------------------------------------------------------------ Jesus and the Kingdom of God E-Mail Bible Study ------------------------------------------------------------ Week 6 - John 3:1-21 THE SPIRITUAL NATURE OF THE KINGDOM Jesus' and Nicodemus' dialog about flesh and Spirit. ------------------------------------------------------------ We Christians have been raised to look down on Pharisees. Actually, Pharisees were highly moral people who took their faith VERY seriously. They observed "religiously" each of the commandments, and were zealous for orthodox belief and practice. Nicodemus was one of the finest of this religious group in Judaism, a leader among them. Nicodemus makes a wonderful foil for Jesus' teaching on the spiritual nature of the Kingdom of God. Our passage this week contains the most-memorized Scripture in America: John 3:16, as well as evangelicals' classic theme of the new birth. However, don't let familiarity dull your powers of observation. There is new ground to plow. Begin studying as if you were reading it carefully for the very first time, and let Jesus' words speak to you with freshness and power. This passage contradicts two pervasive religious myths of our day, that: (1) sincerity of belief is more important that the content of that belief, and (2) man is misguided perhaps, and needs to be steered back on the right track, but is not condemned, lost, perishing, and hell-bound. This passage reveals the spiritual heart of the Kingdom. Saturate your mind in its truths this week, so next week you can communicate it to your friends and neighbors, that they might be "rescued." MONDAY ------ ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 1: OBSERVATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES THE TEXT SAY? ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.1 What does this text tell us about Nicodemus (a) socially, (b) religiously, (c) spiritually, and (d) his attitude towards Jesus. Why do you think he made an evening appointment to see Jesus? Did he believe Jesus? Did he believe IN Jesus? 1.2 This passage repeats again and again the theme that natural man is lost. List the verses numbers and phrases in vss. 1-21 which teach or imply that man is lost. TUESDAY ------- ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 2: INTERPRETATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES THE TEXT MEAN? ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.1 Jesus' response (vss. 3-8) to Nicodemus' gracious beginning words (vs. 2) seems abrupt, almost rude. Why do think Jesus spoke that way? 2.2 Jesus makes an exceptionally clear differentiation between flesh and Spirit in vs. 6. If you were to put the main point of Jesus' teaching in vss. 3-7 in your own words, how would you capsulize his main point? How does Jesus' point relate to what we learned about Nicodemus in Question 1.1? 2.3 EXTRA CREDIT for Bible hot-doggers: What does "water" in vs. 5 refer to? Support your answer from the context. [This is a tough issue to resolve completely, and isn't ultimately very important doctrinally, so skip this if you like.] 2.4 Why do you think the term "born again" is so offensive to people? Is it how we Christians use the term? Or something offensive in the root concept it conveys? WEDNESDAY --------- COMMENT: In Greek (and in Hebrew) the word for "wind" is the same as the word for "spirit": Hebrew ruach (ROO-ak), Greek pneuma (pNOO-mah). 2.5 What does Jesus' comment about the wind (vs. 8) have to do with his contention in vs. 3 about "seeing" the Kingdom? (Hint: see 1 Corinthians 2:10-16) Give some modern examples of how a person can be completely unaware of what is going on all around him or her. 2.6 Read Numbers 21:4-9. Jesus' compares the bronze snake to the Son of Man. What are the points of comparison between them? How does this comparison relate to the theme you explored in Question 1.2? COMMENT: This is off our Kingdom theme, but I can't resist underscoring the clear teaching of Scripture here in the face of blatant cultist errors. KJV "only begotten son," NIV "one and only son" is Greek monogenes (mono-gen-ACE). It is derived from two words: mono -- one, only, and genao -- bear or beget. However, derivations do not always support common usage after many centuries of word use. Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich, Greek-English Lexicon (1979) comments: "In the Johannine literature monogenes is used only of Jesus. The meanings 'only, unique' may be quite adequate for all its occurrences here. But some prefer to regard monogenes as somewhat heightened in meaning in John and First John to 'only-begotten' or 'begotten of the Only One' in view of 'born (begotten) of God' (John 1:13f)." However you translate it, the Bible clearly presents Jesus as the unique, one-of-a-kind, only Son of God. He is not "a god" as the Jehovah Witnesses translate John 1:1, nor was he a man who grew into a God as the Mormons would have it. He always was, is, and always will have a unique relation to the Father and the Spirit. We are "sons of God" in a sense, but not in that unique sense. 2.7 Vs. 16 centers around "believing in". How does this belief differ from Nicodemus' obvious respect for Jesus' teaching in vs. 2. THURSDAY -------- 2.8 [Hard question. Skip this if it's too much of a struggle.] Vs. 17 indicates that Jesus didn't come to condemn the world, but vs. 18 suggests that he did exactly that. How can both vs. 17 and vs. 18 be true at the same time? 2.9 Vss. 20-21. Can you live a double life and be a "born again" Christian? What do you think the Spirit has to do with truth and integrity? (opinion, or base your answer on John 16:8-15; 8:31-32). 2.10 We have our stock phrases, but are they Biblical? According to Jesus' teaching here (or elsewhere in the Gospels), can a person be "born again" without being "Spirit-filled"? FRIDAY ------ 2.11 [Extra Credit. Skip this if you like.] We evangelicals often use the term "born again" to designate a point-in-time conversion experience. How does Jesus use the term here? Does he speak of it as an experience? Why can "experiences" of the new birth vary from person to person? What is the ESSENCE of Jesus' new birth teaching? ------------------------------------------------------------ LEVEL 3: APPLICATION QUESTIONS. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ME? ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.1 What does this passage add to your understanding of the nature of the Kingdom of God, the theme of this series? 3.2 After studying this passage, what is God challenging you to DO as a result of your study? What should be different? How is God speaking to YOU? ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 1997, Ralph F. Wilson, all rights reserved. Joyful Heart is a trademark of Joyful Heart Ministries. For reprint permission contact pastor@joyfulheart.com