11.09.07
Acceptance in Judea (John 2:23-3:21)
Acceptance in Judea (John 2:23-3:21)
Well…here we are – the first visit of Christ to Jerusalem for the Passover after the start of His ministry. What would He do? This was the opportunity to present Himself to the nation as Messiah. I don’t think that verse 23 intends to convey that these miracles were done to draw attention to Himself, instead I believe He intended these to call the people to consider the significance of the signs.
Note that we don’t have the details of the miracles. But we do know from the verse that the miracles were known by the people far and wide. Pentecost notes that the cleansing of the temple had brought Christ to the attention of the aristocratic Sadducees, and the signs brought Christ to the attention of the intellectual Pharisees. He also states that the acts of cleansing the temple and performing miraculous signs were dismissed by the Sanhedrin. And that was important, because this particular body had the responsibility to investigate such signs and claims and then make an official pronouncement to the people about the authenticity of these things.
And from this background, that of the Sanhedrin, that Nicodemus came from. John tells us that Nicodemus approached Christ (not necessarily as an ‘official’ representative of the Sanhedrin). This seems to be a personal inquiry since this came at night and not during the day. And even though Nicodemus had a lofty position, he approached Jesus without condescending. He addresses Him as Rabbi in verse 2. With this attitude, we see that Nicodemus puts himself in the position of a learner. This inquiry seems to be in response to the miracles, for there was no other explanation that he could find that didn’t lead to this conclusion. In fact, it looks like there was a split in what the Sanhedrin were concluding, as evidenced by the word after Rabbi – ‘we’. Some were probably attempting to say the miracles had a plausible explanation in nature, others were convinced that these miracles were nothing short of supernatural.
Now…don’t forget what was said earlier by Christ in verses 24/25. Jesus realized this was a sincere question from Nicodemus. He didn’t refuse the high praise Nicodemus offered Him by calling Him Rabbi. Now – knowing the heart of man, Jesus will cut to the heart of the questions Nicodemus may have been asking only to himself and no one else. Verse 3 – you must be born again.
This wasn’t a new concept to Nicodemus. He knew about proselytes who, when baptized from heathenism, were said to be ‘as a child newly born’. But…was this what Christ was talking about? I think from the questions Nicodemus asks it is clear that he knew this was more than baptism by John or a proselyte ritual. Jesus seemed to mean to become as a child. How can a man do this once he is old?
Christ responds in verse 5 that the man must be born of water and of blood. This has caused some discussions over the centuries!
Some have made them to mean baptismal regeneration, which is contrary to the general teachings of the NT. Some have declared that both baptisms mentioned refer to one act – the cleansing work of the spirit. The mention of water baptism in that case would seem superfluous. Others would understand contrast between natural birth and the spiritual birth, since Nicodemus had just inquired on that point, as to whether a second natural birth was possible. That is nearer the truth and a possible interpretation. In favor of that interpretation is the statement of Jesus immediately following (contrasting natural and spiritual).
Parents can transmit to their children only the nature which they themselves possess. Sine each parent’s nature, because of Adam’s sin, is sinful, each parent transmits a sinful nature to the child. What is sinful cannot enter the kingdom of God. In order to enter the kingdom a person must be sinless. This means that one must have a parent who can transmit a sinless nature. Only God could accomplish a birth that would transmit a sinless nature; so only He could make on eligible to enter the kingdom.
In verse 9 we see that Nicodemus had no idea at this point what Christ was trying to convey to him. Here he was, Israel’s teacher, and you don’t understand these things Jesus says in verse 10. Understand Christ wasn’t referring to Nicodemus in the sense that he should have known these truths, instead, because the New birth had not been revealed in the OT Nicodemus should have had a capacity to understand the new truth when Jesus revealed it to him.
Then in verses 11 and 12 Christ states something special. 11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?. You see, Christ wasn’t teaching theory, He wasn’t speculating – Christ was teaching what He knew, and He asked Nicodemus to accept His authority as a qualified Teacher.
Truth about God does not originate with people as they philosophize about God. No person, however religious, can come to know God apart from divine revelation. This was Christ’s intent when He said that no one but Himself has gone into heaven to gain knowledge of God and returned to earth to disseminate that knowledge (13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man). The only one who can reveal God and His truth is Christ, who came down from heaven.
Then Christ reminds Nicodemus of the teaching in the OT, from Numbers 21:8-9. Judgment came to the people of God. God sent snakes among them (and you thought ‘snakes on a plane’ was as bad as it could get…). It got their attention, they begged Moses to intercede for them to God. Moses, the messenger of God, got the message and communicated it. In order for them to be saved from the wrath, they needed to believe the word of the messenger.
Then we hit the memory verse we all know. In the context of this discussion, who are the believing in verse 16? It’s the counterpart of looking at Numbers 21:8-9. Christ was directing Nicodemus’ attention to Himself and to His word. He was asking him to believe Him in order to have eternal life. The Jews equated having eternal life with entering the kingdom. Jesus asked that Nicodemus change his belief from going somewhere (the kingdom) and move it to someone (Himself). The object of faith should be a person, not a place. The same goes with us – it should be Christ, not heaven!
Love – for God so loved! Love expressed only in words provides little benefit to the one being loved. But when the love is translated into action, benefit goes out to the object of affection (and Christ loved US!). God not only declared His love – He demonstrated it in giving His one and only Son.
Also note in the verses that follow that Christ states the world is under condemnation. Not because Christ came to earth, rather because of the sin of Adam. Christ makes it plain that people are already lost. Yep, you may have heard it here first! People are already lost! They don’t become lost when they refuse to believe in Him. They are not born in some neutral state that they lose by willfully rejecting the message of the Gospel. They…we – are born lost. What must we do go get right? Believe in Him! In order to lift the condemnation of God, we must accept the Gospel message – that Jesus saves.
Light came into the world, but we acted like roaches instead of moths. WE scurry away because we like the darkness (sin). We’re accustomed to it…we don’t want to leave it. Christ was challenging Nicodemus not to draw away from the truth that He had brought. Instead, Nicodemus should respond to the message and come to the Light!
What about us…want to live in darkness? Or move towards the light? How do we respond?
