3:16 on his eye black. He knew that when other teams, the media and
society at large made fun of “Tebowing,” which for the uninformed is actually
called “Praying”.
It didn’t matter to Tebow because
Christ told us in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated
me first.”
In 2009 Tebow’s John 3:16 black
eye evangelism produced 94 million searches on Google for the scripture. On Monday John 3:16 was once again at the top
of all searches. The playoff game
between Denver and Pittsburgh was the highest rated playoff game since the 1980’s
and it happened because one Christian knows Christ, and no doubt Tebow also
knows his Bible and that Christ told us:
“You are the light of the world.
A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do
people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand,
and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light
shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father
in heaven.” (Matthew 5: 14-16)
Ultimately, Christians don’t believe that God is a Broncos fan. Christians also know that Tebow’s public displays of faith are not really about Tebow, nor are his stats from Sunday’s game. Christians know, Tebow knows, that it’s all about another divine trio, The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost. The trinity.
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About Ethan Edwards
Ethan Edwards is the Senior Writer for
TheCypressTimes.com.
Edwards’ work focuses on topics ranging from
Christian opinion, national news, world news,
Christian Persecution and politics.
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This is great!!! John 3:16 and Christianity are in the national discussion right now. Tim Tebow gets the ball rolling, then Focus on Family uses a national pulpit to air a John 3:16 commercial during the big game…and now the “John 3:16″ song by Cindy Tucker is becoming a up trender on YouTube and share sites. What’s next biblical trading cards???
John 3:16 is in the spotlight where it belongs.
There are more than three…. In addition, if you look at the stats, the steelers threw their only interception in the 2nd quarter at 3rd and 16. (3:16). Also the steelers total time of possession was 31:06 minutes. (31.6). Add that to the fact that his Boss’ name is John, he was 10/21 passing for 316, (1+0+2+1) = 4 (The fourth book of the new testament is John. so 10/21 for 316 = John 3:16. Now just a little extra, God created the world in 7 days (Tebow had 7 great games) and Christ died for 3 days (tebows last three games were duds) But Christ rose. (tebow and the broncos rose back to dominance to take down the steelers.)