The Book of John -19

Introduction: As we closed last lesson we were looking at the first ten verses of John 3.

These first ten verses show us The World’s Greatest Tragedy.

In verse 1 we are introduced to Nicodemus.

In verse 2 we see how Nicodemus started this conversation with the Lord.

What follows is the Lord’s reply helping Nicodemus to understand the necessity of being born again.

After verse number 5 the Lord exposes truth to Nicodemus by declaring the fact of the new birth.

Remember in verse 5 we saw the source of the new birth is God.

Then the comparison is made between a physical birth and a spiritual birth.

Notice with me verse 6.

John 3:6 “6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Born of the flesh ---> is flesh.

Born of the Spirit --->is spirit.

Here the Lord gives a similitude that we can easily understand.

We are born into this world in the flesh. Every human alive understands and can grasp this example.

This is seen in fundamental law of kinds.

It is found in Genesis 1 and expressly speaks against the lie of evolution.

Genesis 1:11 “11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.”

Genesis 1:21 “21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

Genesis 1:24 “24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.”

You can see also Genesis 1:25; 6:20; 7:14.

“Cats do not become dogs, and monkeys do not become men. Each creature reproduces according to its kind.” - John Philips

Thus we discover that Adam could only produce after His kind.

Genesis 5:3 “3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:”

Fallen man can only produce fallen man.

I think Paul expressed it aptly when he stated in Romans 7:18 “18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”

After this plain similitude the Lord reinforces this statement, but then as I pointed out in the last lesson broadens the imperative to all men.

John 3:7 “7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

In effect he Lord is saying Do not be so shocked about this.

Sometimes when our eyes are opened to truth, we are shocked by it. We may be found as Nicodemus expressing doubt mixed with surprise, “How can these things be?”

Was there no evidence or allusion to the work of the Holy Spirit concerning redemption in the Old Testament?

Listen to these words in Ezekiel 36:25-27 “25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

This passage in Ezekiel is dealing with the Nation of Israel and looks to a time when they shall be changed, but it illustrates the truth of God’s plan of redemption and the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration.

This is spoke of by Jeremiah as well in Jeremiah 31:33 “33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, And write it in their hearts; And will be their God, And they shall be my people.”

Just as physical birth is a definite experience so it is with spiritual birth. It is a definite experience.

We see further in verse 8 how the Lord gives a second earthly example for us to understand truth.

John 3:8 “8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

The first similitude was to explain the necessity of the spiritual birth and it’s similarity to physical birth.

The second similitude is used to explain the unseen work of the Holy Spirit.

And this comparison is shown between the wind and the Holy Spirit.

The wind:

Operates according to its own course. (We do not know how it works.)

Produces some affects that can be noticed.

Produces some affects that can not be visibly seen.

You see the “wind has its own laws. It is not answerable to human demands and dictates. Its paths are mysterious…”

As good as they get or do not get at predicting the weather, there are always weather events that take man by surprise.

I think about the multitude of data we use with complex models to predict the paths and strength of hurricanes and yet we still are limited in our ability to predict exactly what will take place.

We think further of tornados… these though sometimes predicted are often only identified when or after they occur.

Likewise the Holy Spirit:

Operates according to His will. (We may not know how He works exactly, but we do know according to God’s Word that He does.)

Produces some affects in the believer that are manifested.

(While there are other things spoken about in the Scriptures that take place that are not visible. For instance, at the moment of Salvation the Holy Spirit indwells the believer (Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 6:19). Can this be seen? No. At the moment of Salvation the seal upon the believer is the Holy Spirit. (II Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13). Can this be seen?)

Is unseen.

In the Greek and also the Hebrew the word for Spirit signifies wind/breath (Greek- pneuma/Hebrew- ruach).

We think about the awesome power of the wind in a hurricane or tornado and then think of the gentleness of the wind blowing on the face on a summer day.

Likewise so it is with the awesome power of our God and yet how often He deals with us in gentleness.

We see as this explanation is given the response that from Nicodemus in verse 9.

John 3:9 “9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?”

This is the statement of a man that has been given light.

When God rolls back the curtain of deception that is in this world, it is shocking to say the least.

To me there is a glimmer of hope in this statement. He did not respond, These things cannot be!

But rather He is expressing how enormous this revelation of truth was for him to grasp.

The example is given of a minster trying to witness to a doctor. The minister explained the great themes of the Bible concerning God’s plan of redemption. He spoke to the doctor of man’s sin and seperation from God, he spoke of forgiveness, he spoke to him of God’s grace. But nothing seemed to make sense until he mentioned the word regeneration. He told the doctor, you must be born again.

The truth of that statement was applied to the heart of the doctor. He understood this matter of being born as he had attended to the delivery of many babies. He exclaimed, “That’s what I need. A baby has no past---only a future! That’s what I need.” (Illustration - John Philips)

This is what is being declared, “Ye must be born again…”

I am thankful that in this passage, the Lord continues this conversation. He does not stop after Nicodemus expresses his amazement and disbelief.

It demonstrates two things,

(1) That the Lord is so gracious and longsuffering toward us.

(2) That God desires for men to be saved.

Notice what the Lord states in verse 10.

John 3:10 “10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?”

Worldly knowledge or even religious head knowledge without God’s illumination is truly useless.

Nicodemus’ career is put up against this basic revelation of truth.

Are you a teacher of God’s Holy Word and do not know these things?

In verses 11-15, the Lord is going bring Nicodemus to some revelation concerning Himself and the Old Testament Scriptures.

Nicodemus knew much concerning the law, the writings and the prophets. He was a teacher of these things.

He not only taught these things, but the assumption is being a Pharisee, he lived his live according to what he believed.

The interpreters of the law, missed the many types, pictures and intimations that God gave concerning His only begotten Son and redemption.

And the Lord would reveal some of this to Nicodemus on this occasion.

He begins with His emphatic words, “Verily, Verily...” or truly, truly.

John 3:11 “11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.”

This statement thrusts as back to the head of the conversation where Nicodemus identifies with the religious rulers.

You will remember he states, “we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles [we have seen]that thou doest, except God be with him.” - Emphasis mine

The Lord had just pointed out his lack of understanding of spiritual truth. And now He is emphasizing that what I am telling you is not guess work, this is truth and truth is experienced.

It is one thing for people to speculate and give philosophicalanswers that sound good on paper, but have no life application.“Jesus placed before Nicodemus eternal verities, unwavering certainty, uncompromising assurance…The Lord was not setting before Nicodemus some fine philosophy, the fruit of reasoning and high-sounding speculation. He was setting before him hard facts, the kind facts an eyewitness could present.” - John Philips

And the sad part is that the religious rulers according to the Lord, “...receive not...” (vs. 11) and “...believe not...” (vs. 12) the truth.

Notice with me the next three verses:

John 3:12-15 “12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

I like what Merrill Tenney stated concerning this passage, “God’s mysteries are not the heritage of the learned, the moral, or the religious simply because of learning, morality, or religion; they are the heritage of the spiritually transformed.”

One lesson that I find in this remark by the Lord is that there are things that I am not ready to grasp.

For Nicodemus, he could not grasp those first things that pertained to this earthly life, how could he understand those things which pertained pertained to God.

The Lord had given some common earthly illustrations to speak about regeneration, the new birth. To which he exclaimed, “How can these things be?”

His inquiry was for Christ to tell Him more.

I am reminded of the Lord’s words found in John 16:7-12 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”

Paul similarity spoke to the spiritual young Christians at Corinth using similar language.

I Corinthians 3:2 “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.”

Sometimes it is we are found demanding an answer of God, to which we are dismayed when the answer does not come… Perhaps it is that we are not able to bear the answer at that moment.

The Lord then assured Nicodemus of who He is, He states, (v13) And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

This threefold statement contains positive statements of the Lord’s credentials.

The first of the clauses states, “…no man hath ascended up to heaven…”

The second builds upon the first and states, “but he that came down from heaven…”

And the third reveals the Lord’s identity, “even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

It is true that two Old Testament Saints had gone to heaven.

The one is Enoch. The Bible says in Genesis 5:24 “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Hebrews 11:5 explains what took place, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

The other is Elijah. The Word of God tells us in II Kings 2:11 “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

But in both of these cases it is God that took them to Heaven…and neither Enoch nor Elijah hath descended from Heaven to witness to us of the things in Heaven.

But the Lord is uniquely qualified to speak authoratatively of heavenly things because of who He is.

He it is whose abode is in heaven and hath both ascended and descended from Heaven.

All the prophets of Old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. None had ascended to Heaven to obtain the things of which they spoke. But the Lord Jesus Christ who is the God-man is The Truth.

And as the last clause of the statement shows He is omnipresent.

Lastly, this statement of being the Son of man has prophetic connection with Daniel 7:13 where the Jews connected the term Son of Man with the Messiah.

The Lord continues by moving to the Scriptures to aid Nicodemus in understanding.

‘Notice the next verse with me.

‘John 3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:”

The Old Testament passage that the Lord references here in verse 14 is found in Number chapter 21.

Let’s turn to Numbers 21 for a moment and look at that passage.

To give a little bit of the back story is helpful to understand the condition of the nation.

Back in Numbers chapter 13, we find the nation of Israel had come to the border of the Canaan.

They were to enter into that land by faith, for God had promised it to the descendants of Abraham.

You know the text, they sent 12 spies to check out the land.

Only two of the 12 demonstrated faith in God. The other 10 according to verse 31-33 of that chapter discouraged the nation. And in chapter 14 the Bible says that the people went along with the evil report and wept and murmured against Moses and Aaron and God.

After Moses intercedes on behalf of the people in that chapter God pronounces judgement on that generation. Those 20 years old and upward would not enter into the land, save Caleb and Joshua.

They are then turned back into the wilderness to wander.

As they travel they run into numerous difficulties.

The first is a rebellion among the Levites, the sons of Korah in chapter 16-17.

In chapters 18-19 God outlines laws for the priesthood and purification.

In chapter 20 they come to the waters of Meribah, this is where Moses strikes the rock in anger instead of speaking to the rock.

And Moses and Aaron are disallowed from entering in the promised land.

At the end of that very chapter, the nation is refused passage in their travels by Edom.

And the last verses we have the death of Aaron and Eleazar his son takes Aarons place.

This brings us to Numbers chapter 21. Lets read verses 4-9:

Numbers 21:4-9 “4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”

You can imagine in the moment this event occured and even here in our text that the people looked upon this account not understanding all of its implications as the Lord would teach.

You see the Lord Jesus Christ as the Light which lighteth every man that entereth in the world would shed more light on this event.