Bible Talks - Sunday Night Church

People Jesus MetSeries: People Jesus Met · Talk No. 1

Nicodemus

Sunday, 30 December 2007

Donny Kwan

John 3:1-21 ESV or NIV

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Introduction

New beginnings…

Two young newlyweds were preparing to enjoy their first baked ham dinner in their new apartment. After unwrapping the meat and setting it on the cutting board, the wife chopped off both ends of the ham with a butcher knife, tossing the two small ends in the garbage can.

“Wait a minute,” said the mystified husband. “Why did you do that? Why did you just cut off the ends of the ham like that?”

“I don’t know. My mother always did,” answered the wife. “Maybe it helps bring out the flavor.”

Unsatisfied with this answer, the husband called his mother-in-law. “Can you tell me why you cut the two ends off of a ham before you cook it?”

“Well,” said the mother, “I’m not really sure why. That’s just the way my mother did her ham, and it was always delicious.”

As soon as he hung up he called his wife’s grandmother. “Grandma, we have an important question for you. Can you tell us why you cut the ends off of a ham before you cook it?”

“Oh my yes, dear,” answered Grandma in her quiet thin voice. “I cut the ends of the ham off so it would fit in my pan.”

Sometimes we have traditions and habits that need changing. As we come to the end of 2007 what are some of things we wish we could do again? As we approach 2008 many people come up with New Year’s resolutions to change the way we do things. A time for new beginning!

Here are some that I found on a blog site

  1. Read less books. A little learning is a dangerous thing. Too much of it can really wreck your head.
  2. Gain weight, at least 40 pounds. Didn't your mom always say you were bit skinny.
  3. Cut down on exercise. Too much is bad for your health, it can even kill you.
  4. Watch more TV. It's very educational. Catch up on all those programs you missed down the years.
  5. Eat more nice things like candy, Big Macs, popcorn and ice cream. Eat less junk like fresh fruit, vegetables and soy nuts.
  6. Work less. Take it easy. All work and no play can make you a dull boy or girl.
  7. Play more computer games. Scientists say they're good for you and improve your visual skills. But you always knew that.

Now I wouldn’t recommend anyone follow these because you will need a new life if you do. But what about setting up resolutions that will change where we will end up eternally? We are going to do a 5 week series on people Jesus met in how he changes their lives. The first person we meet is Nicodemus.

1. Jesus teaches Nicodemus about the kingdom

John 3:1 ¶ Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 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." 3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

a) You must be born again to see the kingdom

  • Who is Nicodemus? We are told that he is a member of the ruling Jewish council. Most likely a member of the Sanhedrin. He was a prominent leader amongst the Pharisees and well respected in society.
  • He has seen the signs that Jesus has done and comes to him to try and understand who Jesus really is.
  • Interestingly Nicodemus approached Jesus at night, secretly. The Pharisees were well known in their opposition to Jesus. It’s most likely Nicodemus didn’t want others to notice him questioning Jesus.
  • Nicodemus makes a statement or comment to Jesus, acknowledging he is from God. But really he is “in the dark” about Jesus’ true identity. He seems to think Jesus is somehow a fellow teacher. After seeing Jesus perform miraculous signs, Nicodemus concluded that Jesus was an inspired teacher from God.
  • Jesus sign’s were not just any minor signs. They were huge! But the people had not drawn the right conclusions.
  • Nicodemus sees something of who Jesus is because of his miracles. But he too had not seen who Jesus really is. Jesus takes him a step further and points out that no one can see God’s saving grace unless he is born again.
  • What does it mean to be born again? To be born again means to be totally transformed. It means to be regenerate, to start over.
  • Being a direct descendant of Abraham or belonging to one of the twelve tribes no longer counts for membership in the people of God.
  • To be a member one needs to be born again to see the kingdom. How is one born again?

b) You must be born of water and spirit to enter the kingdom

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. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You {7 The Greek is plural.} must be born again.' 8 The wind 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."

  • Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus thinking in fleshly terms. He wonders how one can do this. How one can crawl back into his mother’s womb and be born again? It would seem absurd and undoable.
  • Jesus explains that to be born again you need to be born of water and the Spirit to enter the kingdom.
  • What does it mean to be born of water and spirit? Let’s look at a prophecy from the Old Testament in Ezekiel 36:25-26, to shed some light on what it means.
  • Ezekiel 36:25-26 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
  • From here we see that God himself will clean us with water and he will give us a new heart and spirit. God will bring about this radical transformation by washing and renewing us.
  • He will forgive us our sins and give us his own inner strength to please him from now on.
  • Nicodemus was thinking in earthly flesh terms and thought Jesus was referring to a physical rebirth. But far from that understanding Jesus is saying we must be people of the Spirit, totally transformed by God.
  • Only by God’s action of washing us with water and giving us a new spirit can we enter God’s kingdom.
  • Jesus uses the illustration of the blowing wind. While the wind can not be controlled or understood by us humans, it does not mean we can not detect the winds effects. We can hear its sound and see it move through the trees. So too with the Spirit. We can not control him nor understand him. But we can see him working in people’s lives.
  • So what do we need to do?

c) You must believe to belong to the kingdom.

9 "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. 10 "You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-- the Son of Man. 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.

  • Nicodemus had failed to grasp the significance of what Jesus was saying. Nicodemus did not understand how to enter the Kingdom of God with his question how can this be.
  • Jesus points out that he is Israel’s teacher and he does not understand these things.
  • Jesus has plainly and clearly explained how to enter the kingdom in earthly terms that being God will forgive people their sins and give them his own Spirit to please him.
  • The response is one of belief.
  • Here Jesus points out that Nicodemus needs to believe that he is the Son of Man and has come down from heaven.
  • He needs to believe in this Son of Man who will be lifted up. In Numbers 21:8-9 we read 8 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." 9 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.
  • Jesus likens the lifting up of the bronze snake by Moses in the desert to his own lifting up on the cross. Those who looked at the bronze snake lived. Jesus compares himself to that bronze snake as one who would bring life to those who looked at him.
  • Believe and trust in Jesus for eternal life. That is how Jesus is to be approached.
  • Basically believe in the one who is lifted up in the crucifixion to receive God’s gift of eternal life.

Illustration: It was during post-season playoffs that the baseball team found itself batting in the bottom of the ninth and tied at 5-all. The first batter flied out to right field, the second batter struck out. Up to the plate stepped the team’s last hope. He let the first pitch go by—ball one. Two foul balls and an outside pitch later, the count was 2-2. On the fifth pitch the batter connected with a crack that told him the ball was really going somewhere.

The center fielder faded back fast, hoping the ball would fall short of the fence. By the time the runner reached second, the ball had caromed off the top edge of the fence and onto the grass, where the fielder scooped it up, and—scanning the infield and grasping the situation in an instant—made his throw. As the runner rounded second, the third-base coach gauged the odds of his man scoring—and waved him home. The shortstop took the cutoff, twirled, and rifled the ball to home plate just as the runner attempted to slide under the catcher’s glove.

The umpire pumped his fist at the plate. “You’re out!” he yelled.

The dugouts went ballistic. In the grandstand there was nothing short of mayhem. In all the cheering and booing, only a few spectators saw the plate ump remove his mask and walk out towards second base. But by the time he gestured the other two umps toward him, the crowd had quieted—half of them dreading and half of them hoping for the plate ump to reverse his call after conferring with the other men in black.

Finally the plate umpire spoke. “The runner is out,” he shouted, “not because he was tagged at home, but because he didn’t touch first base!”

It was true. Not only had the batter failed to beat the ball home—he had run so hard that he hadn’t even touched first base.

You can do a lot of religious things in your life. You can do a lot of good and noble things, but unless you touch first base, it won’t matter too much.

Nicodemus was a good man, but he hadn’t touched first base. To Nicodemus Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). Jesus doesn’t want good people; instead, he wants new people, changed people who have made him first in their lives.

Application: Are we born again transformed people? Are we forgiven and renewed by God or are we trying to do it on our own? Do we believe in Jesus for eternal life or do we believe in the things of this world to get us through? Let’s not misunderstand Jesus’ identity. He is not just an important religious teacher, he came to save and radically change our lives. We need to be born again, people who are radically renewed and transformed by God.

We can not do it on our own. No matter how smart or how high a position we have if we rely on religion like Nicodemus we will miss who Jesus really is and what he has done for us. If we rely on own human effort we will not be able to enter eternal life. So how can we have eternal life?

2. The light that gives life

a) The Son of God sent into the world

16 ¶ “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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

  • The universal character of God’s love is for all people. God’s love is revealed as he send is Son into the world.
  • The consequence of God’s love is that he sends his one and only Son. Why did he send his one and only Son? He gave his one and only son to save us. To give us eternal life.
  • For whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
  • Jesus came to save because the world is already in a state of condemnation.
  • This is made more problematic because of our lack of faith in Jesus.
  • We will not understand how big is God’s love for the world until we understand how hard the world is to love.
  • We are not a people who naturally love God and love one another. If anything we are selfish and self centred. We love to pull people down or ignore them.
  • How hard is it to love people who treat you like that? How hard is it to love?
  • Have we understood how much it cost God to show his love for the world? In Romans 5:8 we read But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
  • Love is measured by how much we give. Love is willing to give everything and that is what God did. He gave his one and only precious son.
  • He gives freely and unselfishly because he wants what is best for us.
  • God gives his one and only Son because he wants to save us.
  • Not only does God want to save us. He points it out to us as well.

b) The Light of God has come into the world

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. 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 does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

  • Verse 18 divides the world into 2 groups. Those who are believers and those who are unbelievers. Those who are liberated and those who are condemned.
  • John puts it in terms of light and darkness.
  • Jesus who is the light who has come into the world. We are reminded about this every Christmas.
  • The people in the world are in darkness because their deeds were evil.
  • Darkness is how the world is described. It is a world full of people like you and me who turned our backs on God, who have deliberately done evil in God’s eyes and not done what is right in God’s eyes.
  • There are some who hate the light because they love what they do in darkness.
  • They are afraid that if they approach Jesus their evil would be exposed.
  • But there are some who are described as living by the truth. Those who want to come into the light and live in it.
  • Nicodemus could be considered such a man. He is one who wants to understand Jesus for he acknowledges that Jesus has come from God. As we read on in John we see that Nicodemus grows in his love of the light. He defends Jesus authority in John 7:50 and he is later seen helping Joseph take down the body of Jesus and prepares him for burial.
  • Those who have seen the Jesus ought to live in truth and by the light.
  • The light of God has come into the world. And he calls us to recognise we live in darkness and to come into the Light.
  • We are called to believe in the Light that has come into the world.

Illustration: According to an ancient legend, a man became lost in his travels and wandered into a bed of quicksand.

Confucius saw the man’s predicament and said, “It is evident that men should stay out of places such as this.”

Next, Buddha observed the situation and said, “Let that man’s plight be a lesson to the rest of the world.”

Then Mohammed came by and said to the sinking man, “Alas, it is the will of God.”

Finally, Jesus appeared on the scene and said, “Take my hand, brother. I will save you.”

Application: There are many religions in the world—and they all have things about them which are admirable and even true.

But only one provides salvation from sin, only one that will give us life. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). No other religious leader has ever made that claim—because they can’t. Only Jesus has the power and the authority under heaven to forgive us for our sins and to give us eternal life. “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). Have we come to the light leaving the darkness behind? Do we believe Jesus as God’s send one and the one who has come into the world to save us? Are we prepared to help the many who are still in darkness to come into the Light? Are we prepared to give up our own personal comforts for the sake of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? God has given up much so we can have much. Are we prepared to do the same and follow Jesus?

Conclusion

Do we want a new beginning? A new beginning where we are born again, transformed by God though his forgiveness and by the indwelling of his Spirit. Do we believe in Jesus and what he has done for us?

God has given us eternal life through revealing his Son Jesus as the light who has come into the darkness. Do we understand how great God’s love for us is when he gave his son to die on the cross? Do we trust Jesus or do we trust in the things we do? Here we have seen Nicodemus, and his encounter with Jesus. While he begins as one who is lost in darkness we read of his journey as one who continues to follow Jesus and moves towards believing Jesus.