After the wedding at Cana, Jesus went to Jerusalem for Passover, the first during His public ministry. There was a  temple cleansing – more prophetic in nature than the condemning cleansing that occurs before His crucifixion. The Jews ask for miracles to demonstrate His prophetic bona fides and He instead refers cryptically to His resurrection. His disciples don’t understand until after the Resurrection.

Encounter Jesus – John Week 4

Jesus & the Teacher of Israel

John 2: 23 – 3: 21

AUDIO

Lecture Handout

John Week 4 – Jesus the Teacher of Israel Handout

Lesson Notes

 

Intro – What’s Inside Man (John 2: 23-25)

  • Verse 23 – Obviously Jesus is doing a number of miracles in Jerusalem, which aren’t recorded
  • People are starting to believe in Him – or at least in His miracles
  • Verse 24 – But Jesus wouldn’t trust in people because He knows their sin and weakness
    • This is a divine attribute – Jeremiah 17: 10
    • That He knew all people is clear as He gets to the heart of both Nicodemus tonight and the woman at the well next week
    • The people’s faith isn’t true faith, it’s just fandom because of His miracles.
  • Verse 25 – Repeatedly we’re told of witnesses to who Jesus is throughout John’s gospel
    • Conversely, Jesus doesn’t need a witness about man – He knew what was in man

Speaking of Man, Jesus Was Met by a Man (John 3: 1-15)

  • Verses 1-2 – Nicodemus, a Pharisee and part of the ruling Sanhedrin, came to Jesus by night
    • In John, night/dark emphasize spiritual lostness, lack of enlightenment – much is made of light and dark in his writings
  • Verse 2 – Clearly impressed by the miracles, Nicodemus affirms Jesus as a rabbi and teacher from God
    • He’s respectful, but has such a limited understanding of Jesus and who He is, not even considering Him a prophet
    • But Jesus will enlighten him that night!
  • Verse 3 – Jesus says a strange thing in response to Nicodemus’ non-question
    • Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God
    • Access to God’s Kingdom isn’t based on your first birth (i.e. Jewish ethnicity)!!!
    • Even for one as distinguished and educated and presumably virtuous as Nicodemus, more was needed to be able to enter God’s Kingdom
    • Good works won’t get the job done!
  • Verse 4 – Nicodemus thinks of a second physical birth and basically says that’s impossible
    • But Jesus meant a spiritual new birth
  • Verse 5 – One must be born of water and the spirit to enter the Kingdom of God
    • John the  Baptist – baptized with water and declared the coming of one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit (which is Jesus, of course)
    • Water baptism signified a repentance of sin, but Spirit describes new life via transformation received through faith in Jesus Christ
    • This particularly alludes to Ezekiel 36: 25-27 – sprinkle with water and fill with Spirit – this is what Nicodemus as a scholar should have known
    • Heart transformation is mandatory for entering God’s Kingdom
    • Must repent AND believe to enter God’s Kingdom
    • 1 John speaks often of what life is like for those born again
  • Verse 6 – Regular birth – born of the flesh; second birth – born of the Spirit is spirit
    • See John 1: 12-13 on how belief lets you become a child of God, not by flesh, but by God
  • Verse 7 – So don’t marvel at what I’m explaining! God is spirit, so why shouldn’t we have to be born of the Spirit to see God’s Kingdom?
    • And the Old Testament spoke of heart transformation with the coming Kingdom, so why are you surprised Nicodemus???
  • Verse 8 – Analogy – wind (same word as spirit in both  Greek and Hebrew) – you can’t see it, control it, or understand it, but you know it’s there and can see its effects; likewise for the Spirit
    • You see the effects, but can’t understand a person who’s been born again if you haven’t, because your nature isn’t spiritual
  • Verse 9 – Nicodemus is astounded – how can this be?
  • Verse 10 – Jesus – if you’re the teacher of Israel, you should know this stuff!
  • Verse 11 – Jesus affirms He has first-hand knowledge of deep, heavenly truths, but Nicodemus can’t receive it (Israel also doesn’t receive Jesus’ firsthand knowledge), because he’s stuck at how to enter the Kingdom
  • Verse 12-13 – Jesus says He’s a first-hand witness to heaven and heavenly matters, but they aren’t going to accept His evidence
    • Jesus is the unique Son of Man, descended from heaven. His  insight is unique, despite popular literature of the time which described other prophets going to heaven
  • Verses 14-15 – Moses and the Serpent (Numbers 21: 4-9) was a means to save rebellious Israel from God’s wrath and punishment
    • The Son of Man must be lifted up (crucifixion, a literal lifting up) like that serpent
    • Whoever looks to Him, like the Israelites in the Wilderness, believes in Him will have eternal life
    • This is how we’re born again of  the Spirit – believe in Jesus!
    • Why did God make provision for sinful mankind??? Love!

Love! (John 3: 16-21)

  • Verse 16 – Whoever believes the Son of God – how far we’ve moved from Nicodemus just thinking Jesus was a teacher from God. No, He is the Son of God and God Himself!
    • Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but has eternal life -> no other requirements!!! No deeds, just faith in Christ
    • And it’s not just for Israel, because God loves the whole world and desires all to turn to Him
    • He gave His Son – sent Him into the world (as it says in verse 17) to suffer and die (1 John 2: 2) – to bear God’s wrath
  • Verse 17 – To send someone in those days was to have them carry the exact will of the sender
    • God didn’t send Jesus to bring condemnation to the world (that’s already there), but to save the world through faith in Him – that was the will of God
    • At Christ’s return, there WILL be judgment, so don’t misunderstand this verse
  • Verse 18 – If you believe – you aren’t condemned, it’s as simple as that
    • If you don’t believe, you’re already condemned because you don’t believe in the name (essential nature) of the Son of God.
    • The default situation, for everyone since the Fall into sin, is condemnation for sin
  • Verse 19 – The judgment (condemnation) is this – people chose the darkness over the light, because they did evil and didn’t want to turn away from it
    • John 1: 4-5, 9-11
  • Verse 20 – Those who sin hate the light – why we see such strong reactions in America to the real Jesus
  • Verse 21 – but those who do good things through faith in Christ come to the light to give credit and glory to God
  • With regard to Nicodemus, we have no real conclusion to this story! He speaks up a little for Jesus in John 7: 50-51, and he assists Joseph of Arimathea in preparing the body of Jesus for burial in John 19: 39 (a significant act of devotion on the Passover evening) – buying 75 pounds of material with which to anoint the body

PRAYER – For those who’ve not yet experienced new birth in Jesus Christ, as they still stand condemned.

Next week: A Samaritan Woman & the Savior of the World (John 4: 1-42)