Nicodemus' Questions
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Good Morning, how are we?
So if I were to offer $20 to the first person who could quote a Bible verse with the reference, what verse do you think we would probably hear? You don’t pay me enough to be giving away that kind of money, but if I did…I would guess that John 3:16 would probably be the first verse that we hear. It is one of the most popular verses in the world.
Well at least the most popular one that people can remember the reference to. Many people would argue that: “Judge Not, lest you be judged” is now more quoted, or more accurately misquoted, but nobody knows where that verse is from (Matthew 7:1 btw).
But if you are put on the spot for a Bible verse with the reference - John 3:16 is probably your go-to verse.
Let’s do a little group experiment to see how many of us know some or all the words to this verse, say it with me if you know it…I’ll start you off.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Well done, I knew you would know it. You can all see Nick about your $20.
And it is right that this verse has become so popular over the years, because is is so powerful. It really is. Unfortunately things that become so familiar sometimes get overlooked because we are always looking for the newest, fanciest and freshest ideas.
Have you stopped to consider the Good News of this little verse John 3:16 lately? That it is God’s love for us that caused Him to act on our behalf, and not only did He act, but He acted sacrificially, in giving us His only Son, that if any one of us would believe in His Son we will live forever with Him. So that death really isn’t death for us ... like many of us heard on Wed as we remembered our sister Dorothy.
The Gospel message is laid out so clearly and profoundly in this verse that it is a fundamental verse for Christians who want to be able to share their faith with other people. We tend to over complicate everything over time, but it all really starts with this simple truth.
Tension
And do you know where this verse is found? I mean yeah sure obviously you know it is at John 3:16 we just talked about that, but do you know the context of this verse, or what is happening around the verse? Do you know who is saying these words and who they are saying them too? Do you know when they are meeting or where they are meeting at? None of these things take anything away from the profound truths of John 3:16, but they do have the potential to add weight and significance to them.
And this is the kind of thing that we are after this year in our series called CHRISTOS. We want to hold on to the foundational truths that we already know about Jesus the Christ, but also we want to dive even deeper into out knowledge of the life, ministry and mission of Jesus and learn what else there can be learned. To grow more like Jesus in ways that we know we have room to grow, and knowing the background behind this verse will serve us well in this goal.
You see even though John 3:16 is used around the world to introduce thousands of people to the Gospel, these words were originally spoken by Jesus himself to just one man.
At this point, Jesus was well into his public ministry, having taught in front of large crowds and done many miraculous signs that caused people to believe that He was more than just the average Rabbi. His reputation for miracles and teaching with power and authority was gaining him a religious following, and this of course was a very threatening thing to the religions leaders that the people had been following before...the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
We have talked about the differences between these two different sects of religious leaders in weeks past, but one of the places in which they came together was in an elite group of decision makers called the “Sanhedrin”. This group was something like our Congress and Supreme Court all rolled into one. It was made up of 71 men, representatives from both the liberal Sadduccees and the conservative Pharisees, with the swing vote being the High Priest himself.
Now you might say, I thought Rome ruled over the Jews during Jesus’ day and you would be right, but as the Roman Empire spread over so many different cultures and people groupls, they found it more efficient to allow for lower courts of justice to continue as before, as long as it didn’t get in the way of Roman ambitions. So the Sanhedrin was free to rule over religious and civil matters and even issue penalties, with the notable exception of the death penalty. Only Roman rulers could execute someone...which plays a significant role in Jesus’ story later on.
But the reason I am talking all this 1st century politics with you is because the words of John 3:16 were privately spoken by Jesus... to probably the most unlikely of candidates - a member in good standing of this elite group of rules, a Pharisee of the Sanhedrin named Nicodemus.
Nicodemus was not a simple minded man, he would have been well educated in both politics and religion, so the conversation surrounding the iconic words of John 3:16 spans the rich landscape of the Christian world view, and it all happens when this ruler Nicodemus comes to talk to Jesus under cloak of darkness.
There is a lot in here, and I will do my best to point us to many of the highlights, but it is my sincere hope that you take some time to read and re-read this passage this coming week. I know that you will be the better for it. But for now, let’s open our Bibles to John chapter 3, page 887 let me pray and we will dive into this journey together.
Truth
Our first them that we will see unfold in this private meeting is that:
1. We experience new life only through the Spirit’s work in our lives (John 3:1-9)
1. We experience new life only through the Spirit’s work in our lives (John 3:1-9)
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.”
Remember last week we talked about how John liked to emphasize the use of the words “signs” over “miracles” and here we have even a Pharisee recognizing the impact of these miraculous signs. Unlike most of Jesus’ interactions with other Pharisees, Nicodemus shows Jesus respect, even recognizing that Jesus must have come from God. We are not exactly sure who Nicodemus was representing when he says “We know...” these things, but it is doubtful that he is speaking for all the Pharisees as many of them accused Jesus of doing his “signs” by the power of Satan.
And then there is his choice to meet with Jesus at night. Could this be to avoid being seen with Jesus during the day time? Probably. Basically we just don’t know what Nicodemus believes about Jesus, except that he knows enough to want to know more.
And in answer to Nicodemus’ respectful greeting, Jesus gets right to the heart of what He knows Nicodemus wants to know…
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus doesn’t even seem to respond to Nicodemus’ greeting, but jumps right on in to tell this learned Jewish leader exactly what he, and even we, need to hear. We must be born again!
You have probably heard that phrase before “born again”, it is a common phrase among Christians to describe what becoming a true Christian is really like. A “Born Again Christian” points to our being made new creations in Christ. Sometimes, for various reasons, Christians shy away from using the language “born again”. Maybe it sounds too “cliche” or “religious” but considering this is the language that Jesus used, it seems like we should feel free to use it. Maybe we don’t use it because we really don’t understand it, if that is true then we are in the same boat as Nicodemus - although probably for different reasons.
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.
Nicodemus probably wasn’t misunderstanding in the same way that one of us might the first time we heard someone say “You must be born again”. To us it seems like an oxymoron, but this was not a new idea to Nicodemus, or any other Jewish leader. This is same language that they used every time a “gentile” wanted to convert to Judaism. Because Gentiles were not “born” Jewish they would need to go through a process of “being born again” in order to become Jewish.
If Jesus had said, “Unless Gentiles are born again they will not see the kingdom of God” Nicodemus would have said “Amen, preach it brother” or whatever the ancient equivalent of approval may have been. But Jesus said that “everyone” must be born again…including those who were already Jewish.
This is where Nicodemus’ rather ridiculous comment comes from. If you are already Jewish, then the only way to be “born again” now is to re-enter your mothers womb. But Jesus was ushering in a whole new way of being “born again” one that was not based in a Jewish Heritage, but in Spiritual transformation.
Fundamentally, we are returning to the doctrine that has been popping up a lot the last several weeks. The idea that Jesus came as the second Adam, one born with a human nature but without a sinful nature. Being “born of water” is being born in the flesh, or being born of Adam. It is how we come into this world as infants. But Jesus is saying that we all must be “ born again” or “born of the Spirit”. It is not another physical birth, but a new birth in Christ that the Spirit works out in our lives.
And Jesus continues to explain these things to Nicodemus
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?”
Jesus illustrates the work of the “Spirit” by using what amounts to a play on words for us. In both Greek and Hebrew, the word for “wind” is the same word that they use for Spirit. This is a fitting comparison as Jesus explains how you can see the effects of the wind, but you cannot control it. This is the same with the work of the Holy Spirit. We cannot control it, but we can submit to His work in our lives and when we do we become the kind of “born again that Jesus is talking about.
1. We experience new life only through the Spirit’s work in our lives (John 3:1-9)
1. We experience new life only through the Spirit’s work in our lives (John 3:1-9)
2. We receive salvation through faith in Christ’s life, death and resurrection (John 3:10-17).
2. We receive salvation through faith in Christ’s life, death and resurrection (John 3:10-17).
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?
You know if we had not spent so much time looking at the Gospel message through out the Old Testament last year, we might think that Jesus is being a little unfair here. I mean how can he judge Nicodemus for not knowing about the salvation that he is going to purchase for us on the cross, when he hasn’t even gone to the cross yet. How could Nicodemus have even known?
Because he had the Old Testament, more than that, as a member of the Sanhedrin he would have known it well, and so Jesus continues to teach this “teacher of Isreal” from the doctrines that Nicodemus already knew - the Old Testament.
13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Jesus is directing this learned Pharisee towards two well known passages in the Old Testament. The first one is a prophetic verse from Daniel Chapter 7 verse 13 and 14 where it says:
13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
The “Son of Many” was Jesus’ favorite way of referring to himself, and Daniel 7 is certainly one reason why. That this “Son of Man” would be given an eternal Kingdom that shall not be destroyed, and that this Kingdom would be a Kingdom made up of “all peoples, nations and languages”
But Jesus doesn’t stop here, he also gives Nicodemus a picture of how this eternal Kingdom would be established. This second reference is from the days of Moses, when God brought salvation to His rebellious people in a very visual and foretelling way:
5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Remember when we looked at this story last year in The Gospel Project? What a great picture of the Salvation that Jesus will bring hundreds of years later, and here Jesus is pointing back to it…once again affirming the value in studying and knowing the Old Testament.
Notice how God did not remove the snakes. They were still going around and injecting their poison into God’s people, but he provided a way to be saved from the effects of the poison. They only had to look to the serpent that was on the pole to receive their salvation.
It is doubtful that Nicodemus understood all this at this point, but I wonder if he was able to remember these things when this Rabbi who sat before him was arrested, beaten and then raised up on the cross.
Just as God’s people had to have the faith to look upon the bronze serpent to receive their salvation, we too have to have to look to Jesus for our salvation through faith. And believe it or not, it is against the backdrop of these two Old Testament references that we find our favorite New Testament verse:
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
1. We experience new life only through the Spirit’s work in our lives (John 3:1-9)
1. We experience new life only through the Spirit’s work in our lives (John 3:1-9)
2. We receive salvation through faith in Christ’s life, death and resurrection (John 3:10-17).
2. We receive salvation through faith in Christ’s life, death and resurrection (John 3:10-17).
3. We have a future determined by our response to Jesus (John 3:18-21)
3. We have a future determined by our response to Jesus (John 3:18-21)
It is easy to like the verse John 3:16. It’s focus is on God’s love for us, how he has sacrificed for us and how all he asks is that we trust in Him and we will be saved. We love that part of the message, but then there is the other side of the coin. The part that many people just can’t get over. The side that recognizes that it is the judgement and wrath of this loving God that we are being saved from in the first place! .
This is one of the biggest reasons that people say they cannot become a Christian. They argue that they cannot believe in a loving God would “send people to hell”. How could this God who created us, knows us, and says He loves us…then judge us and send His wrath on us. That cannot be loving, can it?
I have often wished that there wasn’t a break between verses 16 and 17 so that the words in this next verse were just as well known as the ones before. I think it would us with questions like this.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Do you hear the significance of this next verse in answer to that question? How powerful this is? Jesus was not sent as the judge to condemn, that is much later in the story, Jesus came to be the hero who rescues us because we already stand condemned! Jesus did not come to “send people to Hell”, we came to save us because we were already on our way there. A fate that is a result of our sinful nature and our sinful choices.
Listen to how Jesus continues to explain this to Nicodemus:
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
When Jesus calls us to follow Him, it is because the path we are on already leads to death, and He is offering us the only way out. But it is a limited time offer as Jesus explains to Nicodemus... our response is needed right now:
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
You see the true reason that people do not come to Jesus is not because they cannot reconcile a loving God who would judge sin, but because they love their darkness more than the light. They don’t want to come out into the light that shows their works for what they really are. They are choosing the darkness. And you might say, “How can you say that Pastor Dan, that is so harsh and judgmental” well…I didn’t say it, Jesus is saying it, and what we have to realize is that ...each of us, has a future that is determined by our response to Him
Gospel Application
In the end, we are not sure how Nicodemus really responded to Jesus. John records that Nicodemus continued as a member of the Sanhedrin and even once tried to stand up for Jesus, only to be shot down and accused of being one of Jesus’ backward followers. And later, after Jesus had been raised up on the cross and died, it was this same Nicodemus who provided expensive spices for Jesus’ burial. So maybe that too points to his being a follower…I don’t know, but I hope so, because none of us have any hope apart from Jesus.
But when we do put our faith and trust in Jesus the Christ, then nothing can separate us from that salvation found in Him. Ephesians 1:13 says
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
1. We experience new life only through the Spirit’s work in our lives (We must be born again, born of the Spirit)
1. We experience new life only through the Spirit’s work in our lives (We must be born again, born of the Spirit)
2. We receive salvation through faith in Christ’s life, death and resurrection (we bring nothing to the table)
2. We receive salvation through faith in Christ’s life, death and resurrection (we bring nothing to the table)
3. Our future determined by our response to Jesus
3. Our future determined by our response to Jesus
Landing
Lastly this morning I just wanted to point out that Jesus was talking to a Pharisee. I know that might seem like something we already covered…extensively…but I just wanted us to step back from it for a moment in order to bring it into our world. There are a lot of divisive issues in our world right now. A lot voices that are yelling very loudly in polar opposite directions, so much so that it doesn’t seem to take much to say the wrong thing and find yourself making an enemy, even though you never intended to.
Even a quick reading of the story of Jesus would show us how the Pharisees set themselves up as enemies of Jesus, and yet Jesus was willing to make time - even at an inconvenient hour - to enter into a conversation with one of them. My prayer is that we would be like Jesus in this, and that we too would never allow the divisions that this world wants to drag us deep into, keep us from being open, even desiring to walk into any opportunity to give a reason for the hope that we have - no matter who it is that is asking.
Would you pray into this with me today...
