Good News Club: John 3 and Nicodemus

John 3:1-3 “1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.””

Who is the first person that we read about here in John 3?

Nicodemus

What are we told about Nicodemus in John 3:1?

He was a Pharisee

He was looked to as a leader among his people

What does a leader do?

He makes decisions to help others live better.

These can be people like the president and even our parents.

Can you name a leader? (take answers)

As a leader among his people, Nicodemus learned God’s Word and taught it to the people.

Do you know anyone who teaches God’s Word?

Are those people nice?

Usually they are very nice.

Even though Nicodemus taught God’s Word and was likely a nice person, Jesus is going to point out something about Nicodemus and all of us that we need.

Who was it that Nicodemus visited with according to John 3:2?

Jesus!

What time of day did Nicodemus come to visit Jesus?

At night.

What title did Nicodemus use to refer to Jesus?

Rabbi

Nicodemus helps us to understand what the title Rabbi means a little later; can anyone identify what it means to be called “Rabbi”?

A teacher, that’s right!

Nicodemus then tells helps us understand that he sees Jesus as being special.

What does Nicodemus say about Jesus that no one else can do?

Signs, special demonstrations of miraculous power that demonstrate that only God could do something like that!

Can anyone think of a special demonstration of miraculous power that we looked at last week that only Jesus could do?

Jesus turned the water into wine at the marriage party in Cana!

If only God can perform a miracle like that, then that means something about Jesus: He’s God!

Look at how Jesus responds to Nicodemus; What does Jesus say that one needs to do to see God’s kingdom, or to go to heaven?

To be born again!

What does it mean to be born?

There’s new life, right!

Jesus here is talking about new life, but new life in a way that neither Nicodemus or we would expect.

Jesus totally blows past Nicodemus’ statement about being a great teacher!

Instead, Jesus says something about what needs to happen to an individual if they are going to go to heaven.

You see, this need that Jesus points out concerning Nicodemus is a need that we all have!

We all need to be born again if we’re going to go to heaven.

Later on in our passage, Jesus is going to point to some things that help Nicodemus and us to understand why we each need to have our lives

John 3:4-8 “4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.””

Nicodemus asks a great question here!

We’re all physically born only once.

Jesus agrees with Nicodemus in John 3:6

But Jesus is not talking about physical birth.

Jesus responds to Nicodemus by telling him some important things.

What does Jesus say one must be “born of” to be “born again”?

Water and the Spirit.

The Spirit referenced here is God the Holy Spirit.

How many of you have ever felt the wind blow across your face before?

all of us have!

When you felt the wind, could you see it?

No!

But we felt its power.

Like the wind that we can feel its power when it blows by, so Jesus is saying here is that only the power of God the Spirit, Who is invisible, can bring about this powerful work of creating new life when one has been physically born once.

John 3:9-15 “9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11 “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. 12 “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. 14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.”

Notice how Jesus refers to Nicodemus here.

Jesus calls Nicodemus a teacher of Israel.

We all have teachers.

What’s a teacher?

Someone who has studied and learned so that they can share what they learned with others.

Teachers learn a lot of things.

But teachers can’t possibly learn everything there is to know.

In fact, Jesus is identifying that, in order to learn this truth about being born again or new spiritual life you need more than just your ability to learn!

You remember when Jesus say “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Jesus is building off of this idea.

The only way for Nicodemus or any of us to understand about this new birth, we need the Holy Spirit to help us.

This new birth is something that only the Holy Spirit can do.

Jesus uses a very interesting illustration in John 3:14-15.

He refers to someone named Moses.

Who was Moses?

The Lord used him to lead the nation of Israel out of slavery towards living in the land that the Lord gave them.

When the nation of Israel was on their way to this land, they sinned against God, several times.

Jesus is referring to a particular time the people sinned.

Because of their sin, the Lord punished them by sending poisonous snakes.

Do you know how the people sinned?

Num 21:5, the people spoke against the Lord.

Do you know what it means to speak against the Lord?

It means to complain!

You know what complaining is?

Complaining is where we use our words and attitudes to communicate that we do not like something because it is not going the way that we wanted (16th birthday dinner).

Have you ever complained?

All sin deserve punishment, even complaining; God is serious about sin.

Notice, Jesus says that Moses lifted something up,

What did Moses lift up?

A serpent!

Moses had made a model of a serpent and put it on a pole, as God had directed him.

The Lord said, if anyone looks to the serpent on the wooden pole, they would live (Num 21:9).

True to His Word, the Lord saved any person who trusted the Lord’s Word and looked to the model of the serpent on the wooden pole.

Jesus says that this was a picture of Himself.

Jesus said that He must be lifted up.

What was Jesus lifted up on?

A cross, that’s right.

Jesus also says that anyone who believes in Him, just like the people of Israel believed in the Lord and looked to the serpent on the wooden pole, would be saved or have eternal life.

John 3:16 “16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

What is it that God loves?

the World, all people!

This is what prompted Him to send Jesus to save us!

What must one do in order to have eternal life?

They must believe.

Nicodemus needed to believe.

So everyone in the world must also believe!

Believe that only Jesus through His death and resurrection can save us from our sins and give us new, spiritual life.