Jesus Knows All Men
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What do you call a mom’ angry french sister? A Crossaunt
Whats the difference between bird flu and swine flu? One requires tweetment and the other requires oinkment
JFK conspiracy stuff - mysterious…umbrella man… the theory is hes throw darts so people can shoot him… hes signaling other shooters… he was actually part of a group of people protesting the cuban war the day of pigs… lost their lives… they held umbrellas becasue they blamed the government for not having umbrella cover there… and this was a symbol of protests.... totally different ideas
Our lives are the same way we are constantly getting new information… we are getting new information all the time… and we want to hold on to our old information even if we have new stuff staring us in the face...
Same here with this conversation with Nicodemus… and we will see Jesus confronting people and the question is can they shift what they know.
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.
Believed in his name… because the stuff they had seen… they saw what he did and believe in him
But
24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people
This is fascinating… we tend to view humankind as good… we are doing good things… we think we can solve all the problems of the world on our own… but the bible tells us we are not all that good, we will tend to do things for ourselves out of our own narcissism and we cant trust the things we are doing for our own salvation because we are always going to end up doing things for ourselves… and here we see Jesus saying he isnt going to give himself fully into their hands because we will mess it up
Pastors somehow mix it up… everyone goes to heaven… we will get to the same place… and this is why he says look you’re going to mess it up… and look at what it says
25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
Scary… there is something in us that he knows that isnt good, the religious elite he can’t trust himself to them because there is no perfection there. there is still corruption… we have seen it in the lsat couple years the biggest evangelists falling and they are corrupt people falling into sex and money and more… and there is a reason that the Bible looks at people and says you actually need saving… you cant fool me.... you actually need me… He says I know what is actually in you… not your facebook self...
Hes saying look your problem is sin, I know what needs to be healed whether you know it or not… and the question is are you open to rethink your life in light of him...
WE tend to have new information that comes in that goes against what we know, and we instead go against that with our feelings… and so from here we go to what is going to be this discussion with Nicodemus… Jesuis couldnt trust man… and here we shift to a story with man… I think its a good preface… realize there was no chapters and verse in the original and here we shift..
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
He studies the bible he is well verse, he teaches sunday school, he knows what is going on… he is a ruler of the jews… he is a teacher among them…
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.”
He comes by night because he doesnt believe yet.. he has heard but jhe doesnt really know waht Jesus is offering. and Jesus is goign to tell this guy that his religious doctrine doesnt mean that he actually knows God and i think one of the thigns we must wrestle with in our modern situation is there are people who know some stuff about God and hang out around it but they dont actually KNOW God.
The Bible constantly gives this idea that there are people that know some stuff and think they are going to make it but they don’t there are tons of people that start down the road and end up in the wrong place… they start off well but they don’t make it to the end. Its not just starting faith but having a life that is faithful to Jesus until your life ends....
“There is ‘milk faith’ in the end. A young faith of such enthusiasm that it isnt actually focussed on the gospel, its focussed on other things. Scarcely one in ten of those who enlist under Christ keep the purity of their faith to the end. Almost all fall away into corruption, are led astray by the teachers of false ideas, or they betray their faith altogether.” - Martin Luther
A group of people that believed in Jesus miracles.. but Jesus wouldnt entrust himself… and here is a man who has heard biut hasnt truly beleived yet.. and comes in the dark of night… but he went…
Are we willing in the midst of our doubts and wonderings to go still.. even if he shakes up our ideas.... I remember talking to 2.0 about this… this is so important… we can be here but we should be expecting God to point new things out
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.”
Nicodemus was curious he is asking questions… and thats me, thats the engineer in me I am going to look and see how it works..
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?”
but the other part of this is he comes at night because he is afraid… and some of you may be afraid as you start this journey… you may be afraid of what your girlfriend or your friends or your parents may say… hes scared but he comes and wants to know… and there is this courage that you see after you meet Jesus.... and he asks this stuff but then what happens to him… let me show you
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?”
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.
He’s taking Jesus body after he is crucified to the grave.,, he starts out afraid by night… 4-5 chapters later he saying hold up wait… and at the end he is carrying the body to the grave and the difference is he met Jesus and it changed everything… changed that timidity
Am I always going to be the scared person that never fesses up… and this can be your story… 4 chapters later live giving… and the difference is he met him, he sat with him and listened to him and once you meet him you are never the same…
In verse 2 he calls him teacher… and we know that he is more than a teacher… liberal christianity tends to teach Jesus as a teacher… but leave everythign else out… they stop where Nicodemus begins… conservative christianity tends to leave aside teacher and only think of him as savior of our sins… not how does he teach me to do all of this with relationships and money etc....
vs 3 he says for no one can do these signs… and don’t we all want people to say that about us that we are remarkable… that there is somethign we are opening up to allow them to see us in a way that we are amazing and different...
What nicodemus is saying is htere are things about your life that are truy remarkable… and he says to Jesus no one can do it unless God is with you.. do peopel say that about me,,, do you they say that about you?
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
KOG… the reign and rule of God,.. teh shalom the peace… the life to the full… the power the person fo the holy spirt… the going to heaven… it transcends the present time… we come into in the present… and you put yourself under it.... and he says how do I get that.... and he says you have to be born again.. .so what does that mean...
WHen we ultimately get into the kingdom, our life changes in such a way that the kingdom of this world cannot effect us in a way that it once did…
People talk about you… and you start believing it… kingdom of heaven means you have transfered yourself out of that… and you are beliving what the kingdom of god says about you and what he tells you… you are living in the freeness of god even in your mistakes… they cant shame you.... yes it has to get better… and nicodemus wants us to get there… how do I actually get God in my life....
and Jesus says in order to get it now, and when you pass away you have to be born again… and we have made it a terrible word..... Im a born again… the purity of this is Jesus saying the first birth isnt enough… you were born into a religious household naturally but that doesnt get you eternal life… just existing isnt doing it… thats trhe lie of universalism… the fact that you are a religious person isn’t enough.... my kids cant get to heaven becasue their dad was a pastor...
This is like the matrix… you have been living in an empire your whole life… take the pill… if you want the actual reality you have to be born again… you have to trust in me and believe in me… and everything changes… and its super humbling...
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?”
To ever really be saved you have to go back and become like a child or a baby.. it doesnt matter how smart or beautiful you are… none of it can save you… you have to go back again and become nothing… you’re useless… Olive cant do anything on her own… we’re not ready at birth.... we still need to cook for a while longer… you can’t just be like a cow and walk away… there is this full dependency on God....that we need to have before we experience salvation… we need to trust him fully… our natural state cant get us into the persence of God
“The problem with humanity is not that we sin, but that we are in a state of sin that needs a comprehensive solution.” Augustine
Thats what being born the second time gives you… we are not our past mistakes they get washed away and a fresh start happens… its like they were never committed… blotted out Isaiah tells us… Jesus gives us a new start… thats the point… and we get power for the present life.... look at how Jesus answers...
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.
Lots of debate… one side,,, he is talking about baptism… and the holy spirit… we need water baptism and to be spiritually left… earlier in teh book John baptize with water i baptize with spirit…
And thats why we push and keep our water warm, or try to every Sunday, because there was no such thing as an unbaptized believer in the first century…
And there is this water involved in your natural birth, and thats not enough, you also need this spiritual birth… and we came from this place where the water to wine story was the first step in the salvatory history… and you have to be born with the spirit…
And the point is one birth isnt enough....
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Born of the capital S spirit is little s spirit… we are more than just our minds… and scientists are starting to realize that.... there are more… the natural life isnt good enough, we have to be born spiritually…
What do we talk about with our friends? Anything spiritual at all? Or just stuff that doesnt matter in the long run, or is it stuff that matters to your soul for the long haul
WE hve spiritual pinnings that this world wont satisfy because we have yearnings this world cannot fulfill....thats why he is saying how would you fill it… you fill the spirit with the spirit… the holy spirit is your answer to your longings… to connect to the transcendent and to connect to God… the Holy Spirit is the answer.... and the question is… in your life is this the forgotten god… yes God and Jesus but what do we do with the HS.... the holy spirit is alive and well and moving and speak and doing things with power… and there is a kind of life on offer here only accessed by being drawn to the end of yoruself.... and saying I cant do it on my own I need God to birth me… how much did you have to do with your first birth…
Its called the doctorine of regeneration… it comes about by the holy spirit of God through the person and work of Jesus....
The question to nicodemus is I know that you are comfortable but are you willing to follow… it wasn’t his lack of knowledge but lack of relation with the spirit and he had to be willing to submit himself to that… because we can go to church and know all the language and not know him
Heard something great.... “Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, so someone’s public affection for Jesus may not be full.”
Niocodemus has a heart for God...