Encountering Jesus

Introduction: Whenever someone knew walks into our life whether in school, a new neighbor, a new hire at work, we may have mixed feelings.

Do I want to get to know this person? Are they going to be good for this community?

Should I be the first to welcome them?

But then we start thinking? Are they cool? Not cool? How will associating with them affect me?

What if people like them more than me? What if they take some of my influence? What if they take my promotion and job?

So curiosity leads to suspicion. And suspicion can often lead to prejudice and judgement. Before we even have a chance to get to know them.

We often talk about coming to Jesus. But we often come to Jesus because we have an encounter with Jesus that makes us curious about whether he is someone worth getting to know. we look back on the things that He has done and make a decision based on all of the available information.

Is He worth it?

But in the first century Jesus was brand new. And even for John’s first reader’s they were reading His gospel, some as their first encounter with Jesus.

Each page was a cliff hanger.

We take for granted a lot of other knowledge.

But then, Jesus was the new person in the community that threatened the influence and power of a lot of people.

And even some of the language that Jesus used threatened the nation as a whole.

Because people were afraid of Rome but they were also afraid of God.

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to John 3:1-13.

If someone were to ask me how to know Jesus, I would say, read the Bible.

If they could only read 1 book, I’d say The Gospel of John.

If they could only read 1 chapter, I’d say John 3.

If they could only read 1 verse, I’d say John 3:16 (We’ll get to that after the 50th).

Today we are introduced to a man named Nicodemus.

But something else, assuming that you know nothing of Jesus and you haven’t read Matthew, Mark and Luke,

So far you know Jesus as someone John claims to be God.

You know Him as someone with the supernatural ability to turn water into wine.

You know His zeal for His Father’s house and that He will flip some tables and chase people with whips.

John 3 shows us the wisdom and knowledge of Jesus.

And one thing is sure, through Nicodemus we get to learn that Jesus is more than we expected.

Introduce:

Big Idea: When you COME to Jesus, CHECK your EXPECTATIONS.

Read: John 3:1-13

John 3:1–13 ESV

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 are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter 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 marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

Big Idea: When you COME to Jesus, CHECK your EXPECTATIONS.

1. JESUS made everyone CURIOUS. (John3:1-2)

Explanation: People are by nature curious. Just look at what happens on the highway when the accident is on the opposite side going the opposite way.

We doing like being on the outside of things looking in.

We have an acronym for this: FOMO. The fear of missing out.

With this, we think that we are also entitled to an opinion on everything even if we don’t have all of the information.

That’s why we are obsessed with watching court cases.

We’re curious.

Curiosity is one of humanities greatest superpowers. Curiosity leads to medical advances. Curiosity leads to solving crimes. Curiosity leads to looking at someone across the room and wondering, could this be the husband or wife God has prepared for just me.

And then it comes to Jesus. A person that the modern world is built around. His teachings are imbedding in the western world. His teachings created the western world. Our calendar is built around His life.

And still people are like, don’t push your religion on me!

And I say, aren’t you the slightest bit curious? It’s not just about the FOMO of heaven, but the FOMO of Jesus!

Nicodemus was curious. And he wanted to know more.

There is so much we don’t know. There is so much speculation.

Did he come at night because He was afraid? Who knows?

Was he sent by the Pharisees to get an answer? Who knows?

Is he buttering Jesus up by saying, “we know you are teacher from God” or does he really believe that?

All we know is he was a ruler which places him on the sandhedren. He’s a pharisee so he believes in the resurrection and angels.

And he came at night.

The point is Nicodemus did what all of us should do…he brought his curiosity to Jesus.

Illustration: The show Ted Lasso has a famous quote in the first season….”Be curious, not judgmental.” The show attributes the quote to Walt Whitman, but there is no evidence he ever said it or wrote it.

But that doesn’t change how poignant the quote is so long as you apply it correctly.

We are certainly called to be curious and we are certainly called to be judgmental.

The pharisees were judgmental of Jesus…Later they would be judgmental of the apostles.

The romans were judgmental of Christianity.

But all along the way many were curious and let their curiousity bring them to Jesus.

Application: Be curious. Even if you believe in Jesus, don’t for a second think you know everything. Be curious about Jesus. Be curious about His Word. Be curious about doctrine. About theology. Be curious about the endtimes, spiritual gifts, be curious about salvation. When someone has a different opinion than you, be curious. And live a life that makes others curious about you.

2. JESUS explains the MYSTERIES of God. (John 3:3-8)

Explanation: Jesus wastes no time. Jesus does not say thank you for your kind words.

He gets straight to the heart of Nicodemus’ inward struggle. What separates those who are curious from those who are condemning.

You must be born again.

You can’t even see me for who I really am unless it is granted you from above.

John’s Gospel more than the others presents the order of salvation as God moves first by bringing about a transformation in our soul allowing us to believe. This will become apparent as we move forward.

John 6:64 ESV

64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)

He we have our doctrine of regeneration. You must be born again. This is a mystery to the jewish people that thought being born in the family of Abraham was enough. That was their claim to salvation. But Jesus says, no a second change must take place.

Nicodemus understands this incorrectly or maybe he is mocking Jesus as someone He’s not yet ready to believe.

John 3:4 ESV

4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus response reveals that He is talking about spiritual rebirth we has no basis in your biological family.

Water is not physical birth as some have claimed. It’s probably not even baptism though the spiritual reality of cleansing is mirrored in the physical act of water baptism.

But ultimately it is the regeneration of the Holy Spirit that changes us and allows us to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus contrasts the spirit with the flesh here.

Jesus is demonstrating a deep understanding of the OT in saying this.

Joel 2:28 ESV

28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

To many of the Jewish people this seemed very symbolic and figurative. Surely God would not literally pour out His spirit on people.

And then we can go to Acts 2. The biggest problem with the Jews was their propensity to allegorize or make everything in their scriptures that they didn’t understand figurative. I would argue that’s our modern day mistake as well.

We must take the Bible literally under there is absolutely no way we can.

Jesus is being very literal here.

It is the Holy Spirit that transforms us into citizens of the Kingdom.

Which means we must be changed.

Illustration: I think this is one of the things that we struggle with the most in Christianity.

On the one hand, we are invited to come as we are. We don’t have to measure. We can be broken. We can be bruised. We allowed to not be ok.

But make no mistake, God will transform you and change you.

Romans 8:29 ESV

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

If you are His, you will be born again.

Application: I think one of the things that we are most curious about in Christianity is “How can can I know that I’m actually saved?”

How do I know I’ve been born again?

How can I have confidence that I am entering into the kingdom of God?

And this is where the Gospel of John is clear. He wants us to believe…but He wants that believe to lead to life change.

If there is no change in your life. If you are still glorifying your sin. If there is no surrender and no outward confession that Jesus is the Christ…how can you be confident that are truly saved.

This is an invitation to be curious as we look inward at ourselves.

But Nicodemus doesn’t get it. And Jesus calls him out on it.

3. JESUS humbles the supposedly LEARNED. (John 3:9-13)

Explanation: “How can these things be?”

We’ve heard that before.

Zachariah asked the angel that in Luke 1:18 and couldn’t speak for 9 months.

Mary asked the Angel in Luke 1:34 and was commended for her curious faith.

What we learn from those 2 encounters is that tone matters. And tone reflects the inner workings of the heart.

What kind of tone does Nicodemus have?

Well look at Jesus’ response:

John 3:10 ESV

10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?

I would have felt this big.

Nicodemus, you’ve been to seminary twice. You serve on the Leadership Team of Israel. You have years of ministry and everyone tells you your sermons are great….but you don’t know this simple thing?

This is basic.

And at the heart of this is belief

And if you don’t understand this, you won’t understand what is coming next. Because Jesus is going to tell Nicodemus who He is.

Jesus is the one who descended from heaven….the Word became fresh.

He is the one worthy to tell us spiritual things.

He’s also the one that is worthy to tell us that the Law is not enough to save you. That who your parents and grandparents are is not enough to save you.

You must be born as a baby and then later in life, you must be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And this isn’t new. The Holy Spirit was placed on people throughout the OT. But now, He is our downpayment on the eternal life.

Nicodemus does not speak again in this encounter. He is humbled by the person and words of Jesus.

And I will venture a guess that His whole world came crashing down that night.

Illustration: Have you ever had your worldview wrecked when you figured out you were wrong about something?

What do you do with that knowledge?

When confronted with Jesus, people have their worldview challenged. But are they willing to abandon their worldview and embrace the truth in Christ? Or do they hold fast to their life because they’ve invested so much time in it? Or worse, they aren’t willing to give up what it will cost.

I think of all of the muslims in the world that are coming to Jesus at rates greater than any other people group….and it’s costing them their lives.

Will your humility allow you to let go.

Application: Don’t be arrogant when it comes to the truth.

John told us these things because we are Nicodemus in this scenario. We are faced with a truth that challenges everything our culture has taught us to believe.

Believe and have eternal life.

Keep in your unbelief and eternal torment awaits you.

Something that we will learn in the Gospel of John that we begin to see in Nicodemis is there’s not such thing as half-way Christians. You are all in or you are all out.

Response: Are you READY to BELIEVE?

Summation:Big Idea: When you COME to Jesus, CHECK your EXPECTATIONS.

1. JESUS made everyone CURIOUS. (John3:1-2)

2. JESUS explains the MYSTERIES of God. (John 3:3-8)

3. JESUS humbles the supposedly LEARNED. (John 3:9-13)

Closing Illustration: So what does Nicodemus do with this encounter with Jesus?

Nicodemus is one of the most important and often ignored character in scripture.

Because this is not the last we hear from him. In fact, outside of Peter, James, and John, no one else gets the screen time that Nicodemus gets.

He’s going to show up in John 7 and we begin to see the change that is happening in him.

The entire sanhedrin wants Jesus arrested and killed.

Nicodemus speaks up:

John 7:44–52 ESV

44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. 45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

Has any of the authorities believed in Him?

And then Nicodemus speaks up in Jesus’ defense….so the answer is maybe.

And how do they respond? They redicule Nicodemus and call him a Galilean. But we see a change that has happened.

And then finally in John 19:38-40

John 19:38–40 ESV

38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

There is no question here that Nicodemus has become a follower of Jesus. Can you imagine what the other members of the Sanhedrin thought?

Joseph and Nicodemus publically accepting the body of Jesus for burial. The idea of a secret disciple is now overshadowed by the public actions taken in honor of Jesus.

And what Nicodemus brought for the burial amounted to a small fortune.

Nicodemus character arc come full circle as he participates in what Jesus’ on public disciples are too scared to do…to honor Jesus.

This was public act of rebellion.

John uses Nicodemus to show us what true belief looks like.

It doesn’t always happen all at once.

It often takes more than one encounter, but in the end, Nicodemus’ curiosity led to a powerful life change that echoes even to today.

Has your life been changed by an encounter with Jesus? What’s different?

Let’s pray.