The Teacher, Is Teaching
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus: Read John 3:1-21
As you read, imagine yourself explaining the message of Christ to Nicodemus. I can’t read this passage of scripture without thinking of my Pastor. This is the passage of scripture he uses to proclaim the gospel to children and adults.
I believe it is important to understand that Nicodemus was a ‘Pharisee. He believed that the Old Testament is the Word of God (just as you and I do). Nicodemus (as any member of this ‘Jewish sect would) “believed in the strict observance of rites and ceremonies of the written law, and for insistence on the validity of their own (the Pharisees) oral traditions concerning the law.” Quote from Merriam-Webster online dictionary……Nicodemus believed that this was his purpose (calling) in life. He was a representative of the Word, yet he did not understand Christ’s message. He determined that Jesus must have come from God, because of the miracles he performed, yet he could not see past the physical realm of his religion.
What did Nicodemus think Jesus meant when He said, “a man cannot see the kingdom of God, except he be born again”? (verses 3-4)
What did Jesus mean by it? (verses 5-6)
In verses 7-12 we read that Jesus is trying to convey the message of faith and belief. To be born of the spirit is likened to the wind (verse 8). It is invisible, yet it is there. “The ‘Greek word for ‘spirit is ‘Pneuma and it primarily denotes the wind. The spirit which is like the wind is invisible, immaterial and powerful“ Remember, I told you that everything Jesus says or does is purposeful. He was not just giving Nicodemus an illustration. He was speaking to Nicodemus about a meaning that he (Nicodemus) should understand (he claimed to be an observer of the Word).
“The ‘Greek word for believe in verse 12 is ‘Pisteuo, and it means faith, belief, following, to give credit to, to believe in or on Christ implying knowledge and confidence in Him.”
In verse 13 (if I understand it correctly) Jesus tells Nicodemus that this is not about you, this is about me…..and now I’m going to tell you WHO, WHAT, HOW and WHY!
A Powerful Illustration
John 3:14
Read Numbers 21:4-9 (this is the part that always causes me to think of my Pastor…because he actually draws a picture of this illustration when he is conveying the gospel message)
Jesus said, “it’s like this Nicodemus. When the ‘Israelites became impatient with my Father and Moses, my Father sent serpents to bite and kill many of them. But Moses interceded for them and my Father heard him….and He said to Moses, make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. Everyone who is bitten by a serpent, when he looks at it (the serpent on the pole), he will live.”
What do you think the requirement was, to be healed from the serpent bite or, what does the phrase ‘look at (on) it’ mean?
The serpent on the pole had no power at all. The power came from this……It was to BELIEVE God’s word. Their belief was to be in God’s Word, not the serpent on the pole.
I will post part 2 of day 7 later on today. I have a ‘funeral to attend, and I do not want to minimize the rest of chapter 2…..for it is the heart of the gospel of Christ. I will leave you with these passages of scripture to ponder, until later today……
Power of God Scripture: Matthew 22:29; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 Corinthians 6:14; Ephesians 1:17-21; Philippians 3:10
BELIEVE
‘Hebrew~Greek words are studied from my ‘Hebrew~Greek study Bible
This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 11:04 am and is filed under Bible Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
