John 3:1-8
Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. This was probably to keep it hush-hush. Jesus was quite a celebrity at the moment and the Pharisees were very interested in who He was and what He was going to do next. Nicodemus was a pharisee and possibly one of the top pharisees in the ruling counsel. He was the man selected to go to Jesus privately and find out what he could about Him.
The word "pharisee" means to separate or distinguish. It is clear that the Pharisees that are mentioned in the gospels were very influential in both national policy (under Roman rule), in local politics, and in religious matters throughout Israel. The Pharisees held the scriptures as how God expressed His will to the people. They believed people could and should make moral and life choices by applying the scriptures. This is not a bad thing, but they lost the meaning and relationship with God along the way.
The Pharisees had a particular problem with Jesus because He taught by His own authority, not only from the scriptures. Although Jesus taught by His own authority, the Pharisees were never able to prove how his teachings were contradictory to scripture. Jesus had a huge problem with the Pharisees because they were the teachers of the people, yet they missed the point of it all. They preached laws over relationship. Jesus preached relationship above all else.
I really love how Jesus always confounds the Pharisees and this is no exception. They ask leading questions and he traps them with their own words by looking into their hearts. In defense of Nicodemus, he isn't trying to trap Jesus, he just wants to know more about Him.
Knowing Nicodemus and the Pharisees, he began by confusing Nicodemus by giving him a simple "instruction" - that we must be born again. Nicodemus began immediately searching for a "formula" or set of rules that he could glean from Jesus' words. He was simply doing what he always did - taking scriptures and memorizing the "rules". He wasn't sure how someone could follow this rule, but he was willing to give it a shot. "But how can anyone be born when he is already old? Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?", he asks.
Jesus goes on the explain that we must be born of water and spirit or we will never enter the kingdom of God. Being born represents new life. We were all born once. We must be made new again. Water is used here as a symbol of renewal and being made clean. He is also discussing the importance of becoming new or reborn through spiritual renewal. Baptism is a symbol and sign of our renewal in Jesus Christ. The Pharisees were very interested in baptism and send a group to see what John the Baptist was up to with his baptism and talk of repentance. Jesus knows this. He gets right to the point and explains that we must go ever further - past repentance to renewal. He explains how to reach the kingdom of God, we must take our rebirth to completion with a complete renewal. The old self passes away and the new man is born of the spirit. This is only possible through Jesus.
Question: Jesus challenged Nicodemus to look at things through different eyes. Nicodemus was used to taking the scriptures and turning them into a set of rules to follow. He may have had good intentions, but the Pharisees lost the meaning along the way. How has God challenged you to see something in your life through new eyes? Have you ever asked Jesus a leading question and been confounded by the answer?
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Study of John - Week 17
b. Verses 23-25
Jesus spent some time in Jerusalem focusing on the people. He healed the sick, and comforted the sorrowing, but He did not stand up and say that He was the Messiah. During this time, Jesus was enormously popular and could have easily taken advantage of this fact. Jesus already knew that people would accept him, but He also knew that many would fall away when He told them what He had to do and the changes that people had to make in their own lives.
Why didn’t Jesus seize the moment? Jesus was not living for the temporal world. He was thinking eternally. He knew that it didn’t matter in the long run and He was there for a purpose. He just wanted to love people and help them while he was in Jerusalem. If he had claimed to be the Messiah by actually saying it and proving it by some even greater sign, then He could have set off a celebration and word would have spread throughout Israel and the world. It would have been a pointless distraction and would have prolonged or prevented Jesus from accomplishing His actual task of dying on the cross as a payment for all sin. God placed the responsibility on Jesus. Jesus could have chosen not to go through with it. Jesus could have established Himself as King of the world and chosen not to die for our sins, but He didn’t. Just like we have a choice to accept Him or not, Jesus also had a choice.
Jesus knew that some people were not believers for the long haul and they just were there for the spectacle. Jesus never asked anyone to believe in Him unless they fully understood what that would mean. Also, Jesus did not need to prove to Himself the hearts of men, he already knew their hearts.
I think that Jesus could have taken advantage of His popularity and still found a way to accomplish His task in the end. Why didn’t He? He really reveals his heart. Jesus has a heart for us and He would rather spend time helping and ministering to people than being hailed as an earthly king or something. In other words, He isn’t in it for the fame; He’s in it for us.
Question: Have you ever had someone give up something in order to help you, like Jesus gave up the glory of the moment to be able to be close to the people and minister to them? Have you given up something to help someone else? What did it reveal to you about God and His heart for you?
Jesus spent some time in Jerusalem focusing on the people. He healed the sick, and comforted the sorrowing, but He did not stand up and say that He was the Messiah. During this time, Jesus was enormously popular and could have easily taken advantage of this fact. Jesus already knew that people would accept him, but He also knew that many would fall away when He told them what He had to do and the changes that people had to make in their own lives.
Why didn’t Jesus seize the moment? Jesus was not living for the temporal world. He was thinking eternally. He knew that it didn’t matter in the long run and He was there for a purpose. He just wanted to love people and help them while he was in Jerusalem. If he had claimed to be the Messiah by actually saying it and proving it by some even greater sign, then He could have set off a celebration and word would have spread throughout Israel and the world. It would have been a pointless distraction and would have prolonged or prevented Jesus from accomplishing His actual task of dying on the cross as a payment for all sin. God placed the responsibility on Jesus. Jesus could have chosen not to go through with it. Jesus could have established Himself as King of the world and chosen not to die for our sins, but He didn’t. Just like we have a choice to accept Him or not, Jesus also had a choice.
Jesus knew that some people were not believers for the long haul and they just were there for the spectacle. Jesus never asked anyone to believe in Him unless they fully understood what that would mean. Also, Jesus did not need to prove to Himself the hearts of men, he already knew their hearts.
I think that Jesus could have taken advantage of His popularity and still found a way to accomplish His task in the end. Why didn’t He? He really reveals his heart. Jesus has a heart for us and He would rather spend time helping and ministering to people than being hailed as an earthly king or something. In other words, He isn’t in it for the fame; He’s in it for us.
Question: Have you ever had someone give up something in order to help you, like Jesus gave up the glory of the moment to be able to be close to the people and minister to them? Have you given up something to help someone else? What did it reveal to you about God and His heart for you?
Study of John - Week 16
b. Verses 18-22
Jesus cleansing the temple was something that the Jews immediately reacted to. It seems obvious that they would. The temple was something that was more important to them than just about anything else. This act solidified the belief of the disciples and it got the attention of the Jewish religious leaders.
The disciples recalled the Psalm that the messiah would be consumed with zeal for the house of the Lord. This act was something that they recognized as a statement by Jesus of “Look everyone. I am the Messiah!” Although we don’t see Him actually saying it here, He was saying it with this act.
The Jewish leaders obviously were interested in who it was that was messing up the temple during the most important celebration of the year (and the most profitable). They demanded to know by what authority Jesus did this. They actually asked for a sign. This isn’t a question you ask someone unless you think that they might be God or a messiah. Jesus already had somewhat of a reputation and then he performs such a bold act right in the middle of Jerusalem, they knew better than to just arrest Him and throw Him in jail. Everyone recognized that Jesus was making a claim to be the messiah and they asked Him to prove it.
What did Jesus say? He said that if they would destroy this temple, He would rebuild it in three days. It was somewhat of a challenge to the Jewish leaders. What did He mean? Well, He was certainly referring to Himself. His disciples remembered what He said after He was raised from the dead. Also, he was referring to the temple and what it stood for. Jesus told the woman at the well that the day was coming when men would worship God, not in Mount Gerizim, nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and truth (John 4:21). This is part of His message that day, that the importance of the physical structures and empty rituals were going away and He was ushering in a new covenant. When Jesus was crucified, the temple curtain that was what separated men from God in the temple was torn from top to bottom.
This was a little hard for the Jews to swallow, since they treasured their temple and had waited a long time to get it built the way it stood. The important concept to grab from these verses is that we have no way to God, but through Jesus. No temple, no ritual, no tax, no anything that we can do without Jesus. He came to show us the way, the truth, and the life and we have to recognize that. We are here without a way to God, except for Jesus. Jesus shows us a lot in this one act. Most importantly that He came to be the way for us and that the true temple is in each of us through Him.
Question: Have you ever asked for a sign from God? Have you ever received a sign from God? Has God ever shown you in some way that what you are most proud of has become a hindrance in your life (like the temple for the Jews)?
Jesus cleansing the temple was something that the Jews immediately reacted to. It seems obvious that they would. The temple was something that was more important to them than just about anything else. This act solidified the belief of the disciples and it got the attention of the Jewish religious leaders.
The disciples recalled the Psalm that the messiah would be consumed with zeal for the house of the Lord. This act was something that they recognized as a statement by Jesus of “Look everyone. I am the Messiah!” Although we don’t see Him actually saying it here, He was saying it with this act.
The Jewish leaders obviously were interested in who it was that was messing up the temple during the most important celebration of the year (and the most profitable). They demanded to know by what authority Jesus did this. They actually asked for a sign. This isn’t a question you ask someone unless you think that they might be God or a messiah. Jesus already had somewhat of a reputation and then he performs such a bold act right in the middle of Jerusalem, they knew better than to just arrest Him and throw Him in jail. Everyone recognized that Jesus was making a claim to be the messiah and they asked Him to prove it.
What did Jesus say? He said that if they would destroy this temple, He would rebuild it in three days. It was somewhat of a challenge to the Jewish leaders. What did He mean? Well, He was certainly referring to Himself. His disciples remembered what He said after He was raised from the dead. Also, he was referring to the temple and what it stood for. Jesus told the woman at the well that the day was coming when men would worship God, not in Mount Gerizim, nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and truth (John 4:21). This is part of His message that day, that the importance of the physical structures and empty rituals were going away and He was ushering in a new covenant. When Jesus was crucified, the temple curtain that was what separated men from God in the temple was torn from top to bottom.
This was a little hard for the Jews to swallow, since they treasured their temple and had waited a long time to get it built the way it stood. The important concept to grab from these verses is that we have no way to God, but through Jesus. No temple, no ritual, no tax, no anything that we can do without Jesus. He came to show us the way, the truth, and the life and we have to recognize that. We are here without a way to God, except for Jesus. Jesus shows us a lot in this one act. Most importantly that He came to be the way for us and that the true temple is in each of us through Him.
Question: Have you ever asked for a sign from God? Have you ever received a sign from God? Has God ever shown you in some way that what you are most proud of has become a hindrance in your life (like the temple for the Jews)?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)