Text: John 3:1-21<\/p>\n
I. Nicodemus came to Jesus one night<\/p>\n A. He was a ruler of the Jews, meaning that he held a seat on the Sanhedrin council,\nthe group which served as Israel’s Supreme court.\n B. Coming by night shows his interest in Jesus, but also his fear of others learning\nthat he talked with Jesus. Some suggest that it would be the only time a busy man\nwould have to seek out Jesus.\n
C. Nicodemus understood that Jesus had to be someone special<\/p>\n 1. The miracles Jesus was doing in Jerusalem showed that God was with\nhim.\nII. Nicodemus does not actually ask Jesus a question and compared to what he just stated,\nJesus’ reply seems strange.\n A. Nicodemus just stated that they were aware Jesus was from God because they\nhave seen the signs.\n B. Jesus’ response is that no one can truly see (or understand) the kingdom of God\nunless he is born again.\n 1. In other words, the Jewish leaders would have to change before they could\nsee and understand God’s kingdom.\n 2. The Jews had been looking for God to re-establish the physical kingdom\nof Israel. Unless they became converted to the ways of God, they would\nnever see that God’s kingdom was not of this world.\n C. Jesus’ response confuses Nicodemus, for precisely this reason. Nicodemus is\nlooking at things from a physical viewpoint and does not think about spiritual\nthings.\n
D. Jesus states there are two entrance requirements to the Kingdom of God<\/p>\n
1. A person must be born of water and Spirit.<\/p>\n
2. He explains the second part.<\/p>\n a. A physical birth places you into the physical world. We see things\nin a physical manner. We live for our physical desires.\n b. A spiritual birth places us into the spiritual world. We see things in\na different light, living for spiritual desires.\n
c. Paul expresses this in Romans 8:5<\/p>\n
d. These two viewpoints are not compatible – Galatians 5:17<\/p>\n 3. Just as you know wind exists without seeing it directly, a person can see\nthe spiritual birth of a man without seeing the spirit itself. – Ephesians\n4:17-24\n
4. Paul also connects water with a new spiritual birth – Romans 6:3-7<\/p>\nIII. Poor Nicodemus is unable to grasp what Jesus is talking about. His worldly viewpoint\nwas unable to see spiritual truths.\n
A. Jesus expresses surprise that a leader of Israel is unable to grasp spiritual ideas.<\/p>\n 1. Jesus puts it more bluntly. He and his followers have been speaking of the\nthings they have witnessed and the Jewish leaders do not accept that\nwitness.\n 2. If they cannot accept the things they have seen – the signs done by Jesus –\nhow will they ever accept the spiritual truths taught by Jesus which are\nunseen?\n 3. No man has gone to heaven to report on the things which occur in that\nrealm, but Jesus has come from the heavenly realm and can explain.\n B. Jesus then uses an event from the days of Moses to illustrate the idea of being\nsaved.\n 1. Israel had rebelled against God, so God punished them by sending\npoisonous snakes among the people.\n
a. People died and cried for help.<\/p>\n b. Moses was directed to make a bronze serpent, put it on a pole\nwhere everyone could see it if they so desired.\n c. Those who looked on the serpent were healed, those who would\nnot look died.\n d. Did the fact that some died refusing to look at the serpent mean\nthat God was trying to kill people? No! The serpent was to save\npeople. It was a person’s own fault if he refused to look.\n 2. Jesus said a similar thing would happen. He would be lifted up (referring\nto his death on the cross).\n a. Whoever believes on him would live, those who refuse to believe\nwould perish.\n
b. This shows how much God loved the world.<\/p>\n c. While some would perish because they refuse to believe in Jesus,\nJesus’ purpose in coming was to save people from their sins.\n
d. It is a person’s own fault if he refuses to believe in Jesus.<\/p>\n 3. The reason people are unable to believe is because they have become too\nused to darkness (evil). They have become wrapped up in sin and preferred\nsin to truth.\n a. This is why Jesus could do marvelous signs from God and the\nJewish leaders would not acknowledge them.\n b. To acknowledge Jesus would be to admit they were wrong. And\nfew leaders would be willing to say they were wrong.\n 4. Those willing to change, who are willing to do righteous deeds, do not fear\nthe light because they have done nothing of which to be ashamed.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA Study of John\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nicodemus Visits Jesus Text: John 3:1-21 I. Nicodemus came to Jesus one night A. He was a ruler of the Jews, meaning that he held a seat on the Sanhedrin council, the group which served as Israel’s Supreme court. B. Coming by night shows his interest in Jesus, but also his fear of others learning that he talked…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":21925,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-22994","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10719,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/nicodemus-and-the-samaritan-woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":22994,"position":0},"title":"Nicodemus and the Samaritan Woman","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Nicodemus and the Samaritan Woman Reading Assignment: Matthew 4:12 Mark 1:14-15 Luke 4:14-15 John 3:1-4:45 Numbers 21:8-9 Joshua 24:32 Did you understand what you read? How did Nicodemus recognize Jesus was from God? Being born again is required for what purpose? How is Moses' serpent comparable to Jesus' death on\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Outline-Map-of-Palestine.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Outline-Map-of-Palestine.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Outline-Map-of-Palestine.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66036,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/controversy-at-the-feast-of-booths\/","url_meta":{"origin":22994,"position":1},"title":"Controversy at the Feast of Booths","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Controversy at the Feast of Booths Reading Assignment: John 7:11-52 Did you understand what you read? What were the various thoughts about Jesus being shown at the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem? Though Jesus went quietly to the feast, what did he begin to do at the temple? Why would\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Outline-Map-of-Palestine.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Outline-Map-of-Palestine.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Outline-Map-of-Palestine.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64979,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-john\/dispute-over-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":22994,"position":2},"title":"Dispute Over Jesus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Dispute Over Jesus Text: John 7:14-53 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus went to the Feast of the Tabernacles, or Feast of Booths, in Jerusalem, but he went quietly. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the middle of the feast he began to teach in the temple \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His teachings amazed the people because his speech marked him as one from\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65129,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-john\/the-burial-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":22994,"position":3},"title":"The Burial of Jesus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Burial of Jesus Text: John 19:31-42 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was the preparation day, the 14th of the month, the day before the Passover celebration \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On this day, the lamb was slain for the feast. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Since the Passover was a holy day, it was referred to as a Sabbath day, since no\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21925,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-john\/","url_meta":{"origin":22994,"position":4},"title":"A Study of John","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2001","format":false,"excerpt":"A Study of John by Jeffrey W. Hamilton, 2001 The Gospel of John An Overview of John An Introduction to the Christ\u00a0(John 1:1-18) The Witness of John the Baptist\u00a0(John 1:19-34) The First Followers of Jesus\u00a0(John 1:35-51) Miracle at Cana\u00a0(John 2:1-12) Cleansing of the Temple\u00a0(John 2:13-25) Nicodemus Visits Jesus\u00a0(John 3:1-21) The\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66489,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/burial-and-the-grave\/","url_meta":{"origin":22994,"position":5},"title":"Burial and the Grave","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Burial and the Tomb Reading Assignment: Matthew 27:57-66 Mark 15:42-47 Luke 23:50-56 John 19:31-42 Exodus 12:46; 20:8-11 Did you understand what you read? What did the Jews request be done to those on the cross? Why? Why wasn't Jesus' legs broken? How was his death confirmed? Who confirms this? At\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22994\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}