John 3:1-21
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 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." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’" "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!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 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." "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. "You are Israel’s teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 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. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have 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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 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. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 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."
What is the overall point of this passage? How would you summarize it in a sentence or two? How does it fit with the entire Gospel?
What do think of Nicodemus? How is he presented in this story? Is there significant to his coming to Jesus at night? Look at John 7:50-52 and 19:38-40. What insight does that give you to Nicodemus?
What does it mean to be born from above and/or born again (the Greek word can be translated either way - probably an intentional ambiguous move on the part of Jesus)?
There are differing opinions about vss. 16-21. Are these John’s words of explanation or are they the words of Jesus? What do you think? How do these words relate to vss. 1-15?
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What else?
About Me
- Allen
- Mitchell, Indiana, United States
- I love my family, and I enjoy what I do. I am in my 18th year with the Mitchell Church of Christ. I am an endurance athlete. The parallels between endurance athletics and ministry are remarkable. They are mutually beneficial.
The Holy Trinity
My favorite Icon (see link below for more information)
12 comments:
So how's it going?
It looks like a beautiful morning is rapidly presenting itself. The days are noticeably longer. It's a great time to be alive!
It has been a beautiful day, we had a wonderful time of worship this morning. God is good! Pat Arthur
Hey Pat, nice to hear from you! It’s good to hear things are going well with your work.
We had a wonderful time yesterday afternoon. We sat in the beautiful Red Skelton Center at Vincennes University to witness our future daughter-in-law, Maddie’s, pinning ceremony, signifying that she is now a nurse. It was really neat. We are proud of her and are blessed to have her in our family. Following the ceremony we enjoyed a small celebration at her house in Monroe City. After that we enjoyed a meal with Lester before he headed back to Butler for his last two final exams.
I found myself emotional at the ceremony yesterday. I seem to always get that way at graduations. I guess it’s because they are a mile marker on life’s journey. They are moments that force you to think about the passing of time.
Luke’s graduation is coming up. I am going to have start dealing with the emotion of this one. I am going to miss him so much when he leaves for Lipscomb this fall.
Saturday evening Kedra and I attended the Mitchell High School Alumni Banquet. I think this is the first one I have attended; maybe I went as a senior in 1977. It was interesting. They honored the class of 1958 and the class of 1983 (50 and 25 year classes). Those classes then passed out some scholarships to this year’s graduates. Scholarship are always good things.
It was interesting to see all the different ages come together based on one common thing: graduation from Mitchell High School. Bud Smith was there; he graduated from MHS in 1958. He led the invocation and later had the best line of the night. When everyone was going around introducing themselves to the crowd, Bud looked at this year’s seniors and said, “If you want to know what you are going to look like in 50 years, just look at us.” Everyone laughed. You kinda had to be there, I suppose, but he had a good point. My dad, Luke, and I were recognized as 3 generations of MHS grads. There were 2 other families in the same category.
It was interesting seeing the class of 58; there were several of them there. You could tell, even 50 years later, who were the class clowns, who studied hard, who didn’t, etc.
In our text this week Jesus uses the expression "born again." This can be translated "born from above" or "born anew." It is purposefully ambiguous, I think.
What do you think that means?
Do you equate being born again with baptism? Why or why not?
I equate baptism with Being Born again. Baptism is new birth, new life, new everything. Paul tells us we are "New Creations". The idea of repentance to me is "Dying to the old way of life" and baptism is the renewing of life.
We are fortunate to have one of yours with us now, I am sure you all miss Annette, but she has been a great encouragement to us here at the Avenue.
One more question, you said.. "You could tell, even 50 years later, who were the class clowns, who studied hard, who didn’t, etc." Allen, which one were you? pat arthur
Actually, I was not a very good student; didn't work very hard. It was only after 2 years of college that I learned the value of disciplined study.
I know you were probably not looking for a serious answer, but there it is.
I was simply cool in high school. Bell bottoms. Jean jacket. Big sideburns (is that how you spell that?).
We do miss Annette terribly. If you don't take good care of her, I will come up there and... Oh I forgot others could read this.
I’ve been reading some more of Henri Nouwen’s works. They are so good. This quote is from Life of the Beloved, p. 32-3.
The real trap is self-rejection. I am constantly surprised at how quickly I give in to this temptation. As soon as someone accuses me or criticizes me, as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I find myself thinking: “Well, that proves once again that I am a nobody.” Instead of taking a critical look at the circumstances or trying to understand my own and others’ limitations, I tend to blame myself—not just for what I did, but for who I am. My dark side says: “I am no good. ...I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected, and abandoned.”
Wow. Then he continues a little later:
I hope you can somehow identify in yourself the temptation to self-rejection... Not seldom, the self-rejection is simply seen as the neurotic expression of an insecure person. But neurosis is often the psychic manifestation of a much deeper human darkness: the darkness of not feeling truly welcome in human existence. Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us “Beloved.” Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence.
Thanks, Henri, I needed that. Do you need that?
And I wonder if Nicodemus needed that?? Does our text address this?
Condemnation is such a dark word. I think of a prisoner in a dark cell when I hear it. No escape, but Jesus brought light into our dark world by giving us the opportunity for eternal life (escape) by forgiving our sins in a very simple act of baptism. Choosing this new life is so simple, but so complicated. Simple in the act of baptism, to new life in Christ and complicated in the new life we choose after our decision to follow Christ. I think we make it complicated when we fail to see Him in our daily decisions and consider what He wants for us. I don't think we have to live in fear and worry that every sin we commit after our baptism takes us away from Him and His grace even though I know it is very possible to fall from His grace when we turn our back on Him completely. I struggle with that sometimes feeling I can never be good enough but He was good enough to save me so He makes me 'good enough', nothing I do can save me. It is His power that does that. That should give us confidence in our salvation but I struggle with it all the time. Rejection is very hurtful and I have a tendency to remember the scars and those who brought them but I have to remember that I brought scars to others without even knowing it at times. Grace covers all this. So I have to be graceful to myself when guilt overcomes me and to others when they are guilty because none of us are perfect and never will be. He took care of that on the cross. Our decision to turn away from our past sins and turn to Him will not always be easy but to live in Him is peace, joy and hope. Knowing His promises are true and we can trust Him whatever comes our way gives us confidence and security. Without Him we are insecure whether we admit it or not. Knowing all that, I too struggle with self-esteen issues and most likely always will. Have a wonderful week. Sherron
Sherron, thanks for those good, honest words.
Life can really beat us up. The voices we hear, telling us that we are no good or not good enough. Those are the words of Satan.
Contrast those with God's words spoken to each of us who have a relationship with him through Jesus. In essence he says to us the same thing he said to Jesus at this baptism:
You are my beloved child.
Oh, how we need to hear those words everyday.
My class "performed" the text last night. No, we didn't have a little play or skit. Rather we wrestled with the ambiguity of the text. This text really resist any kind of "nailing down." John intentionally uses 3 Greek words that can be translated a couple of ways.
Born from above/Born anew
Wind/Spirit
Lift up/Exalt
Jesus is wanting to engage in some serious thought, I believe, and to keep thinking.
What do you think?
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