Sermon Tone Analysis

John 3:1–13 (CSB)

1 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him.

“Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.

8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going.

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?”

Jesus replied.

11 “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony.

12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.

Havia um homem dos fariseus chamado Nicodemus, um governante dos judeus.

Este homem veio até ele à noite e disse: "Rabino, sabemos que você é um professor que veio de Deus, pois ninguém poderia realizar estes sinais que você faz, a menos que Deus estivesse com ele".

Jesus respondeu: "Em verdade vos digo que, a menos que alguém nasça de novo, não poderá ver o reino de Deus".

"Como alguém pode nascer quando é velho?" perguntou-lhe Nicodemus.

"Ele pode entrar no ventre de sua mãe uma segunda vez e nascer?"

Jesus respondeu: "Em verdade vos digo que, a menos que alguém nasça da água e do Espírito, não poderá entrar no reino de Deus".

O que é nascido da carne é carne, e o que é nascido do Espírito é espírito".

Não se espante que eu lhe tenha dito que você deve nascer de novo.

O vento sopra onde lhe agrada e você ouve seu som, mas não sabe de onde ele vem ou para onde vai.

Assim é com todos os nascidos do Espírito".

"Como podem ser estas coisas?" perguntou Nicodemus.

"Você é um professor de Israel e não sabe essas coisas?"

Jesus respondeu.

"Em verdade vos digo, falamos o que sabemos e testemunhamos o que vimos, mas vocês não aceitam nosso testemunho".

Se eu lhe falei de coisas terrenas e você não acredita, como você acreditará se eu lhe falar de coisas celestiais?

Ninguém subiu ao céu, exceto aquele que desceu do céu - o Filho do Homem,

It is hard to get by in this world without the right credentials.

You need a Passport to legally cross a national border or a driver’s license to prove your identity within the United States.

After Covid, sometimes you need a immunization card to go to a concert, see a sports event, or even go to some restaurants.

Some jobs require that you have certain training or skills.

Maybe a recognition as certified plumber or welder.

You want one of those high paying jobs you need to have proof you are qualified to do them.

These certifications are hard to get.

Other jobs require college, sometimes a decade worth of education to get Doctorate.

No diploma- no way to get hired.

Some of these credentials can be really hard to get.

I remember moving from RI to NY and being turned down for for the “enhanced” drivers license because I couldn’t prove I was really Gary Whitney and that I had moved from RI to NY.

The enhanced license was needed to get on a plane, or travel from NY to Canada and back without a passport.

They gave me a basic license that was less valuable.

Truly, that irritated me.

Has anything like that ever happened to you?

Where you needed some type of credential to do what you needed to do, and you couldn’t get it?

Sometimes it is an inconvenience, sometimes it is life changing, and sometimes it has eternal consequences.

The only credential that guarantees entrance to heaven is being born again, so that is the only credential that leads to authentic life.

There are ways to get fake credentials that let you access countries in the world.

You can buy somebodies else’s information, or even completely false identities.

There are places you can buy fake certifications and degrees.

But they are not guarantees.

And there is no way to sneak into heaven.

Remember the end of last week’s Scripture.

John 2:23–25 (CSB)

23 While he was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing.

24 Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all 25 and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.

Enquanto ele estava em Jerusalém durante o Festival de Páscoa, muitos acreditaram em seu nome quando viram os sinais que ele estava fazendo.

Jesus, no entanto, não se entregava a eles, pois os conhecia a todos e porque não precisava de ninguém para testemunhar sobre o homem; pois ele mesmo sabia o que estava no homem.

Jesus doesn’t look for a man made document, He looks inside you for the only proof that you are eligible to go to heaven.

He sees if you are Born Again!

Being Born Again is

Your Passport To Heaven- The Text In Its Context

Religious Credentials Are Not Your Passport To Heaven

Nicodemus was a powerful and respected leader of the Jewish nation who came at night to see Jesus.

He came because the leaders recognized that Jesus was a great prophet and teacher.

He probably wanted to know what Jesus was going to do.

Instead of following Nicodemus’ agenda Jesus drops a foundational statement-

John 3:3 (CSB)

3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus respondeu: "Em verdade vos digo que, a menos que alguém nasça de novo, não poderá ver o reino de Deus".

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, which meant he had serious religious credentials.Pharisees were all about obeying God’s Law.

One of the signs that Jesus is the Christ is His zeal, His passionate love, for God the Father and His House.

The Pharisees were that zealous, not in their love of God but in their passion to obey God’s law.

They were serious about obeying every command God had laid out in the Old Testament.

Judaism teaches that the Old Testament has 613 commandments—248 dos and 365 don’ts.

The Pharisees were committed to obeying every single command.

When one became a Pharisee, he pledged in front of three witnesses to uphold every detail of the law for the rest of his life.

In fact, they were so committed to obeying each command they developed additional commands based on the original 613 commandments to ensure they didn’t mistakenly violate the originals.

These extra commands were intended to put fences around God’s commands so that people couldn’t accidentally break them!

Exalting Jesus in John (Nicodemus’s Religious Credentials (John 3:1–2))

Here are a few examples.

One of the original commands was to keep the Sabbath day holy.

To keep it holy one must avoid working on the Sabbath.

The Pharisees spent time figuring out what constitutes work.

Is tying a knot on the Sabbath work?

Yes and no.

Tying a rope to a bucket to draw water from a well is work.

A lady tying a knot in her clothing on the Sabbath is not work.

So, if you need water on the Sabbath, you can have a lady tie a knot in her clothes around the handle of the bucket and lower it.

That’s acceptable (Barclay, John, 2:142).

Jeremiah 17:21 commands the Israelites not to bear a burden on the Sabbath.

What constitutes a burden?

Here are some of the questions the Pharisees asked (ibid., 143): Is moving a chair closer to the table work?

If a woman picks up a broach to pin it on, is it work?

Can a man wear dentures on the Sabbath?

Are these burdens that violate the law?

Aqui estão alguns exemplos.

Um dos comandos originais era manter santo o sábado.