Tag Archives: Nicodemus

JOHN’S GOSPEL…NICODEMUS – 9

Bible Study, ,

“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.””

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Nicodemus, who was he? A Pharisee…a highly educated, deeply religious, greatly respected member of the ruling class, appearing by name in John’s narrative, only a few times…an enquirer near the beginning, (chapter 3), a defender in the middle, (chapter 7), and a believer in the end (chapter 19).

Among the few honest Pharisees, Nicodemus stands out as one who had the courage to meet with Jesus, albeit alone and at night, to ask honest questions. At this stage, he was trying to connect the dots about Jesus but confused by the general expectation of the Messiah…a mighty conquering king who would come to deliver Israel from Roman oppression and set up His David-style rule over His people. Jesus was no ordinary man but yet, He didn’t fit the narrative of the anticipated Messiah.

What puzzled Nicodemus was what Jesus was doing versus what the other Pharisees were saying about Him. Why did Nicodemus say, “We know…”, as though the Pharisees were in agreement with him that Jesus was from God…?

“He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

… and yet, they denied what they secretly believed.

Jesus cut short Nicodemus’ explanations…

“Forget about what you and your colleagues think about me. Let’s look at the facts. None of this will make sense to you unless you are supernaturally born into God’s kingdom.”

“How can that happen?” Nicodemus was even more confused!

“Only through the Holy Spirit.” Jesus included the Holy Spirit in the mix…the Holy Spirit into whom Messiah would baptise His people.

The subject of this conversation mystified Nicodemus and surprised Jesus. Why did Nicodemus not understand what He was telling him?

““You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Nicodemus, of all people, should have understood the spiritual truths hidden in the Old Covenant. Had he become so “religious” in a legalistic and ritualistic sense that he had lost his spiritual connection with God?

Gently, thoroughly, Jesus began to unpack some of the symbolism of events during Israel’s journey through the wilderness. Seemingly, miracles that God did for His people on their journey, like providing miracle bread and miracle water, and like a look at the bronze serpent on a pole that saved them from the bite of poisonous snakes, became pictures of what Messiah would do.

Was Nicodemus slowly beginning to understand?

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 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 ‭3‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The man whom Nicodemus admired was, after all, not just a man sent from God to do the works of God. He was none other than the Son of God! He came to do the greatest work of God…to save His people from the penalty of sin by being ”lifted up” on the cross.

The door to the kingdom of God was open, not by trying to obey God’s laws but believing what God had done through His Son. “Then, Nicodemus, this spiritual conversation will make sense to you.”

To Nicodemus, this conversation only added to his confusion. His anticipation of Messiah as king needed to undergo a radical change as Jesus added the dimension of the cross to his incomplete understanding of Messiah’s work. The “Suffering Servant” of Isaiah’s prophecy would only come into full view when Jesus was “lifted up” on the cross.

To be continued…

THE SNAKE ON A POLE… 7

Bible Study, ,

John 3:14 NIV‬
[14] “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up… “

What a strange symbol Jesus used about Himself! Is there some hidden meaning in this picture of a snake on a pole?

Nicodemus, as a trained religious leader, would have been familiar with the stories of Israel’s journey through the wilderness. Every detail would have been etched on his mind through years of reading and study. Every word would have been scrutinised to draw out all the nuances of its meaning.

However, his encounter with Jesus would add something completely foreign to his understanding. A man, lifted up like a snake on a pole! What could Jesus be talking about?

Nicodemus also knew the title Son of Man. After all, the son of man appears in the Old Covenant, the Tanach, with at least two connotations.

First, God addressed the prophet, Ezekiel, throughout his writings, as the son of man, a frail mortal, yet one God chose to deliver a stern message to His people.

Second, Daniel’s vision in Daniel 7 puts a completely different slant on the title “son of man.” Far from its flavour of frail humanity, Son of Man elevates a specific human, the Son of Man, to a position of unique authority, none other than God’s Messiah, and Nicodemus would have understood this.

‭Daniel 7:13-14 NLT‬
[13] “As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. [14] He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.”

“Lifted up” would also have been a familiar practice in Nicodemus’ religious system. Part of the ritual of the first-fruits offering, the “terumah “, the first portion of the harvest, was to “lift it up” to God as an offering to Him, signifying the promise of what was yet to come.

Jesus was obviously using the symbol of the serpent “lifted up”, not as a reference to the serpent’s nature but as a symbol of healing for those who looked at the snake after being bitten by a fiery serpent.

The Greek word, hupsos, translated “lifted up” has the connotation of being elevated or exalted. It means more than the simple act of lifting up. It carries the idea that the terumah offering was an exalted offering to God.

‭Leviticus 23:10 NLT‬
[10] “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest….
[20] “The priest will lift up the two lambs as a special offering to the Lord, together with the loaves representing the first of your crops. These offerings, which are holy to the Lord, belong to the priests.

The concept behind “lifting up”, also translated “wave offering” or “heave offering”, was an offering dedicated to the Lord and honouring to Him.

‭Proverbs 3:9 NIV‬
[9] “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;”

So, in those two words, was Jesus referring to the spiritual counterpart to the serpent incident in Israel’s history? In God’s economy, nothing happens without meaning. Israel’s sin, which allowed the serpents to bring God’s judgment, led to a solution that became a picture of His salvation from sin.

‭John 3:14-15 NLT‬
[14] And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, [15] so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

Now let’s look at Jesus’ words to Nicodemus again. Nicodemus’ question to Jesus was…

John 3:9 NLT‬
[9] “How are these things possible?”…

Born again?
Born from above?
Born of the Spirit?

Jesus’ response…

“You have to look in faith at the Son of Man, God’s Messiah, who will be lifted up on a pole as a “terumah offering,” that honours God and guarantees the complete harvest.”

Now let’s see how the Apostle Paul completes the picture.

‭1 Corinthians 15:20-23 NIV‬
[20]”But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. [21] For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. [22] For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. [23] But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.”

What an amazing revelation of God’s rescue plan!

A snake on a pole tells the story in a nutshell. A man, lifted up to die on a torture stake, but so much more! God’s Messiah, put to death on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for sin, becomes an acceptable sacrifice, and the firstfruits of the resurrection.

All who gaze at Him in faith are miraculously delivered from judgment and death, transferred out of Satan’s domain into the kingdom of God, and transformed inside, all by the power of God’s Spirit.

All who believe will be included in the harvest of the resurrection, of which Jesus was the “terumah” offering, the firstfruits which guarantees the full harvest.

‭John 12:24 NLT‬
[24] “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.
[32] And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” [33] He said this to indicate how he was going to die.”

I wonder whether Nicodemus “got it”.

JESUS DID NOT SAY THAT WE MUST BE BORN AGAIN

Apologetics, ,

JESUS DID NOT SAY THAT WE MUST BE BORN AGAIN

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John 3:3

Here’s another misunderstanding that has been turned into a doctrine. In fact, it has become more than a doctrine. It has become a category – as though it were one of three categories of Christians. You get Christians; then you get “born-again” Christians; and then you get “born-again, Spirit-filled” Christians. Have you ever heard people using these distinctions? Of course, it all depends on the stream of the faith to which you belong.

I wonder what Jesus would think about this!

From where does the expression “born again” come? “From Jesus, of course!” you retort. Yes, He did use it once, on a specific occasion to a specific person, but I wonder whether He meant it to be used as a category for believers or did He have something else in mind?

Let’s examine the circumstances of His use of the words, “born again”.

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one can perform the signs you are doing if God were not with Him.’

Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’ (John 3: 1-3)

“There you have it. Jesus did say that we must be born again,” you declare. Ah, but once again we must examine the context.

First, who was Nicodemus? He was a Pharisee, a strictly religious Jew who was a stickler for obeying, not so much the letter of Torah, as the letter of the myriad interpretations added to Torah by the ancient rabbis who had sh’mikah. They were acknowledged to have authority to make pronouncements about the meaning and application of the Law, which were not necessarily an expression of God’s original intention.

Like all the religious leaders of the Jews, Nicodemus believed that his adherence to the Law, which included all the additions, qualified him to be “righteous” before God. However, when he was confronted by Jesus, he realised that there was something missing both in his belief system and in his life. He was honest enough to admit, unlike his fellow Pharisees, that Jesus was more than a man because of His works. No one could do the miracles Jesus did unless His power came from God. Nicodemus was not foolish enough to attribute Jesus’ power to the devil.

Jesus cut him short. No explanations. Just a bald statement of fact. As a member of humanity, not just the privileged class of Pharisees, Nicodemus was under divine judgment for his sin like everyone else. No amount of rule-keeping qualified him for exemption. If he wanted to experience life in the kingdom of God – the life Jesus exemplified by His words and works – he would need a brand-new start.

This was not about being “born again” as a new status. This was about “seeing” the kingdom of God. The Jews of Jesus’ day, including Nicodemus, misunderstood what Jesus meant by “the kingdom of God”. They were obsessed with the passion to get rid of the Romans and to re-establish the glorious kingdom of David. Many thought that Jesus would do this – overthrow the Roman occupation and set up their own independent kingdom once again.

Nicodemus needed to understand that God’s kingdom was not about the restoration of David’s kingdom, but the restoration of God’s rule in his heart. That would take much more than a new ruler in Israel. It demanded a brand-new start through the power of the Holy Spirit. To “see” the kingdom of God was to have insight into what it was and how it worked. This was not possible while he, Nicodemus was still in the “flesh”.

Being “born again” was not a title or a status – it was a qualification for new life under the rule of God in the heart. It demanded a divine intervention through the Holy Spirit. It required a change of heart and nature to have the ”eyes” of the Spirit and to understand and walk in God’s ways. No amount of religious status or rigmarole could awaken him out of the death of sin.

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 3: 4-6)

To describe people as “born again” is meaningless unless they are born again into an understanding and experience of life in the kingdom of God. Far too many who claim the title know nothing about living under God’s rule or even being true disciples of Jesus. A disciple is one who follows Jesus so closely that he becomes a replica of his Master, not just a casual adherent to a church or denomination. He is one who submits to Jesus as Lord and lives in obedience to His word.

To the Jews who believed in Him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. . . (John 8: 31)  

No, being born again is neither a title not a category of religious persuasion, but a drastic and dramatic work of the Holy Spirit. In response to faith in Jesus, He raises the dead spirit to life, transfers the believer in Jesus from Satan’s dominion of darkness to the kingdom of God, changes the heart and nature from selfishness and greed to unselfishness and generosity, and patiently refines the character until the believer begins to resemble his Master by becoming a true son of God, which he is.

The expression, “born again” is used only twice in Scripture, by Jesus to Nicodemus in John 3, and by Peter in his first letter. Look at the context.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduing word of God. (1 Peter 1: 22-23)

Sincere love for each other? That takes a miracle of God’s grace and a brand-new start!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

WATCH THIS SPACE!

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WATCH THIS SPACE!

“Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.” John 19:38-40.

The wind tugged at a wisp of hair, coated with blood and sweat that strayed from the matted tangle

on the head of the bloodied corpse. A few soldiers stood guard around the crosses in the eerie twilight that had settled prematurely over the landscape, waiting for the order to take down the bodies and deposit them in the smouldering fire in the Valley of Hinnom.

Two men appeared out of the gloom, accompanied by an official from Pilate. A quiet word from the Roman officer and the soldiers heaved the centre cross from its hole in the rock and lowered it to the ground. The body was removed from the wooden torture stake and wrapped in a linen shroud.

Joseph and Nicodemus lifted Jesus and carried His heavy weight to a rocky cave in the nearby hillside. In silence they completed their burial ritual, packing the body with the spices Nicodemus had brought with him, rewrapping the body in the linen cloth and lowering onto the raised platform carved out of the rock. The sun was just beginning to set behind the clouds when they had completed their task and said farewell to the Master they had followed in secret.

According to Matthew, their handiwork was closely supervised by Roman soldiers who rolled the huge circular stone across the entrance and sealed it with Pilate’s official seal because the Jewish religious leaders were afraid. Afraid of what? They had heard a rumour that Jesus had threatened to come back again. Just in case His disciples schemed to steal His body and hide it elsewhere, to fuel the rumour and stir up more trouble, they had demanded a Roman military guard to make sure that it didn’t happen.

Joseph and Nicodemus walked slowly back to the city in silence, heads bowed, each lost in his own thoughts. They were out in the open; they had burnt their bridges. Everyone now knew where their allegiance lay, but it was too late. Jesus was dead. Had they not just laid Him out, covered His body with spices, bound His face with a burial cloth, wrapped Him in a shroud and said their last goodbye?

The Jewish leaders were satisfied. Their tormentor was dead. No more would they hear His accusing voice, pounding on their awakened consciences, keeping them out of sleep at night. As much as they believed they were right and He was wrong, they could not silence the sound of His voice, the sight of His tenderness towards the ones they despised. He was dead and buried and that was that!

And what of the soldiers? They were just doing their job – but were they? Was it their job to bully the accused? Were they expected to beat Him in the face with their fists? Was it their duty to mock Him and spit on Him? Were they detailed to crown Him with thorns? What they did was above and beyond the call of duty. How did they handle that when they lay in bed at night, especially because they could not get a rise out of Him, not matter how hard they tried! He was gone and they couldn’t change what they had done!

But was He? Before He left them, many times over in spite of their unbelief He had told His disciples, “Watch this space!”

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

JUSTICE OR MERCY?

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JUSTICE OR MERCY?

“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one can perform the signs you are doing if God were not with Him.’ Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’

“’How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!'” John 3:1-4 (NIV).

Now here’s an honest Pharisee, if ever there was one! At least he admitted, on behalf of his fellow Pharisees, that Jesus had come from God. I wonder what the others would have said had they heard him. Would they have flatly denied ever saying that, or even thinking it? Or was Nicodemus using the royal “we”?

Nicodemus was honest enough to show Jesus that he had weighed up the evidence and come to the conclusion that Jesus was demonstrating something far beyond the capabilities of ordinary people. Unlike his colleagues, however, he didn’t attribute Jesus’ power to Beelzebub; He connected the dots and came to the conclusion that Jesus and God were doing this together.

What was Nicodemus getting at? In a roundabout way he was asking, ‘Jesus, we are both teachers. What have you got that I haven’t got?’ Perhaps he didn’t get an opportunity to ask his question. Perhaps Jesus cut him short to stop him rambling and get him on the right track.

Jesus’ response was surprising — no explanation, just a bold statement. ‘You’ll never get it, Nicodemus, unless you are born again.’ What did He mean? What is this ‘born again’ idea that Christians bandy about so freely without understanding its meaning?

Throughout the Bible we read that there was special significance in being the firstborn in a family. Firstborn sons, first of all, belonged to God and had to be redeemed by the payment of a sum of money to the high priest. Firstborn animals were sacrificed. Firstborns carried the responsibility for the rest of the family. They received justice for any of their siblings’ wrongdoing while the sibling received mercy.

We see this illustrated in the story of Joseph. It was Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn who refused to kill Joseph but suggested they throw him in a pit… He planned to rescue him from the pit and return him to his father because he would have had to bear the punishment had they killed Joseph.

Firstborn sons also received a double portion of their father’s inheritance. This was to compensate for their responsibility, for example, of marrying a brother’s widow to produce offspring for his deceased brother.

The Bible makes it clear that Adam was God’s firstborn and got justice for his sin. Since we are all “in Adam” we also should receive justice for all our sin. However, Jesus is described as “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Colossians 1:15 (NIV). Why is this so important? As God’s firstborn Son, Jesus received justice in order that we might receive mercy.

However, I thought you said that in Adam we receive justice? True, but since we are “in Christ” we have received justice “in Him” because He died on our behalf. Now here’s the miracle. Jesus is also called “the last Adam” — second-born in God’s reckoning. Since we are “in Him” we received justice as firstborns but we also received mercy as second-borns! Isn’t that amazing? God is so precise and so just!

Jesus is saying to Nicodemus, ‘If you want to understand what is happening in the realm of the unseen — the kingdom of God — you need a spiritual rebirth from justice into mercy.’ No one can understand or receive God’s mercy until he is transferred from the realm of justice to the realm of mercy on which what God’s way of dealing with people is based. Since God’s justice has been satisfied once and for all through the cross, He deals with us all as second borns — mercy, mercy, mercy!

‘Nicodemus, do you understand that? If you want to experience God’s mercy, you need to be transferred from “in Adam” to “in Christ” and that takes a supernatural act of God. It will never make sense to you until that happens and it won’t happen until you believe that I am the Son of God and that my sacrifice paid your debt and offers you mercy.’

Nowadays, many people think that all they have to do is pray ‘the sinner’s prayer’, to be born again. Jesus assured Nicodemus that it would take much more than a prayer to experience the wonders of God’s kingdom. To see God’s kingdom would take nothing less than a powerful work of the Holy Spirit, the effects of which, like the action of the wind, would be seen though the Spirit Himself is invisible.

Wow! Isn’t that something! And it’s freely available for all!

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.