John 3:1-17 (The Message) - February 17,
2008
The Gospel according to John, the 3rd chapter:
There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it."
Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to--to God's kingdom."
"How can anyone be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born-from-above' talk?"
Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation--the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life--it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch--the Spirit--and becomes a living spirit. So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be 'born from above'--out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God."
Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?"
Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics? Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God? No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up--and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again."
Xxx - Narrator - Louise C.
Xxx - Nicodemus - Gregg G.
Xxx - Jesus - Joel S.
Nicodemus - Gregg . - (Spoken with a sense of confusion and exasperation as well as a bit of anger in that one place in the middle.)
Jesus has been creating quite the ruckus around here lately. Just last week, he drove all the venders and money changers out of the temple. What a mess! People were running everywhere. Animals were loose. Money was rolling on the floor. And Jesus was yelling, "Get out of here!" and something about his Father's house being a marketplace. I was there that day with some of the other Jewish leaders and we asked him to tell us what gave him the right to upset the temple in this way. We asked him for a sign to prove that he was who he said he was. He gave us some gibberish about destroying the temple and raising it up in three days, but offered no sign. I have to admit, it was a strange encounter. He did speak with a certain authority. We all felt it. But, he wouldn't prove himself. We ended up all going our own way after that, but I couldn't stop thinking about him. Then, just yesterday, I overheard some people on the street talking about him and all the signs - all the miracles - he was doing among the people. I knew I had to go to him then. I waited until it was dark and then snuck away and found him. I went to get some answers, but all I got was more questions. In fact, my conversation with him was the most confusing conversation I've ever had.
He kept talking about being born from above. I didn't understand him. In all my studies, I've never heard of anything like what he was talking about. So, I asked him to explain more. "What do you mean by this?" I asked. I wanted him to tell me what this would be like. Would I come from my mother's womb again? Would I be guaranteed the same status I received in my first birth? Being born from above sounded kind of risky to me. So, I wanted him to tell me exactly what I could do to control my destiny. "How does this happen?" I asked. I wanted to know what I needed to do to be born from above. Was there a scroll I could study more deeply? Was there a certain amount of alms I could give to be born from above? Maybe I could fast for longer than I've ever fasted before! He didn't even bother to answer my questions. And you know what, the more I think about it, not only did he not answer my questions, but he insulted me. "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics?" he asked. Huh! Now I'm kind of mad. Who is he to question me?
Anyway, instead of telling me what I could do to be born from above, all he did was talk about God. He said that God loved the world. Now that, I understand! God loves all of us and proves it by giving us the law. God tells us exactly what we need to do to be righteous enough so that we're rewarded in the life to come. I wish Jesus would have stopped there so I could have left with some kind of understanding, but he went on. He said that because God loved the world, God gave the world His Son. Not the law, but His Son! And that it is the Son who would put the world right again. He didn't come out and say it, but I think Jesus believes that he is the Son - that he is the messiah who we are all waiting for. I just don't know, though. Just like in the temple that day, he speaks with a certain authority. But, he is certainly not the kind of messiah we are expecting. Like I said, my conversation with him was the most confusing conversation I've ever had. My questions still have no answers. In fact, now even my questions have questions. I'm not any closer to understanding who he is, and I'm too tired to think about it anymore tonight. Maybe tomorrow will shed more light on this whole conversation. Even better, maybe he'll just go away and things will go back to normal.
Jesus - Joel. (Spoken with a sense of confidence and purpose - compassion and knowledge of what will be.)
Nicodemus is pretty unsettled, isn't he? Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on him, but I don't know how else to get him to see the light. God sent me to bring a new way of understanding, but the Pharisees want to hold on to only what they know and have been taught. I have been sent to be the bridge between all of humanity and my Father in heaven, but people seem to think they can create that bridge on their own. That's certainly what Nicodemus wants to do.
He'll learn, though. I'm definitely not going away. You see, he and I - we are on a journey together. A spark of faith has already been lit in him and it will grow even as he continues to carry out his duties as a Pharisee. He doesn't know it yet, but we will meet again, in daylight this time. And in his own way, he will stand up for me. His friends, the other Pharisees, will set out to have me arrested, but he will challenge them. He will insist on justice and a fair hearing. I won't be arrested that day. But, later, in the time deemed right by my Father, I will be arrested. I will be taken into custody, questioned, flogged, and sentenced to death on a cross. I will die. And then Nicodemus will find me again. He will come to me and bury me according to his custom - wrapping me in linen cloths, myrrh and aloe. When I am raised from the dead in just three days after that, he will remember our confusing conversation and he will begin to understand what I have come to teach all people. He will begin to understand that being born from above is not something humanity can do for itself, but something that has been done for humanity by God. He will begin to understand that eternal life is not gained or earned by moral achievement, but is a gift from God secured by me.
He's confused now, - maybe a little angry, too - but he will come to understand. In God's time, he will come to understand.
Nicodemus - who is he?????
Speaks in the "we". He is a Jewish man, but really represents every man in this text
Pharisee/leader of the Jews - represents the Jewish authorities who refuse to believe in Jesus
Inability to understand the ways of God
Perceptiveness (we know you are a teacher. . .) quickly turns to confusion (How can anyone be born after growing old?)
Nicodemus represents an entire humanity estranged from God. (Jesus moves from talking about you to you all to the whole world.)
When Jesus talks about rebirth, he is placing Nicodemus with the rest of the creation. He is not better because of his status. He is in the same boat as all people who are in need of rebirth by God's Spirit.
"I wanted Jesus to go tell me what I could read to understand this and work towards it, but all he wanted to talk about was what he was going to do."
Nicodemus after his first encounter with Jesus:
7:50-52 - Nicodemus sticks up for Jesus when the other Pharisees want him arrested - "Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?" He is ridiculed by his colleagues, wondering how he could stand up for this Galilean peasant.
19:39ff - helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus, anointing him with 100 pounds of myrrh and aloe - Joseph and Nicodemus may be the first indication of what Jesus' death would accomplish - the fruit of faith.
Other notes (Stoffregan):
Being born is something that happens to us - not something we do
In Nicodemus' time, birth was important because it gave you a status. To be born again could be upsetting for a couple reasons. It could alter one's status to something lower. It could elevate everyone's status to the same so no one is better than anyone else.
Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. That he is in darkness has nothing to do with his moral character (we can assume he was very moral by the standards of the Jewish law), but with his relationship (or lack of) to Jesus.
The Gospel according to John, the 3rd chapter:
There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it."
Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to--to God's kingdom."
"How can anyone be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born-from-above' talk?"
Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation--the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life--it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch--the Spirit--and becomes a living spirit. So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be 'born from above'--out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God."
Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?"
Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics? Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God? No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up--and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again."
Xxx - Narrator - Louise C.
Xxx - Nicodemus - Gregg G.
Xxx - Jesus - Joel S.
Nicodemus - Gregg . - (Spoken with a sense of confusion and exasperation as well as a bit of anger in that one place in the middle.)
Jesus has been creating quite the ruckus around here lately. Just last week, he drove all the venders and money changers out of the temple. What a mess! People were running everywhere. Animals were loose. Money was rolling on the floor. And Jesus was yelling, "Get out of here!" and something about his Father's house being a marketplace. I was there that day with some of the other Jewish leaders and we asked him to tell us what gave him the right to upset the temple in this way. We asked him for a sign to prove that he was who he said he was. He gave us some gibberish about destroying the temple and raising it up in three days, but offered no sign. I have to admit, it was a strange encounter. He did speak with a certain authority. We all felt it. But, he wouldn't prove himself. We ended up all going our own way after that, but I couldn't stop thinking about him. Then, just yesterday, I overheard some people on the street talking about him and all the signs - all the miracles - he was doing among the people. I knew I had to go to him then. I waited until it was dark and then snuck away and found him. I went to get some answers, but all I got was more questions. In fact, my conversation with him was the most confusing conversation I've ever had.
He kept talking about being born from above. I didn't understand him. In all my studies, I've never heard of anything like what he was talking about. So, I asked him to explain more. "What do you mean by this?" I asked. I wanted him to tell me what this would be like. Would I come from my mother's womb again? Would I be guaranteed the same status I received in my first birth? Being born from above sounded kind of risky to me. So, I wanted him to tell me exactly what I could do to control my destiny. "How does this happen?" I asked. I wanted to know what I needed to do to be born from above. Was there a scroll I could study more deeply? Was there a certain amount of alms I could give to be born from above? Maybe I could fast for longer than I've ever fasted before! He didn't even bother to answer my questions. And you know what, the more I think about it, not only did he not answer my questions, but he insulted me. "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics?" he asked. Huh! Now I'm kind of mad. Who is he to question me?
Anyway, instead of telling me what I could do to be born from above, all he did was talk about God. He said that God loved the world. Now that, I understand! God loves all of us and proves it by giving us the law. God tells us exactly what we need to do to be righteous enough so that we're rewarded in the life to come. I wish Jesus would have stopped there so I could have left with some kind of understanding, but he went on. He said that because God loved the world, God gave the world His Son. Not the law, but His Son! And that it is the Son who would put the world right again. He didn't come out and say it, but I think Jesus believes that he is the Son - that he is the messiah who we are all waiting for. I just don't know, though. Just like in the temple that day, he speaks with a certain authority. But, he is certainly not the kind of messiah we are expecting. Like I said, my conversation with him was the most confusing conversation I've ever had. My questions still have no answers. In fact, now even my questions have questions. I'm not any closer to understanding who he is, and I'm too tired to think about it anymore tonight. Maybe tomorrow will shed more light on this whole conversation. Even better, maybe he'll just go away and things will go back to normal.
Jesus - Joel. (Spoken with a sense of confidence and purpose - compassion and knowledge of what will be.)
Nicodemus is pretty unsettled, isn't he? Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on him, but I don't know how else to get him to see the light. God sent me to bring a new way of understanding, but the Pharisees want to hold on to only what they know and have been taught. I have been sent to be the bridge between all of humanity and my Father in heaven, but people seem to think they can create that bridge on their own. That's certainly what Nicodemus wants to do.
He'll learn, though. I'm definitely not going away. You see, he and I - we are on a journey together. A spark of faith has already been lit in him and it will grow even as he continues to carry out his duties as a Pharisee. He doesn't know it yet, but we will meet again, in daylight this time. And in his own way, he will stand up for me. His friends, the other Pharisees, will set out to have me arrested, but he will challenge them. He will insist on justice and a fair hearing. I won't be arrested that day. But, later, in the time deemed right by my Father, I will be arrested. I will be taken into custody, questioned, flogged, and sentenced to death on a cross. I will die. And then Nicodemus will find me again. He will come to me and bury me according to his custom - wrapping me in linen cloths, myrrh and aloe. When I am raised from the dead in just three days after that, he will remember our confusing conversation and he will begin to understand what I have come to teach all people. He will begin to understand that being born from above is not something humanity can do for itself, but something that has been done for humanity by God. He will begin to understand that eternal life is not gained or earned by moral achievement, but is a gift from God secured by me.
He's confused now, - maybe a little angry, too - but he will come to understand. In God's time, he will come to understand.
Nicodemus - who is he?????
Speaks in the "we". He is a Jewish man, but really represents every man in this text
Pharisee/leader of the Jews - represents the Jewish authorities who refuse to believe in Jesus
Inability to understand the ways of God
Perceptiveness (we know you are a teacher. . .) quickly turns to confusion (How can anyone be born after growing old?)
Nicodemus represents an entire humanity estranged from God. (Jesus moves from talking about you to you all to the whole world.)
When Jesus talks about rebirth, he is placing Nicodemus with the rest of the creation. He is not better because of his status. He is in the same boat as all people who are in need of rebirth by God's Spirit.
"I wanted Jesus to go tell me what I could read to understand this and work towards it, but all he wanted to talk about was what he was going to do."
Nicodemus after his first encounter with Jesus:
7:50-52 - Nicodemus sticks up for Jesus when the other Pharisees want him arrested - "Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?" He is ridiculed by his colleagues, wondering how he could stand up for this Galilean peasant.
19:39ff - helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus, anointing him with 100 pounds of myrrh and aloe - Joseph and Nicodemus may be the first indication of what Jesus' death would accomplish - the fruit of faith.
Other notes (Stoffregan):
Being born is something that happens to us - not something we do
In Nicodemus' time, birth was important because it gave you a status. To be born again could be upsetting for a couple reasons. It could alter one's status to something lower. It could elevate everyone's status to the same so no one is better than anyone else.
Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. That he is in darkness has nothing to do with his moral character (we can assume he was very moral by the standards of the Jewish law), but with his relationship (or lack of) to Jesus.