THE GOSPELS: LESSON 13:
NICODEMUS AND THE NEW BIRTH
TEXT: JOHN 3: 1 - 21
Jesus is still in Judea. This exchange with Nicodemus occurs either during the week of Passover or soon after. This is the first discussion of the nature of conversion and how one becomes a follower of Jesus.
VERSES 1 - 7: NICODEMUS SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND THE "NEW BIRTH."
Verses 1, 2: Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night to ask questions. Nicodemus = "victory of the people." He was a Pharisee.
FOUR MAIN SECTS OF THE JEWS:
Sadducees - rich, political, disbelieved in most spiritual concepts like the soul, heaven, hell, angels, eternal life.
Pharisees - the "faithful Jews" who represented the orthodoxy of their day.
Essenes - the Jewish ascetics, lived monk-like in the wilderness, withdrawn from corrupt society.
Zealots - not really a religious sect, but a political sect descended from the nationalistic Maccabees.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He was also a "ruler of the Jews," which meant he was one of the Sanhedrim. The Sanhedrim were the seventy "elders" which ruled Israel (socially, for Rome ruled Israel in all important senses). The body of the Sanhedrim was called The Council or Sanhedrin Council. The Sanhedrin was ruled over by the High Priest, who was Caiaphas in Jesus' day.
Why did Nicodemus go to see Jesus at night? He feared the negative reactions of his fellow Sanhedrim. (When you see an IM on the end of a Jewish word, it signifies the plural.)
Nicodemus believes in Jesus. Why? ". . . no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” Nicodemus knows two things about Jesus: 1. you are a teacher; and 2. you are sent from God. The message and the miracles of Jesus have convinced him of that much.
Verse 3: ". . . Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Jesus begins teaching Nicodemus without elaborate prologue. Obviously he sees in him someone who is able to accept spiritual truths. There are two great concepts in this verse: being born again and the Kingdom of God. We will talk of these later.
Verse 4: Jesus is talking about spiritual things, but Nicodemus is stuck on the physical plane. Or, perhaps, he is merely drawing Jesus out with his question -- a common method of teaching and learning that is commonly known as the Socratic Dialogue. Otherwise, Nicodemus appears to be a bit of a moron. That seems unlikely, so his questions are surely of a rhetorical nature -- meant to elicit response and dialogue.
Verses 5, 6: Obviously Jesus is talking of spiritual rebirth. He says there are two parts of this rebirth: water and spirit. This sounds very like what Peter said in Acts 2: 38: ". . . Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Without spiritual regeneration AND water baptism, we cannot enter into God's Kingdom.
For those who say this statement has nothing to do with baptism, I must ask two questions:
1. Then, to what does the water refer? Is it just the physical birth we all experience? Then why list it as if it is a step in the rebirth process?
2. The very next thing we see Jesus' disciples doing is what? Baptizing.
Verse 7: It shouldn't be surprising that a "rebirth" is necessary. From ancient times, an enlightening, or life-changing experience has often been styled as spiritual or mental rebirth. Now Jesus proceeds to teach Nicodemus about the Spirit and living a spiritual life.
VERSES 8 - 21: JESUS' FIRST SERMON (KIND OF)
Verse 8: The nature of the spirit-led life. It is motivated by a powerful but invisible force - the Holy Spirit. We are NOT motivated (should not be, anyway) by external forces, but by the force of the Spirit. See Gal. 5: 16 - 26.
NOTE: the same Greek word, pneuma, can mean either spirit or wind. In this case Jesus is using it literally (the wind) to teach how unseen and yet felt the action of the Holy Spirit can be.
Verses 9, 10: Nicodemus does not understand. His dilemma is very reminiscent of the Eunuch in Acts 8: 30, 31. Jesus seems surprised that a "ruler of Israel" should be so ignorant of spiritual truths.
Verses 11, 12: Now Jesus is not speaking personally to Nocodemus, but is addressing him as one of the Sanhedrim, or possibly as a Pharisee, most of whom do not and will not believe in Jesus. And Jesus is speaking not as himself, but as a part of the class who teach the new gospel of the kingdom: the disciples. Jesus and his disciples had told them earthly things, healings, water made into wine, etc., and they wouldn't believe. How then will they believe deep spiritual things for which there is no tangible evidence?
Verse 13: This is Jesus' special claim to spiritual knowledge: he had been with God. No other man on the earth could make that claim. Nicodemus did not object to this statement, for ". . . no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him."
Jesus calls himself the “Son of Man,” just as Ezekiel had done. This is the most common way that Jesus referred to Himself. (Used 43 times in NT.) Reminds us that he was fully human.
Verses 14 , 15: The story of Moses is from Numbers 21: 6 - 9. God had sent a plague of serpents to punish the people for their rebellion in the wilderness. God then directed Moses to make a brass serpent and set it on a pole. If the Israelites would but come and look at the serpent, they would not die of poisonous snake bites. Jesus is like that. We are dying of sin and if we but turn our gaze from the world long enough to gaze at Jesus and believe in him, he will save us. See II Peter 3: 9.
Verse 16: "For God so loved . . ." Surely one of the most well-known and loved scriptures in the Bible. Notice however that salvation is conditional: “. . .whoever believes in him should not perish. . .” As we know, to believe is to act as God has directed in the scriptures.
Verse 17: God sent Jesus into the world to save, not to condemn.
This passage is exceptional because of the things he affirmed to Nicodemus: He is the Son of Man: God’s prophet. He is the Son of God: divine like God. He would die to save the world: he is Messiah. In light of Jesus’ instructions to many others who guessed these things, it is incredible he would divulge so much to Nicodemus.
VERSES 18 - 21: THOSE WHO FOLLOW THE LIGHT VERSUS THOSE WHO DWELL IN DARKNESS.
Again, this is a continuing spiritual metaphor, not a comment on people who work swing shift. This passage is a good commentary on the passage in the Sermon on the Mount that says:"Ye are the light of the world."
NOTICE SOME BASIC TRUTHS HERE:
1. Unless we believe in Jesus we are already condemned! I shudder to think of all those who reject the idea that Jesus is the true and only begotten Son of God.
2. People who reject the light of Jesus' teachings still dwell in darkness. Just think of it: almost all the miseries of drug addictions, sexually-transmitted diseases, third-world poverty, violence, and murder are due to the fact that these people have rejected Christ! It is interesting to note that except for Japan, there are no countries who reject the gospel message who live in affluence. Why have Africa and the Middle East and India so long lived in squalor? They rejected God and clung to their pagan beliefs.
3. Those who do evil HATE the light. A policeman once told me that almost all violent crime occurs between midnight and 4 a.m. Why? Because those who do evil cannot stand to be exposed by the light of day. In a spiritual sense, why does the world hate Christians? Because we remind them of sin and evil -- and they hate us for reminding them that they stand in jeopardy of God's all-consuming wrath. When the church stops decrying evil, then the whole world stands on the brink of utter destruction.
4. Those who do good LOVE the light. Like my Grandma once told me, "you never have to be afraid of the police if you never commit a crime." I am reminded of what Paul said in Acts 26:
"But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner."
As Christians everything we do should be open and honest, not hidden from the world, like the cults do. Haven’t you ever noticed that the buildings in which Jehovah’s Witnesses meet do not have windows on the main floor? They do things that they do not want outsiders to witness.
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