LISTEN TO JESUS: OUTWARD COMMITMENT RESULTS IN INWARD CHANGE

LISTEN TO JESUS

OUTWARD COMMITMENT

RESULTS IN INWARD CHANGE

John 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

Susie: Old Nicodemus still doesn’t get it. Even though he now knows it is not a second physical birth, he still cannot figure out how this new birth transpires. 

Susan: Where he goes wrong is trying to reason everything out. It is all an intellectual process for him.

Susie: He is not using eyes of faith. Of course, I guess we should cut Nick some slack since Jesus had not yet died and been resurrected.

Susan: Also, his wheelhouse is dissecting the Law for proper interpretation, . . .

Susie: . . . but he misses the core of the Law which is love for God and people. The Pharisees sat in judgment upon the people but did nothing to lift them up.

Luke 11:46 (NIV) Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

John 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

Susan: Nicodemus was a teacher of teachers. He was like a tenured seminary professor, a master teacher.

Susie: He was a respected authority among the Jews. The Pharisees were so focused on the external obedience they could not see the need for inward transformation. 

Susan: If you do not know the reason for the ritual, it is of no effect. The rituals of the Jews should have been an act of obedience based on their relationship to God, not an occasion to say, “I’m holier than you.” 

Susie: I am reminded of a song that was instrumental in my realizing I was a “good girl” but did not know Jesus at all. The lyric was “Empty eyes stare from empty sockets; frozen lips form frozen words. Masks that hide faceless people, acting roles with lines unheard. Row on row we march in order, mouthing hymns and reading prayers.” Pharisees demonstrated all the outward appearance of serving the Lord but needed an operation of the heart that only the Holy Spirit could perform. The Apostle Paul explained this quite well:

Romans 2:29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

Ways we can apply this to our lives:

·     Has God revealed a need for inward change in your own life?

·     Have you been checking off all the expected boxes for “Christian” behavior rather than submitting to having the Holy Spirit change your heart?

·     Remember what Jesus said were the two greatest commandments and the fact that one can only truly keep them when one is “born again”:

Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

LISTEN TO JESUS - BORN FROM ABOVE

LISTEN TO JESUS

BORN FROM ABOVE

John 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

Susie: Nicodemus pictures a grown man somehow going back into the womb to be “born again.” As we will see, this is not what Jesus meant at all. 

Susan: The phrase “born again” can literally be translated “born from above.” 

Susie: Jesus endeavors to explain this distinction in the next few verses.

John 3:5-8 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Susie: Since Nicodemus is obviously thinking of natural, physical birth, Jesus contrasts this with spiritual rebirth. He compares the Spirit with the wind. We do not see the wind, but we feel and see its effects. 

Susan: Therefore, Jesus is declaring to Nicodemus that he must receive transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Susie: We do not see the actual transaction of the Holy Spirit entering a life, but like the wind, we see the effect this has on the person’s attitudes and behaviors. 

Susan: We see the fruit of the Spirit in a consecrated life. 

Susie: Jesus is explaining that our own self-righteousness can never be good enough. We must be transformed by the power of the Lord through faith in order to approach a Holy God.

Ways we can apply this to our lives:

·     We are all born into this world after months in our mother’s womb. We did not choose to be born.

·     When we are born of the Spirit, God has chosen us to be His adopted children (Galatians 4:4-5). Our only effort is to accept this free gift of grace and submit to Him as our Father.

·     Have you been born again?

·     If you have been born again, you will increasingly exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in your life (Galatians 5:22-23).

LISTEN TO JESUS: BORN AGAIN?

LISTEN TO JESUS

BORN AGAIN?

Verily, verily, I say unto thee,

Except a man be born again,

he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 3:3

John chapter 3 is both apologetic and evangelistic. In it, John proclaims and defends the deity of Christ, that He is the Son of God. He also clearly presents the way of salvation through God’s gift of His only begotten Son. The story of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus continues the theme at the end of chapter two that Jesus can see into the hearts of men.

John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

Susan: The Pharisees were Jewish “Puritans” . . .

Susie: . . . who meticulously observed the letter of the Mosaic law along with a host of traditions they had added to it. 

Susan: However, they often missed the heart, the spiritual intention, of the Law. Jesus called them out on this:

Matthew 23:23 (NIV) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Susie: According to the MacArthur Bible Commentary the Pharisees were comprised of mostly middle-class businessmen rather than priests and Levites. I had always pictured them as rich men.

Susan: The common people revered them because their outward appearance seemed to indicate they were devout. 

Susie: However, Jesus at one point described them as “whitewashed tombs.” OUCH!

Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

Susie: Nicodemus was not only a Pharisee but a “ruler of the Jews” which means he was a member of the Sanhedrin. 

Susan: The Sanhedrin was comprised of the High Priest, the chief priests, the elders, and some scribes for a total of seventy-one people. 

Susie: Nicodemus must have been an elder—head of a family—since he was neither a priest nor a Scribe. The Sanhedrin was the supreme court of the Jews in Palestine . . .

Susan: . . . but the Sanhedrin had to defer to the Roman authority in matters of capital punishment which we will see later as Jesus is brought before Pilate, the Procurator. 

Susie: Nicodemus was a member of this prestigious group. 

John 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

Susan: Nicodemus approached Jesus under the umbrella of darkness because he did not want any of the other Pharisees to know of his inquiry of Jesus. Nicodemus must have been talking about Jesus to other Pharisees whether they were willing to admit it or not because he says, “We know that you are a teacher who has come from God.”

Susie: He acknowledges that the power to perform the miracles Jesus had done must have come from God. Yet, at this time, he still could not bring himself to admit that Jesus could be God’s Son. Most of the Pharisees did not even give Jesus a chance. 

Susan: But Nicodemus wanted to look into His eyes, talk with Him face to face, and see exactly what He was about. You know the honesty or deceit of a man by looking into His eyes, the window of the soul.

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Susie: Jesus’s statement about being born again was shocking. Nicodemus would have been confident he would see the kingdom of God because of his righteousness in adhering to the Law and his Jewish lineage. Jesus was saying this heritage and personal righteousness was not enough. The other reason it is hard for Nicodemus to digest is that he is taking it literally! 

Susan: Because Nicodemus did take it literally rather than understanding it as a metaphor, it made his brain go tilt, tilt, tilt!

Susie: Jesus repeated “verily” or “truly” two times for emphasis. He was stressing the point that one must be born again to gain eternal life and enter Heaven. Since man cannot literally be born a second time, what did He mean? Stay tuned for next week’s post to find out!

Ways we can apply this to our lives:

·     Nicodemus was an elder, a Pharisee, and a teacher; but he sought Jesus for answers. We must humble ourselves before Jesus, the only One who has all of life’s answers

·     Nicodemus, even before he became a follower of Jesus as the Messiah, acknowledged that Jesus must have power from God to do miracles. A person can believe Jesus had miraculous power without trusting Him for salvation and bowing before Him as King. Do you just know about Jesus, or do you KNOW Him?

·     As we continue in this study, ask yourself if you have been born again. If not, speak to your pastor, Sunday school teacher, good Christian friend, or contact us via our website for more information. We would love to introduce you to our Savior.

LISTEN TO JESUS: I WILL RAISE IT UP!

I WILL RAISE IT UP!

Destroy this temple, and in three days

I will raise it up.

John 2:19

John 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

Susie: The Jews questioned Jesus’s authority to cleanse the temple of them. 

Susan: They wanted Him to perform a miracle, sign, or wonder to authenticate Himself. I’m sure that some thought Jesus to be mentally unstable. 

Susie: In present day vernacular, they thought He had “gone postal.” 

Susan: Today they might call the people in the little white coats to pick up Jesus and take Him to a place where nice people would care for Him. 

Susie: Once again we have non-believers wanting to see a “sign” before they will accept Jesus’s authority. 

Susan: They wanted a sign, but they could not decipher the living billboard of Jesus before them. What makes them think a sign would make it any easier to believe?

John 2:19-22 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

Susie: Jesus tells them to destroy the temple, and He will raise it back up in three days. Now they really thought He was crazy. 

Susan: The Jews pompously, arrogantly explained that it had taken forty-six years to build the temple. They were incredulous and incensed that He would claim to be able to restore it in only three days! They were sure His elevator went nowhere near the top floor.  

Susie: They were blinded to the fact that He was prophesying about the destruction of His body and His resurrection on the third day which was an even more amazing miracle than rebuilding the temple, if you think about it. 

Susan: Those sitting in judgment of Jesus had no clue He was referring to His own physical body as the temple rather than the stone and mortar edifice before them. 

Susie: This statement was filed away in the disciples’ memory banks, and the Holy Spirit brought it to their minds after the Lord’s resurrection and used it to make their faith stronger.

John 14:26 (NIV) But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Susie: There were many things the disciples did not understand at the moment they were happening . . .

Susan: . . . but after the gift of the Holy Spirit, these things became focused. 

Susie: Before I surrendered my life to the Lord, the Bible often seemed murky to me. After my conversion and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, I began to understand more clearly. The Holy Spirit illuminates—shines a light on—the word of God to make it easier to grasp. 

Susan: The Spirit makes it crystal clear because that is one of the Holy Spirit’s jobs.

Ways we can apply this to our lives:

·     People think witnessing a miracle would help them to believe. However, if that did not help them to believe when Jesus walked the earth, how can we think it would make a difference today?

·     The miracle of the resurrection was far greater than restoring a physical building. There is much evidence in the Bible proving the resurrection. Do we rejoice in its reality?

·     When the Bible is difficult to understand, we should pray asking the Holy Spirit to help us and continue to study.