6. The Spirit and the Kingdom (John 3:1-21)
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
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James J. Tissot, detail of "The Interview between Jesus and
Nicodemus" (1886-96), watercolor, Brooklyn Museum, New York.
Full image. |
The famous often attract people for the wrong
reasons. People want to be close to glamour and fame, hoping that
some of it will rub off. People want to be able to say they saw
so-and-so, since it adds to their own status. And if the person is a
performer, people are attracted by the act. In Jesus' case, many
were attracted by his actions, his miracles, and, sadly, few went
deeper. This account is of one man who did.
"23 Now while he was in
Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous
signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus
would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25
He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a
man." (John 2:23-25)
Jesus was mobbed for his miraculous
signs. And that is where our story begins.
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council." (John 3:1)
"Nicodemus" is a Greek name (Nikodēmos,
from nikos, "victorious" + dēmos, "public, people")
that means "conqueror of the people." The name was found among both
Jews and Greeks. Perhaps he was a member of the Greek-speaking
synagogue that met in Jerusalem (6:9; 9:29). We just don't know.1
However, we learn several things about
Nicodemus here and in the two other passages where he is mentioned.
First, he was a minor celebrity in his own right as one of the 70
Jewish rulers2 who served on the Jerusalem Sanhedrin, the body that made decisions
for the country -- under Roman rule, of course.3
He was also a Pharisee, that is, a strict
observer of the law (John 7:50-51). What's more, he was an expert in
Jewish law, a scribe, since Jesus calls him "Israel's teacher" (John
3:10). He was probably wealthy, as well, both to be considered to be
a member of the Sanhedrin and because he assisted Joseph of
Arimathea in Jesus' burial, both physically and perhaps financially
(John 19:39).
But there was something different about
Nicodemus from the other members of the Sanhedrin: he was
spiritually hungry.
"He came to Jesus at night and said,
'Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one
could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not
with him.'" (John 3:2)
Twice, the Gospel of John tells us that he came
Jesus at night (3:2; 19:39). Why the nocturnal visit? There are
several possibilities:
- Fear. We're told that fellow Sanhedrin member Joseph
of Arimathea hadn't publicly himself identified with Jesus "because
he feared the Jews" (John 19:38). Was Nicodemus afraid too? Perhaps,
but he seemed bolder, since he stood up for Jesus in a meeting of
the Sanhedrin (John 7:51).
- Caution. Probably caution fits Nicodemus. He doesn't
want to be seen endorsing the teachings of this new Galilean teacher
until he is sure. That's wise, it seems to me.
- Accessibility. Perhaps the best reason for seeking out
Jesus at night is the ability to engage him in a longer conversation
and ask earnest questions without interruption.4 Nighttime was probably a good choice for an earnest seeker.
Notice what this esteemed Bible scholar
acknowledges when he meets Jesus.
Rabbi, which means in Hebrew, "great one."
Nicodemus acknowledges the legitimacy of Jesus' teaching role,
though Jesus hadn't been educated in the finest schools under the
best rabbis, as had Paul, for example (Acts 22:3). (Jesus had,
of course, impressed the temple teachers as a boy of twelve, Luke
2:46-47.) Nicodemus is impressed by him as a teacher, which is high
praise coming from a well-known teacher like Nicodemus.
A teacher come from God. Unlike some of his
fellow Pharisees who claimed that Jesus cast out demons by the devil
himself (Mark 3:22), Nicodemus recognizes the divine
origin of Jesus' miracles.
I used to think that Nicodemus was just being
polite when he said: "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come
from God" (John 3:2a). But I was wrong. Nicodemus is just being
honest. It is these miracles that make Nicodemus so curious.
"While [Jesus] was in Jerusalem at the
Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing
and believed in his name." (John 2:23)
Nicodemus is one of these. He isn't a full
believer yet, but the miracles cause him to recognize that God is
behind Jesus' miracles. I know that the first time I saw a miracle
first-hand, it changed my world-view. Unlike most of his fellow
Pharisees, instead of rejecting Jesus' miracles or signs, he sees
them as an indication of God's hand. Now he has come to learn more.
I've always thought that Jesus' reply to
Nicodemus' statement seems rather abrupt and off-topic.
"In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you
the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born
again.'" (John 3:3)
After all, Nicodemus is talking about miracles
and Jesus is discussing the Kingdom of God. Then I realized that
Nicodemus' own presence that night with the miracle-worker is
powerful testimony that he is seeking the Kingdom of God to which
the miracles attested.5 Nicodemus is hungry to see and understand the Kingdom.
Now Jesus begins to teach about the spiritual
nature of the Kingdom of God.
"In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you
the truth, no one can see6 the kingdom of God unless he is born again.'
4 'How can a man be born
when he is old?' Nicodemus asked. 'Surely he cannot enter a second
time into his mother's womb to be born!'
5 Jesus answered, 'I tell
you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he
is born of water and the Spirit.'" (John 3:3-5)
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James J. Tissot, "Nicodemus" (1886-96), Watercolor, The
Brooklyn Museum, New York.
Larger
image. |
Pause a moment. We're so eager to understand
what it means to be "born again" that we miss what Jesus is saying
about the Kingdom. Remember, the prevailing Jewish expectation was
that the Messiah would come as a military leader to deliver them
from Roman oppression, perhaps in the way that Judas Maccabeus and
his family had led a rebellion that had delivered Israel from the
control of the pagan Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes less than two
centuries before.
Jesus tells us two things about the Kingdom:
1.
The Kingdom is spiritually discerned, that is, you
can't see it or grasp it spiritually unless you are "born from
above," unless God enables you to see it.
2.
The Kingdom is spiritually entered, that is, you can't
enter into the Kingdom, which is a synonym for inheriting eternal
life, unless you are changed spiritually.
Recall with me a couple of verses. Jesus has
this dialog with Pontius Pilate:
"Pilate … summoned Jesus and asked
him, 'Are you the king of the Jews?'
… Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of
this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my
arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.'
'You are a king, then!' said Pilate.
Jesus answered, 'You are right in
saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for
this I came into the world, to testify to the truth….'" (John 18:33,
36-37)
And another teaching.
"No one knows the Son except the
Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom
the Son chooses to reveal him." (Matthew 11:27)
"No one can come to me unless the
Father who sent me draws him." (John 6:44)
The parables of the Kingdom are hidden
from the unbelievers, too.
"The disciples came to him and asked,
'Why do you speak to the people in parables?'
He replied, 'The knowledge of the
secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to
them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.'"
(Matthew 13:10-12)
The Kingdom of God is hidden from
unbelievers.
"The god of this age has blinded the
minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the
gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2
Corinthians 4:4)
Unbelievers can see that it might be
present from the signs or miracles that result, and this may cause
them, like Nicodemus, to search further. But unaided, they can't see
or discern the Kingdom, much less enter it. It is God's prerogative
to reveal.
At one level, this may not seem quite fair.
After all, seeing spiritual things is a right, isn't it? No. We are
blind, unless God graciously rescues us, saves us. There is a
spiritual war going on. Salvation is costly. So costly that it can
only be a gift.
Does this sound like the sovereignty of God and
predestination? That is what it is. But as we'll see shortly, there
is something that man can and must do to prepare himself to receive
the gift.
Now let's explore this heavenly birth that
Jesus teaches:
"In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you
the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born
again.'
4 'How can a man be
born when he is old?' Nicodemus asked. 'Surely he cannot enter a
second time into his mother's womb to be born!'
5 Jesus answered, 'I tell
you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is
born of water and the Spirit.'" (John 3:3-5)
First let's examine the word "born," gennaō,
"become the parent of, beget" by procreation; passive, "be
fathered."7
The
passive can mean either "born," as by a mother, or "begotten" as by
a father.8 Nicodemus takes the word in its feminine sense of being in one's
mother's womb. But elsewhere, the idea seems to be "beget" in the
masculine sense:9
"Yet to all who received him, to those
who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of
God -- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or
a husband's will, but born of God." (John 1:12-13)
"No one who is born of God will
continue to sin, because God's seed (sperma10 )
remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of
God." (1 John 3:9)
"Everyone who believes that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father
loves his child as well." (1 John 5:1)
"For you have been born again,
not of perishable seed (spora11 ),
but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God."
(1 Peter 1:23)
There's another issue to examine as we try to
understand Jesus' teaching as accurately as possible. The adverb
modifying "born/beget" in verses 3 and 5 is anōthen. The
Greek word can have both the meaning "from above" (which is most
common) as well as "again, anew" (less often)12
1. Argument for "from above"
Most modern commentators13 take the primary meaning here as "from above," since that is how the
adverb is used three other times in this gospel (John 3:31; 19:11,
23). In addition, John's writings contain the idea of "born of God"
(which is the same idea as "born from above") in several verses, as
seen in the previous paragraph (1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4; 5:18). A.T.
Robertson observes that though Nicodemus took the word in the sense
of "again," "the misapprehension of Nicodemus does not prove the
meaning of Jesus."14 The translation "from above" is contained in the NRSV and NJB.
2. Argument for "again, anew"
However, I believe a strong case can be made
for the translation "again, anew." First, the possibility of two
meanings of the word is possible in Greek only, not in the Aramaic
that Jesus would have spoken.15 Second, Nicodemus clearly took it in the sense of "again" when he
pictured a person crawling back into his mother's womb "a second
time"16 to be born. Third, Jesus seems to have taught something similar in
Matthew:
"I tell you the truth, unless you
change17 and become like little children, you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3)
We also clearly see the idea of being
"born anew" elsewhere in the New Testament:
"He saved us, not because of righteous
things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through
the washing of rebirth (palingenesia18 )
and renewal (anakainōsis19 )
by the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3:5)
"In his great mercy he has given us
new birth (anagennaō20 )
into a living hope...."
(1 Peter 1:3)
"For you have been born again (anagennaō),
not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and
enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:23)
For these reasons, I think that the
translation "born anew" reflects Jesus' meaning here.21 Indeed, a number of commentators support this view,22 and both the NIV and NASB give "born anew" as their first reading.
The best translation, however, is probably "born anew" rather than
"born again," since Jesus intends this to be understood as not a
repetition of a previous birth, but clearly a "new" kind of birth
brought about by the Spirit.
Having said that, commentators agree that John
deliberately used the ambiguous adverb anōthen so that both
ideas of "anew" and "from above" would be considered, since the
spiritual birth is both "anew" and "from above."
Jesus has explained the concept of being "born
anew." Nicodemus responds with a repetition of one's physical birth.
It's not clear whether Nicodemus is making fun of the idea or just
struggling to grasp it. But Jesus continues on instructing the
earnest man.
"5 Jesus answered, 'I tell
you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born
of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh,
but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be
surprised at my saying, "You must be born again."'" (John 3:5-7)
It's pretty clear that Jesus is differentiating
this as a spiritual birth in distinction from a physical birth (as
Nicodemus had understood it). What isn't so clear is what he means
by "born of water and the Spirit." We understand the idea of being
born of the Spirit (Matthew 1:20). But it's the reference to the
water that is confusing to us.
Morris recites the various interpretations of
water in the passage.
- Christian Baptism. John must have known that water
would be associated by his readers with Christian baptism. Indeed,
some have used this passage to teach a doctrine of baptismal
regeneration, that a person cannot be saved without being baptized.
However, Nicodemus could not have understood such a reference to a
not-yet-existent sacrament. This explanation doesn't make sense to
me.
- Procreation. Since Jesus contrasts physical birth with
spiritual birth, some see the water as a reference to either semen
or the bag of waters in the womb. Though such ideas may seem
offensive to modern ears, there are many references in Rabbinic,
Mandaean, and Hermetic sources that use terms like "water," "rain,"
"dew," and "drop" in the sense of male semen. Moreover, Hellenistic
mystery religions made use of the terminology of rebirth.23 I see water as referring to procreation as a
possibility.
- Repentance and Purification. Dipping in water
naturally suggests washing and cleansing. If we look at the context
of John's Gospel as far as chapter 3, the only water we've seen is
the water of John's baptism and the water that Jesus turned to wine
in Cana. Therefore, I think the most natural interpretation is to
take "water and Spirit" to refer to the ministry of John the Baptist
who preached "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins"
(Mark 1:4). His baptism with water was also contrasted with the
baptism of the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8; John 1:33).
As we saw in
Lesson 1, since John's baptism was
probably viewed in the light of a baptism required of Jewish
proselytes in the first century, it would take a real heart of
humility for a Jew to submit to it, especially those who already
considered themselves religiously pure, such as the Pharisees. Many
of Nicodemus' colleagues bristled at the thought of them
being baptized. Luke reports,
"The Pharisees and experts in the law
rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been
baptized by John." (Luke 7:30)
We don't need to be cleansed like some
new proselyte, they would assert proudly. We are Abraham's direct
descendants! John the Baptist's rejoinder was sharp. He called them
a brood of vipers:
"Produce fruit in keeping with
repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have
Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can
raise up children for Abraham." (Matthew 3:8-9)
So, in this context, I believe Jesus is saying
to Nicodemus: You must be born anew by your own repentance and
humbling yourself before God and the Holy Spirit's divine
regenerative work within you. You can't enter the Kingdom of God by
your own effort. You must surrender yourself to God! Only God can
bring about this new creation in you.
|
Q3. (John
3:5-7) What does it mean to be "born of water and the
Spirit"? What do you think "water" refers to? Why have you
come to this conclusion? How, then, would you paraphrase
"born of water and the Spirit" to best bring out the
meaning?
http://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1015
|
Jesus reinforces this by emphasizing that the
Holy Spirit cannot be manipulated. He is out of man's control and
entirely directed by God:
"The wind (pneuma) blows
wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where
it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of
the Spirit (pneuma)." (John 3:8)
"Wind" is pneuma, the breath of God, the
same word that is translated "Spirit" at the end of the verse.
People who have been born of the Spirit, Jesus is saying, are
motivated and moved by an unseen but powerful force beyond
themselves. The life of the Spirit is a new level of spiritual
existence, a different plane entirely. Only people who have been
born of the Spirit can perceive and enter the Kingdom of God.
Now we'll skip down a few verses to a curious
image:
"14 Just as Moses lifted up
the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
(John 3:14-15)
Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about the
relationship of faith and life. Jesus is referring to a incident
that took place during the Israelite's sojourn in the desert after
the exodus from Egypt. Many of them had been bitten by poisonous
snakes, and Moses asked God what to do.
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James J. Tissot, detail of "The Brazen
Serpent" (1886-96), watercolor, The Jewish Museum, New York
City.
Full image. |
"The LORD
said to Moses, 'Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is
bitten can look at it and live.' So Moses made a bronze snake and
put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and
looked at the bronze snake, he lived." (Numbers 21:8-9)
A bronze snake was lifted up on a pole24 for people to look at in faith, and in looking they were healed.
Jesus is saying that in the same way that
people looked with belief upon the bronze snake that was lifted up,
so must they look with belief upon the Son of Man, who will be
lifted up. Nicodemus can't know what this means fully, but in
hindsight we see that Jesus was lifted up on the cross, raised from
the dead, and finally ascended to glory.
That is the context for the most famous verse
in the Bible:
"For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
Let's examine the verse phrase by phrase
so we can understand it fully. The speaker25 attributes two actions to God: God loved and God gave. Both are in
the Aorist indicative tense, which indicates a particular point in
past time that God so loved and therefore gave (presumably, gave on
the cross):
"Loved" is agapaō, the word used in the
New Testament for the highest form of love, "to have a warm regard
for and interest in another, cherish, have affection for, love."26 "Loved" is modified by the adverb "so," which indicates an intense
degree of love.27
The object of love is "the world," the
kosmos, a broad word that here refers to "humanity in general,
the world."28 God doesn't limit his love only to the Jewish people or to
believers, but to all of humanity.29 Thus he loved us while were still his enemies (Romans 5:8). In his
first letter, John writes:
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our
sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole
world (kosmos)." (1 John 2:2)
"God was reconciling the world
(kosmos) to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins
against them." (2 Corinthians 5:19)
"We have put our hope in the living
God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those
who believe." (1 Timothy 4:10)
Gave is the common verb didōmi, "to
give." It echoes the related verb paradidomai in Isaiah 53:12
(Septuagint), "He was given up for their sins." The word isn't
"sent," but "gave," emphasizing the idea of sacrifice.30
Let's pause here to consider how the speaker
describes Jesus as God's "one and only Son" (NIV), "only Son" (NRSV,
NJB), "only begotten Son" (KJV, NASB). The word modifying Son is
monogenēs, "pertaining to being the only one of its kind or
class, unique (in kind) of something that is the only example of its
category."31 This compound word is formed from monos, "sole, single" +
genos, "kind." Brown comments, "Although genos is
distantly related to gennaō, 'to beget,' there is little
Greek justification for the translation of monogenēs as
'only
begotten.'"32 I agree.
This verse points clearly to Jesus as God's
unique Son, one of a kind. We become sons and daughters of God by
spiritual birth or adoption (depending on which analogy you choose).
Praise God! What a privilege this is! However, though we resemble
Jesus, he is unique in his relationship to God, since he is the Son
from eternity, the Second Person of the Trinity.
We've been moving word by word through John
3:16. Now we're at the second half. Take another look:
"For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
Notice the two "thats" in the verse:
- Result. The first "that" (hōste33 )
indicates result in verse 16a. God's intense love
resulted in him giving/sacrificing his Son.
- Purpose. The second "that" (hina34 )
indicates purpose in verse 16b. God's love resulted in giving
or sacrificing his Son for the purpose of (a) preventing us
from perishing, but rather (b) having eternal life.
God's purpose is for us who believe to have
eternal life. But to clarify this, we are given both the positive
purpose (eternal life) and the flip side, the negative way of
stating the same thing, to avoid perishing.
In our day, there's a lot of resistance to the
idea of hell. Evangelical Christians seem to be moving toward the
Jehovah's Witness position that hell is a sudden extinguishing of
life into nothingness, not eternal punishment in the fires of hell.
After all, how could a God of love allow people to suffer, even
wicked people?
What does it mean to perish? The verb is
apollymi, "to cause or experience destruction." In the middle
voice as here, it means, "perish, be ruined." This encompasses dying
by storm at sea, by the sword, killed by snakes, and especially of
eternal death.35 This Greek word is often used of missing out on eternal life -- both
in the Old Testament Greek Bible (the Septuagint)36 as well as in the New Testament.37 ,
[38 New Testament scholar Albrecht Oepke
concludes, "In view is not just physical destruction but a hopeless
destiny of eternal death."39
Jesus uses two Greek words which have been
translated "hell."
Hadēs, "(originally a proper
noun, god of the underworld), then the nether world, Hades as place
of the dead."40 Jesus taught that unbelievers would "go down to the depths" (Matthew
11:23; Luke 10:15), identified the "gates of Hades" (Matthew 16:18)
as the enemy of the church, and the opposite of Abraham's bosom, a
place where the rich man asks to have Lazarus "dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this
fire" (Luke 16:23-24).
Gehenna, "Valley of the
Sons of Hinnom," a ravine south of Jerusalem. There, according to
later Jewish popular belief, God's final judgment was to take place.41
In the gospels it is the place of punishment in
the next life, "hell."42 Jesus speaks of the "fire of hell" (Matthew 5:22: 18:9), being
"thrown into hell" (Matthew 5:29-30), the place "where the fire
never goes out" (Mark 9:43, 45, 47), "condemned to hell" (Matthew
23:33).
Some of the most graphic images of hell are in
the last book of the Bible, being "thrown into the lake of burning
sulfur … tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation
20:10).
Finally, Jesus also talked about being "cast
out into outer darkness" where "there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth" (Matthew 8:12; cf. 13:42, 50; 22:13, 51; 25:30).
Of course, these descriptions are all symbolic
rather than literal -- aren't they? And if they are symbolic,
the reality must be terrible beyond anything we can imagine.
Why do we ruin the discussion of such a pretty
verse as John 3:16 by talking about a literal hell? Because, if we
don't understand what it means not to perish, we don't
understand the greatness of the alternative -- everlasting life.
"Eternal life" (NIV, NRSV, NASB), "everlasting
life" (KJV) is made up of two words:
- Zōē (from which we get our words, "zoo" and
zoology") means, "life," especially "transcendent life."43 In the New Testament, it is the word used for eternal life, rather
than the other word for life, bios (from which we get our
word "biology"). Bios refers particularly to life in its
appearance and manifestations, distinguished from zōē, the
condition of being alive."44
- Aiōnios, from the noun aiōn, "an
extended period of time, age." Aiōnios means here,
"pertaining to a period of unending duration, without end."45
"Eternal life" was used in the Judaism of
Jesus' time as a synonym of entering or inheriting the Kingdom of
God. You can see these terms used as synonyms in Jesus' encounter
with the rich young ruler, who asks what he must do to "inherit
eternal life" (Mark 10:17, cf. verse 30). When he is unwilling to
obey the Master, Jesus says to his disciples, "How hard it is for
the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" (verse 23).
Our passage in John 3 begins with Jesus'
statement that a spiritual birth is necessary to "enter the kingdom
of God" (John 3:5). Here faith is required to receive eternal life
(John 3:16).
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Q4. (John 3:16)
Why is this verse so famous? What does it teach us about
God? What does it teach us about salvation? Since "entering
eternal life" is a synonym for "entering the Kingdom of
God," what does this verse teach us about our destiny?
http://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1016
|
Our passage closes with two sayings, the first
about condemnation and the second about light.
"17 For God did not send46 his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has
not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:17-19)
This passage helps fill
out the meaning of verse 16:
- "to save the world" (verse 17) = "have eternal life"
(verse 16)
- "to condemn the world" (verse 17) = "perish" (verse
16)
Note that "has not believed" is perfect
tense, indicating a continuing disbelief. This is not a momentary
lapse, but a determined unbelief.
John concludes this section with teaching about
light and darkness:
"19 This is the verdict:
Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of
light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does47 evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that
his deeds will be exposed.48 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light,
so that it may be seen plainly49 that what he has done has been done through God." (John 3:19-21)
Why do evil people
prefer darkness rather than light? Why do they try to hide their
sinful actions? Because if even non-believers actually see the
degradation and corruption, they will likely condemn it. No wonder
Jesus developed enemies, because he shed a strong light on
hypocritical, unethical, and downright wicked practices, and because
of this light, they could no longer hide. When we live good, honest,
and righteous lives -- even when we don't loudly criticize others'
lifestyles -- our lives cause a negative reaction in those who don't
believe, since our righteousness casts a light on their
unrighteousness. Jesus said, "No servant is greater than his master.
If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (John 15:20).
This passage tells us some very basic things
about the Kingdom of God.
-
It is a spiritual kingdom. The very finest religious
person doesn't have a clue what the real Kingdom of God is about
unless he has been born by the Spirit of God. Remember your parents
saying, "When you're older you'll understand"? You couldn't
understand then because you lacked the basic experience and
understanding that was needed to decipher what you were seeing. The
Kingdom is spiritually discerned.
-
Heart belief in Jesus is the key to this spiritual kingdom.
Sometimes we confuse new birth with a radical conversion experience.
Often conversion is sudden and radical, but sometimes it is gradual.
Sometimes we confuse the new birth with saying the "sinner's
prayer." That's the entry door for many, but many have prayed that
prayer from unprepared hearts and come away with hearts still unlit
by the Spirit. It comes back to our attitude towards Jesus. Do we
"believe in him"?
-
All men and women are lost and need rescuing. This
truth cuts very clearly across a culture that desperately resists
absolute truth, absolute right and wrong, and vocally attacks any
kind of judgment on its lifestyle. "Man is basically good, and just
needs a little moral direction." No! To prove this, all you need to
do is look at the environment, economic disparity, the apathetic
consciences of the privileged, and the mess that many have made of
their lives. Jesus teaches in this passage that man is basically
blind, and lost, and perishing. The Kingdom is essentially God's
rescue mission to a doomed planet.
"For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
Nicodemus came seeking truth from Jesus that
night and got more than he bargained for. We have no record of a
conversion that night. But on reckoning day, Nicodemus, with Joseph
of Arimathea, buried the King as best they could. Out of the fog of
Nicodemus' understanding, the shape of Jesus began to emerge and
then sharpen in focus. One day, Nicodemus would come to believe in
Jesus so much, that where a prudent leader would distance himself
from an executed criminal, Nicodemus instead cradled Jesus in his
arms, washed his body, and tenderly anointed and wrapped it for
burial. Did he believe in the end? O yes, he believed. He could now
see the Kingdom beyond the grave.
Prayer
Thank you, God, for your patience with us. So
often we have been too busy to listen, too self-absorbed to
recognize you. Thank you for coming to rescue us from our blindness.
For taking us by the hand, and teaching us, and opening our eyes to
your Kingdom, and flooding us with your Spirit. Thank you, King
Jesus. Amen.
Key Verses
"I tell you the truth, no one can see
the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3, NIV)
"I tell you the truth, no one can
enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to
spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born
again.'" (John 3:5-7, NIV)
"For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NIV)
Discipleship Lessons
on Jesus and the Kingdom Bible Study
Copyright © 1985-2012, Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor
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Christmas Incarnation
