Who are They?
Nicodemus John 3:1, John 7:50, John 19:39
Who is Jesus?
The one who gives heavenly explanations.
(John 3:31-36) He who comes from heaven…bears witness to what He has seen and heard
(Hebrews 1:1-2) Long ago God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son
Who is the Holy Spirit?
The one who gives new birth or new life. The one who makes us a new creation.
(Eph. 1:13-14) The promise of the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it
(John 14:16-17) I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper…You know Him for He dwells with you and will be in you
(Acts 1:8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you
1- (John 2:23-25) OUTWARD SIGNS
2-& INWARD KNOWLEDGE
3-(John 3:1-3) SEEING The Kingdom
4-(John 3:4-8) ENTER The Kingdom
5-(John 3:9-15) TRULY KNOWING
1-John 2:23-25, OUTWARD SIGNS
(Matt. 11:20-24) Woe to Unrepentant Cities,
If the mighty works done in you had been done…
They would have repented long ago…It would have remained until the day. (Perseverance of Saving Faith)
(John 4:48) unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe
2-& INWARD KNOWLEDGE
(Romans 2:25-29)For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly
Nor is circumcision outward and physical
But a Jew is one inwardly, by the Spirit, not by the letter
(Romans 8:2-3) For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.
John 3 (Part 1)
As we look at John 3:1-15, we can break it into 3 parts, starting each time Nicodemus speaks and Jesus responds.
It is interesting to big picture watch how Nicodemus Statements and Questions change because of Jesus’ responses to him.
First Nicodemus starts with a complement to Jesus. Then Jesus’ response forces Nicodemus to ask a question. Till finally he just says how can these things be?
3-John 3:1-3, SEEING (The Kingdom)
Here Nicodemus, confess some degree of belief in Christ because of the signs He is doing.
Jesus’ response to Him indicates His belief in not enough and this is shocking because he is the teacher of Israel (vs. 10)
How do we know if our belief in Christ is enough? Is it a saving faith? Is it an inward belief that comes from a transformed heart or is it a belief that comes from magical powerful looking sign or from fear of punishment (attrition not contrition)?
Only God can open our eyes to see things the way we need to see them.
(Matt. 13:13-15) Why do you Speak to them in parables?
(Matt. 11:25-30) You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding
(2 Cor. 3:14-16) But their minds were hardened…the veil remains unlisted…the veil lies on their hearts…only through Christ is it taken away…when on turns to the Lord the veil is removed
(Heb. 4:13) No creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account
4-John 3:4-8, ENTER (The Kingdom)
Here Nicodemus, responses to Jesus words with practical, physical, logical, human, earthy reasoning. (Can a man go back into his mothers womb?)
The direct problem of communication here is Jesus is speaking in heavenly language and Nicodemus is still using earthly language.(vs.12)
Jesus words are spiritual, heavenly, divine, and supernatural.
(Matt. 7:28-29)The Crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
Another example of this is found in (John 6:33-34) “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to Him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” (The bread was a spiritual bread not a physical one)(But God did give a the physical bread to Moses in the Wilderness and Jesus did give a physical bread to the 5000, but that bread doesn’t last it perishes)
We confess all we need to do to enter the Kingdom is to believe, but only God can change our heart to be able to believe.
Our heart is born fallen and that comes with a hardness to God and makes us unwilling to yield to His commands.
We by nature from birth do not willing want to walk in God’s ways.
We at times recognize the benefits of His ways and to some degree try to follow His precepts, but we never truly delight in His ways because our nature is opposed to them ultimately. We are selfish and God ways are not.
We have to ask God to change our hearts, so that we can truly walk out our lives the way His calls us to.
In verses 6-7, Jesus points out that the birth of flesh produces flesh and the spirit produces spirit. Or in other words physical or earthy produces physical. And spiritual or heavenly produces spiritual. This new birth is in regards to a transformed or regenerated heart that is not done by human hands or effort but by the Spirit, Born again.
(John 1:13)who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God
(Col. 2:11) In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting of the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ
In verse 8, Jesus compares the reality of the heavenly work of the Spirit on an individual as similar to the earthly understand we have about the wind. He says, like 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.
So here if you can relate to this story, then you can agree that this example of Jesus is valid and makes perfect sense. Because you can put into words like Jesus did what happen to you spiritually. You can AMEN, that is right. That is what it was like when God transformed my heart and made it new. When by His grace He changed it. If you can not relate, then you need to pray to God to help you to understand it, because just like Nicodemus if you don’t come to understand what is being communicated, you don’t have hope of entering in the Kingdom of God.
5-John 3:9-15, TRULY KNOWING
Here Nicodemus, is overwhelmed by the Lord. He doesn’t know what else to say, but to surrender to the Lord for guidance and insight.
(John 6:66-68) Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Just like the disciples defining moment with Jesus ability to overwhelm them, Nicodemus finds himself at the mercy of the Lord. All of his intellegiance is not enough to fully understand. He needs Jesus to guide him into the way of salvation.
Jesus goes on to guide overwhelmed Nicodemus with pointing out the reality that he doesn’t understand what he needs to know and begins in (vs. 12) to frame up the idea of earthly things and heavenly things. This is guidance for Nicodemus to change his perspective and to look through the dialogue through the eyes of a heavenly perspective. He challenges him to believe and trust in the spiritual guidance of highest quality that He is giving him.
In vs. 13-15, He leaves Nicodemus with two key points of spiritual guidance.
1-No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man
Jesus uses the language mysteriously throughout the book of John with a variety of audiences. They all through physical lens struggle to understand what Jesus means by it. We get a pleasant glimpse of closure with the mysterious language in (John 16:28-31)
I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.
Finally, the mysterious in His last hours is removed and we can process the reality in human earthly knowledge.
2-And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.
Jesus here leaves a spiritual bread crumb for them to process later after He has been crucified.
In John 12:32, it says, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself”
The above example of Moses is from Numbers 21:4-9. It would have been familiar to Nicodemus.
So let’s consider it from his perspective. What would of been his thoughts here?
The people became impatient and spoke against God and 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.
Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many died. 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.
And the Lord said to Moses “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he see it, shall live.
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
Romans 8:3-4
By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Heb.2:14, Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death
Heb. 2:17-18, Therefore He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.
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