Jesus and Nicodemus: First of Four Illustrations

Jesus gave Nicodemus four different ways to think about this radical new concept,
1) Birth:

“I assure you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom." (John 3:5)

Rabbis of Jesus day were actually familiar with this idea but to them it was completely external. It meant making vows and going through a purification ritual in order to enter into a new order, like the Pharisees, or even to become a Jew. Jesus added a profound new dimension

We often talk about a Christian being someone who gives one's life to God, but first we need to describe a Christian as someone who gets one's life from God.

The same way people enter into the physical world by being born physically, people enter into the spiritual kingdom of God being born spiritually.

"Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6)

One can’t adapt to the new kingdom. You have to be born again, born from above. You need to be a whole new person, born into the kingdom.

Rebirth is that act by which the Holy Spirit puts His eternal life into a person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. "Rebirth" in theological terms is referred to as regeneration. Regeneration takes what was once dead spiritually and causes it to be born again in newness of life.

The Holy Spirit recreates the human heart, putting into your heart, and mine, an inclination towards God and a desire for the things of God. Just as the child inherits the nature of her parents, so does the child of God. The born again person has God’s nature within.

Just as there are two parents for physical birth, there are two parents for spiritual birth: water, which in the Bible often symbolizes the Word of God, which refreshes and purifies, and the Spirit of God Who enlivens. When put together, believing God’s word and being enlivened by the Holy Spirit, new life begins.

This news rocked Nicodemus to the core. He was a Jew, born of Abraham, child of the covenant, circumcised and keeper of the law. But inwardly he was spiritually dead, as the Bible describes everyone to be. The reason people fail to do what is right is because there is something wrong with who we are. Who we are needs to change, not just what we do.

The Lord Jesus must have seen the shock on Nicodemus face because He said “Don’t look at me like that!”

"Don’t be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’"(John 3:7)

and He gave Nicodemus a second illustration...


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Jesus and Nicodemus: Be Born Again

Nicodemus was a powerful man in Jerusalem society. He was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the council of seventy men who ran the religious affairs of the nation and who had religious authority over every Jew anywhere in the world.

The Pharisees originated in around 135 to 105 B.C. These were devout and courageous men who had stood firm against Greek idolatry and the fierce religious persecution of their day. Each man had taken a vow before three witnesses that he would devote every moment of his entire life to obeying God’s Law.

A group formed within the Pharisees called the scribes who studied the Law and worked out how to apply it to ever aspect of life. They compiled their work into a book called the Mishnah - which was considered more binding than scripture - and a commentary on the Mishnah called the Talmud.

Pharisees considered themselves as spiritually and morally superior to all other people and they were right on many points of doctrine: they believed in the resurrection of dead, the existence of spirits, and rewards and punishments in the future life.

But they also believed in an externalized religion - that if you were a Jew, strict observance of the law and the oral traditions was enough to please God and guaranteed entry to heaven. Nicodemus was a man of high moral character, deep religious hunger, but he had profound spiritual blindness and he didn’t even know it.

Imagine Nicodemus making his way through the Jerusalem streets after nightfall. The wind in the desert always picks up when the sun goes down, so it was blowing through the trees and between the houses. People typically had their living rooms up on the roofs of their houses to enjoy these cool breezy evenings, so there was always a staircase leading up the side of the house to the roof. This is probably where Nicodemus came that night, to meet with Jesus.

Maybe he was being careful not to get in trouble with the Sanhedrin, but maybe he wanted a private audience, too. His approach was cautious and respectful, calling Jesus “Rabbi,” even though Jesus was not an official rabbi, and had no diploma or credentials except for these miraculous signs

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could do these miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2)

That’s an insight. Nicodemus, and evidently some other members of the Sanhedrin, thought they saw something in Jesus. So Jesus answered

“I assure you, unless someone is born anew, it’s not possible to see God’s kingdom.” (John 3:3)

“See” means to understand, or to know in an experiential way. “Born again” carried three meanings with it:
(1) to be born a second time
(2) to be born in a radically and totally new way and
(3) to be born from above, from God.

This went completely against everything Nicodemus had ever been taught, and that he himself had taught. He knew what Jesus was saying, but what Jesus was saying sounded it impossible.

“How can I make myself get born again?”

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Jesus and Nicodemus: Only A Few Truly Believe

Even though many people believed in Jesus as a prophet, and maybe even as Messiah, they did not surrender their hearts, and so Jesus did not entrust Himself to them.

Jesus’ insight reminds me of an article I read las year about an English chef who’s trying to get people to eat healthier by teaching them to cook with fresh ingredients rather than eat fast food, fried food and packaged food. Everybody believes he’s right. But they’re not changing their lifestyle, and here’s why, I quote:

“What’s really happening is about more than old habits dying hard or the love of frying. The reason the world is still waiting for the Messiah is that most people don’t actually want one, no matter how many fresh fruits and vegetables he’s carrying.”

In the same way, the people enjoyed Jesus’ miracles of healing, but they didn’t really want a Messiah, not the Jesus kind. So the Lord Jesus would only entrust Himself to those few who would follow Him and commit their hearts to Him, to those who would listen to Him and get to know Him.

Jesus will entrust Himself to you only when you entrust yourself to Him

What has Jesus been showing you about Himself in this passage?
* Is He showing you His graciousness, as someone you can trust, someone who is deeply interested in what is going on in your life?
* Or is He showing you that He is intolerant of sin, that if you don’t confess to Him now and repent, the time is coming when He will do something about that sin Himself?
* Or is He showing you He has authority over all of life, including yours? That you will need to bow to His authority or you’re going to break in your current circumstances?

Entrusting yourself to Jesus is more than being part of a religious system. Take some time to think about what a superficial faith is like.
--> A superficial faith reduces Christianity to a philosophy, a formula, a system of rituals.
--> A superficial faith keeps worship on Sunday and has real life on the other six days.
--> It says that religion is something private, a matter of opinion, a sidebar to the things of life.

Entrusting yourself to Jesus is not about being religious, or following a formula, or subscribing to a particular philosophy of life. Entrusting yourself to Jesus means
+ Believing He is Who He says He is.
+ Being in a relationship with Him, a real relationship, an every day relationship.

This is what following Jesus really means, and what His disciples were beginning to understand, and Nicodemus was beginning to suspect.

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Jesus and Nicodemus: Jesus' Authority Not Realized

If the miracle of changing water into wine displayed the Lord Jesus’ power of creation by a mere spoken word, then this sign of fulfilling Malachi’s prophecy and cleansing His Father’s house displayed Jesus’ authority. God is sovereign over everything in the universe

1) God determines the outcome of all things according to His wise purposes. Because God is sovereign, what happens in our lives is due, ultimately, to what God has ordained, in accordance with His wise purpose. Jesus was fulfilling a prophecy that had been made hundreds of years before.

God intended that Messiah would be recognized by this very act. Knowing God is in control gives meaning, comfort and security during difficulties and temptations.

3) God's decree governs history. God does not adjust His plan according to the events of human history. In fact, God knew all along how the temple ministry would become corrupted, and He prepared for Messiah to cleanse the temple as a sign of what Messiah would ultimately do for each person -- cleansing them of sin, and restoring them to be pleasing to God.

3) God is in control of His universe, nothing is outside the scope of His rule. God controls and guides all events for His glory and for the good of believers.

But if God is sovereign, a person might ask, then how come God's desires are not always realized, such as the salvation of all people [I Timothy 2:4], even though it would please Him?

People who have been born again have God’s Holy Spirit and know what pleases God. God, in fact, has given every believer the ability to please Him, and yet so often, we don't. God talks about being grieved over sin and death, taking no pleasure in it, yet everybody dies. Does that make Him less than sovereign?

If God is sovereign, then, how come God's Word is not always obeyed, even though God commanded it? Clearly, the religious leaders were not honoring God's intent for the use of the temple, for the temple tax and for the inspection of sacrifices. Even more so, they were not even obeying God's actual Law about not burdening the poor, not stealing and so on. Did the religious rulers view God as sovereign over them?

God's laws, whether written in Scripture, or written on our hearts, is binding and we have no authority to rebel against it. But God has allowed us the power, or the ability, to defy His declared will.

God is not surprised by evil, God does not approve of evil. But God has sovereignly decreed that people exercise their ability to make moral choices – choosing between good and evil. Sin is proof that God doesn't control people the way you and I would control a puppet.

God is all-knowing and all-powerful. God gives real choices and works out His will within them. He is able to work in, around and through people to insure the outworking of His purposes. If God were any less sovereign He wouldn't be able to give people moral freedom because He would not be able to guarantee that His will would be done.

After this Jesus performed many miracles, and we see here that

While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, many believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs that he did. (John 2:23)

These were all signs pointing to Jesus’ authority, but the religious leaders missed it. They had asked for a sign, and though they didn’t deserve it, Jesus gave them many.

Only one member of the religious ruling body was willing to accept what those signs really meant.

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Jesus and Nicodemus: Answering the religious leaders

As upset as they were, the religious leaders did not try to get Jesus arrested, or even try to publicly rebuke Him. Instead, as Jesus stood there with His whip of cords, and the vendors were scrambling to pick up the pieces,

The Jews asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? What miraculous sign will you show us?” (John 2:18)

Remember that these were the Bible experts, the religious leaders. Right before their very eyes Malachi’s prophecy had been fulfilled. If the disciples thought of Psalm 69, you can bet many others, including the priest and Pharisees, could have thought of it too. Besides, everyone by now had heard John’s testimony concerning Jesus.

What they were really doing was creating a situation where they could push guilt onto Jesus so that they would not have to admit to their own guilt.

Jesus answered with a mashal, veiled remark in the form of a riddle, a very classical Jewish way of teaching and something rabbis used all the time. But the religious leaders decided to take it literally in order to avoid allowing the true meaning of Jesus’ mashal to come out – remember all the people crowding around them, listening in. They refused to admit their guilt.

What Jesus’ mashal meant was: “You leaders, through your unbelief, and your rebellion and wickedness, you are in the process of destroying the Messiah, the true sanctuary of God, and in that process you will also bring about the destruction of this actual temple and your entire religious system.

"However, in three days, I will raise up My body, and as a result I will establish a new temple, made of living people, and My church will worship Me in spirit and in truth, and not in this complicated religious system you’ve devised.”

Standing there with his fellow Pharisees, and a prominent member of the Sanhedrin, stood Nicodemus. Apparently, Jesus' words were penetrating his mind and heart, and he couldn't stop thinking about the implications of Jesus' mashal.

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Blended Gospels: Jesus and Nicodemus

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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."

Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

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?"

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

"Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 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."

Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"

Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

"If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 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

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

[John 2:23-3:21, ESV]

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Cleansing the Temple: Jesus Is Publicly Announced

God had appointed this day for Messiah to be publicly announced, and we read about it in the prophet Malachi 3:1-4 Malachi began by saying,

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.”

That was John the Baptist, the voice crying in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord.

Malachi continued,

“And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap...and as a purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.”

The whole temple market was run by the priests and Levites

There was certainly plenty of cord around, with all the animals. So Jesus methodically wove a whip and,

He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; do not make( my Father’s house a house of trade."

We understand from the Greek that the money He poured out was all of the profit the money changers had taken. Jesus was careful not to damage any property, hurt any animals or cause any harm. But His wrath cleansed the temple.

Malachi finished his prophecy with,

“Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.”

Nobody tried to stop Jesus, not the venders, not the money changers, not the worshipers and not the religious leaders.

In fact most people hated the extortion and racketeering, so they were probably relieved and thankful that someone had finally done something about it. The disciples just watched, probably stunned. But they learned some important lesson about holy wrath. It is a cleansing power that intends to rid creation of all sin.

• It is right to be angry with what angers God.
• Jesus didn’t just simmer. At the right time He did something about what was wrong.
• In this case, He had a plan and He executed His plan with care, with authority and with thoroughness.
• He spoke, making it clear what He expected and explaining what was wrong.
• And when He was done, the incident was over.

Jesus has power to cleanse

Jesus will not tolerate sin, and when it is time, Jesus will act. The outward appearance of holiness, when it is actually self-serving, is sin and brings on God’s wrath. In what ways might you and I act holy for the wrong reasons?

What marketplace in your own life has become a place where you trade spiritual values for material values? The religious leaders had turned the worship of God into a money-making business. That is a warning to us today, maybe first of all in the way we do church, to be sure that we do not trade spiritual values in worship and service to God, to material values of gain.

The other warning goes to you and me personally. Every person who is believer is literally a temple of God. The Lord has chosen to live in every believer.
How clean do you and I keep our physical bodies? What habits have you and I fallen into that service our own wants – over-eating, over-drinking, the misuse of drugs.

And what about the emotional and spiritual aspects of our lives? How pure do you and I keep our minds, hearts and spirits with the ways we entertain ourselves, the work we do, the way we talk and what we think about?

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