Sermon Tone Analysis

*JOHN:  DIVISION I*

*THE REVELATION OF JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, 2:1-3:21*

*»*Front Matter  *»*Book Intro

*»*Detailed Outline  *»*Index

*D.Revelation 4: The New Birth, 3:1-15*

(3:1-15) *Introduction*: the new birth, along with God’s great love (John 2:16-17), is the \\ most important revelation ever made in all of human history.

Jesus revealed the new \\ birth.

1.Nicodemus approached Jesus (*v.1-2*).

2.The new birth: a necessity, an imperative (v.3).

3.The new birth: a spiritual birth (v.4-8).

4.The new birth: a true experience (v.9-11).

5.The new birth: rejected (v.11-12).

6.The new birth: revealed only by Jesus (v.13).

7.The new birth: secured by two acts (v.14-15).

*DEEPER STUDY #1*  (3:1-15) *New Birth— Born Again— New Creation— \\ Regeneration*

 

*1.

*(3:1-2) *Nicodemus*: Nicodemus approached Jesus.

Note these facts about \\ Nicodemus.

1.He was a ruler (archon) of the Jews.

This means he was a senator or a member of \\ the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews (see Deeper Study #1—Matthew 26:59).

a.

He was a Pharisee (see Deeper Study #3—Acts 23:8).

b.He was the /master of Israel/ (John 3:10, ho didaskalos); that is, he held some \\ official position of the highest rank.

He was either the /leading official/ or the \\ /leading teacher/ of Israel who was either authorized or accepted as such by the \\ public.

*DEEPER STUDY #1*

(26:59) *Sanhedrin*: the ruling body of the nation of Israel, both the governing council and supreme court of the Jews.

It had seventy-one members and was presided over by the High Priest.

Its membership was made up of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes or lawyers

d.He was silent at the trial of Jesus, saying nothing to defend Jesus, but he boldly \\ stepped forth after the Lord’s death and publicly helped in the burial of Jesus \\ (John 19:39-42).

2.*He came in behalf of the religionists.*

He said, “*/We/** know.”*

Some of the \\ religionists wondered if Jesus was the true Messiah, thinking that perhaps He was.

Some \\ eventually become believers (cp.

*Luke 13:31; Acts 6:7; Acts 15:5; Acts 18:8, Acts 17).

* \\ Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah and performing the spectacular works that were \\ prophesied of the Messiah; therefore,

 He was the talk of everyone throughout the nation.

\\ The rulers were questioning and wondering*: Is He really the Messiah?* (See note— \\ Matthew 21:8-9; note—Matthew 21:23*.)

This was the question, the thing that \\ Nicodemus felt compelled to find out.

(See Deeper Study #2—Matthew 1:18.)

Note that *

\\ Nicodemus came to Jesus at night.

He apparently did this because he /feared/ the other \\ leaders who opposed Jesus.

John seemed to be saying this at the burial of Jesus (cp*.

John \\ 19:39).

*

*3.He acknowledged Jesus only as a teacher from God*.

He and others saw the \\ miracles Jesus did, and they knew something: only a man from God could do such \\ miracles.

4.In essence, Nicodemus was asking,* “Who are you?

The miracles show that God is \\ /with you/, but you are claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of God.

Are you—truthfully— \\ in all honesty?”*

Note that Jesus did not answer Nicodemus directly.

He saw into the empty, searching \\ heart of Nicodemus and saw the honesty of his question.

So Jesus went right to the heart \\ of the matter.

Miracles and signs were not what was important.

What was important was \\ for Nicodemus to be changed: changed spiritually, changed within, and changed \\ completely—to undergo such a spiritual change that it could only be described as being \\ born again.

*2.

*(3:3) *New Birth*: the new birth is a necessity, an imperative.

Two facts show this:

1.The strong assertion, “Except a man be born again.”

The word “again” \\ ( PWS: 80) has three different meanings in Greek.

It means...

/From the first/: from the beginning or completely and fully (cp.

Luke 1:3).

/Again/: a second time, a repeated act (John 3:4) (cp.

Galatians 4:9).

/From above/: from the top, which means from God (cp.

John 19:11).

The point is this.

A man must be “born again.”

He must be...

born completely and fully, a complete and full change.

born all over /again/, in the sense of a second time.

born /from above/, from God.

*2.The importance of the words, “cannot see the kingdom of God.”*

One must be \\ “born again” or else he will never “see*” (John 3:3*) nor “enter” (*John 3:5)* the Kingdom \\ of God.

It is an absolute imperative that a person be born again (*John 3:7*).

(See Deeper \\ Study #3, Kingdom of God—Matthew 19:23-24.)

*“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is \\ condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only \\ begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).*

* “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through \\ Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).*

*3.

*(3:4-8) *New Birth*: the new birth is a spiritual birthNicodemus was puzzled by the words “born again.

” He did not know what Jesus meant.

\\ He understood Jesus to be saying that a man must be born a “second time.”

Jesus \\ *answered Nicodemus by doing five things.

*

*1.Jesus gave the /source of the new birth/*.

It was being born of water

3:5 for discussion.)

* *

*(3:5) Water— Spirit: the word “/and/” (kai PWS: 137) can also be translated “even.”

The \\ way it is translated here is left up to the translator.

In light of the rest of Scripture, it \\ probably should be translated “even.”

This would mean that water with all of its \\ cleansing power is a symbol of the Holy Spirit: “Except a man be born of water, even the \\ Spirit, He cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”*

*2.Jesus /repeated the importance/ of being born again.*

*Note what John 3:3 says: a \\ man “can never see” (grasp, understand, know, experience) the Kingdom of God; John \\ 3:5 says a man “can never enter” (gain entrance to) the Kingdom of God*.

3.Jesus gave the /nature/ of the new birth.

It is spiritual, The \\ flesh cannot bridge the gap between flesh and spirit.

Flesh is only flesh; it has no power \\ to be born again, to become spirit (*John 1:14).

*

*4.Jesus re-emphasized the absolute necessity of the new birth.

“Ye must be born \\ again.”

The word “must” () means absolute necessity, an imperative.

*

*5.Jesus illustrated the point by picturing the wind.

The Spirit of God works just like \\ the wind.

We may not know how the wind works, but we can see the effects.

It is the \\ same with the Spirit of God: we may not know /how/ He works, but we can see the effects \\ of His working.

*

 

*“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons \\ of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, \\ nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13**).*