The Gospels Part 03 At the Passover In Jerusalem to The night time conversation with Nicodemus.

The Gospels Part 03

At the Passover In Jerusalem to

The night time conversation with Nicodemus

What Scripture say is so – is so !!We are not free to ignore it or change it.

There is much detail that Scripture does not elaborate upon.

-- They are left ‘vacant’ since they are not necessary to the story, point or principle that God is communicating to us.

-- The ‘missing’ detail can often be useful to our understanding of the times, and customs of what Scripture says and can be ascertained using historical information and good use of logic and God directed common sense to fill in those details.

We are free to do this so long as:

• We do not obscure God’s message contained in what He has revealed to us in Scripture.

• We do not alter, revise, or explain away what Scripture does say in order to fit our “theory” into God’s account.

• We recognize that anything and everything other than what Scripture actually reveals is only a possibility no matter how ‘probable’ it seems to be.

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John 2:13 – Jerusalem, Judea At Passover, Jesus Drives the Traders Out of the Temple

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13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

John's gospel was written well after the others to a Greek audience.

John's gospel was written to reveal Jesus deity, not detail events in His life.

John’s intent was not only to reveal to the Greek's who Jesus was, but

to explain the Jewish tradition Jesus encountered and

to fill in gaps left by the other Gospel writers.

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John 2:13 – Jerusalem, Judea At Passover, Jesus Drives the Traders Out of the Temple

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13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

John's Gospel has Jesus in Jerusalem repeatedly.

The other Gospels only once.

This is not a contradiction but a relating of different parts of Jesus life and ministry.

The Passover was the greatest of all Jewish feasts.

Every male within 15 miles of Jerusalem was obligated to attend at Jerusalem.

Every Jew from around the world desired to at least once attend Passover in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was an extremely busy town during Passover accommodating up to 2.25 million people during the feast.

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John 2:14 – Traders in the Temple5

14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

Every Jew over 19 had to pay the Temple tax.

It was this tax that financed the day to day operation and business of the Temple.

The tax was one half shekel which at that time was almost 2 days wages.

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For ordinary business almost any coin was valid but for the Temple tax only or Temple shekels could be used.

In the outer court of the temple, money exchange booths had been set up.

The money changers charged a ma'ah (about 4-6 ma'ah = 1/2 shekel) for each 1/2 shekel exchanged

They charged another ma'ah for each 1/2 shekel of change they had to give back if the coin they exchanged was larger than the exact amount needed

If a man came with a coin worth two shekels, he was charged another half shekel to give him his Temple coins and his change.

His costs doubled to a full shekel, nearly one weeks wages.

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By law each family had to present a sacrifice at Passover.

It was to be perfect, unblemished.

The Temple authority had appointed inspectors (mumcheh) to examine each animal brought to the Temple.

The inspection fee was again about one ma'ah.

If you had not purchased your sacrificial animal within the Temple grounds it was almost always rejected, perfect or not.

If you had bought within the Temple grounds it was almost always approved, perfect or not.

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A pair of doves (poor man's sacrifice) cost about 1/2 shekel outside.

Inside they cost from 15 to 20 shekels (one months wage).

1/2 shekel = 1½-2 days wages.

Off temple On temple Doves 1.5-2 days wages 1-2 months wages

All this activity was licensed and supported by the Temple authorities (which helps explain why there were no poor authorities).

They received a cut and kick back on all these activities.

When Crassus took Jerusalem in 54 BC, he took over $4,000,000 from the Temple treasury - he couldn't carry off any more.

At that point he had barely dented the treasury.

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John 2:15-16 Jesus takes the upper hand9

15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;

16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

Jesus words are given a little differently in the Gospels

Jesus was angry and acted to correct the situation.

The court of the Gentiles (the outer most had been turned into an outdoor market).

Any Gentile wishing to pray could only do so in the Court of the Gentiles, now he could not even pray there.

No one could with all the noise and activity.

God's wrath will always be express toward those who make it difficult for others to come to God.

Title10

Court of the GentilesCourt of Women

Court of the IsraelitesCourt of the Priests

Temple and Holy of Holies

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John 2:17 The disciples remember…11

17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

His disciples remembered what it was written …

Psa 69:9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

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John 2:18 Who do you think you are ?12

18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

The Jews asked him by what authority he presumes to act for God.

His action was recognized by them as being the act of the one who is from God, Messiah.

If he claimed to be from God they would arrest him for heresy.

If he did not claim God's authority, he would be arrested for vandalism and desecrating the Temple.

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John 2:19 If you quote me, get it right.13

19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Jesus never said he was going to destroy the Temple.

His claim was you destroy this temple and I will build up a temple not made with hands in 3 days.

Mark 14:58

3 days = the time in the grave before the resurrection and the time Jonah spent in the belly of the great fish

Jesus was saying the Temple and its trappings were irrelevant.

God is not approached nor confined to any place or ritual that man develops.

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John 2:20 Can’t see past what I’m looking at …

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[20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

Herod's temple, the one in existence at the time, was begun in 19 B.C.,

It was 64 B.C. before it was completed.

It was destroyed around 70 B.C. when the Roman General Titus leveled Jerusalem.

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John 2:21-22 The disciples remember, again …15

21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

The disciples recalled the O.T. prophesies concerning Messiah as they related to Jesus life, death and resurrection but not until after Jesus had risen from the dead and the Holy Spirit had come upon them to abide in them.

John 12:16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written

about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

John 16:4 But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. "And these things I did not say to

you at the beginning, because I was with you.

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all

things that I said to you.

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John 2:23-25Many believed in His name observing His signs

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23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

Jesus did not openly declare himself to be Messiah because he did not want an emotional or political response from men.

He wanted men to follow Him because they knew and accepted the challenges that accompanied such a decision.

The decision to follow Christ must recognize the cost involved.

Miracle is Gk: teras - a marvelous thing. It is Gk: dumamis - power.

It is Gk: semeion - a sign.

Miracles were intended to reveal something about the nature and character of God to mankind.

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JN 3.1-3.21 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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This chapter may be divided into three sections:

• Joh 3:1 - Nicodemus is introduced;

• Joh 3:2-10, Nicodemus asks 3 questions and receives 3 answers; and

• Joh 3:11-21, dialogue becomes a discourse

— Nicodemus becomes a silent listener to the words of Jesus

The discussion of “earthly things” is replaced by Jesus teaching concerning “heavenly things.”

John 3:1-4 KJV18

3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

John 3:5-8 KJV19

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee-, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

John 3:9-12 KJV20

9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

John 3:13-18 KJV21

13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have life eternal.

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 3:19-21 KJV22

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

JN 3.1-3.21 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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The Son of God reveals himself to ever widening circles.

• In Joh. 2:23-3:21 (especially Joh 2:23 and Joh 3:21) Jesus makes himself known to the people who are present in Jerusalem on and after the Passover Feast.

• For the most part we see Jesus surrounded by the ordinary people, but here we see him in contact with Nicodemus one of the aristocracy of Jerusalem, an influential religious leader. Joh 3:1-21

• In Joh 3:22-36 he becomes known to the inhabitants of the country-region of Judea.

Joh 3:1-21 is an illustration of Christ's penetrating insight into the secrets of the human soul,

an insight to which reference was made in Joh 2:24-25.

John 3:1 Nicodemus24

[For those of you who are keeping track of such things, John Chapter 3 is the one-thousandth (1,000th) chapter of the Bible.]


One night, while the Lord was carrying on his work in Jerusalem, he received a visitor.

A Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews

Nicodemus = Greek name meaning: “victor over the people”

Nike, rule, victory; demos, people.

[Rev 2:6-15; nicolaitans ruled over the laity.]

Beginning with the period of the Maccabean rulers who followed Simon, the Jews adopted and intermingled Greek personal names along with their Hebrew names.

We do not know Nicodemus Hebrew name…



Nicodemus was a Jew who belonged to the party of the Pharisees and he was a ruler (archon) of the Jews.

Archon (ruler) suggests a member of the Sanhedrin, but not one of the chief priests (archiereus).

The Sanhedrin was a court of seventy members and was the supreme court of the Jews.

Of course under the Romans its powers were more limited than once they had been; but they were still extensive.

The Sanhedrin still had religious jurisdiction over every Jew in the world and one of its duties was to examine and deal with anyone suspected of being a false prophet.



Nicodemus financial standing would seem to be implied in John 19:39.

When Jesus died Nicodemus brought for his body "a mixture of myrrh and aloes about an hundred pound weight"

Only a wealthy man could have brought that.

The Talmud records Nicodemus as one of the four richest men in Jerusalem and a disciple of Jesus.



Speculations

Hoskyns records that Nicodemus was a member of the aristocratic family that had furnished the Hasmoneaean king, Aristobulus II, with his ambassador to Pompey in 63 BC.

In 63 B.C. the Romans and the Jews were at war.Aristobulus, the Jewish leader, sent a certain Nicodemus as his ambassador to Pompey, the Roman Emperor.

This may have been an ancestor of our Nicodemus

In the last days of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the man who negotiated the surrender of the garrison prior to the final destruction of the city was a certain Gorion, who was the son either of Nicomedes or Nicodemus.

Talmudic references link him to Nicodemus ben Gorion, brother to historian Josephus, a very wealthy member of the Sanhedrin in the first century. He lost his wealth and position later; a reversal due to his becoming a Christian?

John 3:1 Pharisees28


Nicodemus was a Pharisee.

Their entire religious hope rested upon their lineage, a physical descent from Abraham.

The emphasis of this racial heritage is contrasted with the “new birth” in John 3.

The Lord denounced them again and again for their exhibitionism and holier-than-thou attitude

Ma 5:20; Mt 16:6, Mt 16:11-12; Mt 23:1-39: Lu 18:9-14

Too often outward conformity to the law was considered by the Pharisees to be the goal of one's existence.



Often they honored the oral law was honored more highly than the written law which they claimed could be traced through the men of the great synagogue, the prophets, the elders, and Joshua, back to Moses and thus to God himself.

As with any oral law – it’s application and meaning tended to change with time and circumstances.

Still in some ways the Pharisees were among the best people in the whole country.

The Pharisees were right in many points of doctrine — the divine decree, — Man's moral accountability and — Man’s immortality, — the resurrection of the body, — the existence of spirits, — rewards and punishments in the future life



The Pharisees were known as a "chaburah" or "brotherhood"

They entered into this brotherhood by taking a pledge in front of three witnesses that they would spend all their lives observing every detail of the scribal law.

There were never more than 6,000 of them;

Among the Pharisees were men of high reputation

— Gamaliel, — Paul, — Josephus

John 3:1 Law / Religion / Rules31


Their basic and very tragic error was that they externalized religion.

To the Jew the Law was the most sacred thing in all the world.

The Law The Torah) was the first 5 books of the Old Testament.

They believed it to be the perfect word of God.

To add one word to it or to take one word away from it was a deadly sin.

If the Law is the perfect and complete word of God,

that must mean that it contained everything a man need know for the living of a good life,

if not explicitly, then implicitly.

If it was not there in explicit words, it must be possible to deduce it.



God’s written Law became a compilation of great, wide, noble principles from which a man had to work out detailed rules for himself.

They said: "The Law is complete; it contains everything necessary for the living of a good life; therefore in the Law there must be a regulation to govern every possible incident in every possible moment for every possible man."

They set out to extract from the great principles of the law an infinite number of minute rules and regulations to govern every conceivable situation in life.

They changed God’s great principles into a man made legalism of by‑laws and regulations.

They elevated their rules above the principles God had given them.

Forget the principles, Follow the rules

John 3:1 TALMUD / MISHNAH33


2,000+ scholars / rabbis worked from A.D. 250 AD ‑ 500 AD. to understand the meaning of God's word for their particular situation.

Out of these efforts they produced the TALMUD (Hb: "study" or "learning“)

A library of Jewish wisdom, philosophy, history, legend, astronomy, dietary laws, scientific debates, medicine, and mathematics.

The Talmud is made up of interpretation and commentary of the Mosaic and rabbinic law contained in the MISHNAH,

Mishnah: an exhaustive collection of laws and guidelines for observing the law of Moses.

As a guide to following the law, the Talmud also serves as a basis for spiritual formation.



A good example of what they did is in the “Sabbath laws”.

God’s Word tells us that we must remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy and that on that day no work must be done, either by a man or by his servants or his animals.

The Jews spent hour after hour and generation after generation defining what work is and listing the things that may and may not be done on the Sabbath day.

The Mishnah section on the Sabbath extends to 24 chapters.

The Talmud is the explanatory commentary on the Mishnah,

In the Jerusalem Talmud the section explaining the Sabbath law runs to 64 ½ columns; and

In the Babylonian Talmud it runs to 156 double folio pages.

John 3:1 eg: The Sabbath35


To tie a knot on the Sabbath was to work; but a knot had to be defined.

"The following are the knots the making of which renders a man guilty; the knot of camel drivers and that of sailors; and as one is guilty by reason of tying them, so also of untying them."

On the other hand knots which could be tied or untied with one hand were quite legal.

Further, "a woman may tie up a slit in her shift and the strings of her cap and those of her girdle, the straps of shoes or sandals, of skins of wine and oil.”



Suppose a man wished to let down a bucket into a well to draw water on the Sabbath day.

He could not tie a rope to it, for a knot on a rope was illegal on the Sabbath;

but he could tie it to a woman's girdle and let it down, for a knot in a girdle was quite legal.

To the scribes and Pharisees this was a matter of life and death;

that was religion;

that to them was pleasing and serving God.



"Remain every man of you in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." Exo.16:29

A Sabbath day's journey was limited by the scribes to 2,000 cubits, that is about 1,000-1,500 yards; just over ½ mile.

But, if a rope was tied across the end of a street, the whole street became one house and a man could go a 1,000 yards beyond the end of the street.

Or, if a man deposited enough food for one meal on Friday evening at any given place, that place technically became his house and he could go a 1,000 yards beyond it on the Sabbath day.



The rules and regulations and the loopholes to evade them piled up by the hundreds and thousands.

"Take heed for the sake of your lives and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day." Jer.17:21‑24

A burden had to be defined.

It was defined as "food equal in weight to • a dried fig, • enough wine for mixing in a goblet, • milk enough for one swallow, • honey enough to put upon a wound, • oil enough to anoint a small member, • water enough to moisten an eye salve" and • so on and on.


Their scrupulosity knew no bounds, especially with respect to the observance of man-made Sabbath laws.

• Some of them held that a woman should not look into a mirror on the sabbath because she might see a gray hair and be tempted to pull it out, which would be working!

• One was allowed to swallow vinegar on the sabbath, as a remedy for a sore throat, but not use it as a gargle.

• An egg laid on the sabbath could be eaten, provided one intended to kill the hen.

The Pharisees tended to ‘make it up as they went along’ which laid a tremendous burden on the people.

To this salvation-by-works party Nicodemus belonged.



On the Sabbath

Could a woman wear a brooch?Could a man wear a wooden leg or dentures?

or would it be carrying a burden to do so?

Could a chair or even a child be lifted?

And so on and so on the discussions went and the rules and regulations where established and the loopholes defined to avoid them without angering God (who had nothing to do with them).

It was the scribes who worked out these regulations;

it was the Pharisees who dedicated their lives to keeping them

John 3:1 Nicodemus, a Pharisee41


The name Pharisee means the Separated One;

The Pharisees were those who had separated themselves from all ordinary life in order to keep every detail of the law of the scribes.

However misguided, he must be desperately in earnest if he proposed to undertake obedience to every one of the thousands of rules.

That is precisely what the goal of the Pharisees was.

It is astonishing that a man who regarded goodness in that light and who had given himself to that kind of life in the conviction that he was pleasing God should wish to talk to Jesus at all

unless he recognized the futility of his religious convictions

John 3.1 Nicodemus, a VIP4222

Nicodemus occupied a very prominent position, being a ruler of the Jews.

Joh 3:10 Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?

Joh 7:47-50 47 The Pharisees then answered them, …. 50 Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) *said to them,…

Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin,

Nicodemus was also a scribe:

i.e. a professional student, interpreter, and teacher of the law.

JN 3.2 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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He came to him by night - We do not know why

• It may have been a sign of caution.

Nicodemus quite frankly may not have wished to commit himself by coming to Jesus by day.

Was he fearful of being criticized by other Sanhedrin members?

This opinion is popular among commentators and may be correct (Joh 19:38).

But, at the early stage of Christ's ministry, opposition to Jesus’ teachings could not have been so great as to produce such fear.


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He came to him by night - We do not know why

• The rabbis declared that the best time to study the law was at night when a man was undisturbed.

Throughout the day Jesus was surrounded by crowds of people all the time.

Nicodemus may have come to Jesus by night because he wanted an absolutely private and completely undisturbed time with Jesus.

• Or it was simple practicality - it was just too hot during the day

At night one could converse privately, comfortably.

Of course, that heat did not stop the crowds.

John 3:245


Nicodemus came to Jesus for a talk so that somehow in the darkness of the night he might find light.

Nicodemus had everything: • He was a Pharisee: • He was disciplined and respected. • He was wealthy and from a distinguished family. • Nicodemus was also a ruler (in the Sanhedrin) and a teacher

...but despite all of this, he was still “in the dark” before he met Jesus!

Plural verbs: Was Nicodemus possibly representing a faction? (3:2, plural “you” 7,10,11,12).

John 3:246


Nicodemus Progression:

Came by night, John 3:2-10

Defense at Sanhedrin John 7:51-52

Anointed Jesus’ burial John 19:39-42


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And (he) said to him, Rabbi we know that you are a teacher come from God …

This amounted to saying,

“We — I and other likeminded persons (Jn 2:23; 3:11) — we know that you are a prophet.”

The reason which Nicodemus assigns for this conviction is given in these words:

… for no one can do these signs which you do unless God is with him.

Nicodemus was convinced that Jesus must stand in very close relation to God to be able to do these signs.

John 3:248

The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

“Teacher from God”:

How do you know if a teacher is from God?

2 Cor 11:13, 14; 2 Thes 2:9

Test his teaching: 1 Jn 4:1; Rev 2:2; 1 Thes 5:20-21; Acts 17:11; 1 Cor 12:3; Gal 1:8-9

By the Word: Isa 8:20; 2 Jn 10;

John 3:35022


Nicodemus has not asked Jesus any question.

Yet, Jesus answers the question which was buried deeply in the heart of this Pharisee.

On the basis of Christ's answer we may safely assume that the question of Nicodemus was very similar to the one found in Mt 19:16.

Like “the rich young ruler,” Nicodemus, a “rich old ruler,” really wanted to know what good thing he had to do in order to enter the kingdom of heaven – i.e. to have everlasting life.

Jesus never even gave Nicodemus the chance to put into actual words the question of his inner soul.

Mat 6:8Mt 9:4 Mt 12:25 Lk 5:22 Lk 6:8 Lk 9:47 Lk 11:17

Ps 139:2; Je 17:10; 1Co 14:24-25; Ep 5:13; Rv 2:23Rom 8:26

John 3:351


The answer which Jesus gives is a mashal.

a paradoxical saying, a veiled and pointed remark, often in the form of a riddle.

Jesus said, “Unless one is born again ανωθεν” anothen G509

anothen is used 13 times in the New Testament, with four different meanings.

“from the top”: Jn 19:23; Mt 27:51; Mk 15:38

“from above”: Jn 3:31; 19:11; Jas 1:17; 3:15,17

“from the first; from the beginning”: Lk 1:3; Ac 26:5

“again”: Gal 4:9

Meaning

Translation

John 3:3Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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Nicodemus was faced with this great difficulty:

How can a man experience another birth in any sense whatever?

What Jesus clearly meant was that in order to see the kingdom of God it is necessary that a person be born from above;

The Spirit must implant in his heart the life that has its origin not on earth but in heaven.

Earthly or nationalistic distinctions cannot qualify one for entrance into this realm.

Any form of outward behavior — evenconduct more precisely in keeping with the law — is also insufficient.

There must be a radical change.

Unless one is born from above he cannot even see the kingdom of God; he cannot experience and partake of it; nor can he possess or enjoy it (Lu 2:26; Lu 9:27; Jn 8:51; Ac 2:27; Rv 18:7).


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When Jesus speaks about entering the kingdom of God,

it is equivalent to having ‘everlasting life’ or being saved (John 3:16-17)

The kingdom of God is the realm of creation in which his rule is recognized and obeyed and in which his grace prevails.

Before one can see (experience) that kingdom, before one can have everlasting life in relationship with God in any sense, one must be born from above.

There is an act of God (whereby a man is born from above) which must precede any act of man that can be righteous in

God’s eyes. (Joh 1:12.)

When a man is ‘born again from above’ he enters the Kingdom of God here and becomes a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven

John 3:454

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

New Birth: mandatory, exclusive nature; imperative, divides mankind.

The two questions:

The possibility of the new birth and

The process of the new birth.

John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.


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Nicodemus asks what seems to be a rhetorical question revealing that he has failed completely to grasp the meaning of the mashal.

How can a man be born when he is old?

Nicodemus, to show the absurd character of the saying, takes the most extreme case:

One certainly cannot comprehend the idea that an old man would actually have to be born all over again!

He cannot again enter into his mother's womb!

The very suggestion seems utterly impossible to him.

For another instance of crassly literal interpretation by Jesus listeners see John 2:19.

Take God literally when the literal sense makes sense but always take Him seriously even if it does not.

John 3:5-13 Preconceived theological concepts vs. sound exegesis

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5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.


7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound

thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and

knowest not these things?11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and

testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye

believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down

from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.


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Nicodemus is up against the eternal problem, the problem of the man who wants to be changed and who cannot change himself.

Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt.18:3). “

This phrase born anew from above, the idea of rebirth, runs all through the New Testament.

Peter speaks of being born anew by God's great mercy (1 Pet 1:3)

He talks about being born anew not of perishable seed, but of imperishable (1 Pet.1:22‑23).

James speaks of God bringing us forth by the word of truth (Jas.1:18).

The Letter to Titus speaks of the washing of regeneration (Tit.3:5).


58

Sometimes this same idea is spoken of as a death followed by a resurrection or a re‑creation.

Paul speaks of the Christian as dying with Christ and then rising to life anew (Rom.6:1‑11).

He speaks of those who have lately come into the Christian faith as babes in Christ (1Cor.3:1‑2).

If any man is in Christ it is as if he had been created all over again (2Cor.5:17).

In Christ there is a new creation (Gal.6:15).

The new man is created after God in righteousness (Eph.4:22‑24)

The person who is at the first beginnings of the Christian faith is a child (Hebrews 5:12‑14)

John 3:5-13 Born again59

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

…unless one is born of water and the Spirit, …

The idea of a necessary rebirth was not new or strange to the people who heard it in New Testament times.

The Jew knew all about rebirth.

When a man from another faith became a Jew and had been accepted into Judaism by prayer and sacrifice and baptism, he was regarded as being reborn.

"A proselyte who embraces Judaism," said the rabbis, "is like a new‑born child."

So radical was the change that the sins he had committed before his reception were all done away with, for now he was a different person.


The Greek also knew the idea of rebirth and knew it well. By far the most real religion of the Greeks at this time was the faith of the mystery religions.

The mystery religions were all founded on the story of some suffering and dying and rising god.

This story was played out as a passion play

The mystery religions offered mystic union with some god. When that union was achieved the initiate was, in the language of the Mysteries, a twice born.

The Hermetic Mysteries had as part of their basic belief:"There can be no salvation without regeneration."

In the Phrygian, the initiate, after his initiation, was fed with milk as if he was a new born babe.

Rebirth and regeneration was longed for and men searched for it everywhere




In the New Testament, and especially in the Fourth Gospel, there are four closely inter‑related ideas.

There is the idea of rebirth;

There is the idea of the kingdom of heaven, into which a man cannot enter unless he is reborn;

There is the idea of sonship of God; and

There is the idea of life eternal.

All these ideas have a common thought behind them.

John 3.56222



The key to the interpretation of these words is found in Jn 1:33, Joh 1:26, Joh 1:31; Mat 3:11; Mar 1:8; Luk 3:16

where water and Spirit are also found side by side, in connection with baptism.

Water baptism is not sufficient to gain access to God’s kingdom

The sign of water baptism is valuable - it is of great importance as a pictorial representation and as a seal.

But the sign must be accompanied by the thing it represents: the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit.

It is the latter that is absolutely necessary if one is to be saved.

In Joh 3:6 and 8 we no longer read about the birth of water but only about the birth of the Spirit, the one great essential.

John 3:5 the kingdom of…. 63


… the kingdom of God. G2316 θεος theos …

A phrase used in 65 verses but in 10 New Testament books, 4 times in Matthew

… kingdom of heaven. G3772 ουρανος ouranos …

A phrase used in 31 verses but only in the Book of Matthew

Neither phrase is found in the Old Testament

John 3:5 the kingdom of heaven 64


In John 3:5, Jesus uses the phrase “kingdom of God”

Is there a difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven?

… kingdom of heaven. G3772 ουρανος ouranos …

We get our best definition of it from the Lord's Prayer where there are two petitions side by side:

Thy Kingdom come: Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Matt 6:10.

It is characteristic of Jewish style to say things twice,

the second way explaining and amplifying the first.

Almost any verse of the Psalms will show us this Jewish habit of what is technically known as parallelism.

John 3:5 the kingdom of heaven 65


Applying that principle that the 2nd petition amplifies and explains the 1st, in the Lord's Prayer.

the kingdom of heaven is a society where God's will is as perfectly done on earth as it is in heaven.

To be in the kingdom of heaven is to lead a life in which we have willingly submitted everything to the will of God;

It is to have arrived at a stage when we perfectly and completely accept the will of God.

It is the kingdom of believers in whom God rules and reigns

John 3:5 the kingdom of God 66


The kingdom of God is God’s entire creation,

God created it, He owns it. But, it is not all yielded to Him, yet…

• Currently, the kingdom of this world is under the control and influence of Satan – the god of this world. 2Co 4:4; Luk 4:5-6

• Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have been transferred, translated, from the kingdom of this world into the kingdom of heaven. Col 1:13

• Some day in the near future the kingdom of this world and all who are citizens of it will be destroyed Rev 11:15; 12:10

The kingdom of heaven will then include of all of God’s creation.

Thy Kingdom come: Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Matt 6:10.

The kingdom of God will again be one with the kingdom in heaven.

John 3:5 born of water and the Spirit67


Is Baptism essential?

No mention in Old Testament — were they saved?

Consider the repentant thief.

Be careful not to put works in the way of Grace

— that’s blasphemy!

Water is used emblematically



In Scripture, water is associated with “Cleansing”

Don’t get caught up on the water — focus on the Spirit and the Word of God.

Ps 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,



In Scripture, water is associated with

“The Word”:

Ps 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.

1 Co 4:15 For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Js 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

1 Ptr 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

John 3:6 born of the flesh and the Spirit70

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Sarx: flesh = humanityJn 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we

beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

1Jn 4:2‑3 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: [3] And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2 Jn 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

The word seems to carry a hint of corrupt natureJohn 8:15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.

1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.



Paul used Sarx / flesh in Romans repeatedly - 25 times

In Romans 8 he uses it 12 times

Romans 8:1‑13

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: [4] That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.





Romans 8:1‑9

[5] For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. [6] For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. [7] Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. [8] So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. [9] But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.





Romans 8:10‑13

[10] And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. [11] But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

[12] Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. [13] For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.



A man by himself is flesh and his power is limited to what the flesh can do.

By himself he cannot be other than defeated and frustrated; that we know only too well; it is the universal fact of human experience.

But the very essence of the Spirit is power and life which are beyond human power and human life;

When the Spirit takes possession of us, the defeated life of human nature becomes the victorious life of God.



The change comes when we love Jesus, believing He is our living Lord and allow him into our hearts confessing Him in our life…Romans 10:9-10

Then we are forgiven for the past and indwelt and armed (empowered) by the Spirit; 1 Jhn 1:9; Jhn 7:39; 16:13; Act 1:8

Then we can truly accept the will of God. Rom 8:1-2

Then we become citizens of the kingdom of Heaven; Eph 2:19; Php 3:20

Then we enter into life eternal, which is the expression of the very life of God. Rom 6:22; Eph 4:18-24

Then we can become sons of God; John 1:12; Gal 3:22-29



The change comes when we acknowledge, accept and love the Lord Jesus and allow him into our hearts.

• Then we are forgiven for the past and armed by the Spirit for the future; then we can truly accept the will of God.

• Then we become citizens of the kingdom;• Then we become sons of God; • Then we enter into life eternal, which is the very life of

God.



Comparison with Genesis Chapter One

“After their kind...” Compare John 3 with Gen 1:11, 12, 21

Note the broader parallels

— Darkness

— Spirit broods

— Light;

Jer 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than anything. It is incurable—who can know it? [ISV]

No one gets a “change” of heart, Jesus gives us a “new” heart. Eze_11:19 Eze_18:31 Eze_36:26

Born of water and of the Spirit.

John 3.67822


Physical birth does not give one any priority in the sphere of salvation. Joh 1:13

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Sinful human nature only produces sinful human nature

Job 14:4, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.”

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

It is only the Holy Spirit who produces in man the sanctified human nature.

John 3:5‑6; Gal 6:15; Eph 2:1; Tit 3:5; Jas 1:18; 1 Pet 1:3; 1 Pet 1:23; 1 Jn 2:29; 1 Jn 3:9; 1 Jn 5:1; 1 Jn 5:18

Acts 17:11 1 Thes 5:21 79

Born Once, Die Twice;Born Twice, Die Once…

Death is not the cessation of life.It is not annihilation,

It is separation !!

1st death – Physical deathSeparation of the Spirit from the Body - Temporary

2nd birth – Spiritual birthlife eternal

Ye mustmust be born again…John 3

2nd death – Eternal death Separation of the Spirit from God - Eternal

1st birth – Physical birthPhysical, mortal life –

TemporaryBorn Spiritually dead already

Happy Birthday to you…

John 3:5-6 born again sonship80



Being born again from above takes us to sonship.

We have a new father… God’s blessing and promise to Israel was if they would be obedient to Him, He would be a father to them and they would be His people.

Lev 26:12; Jer 7:23, 11:4, 30:22, 31:33, 32:38; Exek 11:20; Joel 2:27; Zec 13:9; Heb 11:16; Rev 21:7

In one sense sonship is a tremendous privilege.

To those who believe there is given the power to become sons Jn.1:12.

But the very essence of sonship is necessarily obedience. Jn 14:21The essence of sonship is love; and The essence of love is obedience.

Matt 21:28‑32 sonship81

28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.

29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.

31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. KJV

Which son obeyed the father?Which son pleased the father?Which son did the father’s will?

Which son enjoyed the fathers presence?




To be a son of God and to be in the kingdom of God are one and the same thing.

While presently the kingdom of this world is under the influence and rulership of Satan, we can be translated to the Kingdom of Heaven – where our citizenship is issued and we become even now partakers in the Kingdom of God.

Colossians 1:12-16Revelation 11:15

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Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom of this World

Kingdom of GodKingdom of God

Jesus Jesus ChristChrist

Satan rulesChrist rules

God rules




The son of God and the citizen of the kingdom are people who both love God and have completely and willingly accepted the will of God.

We cannot with any sense of reality say that we love a person and then do things which hurt and grieve that person's heart.

Sonship is a privilege, but a privilege which is entered into only when full obedience is given.

John 3:7 born again life eternal85


The main idea behind life eternal is not simply that of duration.

It is life eternally…

An everlasting life goes on forever and could just as easily be in hell as it is in heaven.

All men possess and everlasting life.

The idea behind life eternal is the idea of a certain quality of life.

There is only one person who can properly be described by this adjective eternal (aionios) and that one person is God.

life eternal is the kind of life that God lives; it is God's life; life with God, in fellowship with Him and in His presence eternally.



To enter into life that is eternal is to enter into possession of that kind of life which is the life of God.

It is to be lifted up above merely human, transient things into that joy and peace which belong only to God.

Clearly a man can enter into this close fellowship with God only when he renders to him that love, that reverence, that devotion, that obedience which truly bring him into fellowship with him.



Here then we have three great kindred conceptions,• entry into the kingdom of heaven and through it, the

kingdom of God,• sonship of God and • life eternal;

and all result in obedience to the will of God.

It is what links all these three conceptions together.

As we are and in our own strength, we are unable to render to God this perfect obedience;

It is only when by God's grace and our belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit enters into us and takes possession of us, changes us, and empowers us that we can give to Him the reverence and the devotion we owe.



It is through Jesus Christ that we are reborn; it is when he enters into possession of our hearts and lives that the change comes.

When that happens we are born of water and the Spirit. • Water is the symbol of cleansing.

When Jesus takes possession of our lives, when we love him with all our heart, the sins of the past are forgiven and forgotten.

• The Spirit is the symbol of power.

When Jesus takes possession of our lives it is not only that the past is forgotten and forgiven, we gain the power to face the future without fear or being separated for Him ever again.



Water and the Spirit stand for the cleansing and the strengthening power of Christ, which wipes out the past and gives victory in the future.

But, if that were all, we might well proceed to make the same mess of life all over again;

Into our new life there enters a new power which enables us to

• be what by ourselves we could never be and • to do what by ourselves we could never do.

John 3.7 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Do not be amazed (or: do not begin to wonder) that I said to you, You must be born anew.

To Nicodemus everything seemed so very, very strange.

He was used to the idea of salvation by law – by works;

For Nicodemus, salvation was by an act of man.

Now he is taught that salvation is a gift of God, and that it is brought about by an event in which man is necessarily passive.

We are not Saved because we are Obedient,We are Obedient because we have been Saved.


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A person can do nothing about his own birth.

A person plays no part in his own birth – there is nothing he can do to assist in it’s process…

Once born however, person has everything to do with how he lives his life.

The thoughts, motives, words, deeds he harbors and engages in are entirely of his own choosing.


9222


When Jesus says, “You must be born again,” he does not mean, “See to it that you are born again.”

Jesus means, “Something has to happen to you:

the Holy Spirit must plant in your spirit, the new life from above.”

Nicodemus, a teacher of the Law, a law he fully knew he could not keep.

should not have shown either by his expression or by his words that the teaching of Jesus regarding the absolute necessity and sovereign character of regeneration is so very strange and surprising.

Knowing the scriptures, he should have recognized this and known it without being told.


9322

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

The sovereign character of regeneration (being born again) is clarified by an illustration taken from the action of the wind.

Pneuma: “wind; is used 370 times in the New Testament and all but once it is used of the “spirit.”

Emphasizes the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit.

He is not subject to our devices, but is sovereign.

The same is true of the Hebrew word "ruach"; it too means both spirit and wind.

In the first clause the term πνευμα means wind, not Spirit,

In the last clause: “So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” indicating that we are dealing with a comparison.


9422

The wind blows where it wills, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes to.

Nobody on earth can direct the wind. • It acts with complete independence. • It cannot even be seen. • It must be there for in striking any object it makes a sound. • Its source and its ultimate goal or destination no one knows.

Jesus adds, So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

The relation of the wind to your body resembles that of the Spirit to your soul.

The wind does as it pleases. So does the Spirit.

The Spirit’s operation is sovereign, incomprehensible, and mysterious.


9522

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

The believer possesses the Spirit of GodBut, the Spirit of God must also possess the believer

Once we ‘have’ Him, He controls usWe do Not control Him

We need to go wherever He goes…

What a lesson this was for a man who had been brought up in the belief that a person could and should save himself by

perfect obedience to the law of Moses and to a host of man-made, thoroughly analyzable, human regulations.


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Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

It must have been very difficult for Nicodemus to unlearn what he had always believed.

So he asks, How can these things be?

He is constantly asking that same question: how can? … he cannot, can he? … how can? (Joh 3:4, Joh 3:9).

This religious leader lacked the most elementary knowledge of the way of salvation.

His Pharisaic training seems to have made him immune to spiritual comprehension and understanding.

He is apparently still of the opinion that the words of Jesus must be understood in a strictly literal sense.


9722

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

Both Israel and teacher are preceded by the definite article.

“And you, that widely recognized and very prominent teacher of the highly favored people of Israel, do you actually mean to say that you are ignorant with respect to these matters?”

Nicodemus had:• the Old Testament, • the teachings of the Baptist, • the instruction of Jesus given in Joh 3:3-8,

but up to this moment the truth seems not to have penetrated his mind.

John 3:10 Teaching the teacher98

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

Nicodemus, “The teacher”, was well known and respected as an authority... He should have known about this “regeneration”

Ezek 11:19; 18:31; 36:26-28; Ps 143:10-11; Jer 31:33

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? KJV

deceitful H6121 `aqob (aw‑kobe'); from H6117; a knoll (as swelling up in pride); fraudulent: crooked, deceitful, polluted.

desparately H605 'anash (aw‑nash'); a primitive root; to be frail, feeble, or (figuratively) melancholy: desperately wicked, incurable, sick, woeful.

Which is why we need a new birth, a new heart – not an old one just repaired…


Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

In the last analysis what is the matter with so many of us is simply the fact that when Jesus Christ comes with his offer to change us and re‑create us, we more or less say:

"No thank you: I am quite satisfied with myself as I am, and I don't want to be changed.”

John 3:19

Jesus wants Nicodemus to know that there can be no doubt with respect to the doctrine of baptism and regeneration which he has discussed,

nor with respect to the doctrine of God's eternal decree for the salvation of sinners, which he is about to reveal to him.


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The discussion dialogue now changes to discourse with Jesus speaking and Nicodemus listening.

Jesus says, I solemnly assure you that which we know, we utter, and that which we have seen, we testify.

Against the “we know” of Nicodemus (John 3:2), a knowledge produced by human reflection,

the Lord places his own “we know,” a knowledge resulting from close communion with the Father

(John 5:20; John 14:10)


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Jesus claims not only “that which we know”, He claims it is “that which we have seen”.

“we utter” is more than just what He speaks, it is what “we testify of” – what He has been a witness of,

which is a more definite and forceful expression.

The term testify immediately reminds one of what was said with reference to the Baptist (John 1:7-8 > John 1:34).

John 3:5 points to the work of the forerunner.


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Jesus adds, But you do not accept our testimony.

Nicodemus indicated by his questions and his entire expression that he was not yet ready to accept the teaching of Jesus concerning the necessity of regeneration.

Nicodemus was not the only one who hesitated to believe this strange doctrine.

Christ uses the plural ‘you’.

The members of the Sanhedrin refused to admit that the Baptist was right when he testified concerning Jesus.

They refused to believe that Jesus was who he claimed to be.Consequently, these chief priests, elders, and scribes rejected Christ's teaching on the subject of regeneration.


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If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

If earthly matters, which take place within man's experience and the necessity of which should be self-evident to any one who reflects upon his own natural inability to please God, are regarded as being incredible,

will not heavenly matters — God's eternal plan for the redemption of mankind by sending his Son into the world (John 3:16) — be rejected much more readily?

Heavenly things lie completely outside of the range of man's physical experience.

If the earthly things have been rejected, how can it be reasonably expected that the much more mysterious heavenly

things will be accepted?


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If I have told you earthly things — he implies that he has been doing this — and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

Jesus had been speaking of earthly things; i.e., of things which, though heavenly in character and origin, take place on earth; e.g., regeneration.

It is clear from John 1:11, 1:26; John 2:4, 2:9, that such truths, though clearly taught even in the Old Testament, were rejected by men like Nicodemus.

At best, such doctrines were regarded as being very strange.

They were not received nor were they accepted by them.


If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

There is a warning here for every one of us.

It is easy:• To sit in discussion groups, • To sit in a study and • To read books, • To discuss the intellectual truth of Christianity;

but the essential thing is to experience the power of Christianity.

It is fatally easy to start at the wrong end and to come to the conclusion that it is enough and you are all right with God,

to think of Christianity as something to be discussed, not as a relationship with Him that is to be experienced.


10622

And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is (dwells, has His home) in heaven. Some MSS omit the phrase ‘which is in heaven’

In order to have first-hand information about heavenly things one must have been present in God's Throne-room when the decisions were made.

No one has gone up into heaven

Hence, God's decree concerning the redemption of his people lies completely outside of the range of man's knowledge until it is revealed to him.

Jesus – the Son - was present with the Father when the plan was made which centers in the decree to send the Son into the world in order to bear the curse and set man free. Ps 2

The One who descended from heaven to earth, becoming a man Himself, the Son of man. Eph 4:8-10

John 3.14-15 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that every one who believes in him may have life eternal."

The heart and center of this wonderful plan of redemption is stated in verses John 3:14-18.

It is something entirely new, but as something which had been partially disclosed in the types of the old dispensation

Compare with the Brazen Serpent in Numbers 21:4-9.

• Sin is acknowledged; “look and live.” • There was no remedy that man could develop; • They weren’t told to fight with the serpents (no society for exterminating serpents?); • No offering was made to the serpents, • No looking to Moses...

They were not to look to their wounds, just “look and live”! Tit 3:5

JN 3.14-15 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

10822


The story of The Serpent Lifted Up is found in Numbers 21.

Theme: Israel's Journey from Sinai to the Plains of Moab:

A Lesson Concerning Sin and Grace

Chapters 1-9: Preparations for leaving Sinai.

Chapters 10-21 Journey from Sinai to the plains of Moab: a story of repeated sin and resulting failure until Jehovah in his grace causes the serpent to be lifted up. Thereupon mainly,

Chapters 22-36 Blessing and victory in the plains of Moab.

Numbers 21:4‑9 109

[4] And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. [5] And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. [6] And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

[7] Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

[8] And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. [9] And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Numbers 21:4‑9 110

That story much impressed the Israelites.

They told how in later times that brazen serpent became an idol and in the days of Hezekiah had to be destroyed because people were worshipping it.

2 Kings 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

The Jews themselves were puzzled by this incident in view of the fact that they were absolutely forbidden to make graven images


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In John 3:14 the words “As Moses … so must the Son of man” clearly indicate that the event recorded in Numbers 21 is a type of the lifting up of the Son of man.

a. In both cases death threatens as a punishment for sin.

b. In both cases it is God himself who, in his sovereign grace, provides a remedy.

c. In both cases this remedy consists of something (or some One) which (who) must be lifted up, in public view.

d. In both cases those who, with a believing heart, look unto that which (or: look unto the One who) is lifted up, are healed.


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•The serpents were a “type”, a symbol representing sin.

Aesculapius (single serpent) = god of Medicine

Hermes (double serpent) = god of Commerce

Which one is one your doctor’s diploma and lapel ???

• Bronze symbolizes judgment. The Brass Serpent a model of Jesus Christ

The Cross does not ‘save’ you – Jesus saves you…

He was “made sin” (2 Cor 5:21). God put upon Him what we all had earned.

You don’t just give your heart to Christ: You receive HIM.


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In Numbers the people are face to face with physical death;

In John, mankind is viewed as exposed to eternal death because of sin.

In Numbers it is the type that is lifted up — the brazen serpent had no power to heal. Believing the word of God had the power.

It points forward to the Antitype, Christ, who does have this power.

In Numbers the emphasis is on physical healing: when a man fixed his eye upon the serpent of brass, he was restored to health.

In John it is spiritual life — everlasting life — that is granted to him who reposes his trust in the One who is lifted up.


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The lifting up of the Son of man is presented as a “must.” (Mar 8:31; Luk 24:7).

It is not a remedy; It is the only possible remedy for sin,

Only in this way only can the demands of God's holiness and righteousness — and love! — be met.


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"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that every one who believes in him may have life eternal.“

The verb to lift up is "hupsoun."

It is used of Jesus in 2 senses. • In John’s Gospel the term to be lifted up (from υψοω)

always refers to the cross (Joh 8:28; Joh 12:32, 34). • Elsewhere the term is used with reference to his

exaltation (Act 2:33; 5:31; Php.2:9).

Where does the glory of all of God's attributes in Christ shine more brilliantly than on the cross

(Joh 12:28, 2:32-33)?


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The double lifting up in Jesus' life ‑‑ the lifting on the Cross and the lifting into glory are inextricably connected.

The one could not have happened without the other.

For Jesus the Cross was the way to glory; • had he refused it, • had he evaded it, • had he taken steps to escape it, as he might so easily

have done,

there would have been no glory for him.


117


It is the same for us.

We can, if we like, choose the easy way;

We can, if we like, refuse to look to Jesus on the cross, who took on Himself our sin and it’s penalty;

We can, if we like, refuse the cross that every Christian is called to bear;

but if we do, we lose the glory.

John 3:16118

For God the greatest being

So the greatest degree

Loved the greatest affection

the world the greatest object of love

that he gave the greatest act

his only the greatest treasure

Begotten the greatest relationship

Son, the greatest gift

that whosoever the greatest company

Believeth the greatest trust

in him the greatest object of faith

should not perish the greatest deliverance

but have the greatest assurance

Everlasting the greatest promise

life. the greatest blessing

(IGrNT+)119

Ουτως G3779 γαρ G1063 FOR SOΗγαπησεν G25 [G5656] ο G3588 LOVED

Θεος G2316 GOD Τον G3588 THE

Κοσμον G2889 WORLD Ωστε G5620 τον G3588 THAT

Υιον G5207 αυτου G846 HIS SON Τον G3588 THE

Μονογενη G3439 ONLY BEGOTTEN Εδωκεν G1325 [G5656] HE GAVE,

Ινα G2443 THAT Πας G3956 EVERYONE

Ο G3588 WHO Πιστευων G4100 [G5723] BELIEVES

Εις G1519 ON Αυτον G846 μη G3361 HIM Αποληται G622 [G5643] MAY NOT PERISH

Αλλ G235 BUT Εχη G2192 [G5725] MAY HAVE

Ζωην G2222 LIFE Αιωνιον G166 ETERNAL

John 3.14-16 Believing in Jesus Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that every one who believes in

him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that every one who believes in him

should not perish but have everlasting life."

1] Believing in Jesus means believing with all our hearts that God is as Jesus declared him to be.

It means we believe that: • God loves us and cares for us,• God wants nothing more than to forgive us.• Jesus died for our sin and rose again for our life in Him• Jesus is our Saviour AND Lord, and we prove it by how

we work out our new life in Him here and now.

It was not easy for a Jew to believe that.


121

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that every one who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that every one who believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life."

The Jew looked on God as:• one who imposed his laws upon his people and punished

them if they broke them. • a judge and on man as a criminal at his judgment seat. • one who demanded sacrifices and offerings; to get into his

presence man had to pay the price laid down.

It was hard not to think of God as a judge waiting to exact penalty, a task‑master waiting to pounce, but rather as a Father who

longed to have his erring children come back home.


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We must believe that Jesus is as God said He is - the Son of God,

• that in him is the mind of God,• that he knew God so well, was so close to God, was so

one with God, that he could tell us the absolute truth about him.


123


We believe that God is a loving Father because we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that therefore what he says about God is true.

Rom 10:9 …that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.


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Belief in Jesus has these 3 elements‑‑• belief that God is our loving Father, • belief that Jesus is the son of God and therefore tells us

the truth about God and life, and • unswerving and unquestioning obedience to Jesus.


125


If we believe these things then we must stake everything on the fact that

• What Jesus says is true and so whatever he says we must do• Whenever he expects and commands we must obey. • When he tells us to cast ourselves unreservedly on the mercy

of God we must do so.

We must take Jesus at his word. Even the smallest actions in life must be done in unquestioning obedience to him.

126

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that every one who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that every one who believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. [lit: life eternal]"

The second great phrase is life eternal. • To possess life eternal is to share in the very life of God

himself. • To have life eternal envelops every relationship in life with

peace.

John 3.14-16 life eternal Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

127

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that every one who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that every one who believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. [lit: life eternal]"

life eternal gives us peace with God.

We are no longer cringing before a tyrannical king or seeking to hide from an austere judge.

We are at home with our Father.

life eternal gives us peace with men.

• If we have been forgiven we must be forgiving. • It enables us to see men as God sees them. • It makes us and all men into one great family joined in love.


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"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that every one who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that every one who believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. [lit: life eternal]“

life eternal gives us peace with life.

If God is Father, God is working all things together for good.

When we believe that God is our loving Father, we also believe that the father's hand will never cause his child a needless tear.

We may not understand life any better, but we will not resent life any longer.


129


life eternal gives us peace with ourselves.

A man is usually more afraid of himself than of anything else. • He knows his own weakness; • He knows the force of his own temptations; • He knows his own tasks and the demands of his own life.

But now he knows that he is facing it all with God.

It is not just he who lives but Christ who lives in him.

There is a peace founded on strength in his life.


130


life eternal makes him certain that the deepest peace on earth is only a shadow of the ultimate peace which is to come.

• It gives him a hope and a goal to which he travels. • It gives him a life of glorious wonder here and yet, at the

same time, a life in which the best is yet to be.



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"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that every one who believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. [lit: life eternal]“

The verse sheds light on the following aspects of God's infinite love:

1. its character (so loved), 2. its Author (God), 3. its object (the world), 4. its Gift (his Son, the only-begotten), and 5. its purpose (that whoever believes in him should not

perish but have everlasting life).

“For” establishes a causal relation between this and verse 15.

That it is only in connection with Christ that everlasting life is ever obtained (Joh 3:15) is made clear from the fact that it has pleased God to grant this supreme gift only to those who repose their trust in him (Joh 3:16).

John 3.16 Its Author God so lovedJesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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God is ever and always full of life and full of love.

Take all human virtues; then raise them to the nth degree, and realize that no matter how grand and glorious a total picture is formed in the mind,

even that is a mere shadow of the love-life which exists eternally in the heart of him whose very name is Love.

The love of God precedes our love (1Jn 4:9-10, 1Jn 4:19; Rom 5:8-10), and it makes the our love of God possible.

John 3.16 Its Author God so lovedJesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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The initiative in all salvation lies with God.

• Sometimes we present Christianity in a way that it sounds as if God has to be pacified, as if he had to be persuaded to forgive.

• Sometimes men paint a picture of a stern, angry, unforgiving God and a gentle, loving, forgiving Jesus.

• Sometimes men present the Christian message a way that it sounds as if Jesus did something which changed the attitude of God to men from condemnation to forgiveness.

But this text tells us that it was with God that it all started.

It was God who sent his Son, and he sent him because he loved men. At the back of everything is the love of God.

John 3.16 Its character Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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‘so loved’

The word “so” indicates:

The infinite degree and glorious manner that God loves.

The tense used in the original (the aorist ηγαπμσεν) shows that God's love in action,

It reached back out of eternity and

It came to fruition in Bethlehem and at Calvary,

It is one, great, central plan and fact.

John 3:16 THE LOVE OF GOD135


It is easy to think of God as looking at men in their heedlessness and their disobedience and their rebellion and saying:

"I'll break them: I'll discipline them and punish them and scourge them until they come back."

It is easy to think of God as seeking the allegiance of men in order to satisfy his own desire for power and for what we might call a completely subject universe.

It is easy for us to think that way because that’s the way we would act having believed Satan’s lie(s)

John 3:16 THE LOVE OF GOD136


This text is that it shows us God acting not for his own sake, but for ours,

He is not acting to satisfy his desire for power, He is not acting to bring a universe to heel,

He is acting to satisfy his deep love us.

God is not like an absolute monarch who treats each man as a subject to be reduced to abject obedience.

God is the Father who cannot be happy until his wandering children have come home.

God will judge but he’d much rather forgive …

John 3.16 Its object, the worldJesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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The object of this love is the world.

Kosmos, “world”: Bringing order out of chaos..

kosmos is the root word in “cosmetics...”

The world is under judgment (Jn 9:39), in the control of its prince, Satan (Jn 12:31), yet it is overcome by Christ (Jn 16:33).

‘The world’, as used here, must mean mankind which, though sin-laden, exposed to the judgment, and in need of salvation (Joh 3:16-17), is still the object of God’s love and care.


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By reason of the context and other passages in which a similar thought is expressed, here the term ‘world’ indicates fallen mankind in its international aspect:

Including men from every tribe and nation; not only Jews but also Gentiles.

This thought is expressed repeatedly in the Gospel of John Physical ancestry has nothing to do with entrance into the kingdom of heaven

Joh 1:12-13; Joh 8:6; Joh 8:31-39.


139


It was the world that God so loved.

It was not a nation; it was not the good people; It was not only the people who loved him; it was the world.

• The unlovable and the unlovely, • The lonely who have no one else to love them, • The man who loves God but who never thinks of him, • The man who rests in the love of God but who spurns it

‑ all are included in this vast inclusive love of God.

Augustine: "God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love.”

John 3.16 Its gift, His only SonJesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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“… that he gave his Son, the only-begotten.”

The original literally reads, “that his Son, the only-begotten, he gave.”

All the emphasis is on the greatness of the gift;

The verb ‘he gave’ must be taken in the sense of he gave unto death as an offering for sin (Jn 15:13; 1Jn 3:16; 1Jn 4:10; Ro 8:32 - John's ‘gave’ is Paul's ‘spared not’).

John 3.16 Its gift, His only SonJesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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“… that he gave his Son, the only-begotten.”

We hear the echo of Gen 22:2 “Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac…”

The gift of the Son is the peak, the climax, the extent and limit of God's love (Mat 21:33-39).

It’s not that God will do no more but

that there is nothing more He can do….

John 3.16 Its purpose… so that everyone who believes

Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

142


“that whoever believes” clearly indicates that the reference is not to birds and trees but to mankind.

Joh 4:42; Joh 8:12; 1Jn 4:14.

John 3.16 Its purpose … should not perish Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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God does not leave mankind to itself.

He so loved the world that his Son, the only begotten, he gave, with this purpose: that those who receive him with abiding trust and confidence may have everlasting life.

Though the Gospel is proclaimed to men of every tribe and nation, not every one who hears it believes in the Son.

But whoever believes — whether he be a Jew or a Gentile — has everlasting life.

John 3.16 Its purpose … should not perish Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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‘perish’ is the antonym of having everlasting life.

It does not mean: should not lose physical existence; norshould not be annihilated.

John 3.16 Its purpose … should not perishJesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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Perishing here refers to divine condemnation, complete and everlasting, so that one is:

banished from the presence God’s love and dwells forever in the presence God’s wrath,

It is a condition which begins here and now in a limited sense but does not reach its full and terrible culmination for both soul and body until the day of great judgment

John 3.16 Its purpose… have everlasting life. [lit: life eternal]“.


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“life eternal”:

The Greek aionios with noun zoe implies that life eternal begins at the moment of faith and never ends.

You don’t have to wait until you die to have life eternal — you have it now!

It’s more than endless existence: it’s sharing the Divine Life.

John 3.16 Its purpose… but have everlasting life.


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John 3.16 Its purpose… but have everlasting life.


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“… but have everlasting life.”

In order to receive this everlasting life one must believe in God's only begotten Son.

God gave his Son; he gives us the faith to embrace the Son; he gives us everlasting life as a reward for the exercise of this faith.

‘faith’ is the gift of God (Eph 2:8),

The fruit of that faith, everlasting life, is also God's gift (John 10:28).

John 3:17-21 LOVE AND JUDGMENT149

"For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe already stands condemned. And this is the reason of this condemnation ‑‑ the light came into the

world and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. Every one whose deeds are

depraved hates the light, and does not come to the light, but his deeds stand convicted. But he who puts the truth into action comes to the light, that his deeds may be made

plain for all to see, because they are done in God."

John's grieves that so few accept the message that Jesus brought;

When a man does accept it, he attests the fact that in his belief the word of God is true.


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For God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

As the Jews saw it, the Messiah at his coming would condemn the heathen.

The Day of the Lord would mean punishment for the nations which had oppressed Israel, but not for Israel.

This misinterpretation of prophecy had been censured most severely by Amos (Amo 5:18-20), but it never subsided.

The Day of the Lord is not to punish the Gentiles, it is God’s wrath being poured out on evil.

It is against this Jewish exclusivism that the words of Jesus are directed.


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As the Jews saw it, the Messiah at his coming would condemn the heathen.

The Day of the Lord would mean punishment for the nations which had oppressed Israel, but not for Israel.

This misinterpretation of prophecy had been censured most severely by Amos (Amo 5:18-20), but it never subsided.

The Day of the Lord is not to punish the Gentiles, it is God’s wrath being poured out on evil.

It is against this Jewish exclusivism that the words of Jesus are directed.


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The primary object of Christ's first coming was not to condemn but to save. Luk 4:18-19 vs Isa 61:1-2

God's redemptive purpose is not confined to the Jews but embraces the world

(men from every tribe and nation, considered as a unit);

‘be saved’ Salvation is not only deliverance from God’s wrath directed as the punishment for sins

but from sin itself, and the bestowal of everlasting life.

Salvation not condemnation is what God had in store for the world when he sent his Son – when He took upon Himself flesh and died

for us, becoming sin because of and for us.


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If the purpose of Christ's first coming was to bring salvation, while the purpose of the second coming will be to bring condemnation and judgment, is God not judging sin now?

No one will simply wait for the day of the great consummation to receive his sentence, whatever that sentence may be…

On that great judgment day: the verdict will be publicly proclaimed (Joh 5:25-29).

The decision we make now brings about the sentence regarding life eternal.

John 5:22-32154

22 "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.24"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who

sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

26 "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.

28 "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

30 "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.31 "If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.32 "There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony

which He gives about Me is true.


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He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the

name of the only begotten Son of God.

Rom 3:23 … Rom 5:8… Rev 20:12, 15

Jesus divides all those to whom the message of salvation is presented into two groups:

(1) The one who abides in Christ by faith is not judged; i.e., no sentence of condemnation will ever be read against him.

Even now he is in the eyes of God without guilt.

(2) The one who rejects Christ by not believing in him as God's only-begotten Son does not need to wait for the final judgment, as if the verdict would be postponed until then.

Already, by the very fact of his obstinate unbelief, he has been (and therefore stands) condemned.


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He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Later Jesus will saying:

"For judgment I came into this world" (Jn.9:39).

It is possible to offer a person an experience based in nothing but love. an experience which is meant to do nothing but bring joy and bliss, and for that experience to turn out a judgment.

When that person rejects, ignores, trivializes that expression and experience, his reaction becomes the action that judges and condemns them.

If he finds no beauty and no thrill we know that he has a blind spot in his soul.


157

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not

believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

If, when a man is confronted with Jesus, his soul responds to that wonder and beauty, he is on the way to salvation.

But if, when he is confronted with Jesus, he sees nothing lovely, he stands condemned.

His reaction has condemned him.

God sent Jesus in love. He sent him for man's salvation; but when that which was sent in love is rejected it becomes a condemnation.

It is not God who has condemned the man; God only loved him; the man has condemned himself.

JN 3.19 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near/In Jerusalem

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This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.

Compare ourself with the Lord Jesus we see ourselves as we are.

The man who reacts in hostility to Jesus has loved the darkness rather than the light.

It is only the evil‑doer who does not wish to see himself and who does not wish anyone else to see him.

Such a man will inevitably hate Jesus Christ, for Christ will show him what he is and that is the last thing that he wants to see.

It is the concealing darkness that he loves and not the revealing light.By his reaction to Jesus Christ, a man stands revealed and his soul laid bare.

If he regards Christ with love, even with wistful yearning, for him there is hope;

but if in Christ he sees nothing attractive he has condemned himself. He who was sent in love has become to him judgment.


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This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light,

for their deeds were evil.

judgment in this context means the divine decision or verdict.

the light has come into the world, Joh 1:4-5, Joh 1:9-11.

world Joh 1:10; Joh 1:26.

loved “men agapao darkness...” Men desired to remain blind, were unwilling to give up their own ways, thoughts, deeds, and desires

darkness Joh 1:5

light, Joh 1:4.


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This is the basis of the divine declaration of guilt,

Our personal decision to reject Jesus.

Those who reject the light he brings are rejecting that • Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ,

who is himself the Light, the very embodiment of the truth and love of God,

• Who came into the realm of fallen mankind and Who is revealed

• by means of the word of prophecy, • by means of his own incarnation, • by the witness of God the Holy Spirit’s to them


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Though some accepted him by far the majority preferred the moral and spiritual darkness of sin

(spiritual blindness, hatred of the brethren, etc.,

1Jn 2:11, Jn 8:12; Jn 12:35, Jn 12:46; 1Jn 2:8-9).

In fact, they actually loved this darkness; not that they were ignorant, having never heard the Gospel,

but rather that they loved and were unwilling to abandon their evil works.

John 14:6


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Though some accepted him by far the majority preferred the moral and spiritual darkness of sin

(spiritual blindness, hatred of the brethren, etc.,

1Jn 2:11, Jn 8:12; Jn 12:35, Jn 12:46; 1Jn 2:8-9).

In fact, they actually loved this darkness;

not that they were ignorant, having never heard the Gospel,

but rather that they loved and were unwilling to abandon their evil works.

John 14:6


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For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

Those in the habit of practicing what is wrong hate the light and do not come to the light.

Jn 8:12; 14:6; 9:5; Mt 5:6, 14

Such a person abides in darkness

Such a person is always seeking ways to avoid the light;


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For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

The person who abides in darknesswill have nothing to do with the Christ,

the source and embodiment of God's truth and love.

• They never read, much less study God’s written Word

• They refuse to attend church or involve themselves in with Christians, attending only when they must and then without joy.

They may tolerate the company of God’s people but only so long as they don’t talk about Jesus and their confidence in God.

People of this type always prefer the darkness and are terribly frightened and uncomfortable when they are exposed to the light.

Such a person really hates the light, fearing it, because (by this light) their (evil) deeds might be exposed and they may be forced to choose.


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But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Poion ten aletheian: “doeth the truth.”

This phrase is used only twice, both by John

1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

Belief in Jesus is a “participation”; a way of livingIt is not just intellectual acknowledgement.

Our deeds, our motives, our character, our lifestyle do not qualify us to receive the truth

But, they are the evidence of the truth that is in us...


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The one who is in the habit of doing what is true and right(1Jn 1:6) comes to the light.

There is a very close relationship between light and truth;

The one who does the truth comes to the light to demonstrate that his deeds were wrought in God.

He desires to show that his deeds, though by no means perfect, were, nevertheless, wrought with God's approval (that they were done, in principle, according to God's law), and that they retain this character forever.

If I desire to walk in the light, I must come to and stay in that light.

If I do not know and grow in truth, how can I expect to walk in it.

The discourse ends with an implicit invitation to Nicodemus to leave the realm of darkness and unbelief and embrace Christ, the true light.

Synthesis of Joh. 2:23-3:21Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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The Son of God is revealing himself to ever-widening circles:

At Jerusalem, during the Passover-week, many people, observed the signs which Jesus did and accepted him as a divine teacher, a great and powerful prophet, and as such placed their trust in him.

With his penetrating eye Jesus read the secrets of men's hearts and he knew that this was not saving faith and he did not entrust himself to them by revealing who He actually was.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin. He was one of those who, having beheld the signs, accepted Jesus as a divine teacher.

Jesus discerned the unspoken question within the heart of Nicodemus:

“How can I enter the kingdom of God?”

Synthesis of Joh. 2:23-3:21Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem

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The Lord emphasized the necessity of being born anew.

He employed a term which can mean either: to be born from above or to be born again.

Nicodemus did not understand that Jesus was talking about a new, spiritual birth.

Jesus points out that he was not speaking about anything physical, and that physical distinctions have no significance for the kingdom of heaven.

He emphasizes that regeneration is a work of God over which man has no more control than he has over the wind.

The Gospels Part 03 At the Passover In Jerusalem to The night time conversation with Nicodemus.

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Transcript of The Gospels Part 03 At the Passover In Jerusalem to The night time conversation with Nicodemus.