God vs. Man

Review

Based upon the Prologue, we expect to learn:

God was in the flesh living in the world.

His own did not receive him.

A birth from God by believing in Jesus’ name enables someone to become a child of God.

The world is in darkness. Something is wrong with it.

We need to appreciate the full implications of the fall:

We fail of God’s glory (God’s nature, and his purpose in making us).

We are imperfect individuals:

We often attribute purer motives to ourselves than we should.

We lack knowledge even of ourselves.

We can be mislead by ourselves and others without knowing/realizing it.

God is omniscient.

Ps. 139.

Background:

Jesus, his family, and his disciples have come to Jerusalem for the Passover (Jn. 2:12,13).

Jesus has run the pre-approved animals out of the Temple, and he has overturned the tables for exchanging currency.

Jesus challenged the Jewish leaders to “destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it.”

Jn. 2:23 also gives us important background information for the setting of what John describes next.

It all is a prelude to Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus.

The Appearance of the Right Things:

After providing background information, John, the gospel writer, explains something that sounds good to us.

Jesus had done a plurality of “signs.”

“Many believed in his name”

They did this “while observing his signs which he was doing.”

The gospel writer intends for the reader to conclude that upon observing Jesus’ signs, many trusted in his identity, his person.

By design, the language sounds right and echoes many of the key points raised in Jn. 1.

The Reality of Jesus’ Deity:

The Gospel Writer illustrates Jesus’ deity through His omniscience.

Note the play on the word “believe.”

Jesus was not entrusting himself to them.

This invites deeper consideration because all the language sounds like the best possible language.

Why would Jesus distrust a people who are believing in Him?

John gives two reason for his distrust:

Because he knows all.

This could refer only to that circumstance and those people.

This could be a blanket reality: He knows all.

We cannot escape God’s superior knowledge of us than even our own.

Because he was not having a need for someone to explain the human being to him.

He understood humanity in all possible ways.

The Gospel now plays upon this word “τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.”

This connects the second statement back to the first.

Something is wrong with humanity, and Jesus not only knew that, but he knew it affected the majority who “believed in him.”

What could that be?

What is wrong with man?

An Illustration of Man

We should pay close attention to John’s choice of words.

Note that it is no longer “man” with the article.

This man provides insight into the human problem that Jesus knew.

Nicodemus receives a thorough introduction.

John wants us to see the weight of his position.

We know two important things about him:

He is “from the Pharisees.”

He is one ruling over the Jews, ie. he was a member of the Sanhedrin council.

Part 2: Introduction:

We know that one topic being explored is the human being.

Something makes us untrustworthy and fickle.

We misinterpret events or misunderstand.

The writer uses this conversation to drive home the main claims of the work’s prologue.

With the formal introduction Nicodemus receives, we are brought into a world of teaching, academic, and judicial knowledge.

This is a common NT theme.

Pharisees as “blind guides”:

Mt. 15:12-14; Mt. 23:16-26.

Lk. 6:39-42.

Jn. 3:10; 5:39.

Ro. 2:18-3:1.

Nicodemus Initiates the Conversation:

Nicodemus treats Jesus as an equal:

He calls him “rabbi.”

He claims the council knows he has come from God as a teacher.

He bases this claim on the evidence.

Note how Jesus repeats Nicodemus’ words but gets to the heart of the issue.

Jesus speaks with authority.

A Tragic Misunderstanding:

When the synoptic gospels introduce John the Baptist, he always issues a challenge that strikes at the heart of a common misconception:

Mt. 3:7-9.

Lk. 3:7-8.

Jn. 8:30-37.

Birth as a Jew did not ensure being in the Messianic kingdom.

Paul addresses this in Romans, but he especially does so in Phil. 3.

Jesus States Reality:

His language intentionally mirrors or parrots that of Nicodemus.

Notice the conditional (negative) “unless”.

The gospel writer presents a “question” through the choice of terms.

How are we supposed to understand the term “again”?

Titus 3:5-7. (παλιγγενεσίας)

1 Peter 1:3. (ἀναγεννήσας)

We cannot see or enter the kingdom of God apart from a second birth.

Jn. 1:12-13.