Daily with Jesus Nov. 9
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Recap - What did we learn?
Recap - What did we learn?
From the previous session we learned about the conversation/dialogue between Jesus Christ and Nicodemus. (Briefly).
We learned that one must be transformed to understand the works of God. And that transformation takes place by the work of the Spirit, when one believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we basically looked at John 3:2-5
This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
“How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
With that, let us look for today’s devotion.
In verse 6, Jesus continues His words by saying:
Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Whatever is born of flesh is flesh - the term “flesh” here does not mean “sinful nature,” but to human nature. In other words, whatever is born of human is human. But whatever is born of Spirit is spirit.
Human’s does not produce God’s children, only the Holy Spirit produces the children of God. That is, children with spirit-nature, a new nature.
Jesus here is still connecting what He said in John 3:3 “Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”” John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
In verse 7, we learn:
Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.
Nicodemus should have known these things because he was a teacher!
And so, Jesus is making clear that Jesus knows that Nicodemus is supposed to know these things, but he does not. So Jesus says, do not be amazed.
It is interesting to note that the first personal pronoun “you” used is singular. but the second “you” in the line - “you must be born again” in v. 7 is plural. What is Jesus doing here? He is giving a universal call. In order to see or experience the kingdom of God, “you” (plural) must be born again.
However, notice that Jesus was not forcing or demanding Nicodemus or the ones with him to “believe now” or believe immediately! Rather, He was just letting them know the process.
So then Jesus continues to 3:8:
The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Jesus here uses an analogy.
The wind blows where it pleases; we hear the sound of it, but we do not know where it come from or where it is going.
Can we contain wind? Can we figure out where it is coming from and where it is going? No.
So, Jesus says, is with everyone born of the Spirit.
We hear the wind, the sound it makes, but we cannot figure out the origin or the destiny of it.
The one who is born of the Spirit is likewise. We do not understand the work of the Spirit, but we can sense and see the effects of the Spirit. We can see the change in the person who is born of the Spirit.
So, how is this related to the “water and Spirit” birth?
The person who is born of the Spirit can only be understood by the birth of the water and Spirit - the one birth.
In Ezekiel 36 we learn about the work of God - His cleansings with water and transforming one with His Spirit. Here we can see a connection to Ezekiel 37, where the dead dry bones receives life by the Spirit.
In Ezekiel 37 we learn that God gives life to people. So is the case that to a spiritually dead person, only the Holy Spirit or God’s Spirit can give life - a new life, or a spiritual life.
Again, a confused question by Nicodemus.
How can this be? or How can these things be?
Jesus then questions Nicodemus - are you not a teacher and do not know these things? Obviously, Nicodemus does not know, and he was not able to understand what Jesus was saying.
Remember, Nicodemus was just curious to know about Jesus and did not seem like he wants to give his life to Jesus?
So, Jesus knowing the hearts of men, He says this in the following passage:
“Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
Jesus talks about the descent and the purpose of the coming of the Son of Man - that is, Jesus Himself.
Keep in mind the theme or the question we are looking at: Why did Jesus come to this world?
In verse 11, Jesus uses the plural “we.” Who is this “we” referring to? To Himself and the disciples. They speak about that they have seen, and what they know, but you (plural - all that were there) do not accept their testimony.
What does it mean by “accept”? They did not “accept it as true and valid.”
That is, whatever Jesus and His disciples testified, they basically denied it.
So, Jesus makes a very clear statement - if you do not believe about the earthly things, how can you believe heavenly things? It is simply not possible.
In other words, if you do not believe the things on human level, how would you believe the things on God’s level or things of God?
Jesus knew the Nicodemus does not believe. Not just Nicodemus, but also those who are with around Him (so, He uses the plurals here).
Carson says it right:
The Gospel according to John John 3:11
Nicodemus’s failure was not a failure of intellect but a failure to believe Jesus’ witness: you people do not accept our testimony. The failure to believe was more reprehensible than the failure to understand, since it betrayed a fundamentally inadequate appreciation of who Jesus is.
So, we see that Nicodemus failed to believe.
Then we come to verse 13.
No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
Is this verse talking about Jesus going to heaven before His death, burial and resurrection, and then coming back down? No.
Heaven is Jesus’s home to begin with. So He could talk about the heavenly things.
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
Jesus then ties the new birth concept to the Old Testament narrative in Numbers.
There Moses lifted up the snake on the pole, so everyone that was bitten by the snake could live, if they look to the pole.
Jesus makes Nicodemus, a teacher of the law, to think. Only when he looks at Jesus on the cross - only when he puts his faith in Jesus, he will have the new life.
In the following verses, Jesus provides the purpose.
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
This is the reason why Jesus came, to give eternal life.
Read the following verses.