Today we are once again looking at the interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus that is found in John 3: 1-15. It might be a good idea for you to open your Bible and read the passage again so that you can be familiar with what was said between the two men. We finished off yesterday looking at the fact that Jesus and Nicodemus approached entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven from completely different directions. The problem was that Nicodemus’ path to entrance was not going to be successful.

Jesus in verse 5 brings up the idea of being baptized both of the water and the spirit. He was pointing out what John’s baptism meant and what Jesus’ baptism was. The Baptist had pointed the way from a negative perspective, that of repentance from ones sinful life. It was the idea of putting away the old which was symbolized by water baptism. It was John who pointed to Jesus as the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with Fire.

Nicodemus answered Jesus out of the ignorance of Jewish thought at the time. The only possibility, according to Nicodemus’ way of thinking, was to go back to the innocence with which he had first entered into the world at birth. Remember it was Jewish belief that one entered into the world in a completely sinless state. Nicodemus must have pondered the impossibility of his situation. You can’t physically be born again.

Jesus points to the wind as it swept past the house in which they were meeting. “Do you hear the wind?” “Do you really know where it came from or where it is going?” Yet even the Greek word for wind, pneuma, can also be translated by the English word spirit. In other words, the same can be said for the Holy Spirit. You can sense His presence, but you do not know His originating point, nor do you know His final destination. It was that Holy Spirit that Nicodemus heard and that prompted him to visit Jesus that night. Once you become a Child of the King, you become a new creature (2 Corinthians 5: 17). You do not know your further development or all that you will become as you mature in your relationship with Jesus Christ. You see, the wind and the Holy Spirit work the same.

Nicodemus seemed to finally understand what entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven meant, his next question is how. That’s the question he asks in verse 9. When Jesus talks about “we” in verse 10, He is referring to Himself, John the Baptist and the entire Old Testament. All of them point to the same “how.” Yet it is necessary for Nicodemus to see that path that would lead him into the Kingdom. It is at that point that Jesus points to the how, the Son of Man. Up to this point, their only teacher was Moses, whom Jewish tradition holds received his message from the heavens. Jesus now lets Moses teach Nicodemus about who is standing in front of him. Jesus refers to Numbers 21: 4-9. While in the wilderness of Sinai, the Jews had seen the ground covered every morning with food from God, yet they had rebelled and not believed. As a consequence for Israel’s constant complaining, God sent poisonous snakes, as a kind of fiery judgment into the camp. As a bronze snake was lifted on a pole, life came to all who looked upon it and believed. It was this illustration that Jesus made to point Nicodemus to an event that would be happening three years from this night when Jesus would be lifted up on a Roman cross and all those who looked upon Him and believed would be saved.

We cannot fail to see the symbolic reference of the bronze snake to Jesus. Both of them show God’s pardoning mercy. Yet they are both instruments of judgment to those who fail to believe. It is at that point the interview with Nicodemus abruptly closes. I know you are waiting for me to get into your favorite Bible verse, John 3: 16, and I will do so tomorrow, but I believe that the words that follow were not said by Jesus to Nicodemus. They are the words of John to all who are reading his gospel. I will tell you why I believe that when we gather together tomorrow.

Day 2 – Love That Gives

I know that there are some who are still arguing over whether or not the words of John 3: 16-21 were spoken by Jesus to Nicodemus that night. If you read the entire passage from verse 1, there does seem to be a different style used starting in verse 16. I read it as John ceasing to give us his witness to what happened that night and now is telling the world what he wants the church to know. Now I have had people in Bible studies tell me that verse 16 must be the words of Jesus because the words were still printed in red in their Bibles. To those people I would say, the Apostle John didn’t change pens and ink each time he was writing Jesus’ words. The red letters are added by various Bible publishers for your help. The reality is that no one actually knows which opinion is right.

In any event, there is a great truth that we are told in verse 16, that God does love the world. That is truth. The nice thing about truth is that it exists outside of belief. In other words, it doesn’t matter if anyone believes the truth; it’s still the truth. Yet John doesn’t stop right there; he goes on to give us the proof of God’s love lies in the fact that He gave His only son. God loved, so He gave. True love does that. Today the media tells us that love is a feeling that is magical and fleeting. Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t love you that way? The fact is that true love gives and keeps on giving.

Now to some the giving of a son into this world is probably no big thing, but when it involves giving a son up to die, it is a very big thing. That’s what God did when Jesus came to the Earth. He did it because I couldn’t become a child of God any other way. All I have to do is to believe and trust in Him. That’s what the word believe means to the Greek mind. We saw in Matthew 4 that the Devil believes, but he is not saved by that belief. It’s the trust part that he missed.

God’s purpose in sending Jesus was to save the world, not to condemn the world. Yet, God understood that there would now be two classes of people; those who believed and those who wouldn’t believe. That’s because whether or not we believe, it involves an act of our will. We choose to believe or not. Now why would a sane person not believe in such a wonderful thing as a God who truly loves them? John gives us that reason. Evil loves the darkness. Darkness hides a lot of things that people don’t want seen. That’s why the greatest deterrent to evil is to shed some light on it, and God brought a real bright light into this world when Jesus stepped onto the planet. Through His life, there is now a choice between darkness and light. That wasn’t true before He came.

So who escapes the ultimate condemnation that God must pronounce at the end of all things? Verse 21 says that the one who practices and lives by God’s truth escapes condemnation. Put a thumb in your place in John 3 and skip over to John 14: 6 and read that verse. Jesus is saying there that He is truth. Now go back to John 3: 21 and try substituting the word “Jesus” for the words “the truth” in the verse. Notice how the meaning of what John is saying becomes clear. The fact is that all humans know what is right. They may not admit it even to themselves, but that’s the way God made all of us. The one who seeks after what is true is the one John is describing here. It’s not that he is perfect. No one is. Seeking truth is his life’s direction not a destination he attains without Jesus’ help.

Do you notice how the message of John the Baptist ties perfectly with what Jesus is saying here? That which is of the flesh is only flesh. The creation can’t do anything about it. It’s going to take the Creator to perfect His creation. What we need comes only from above. How about you? Are you busy about trying to do a bunch of things in order to gain the approval of God? If so, you are wasting your time. Nothing you can do right here right now will ever gain God’s ultimate approval. All you need to do is to step out into the light and follow Jesus. I know you are thinking, “It can’t be that easy.” Well, John’s message to you is that it is that easy. Perhaps it’s time to stop trusting in your own efforts and accept that which only comes from above.

Day 3 – A Falling Star

There is a principle in career advancement that you hitch yourself to a rising star. That means you become the underling of someone who is rapidly rising within a corporation so that as that person is promoted, you are promoted. There is many a career that has risen to the top in this fashion. The challenge is to hitch yourself to the right star, for your advancement will stall or even be set back if your star loses their luster. Unfortunately the scripture we are looking at today shows the disciples of the Baptist trying hard to promote their unwilling master. As we continue our journey through the gospel of John we arrive at verses 22-30 of the third chapter. We see that from the city of Jerusalem, Jesus has retired into the Jordan River Valley are just east of the city. John the Baptist and his followers have moved north towards Galilee and his appointment with Herod Antipas.

It’s easy to read these few verses without understanding how much of Jesus’ ministry is taken up here. We know that these events started just after Passover. How many days after? We are not sure, but as everyone went back to their own villages, it would not be hard to imagine Jesus left for the Jordan around the same time. If you read John 4: 35, the next event in Jesus’ ministry, the Samaritan woman, took place four month before the harvest. Historically we know that barley was grown in Samaria and that crop is normally harvested in April. That would mean that Jesus was in Samaria sometime in December. Since Passover is normally in April, that would mean the verses for today cover roughly 8 months. That means that these few verses cover a bit over twenty percent of the time Jesus was here on earth.

During these months both Jesus and John the Baptist were preaching basically the same message that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. It appears that the number of people being baptized by both men was quite large. In John 4: 1 an exaggerated report had reached Jerusalem. Official opposition to the new movement was already established. They opposed John and their opposition would naturally extend to Jesus’ ministry.

Our verses today talk about a dispute that arose between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over ceremonial washing. We are not sure if there was anything else that was included in the discussion, but we can figure from what followed that the discussion must have included the idea that Jesus was now baptizing more people than they were. Immediately afterward, John’s disciples approach him with their complaint. They felt their ministry was being overshadowed by this newcomer. We see the toilsome ministry of John drawing to a close without a lot of tangible evidence of success. Yet his answer here is probably the high point of his entire ministry. He served God and not success. Yet we don’t see John rebuke his disciples. He just tenderly and lovingly reminds them of all that he has said before. He reminds his disciples of exactly what his life’s mission was all about.

In all my years in church, I have seen ministries come and go. Someone gets a passion for a particular area of ministry and it always begins with great fanfare and gusto. It seems that people just flock to join in and while the ride is going, it is great. After a few years the ministry begins to wither. Perhaps a key leader just gets tired. Sometimes the original intent of the ministry just gets lost. At some point, the original leadership is replaced, but it is never the same. The ministry usually dies a slow death. No one is willing to just pull the plug and end it quickly. We tend to think that every ministry can regain its glory if we just give it a little more time and effort. Every so often we do see a ministry reignite and return to its former glory, but that is always as a result of finding a good leader to retake the reins. Most times it is a sad, slow process until the end finally comes.

I believe that ministries have their seasons, just like John’s ministry had its season. Always remember who is in charge of the church. When God raises up a leader for a particular ministry, it is God who is doing the main work that causes the ministry to be successful. When He decides the ministry should conclude, that ministry generally begins to die. If He wants it to continue, He will raise up someone else to lead it. If that doesn’t happen, then we really need to listen to Him and allow that ministry to close gracefully. We should never become so entrenched in “the way it always was” that we fail to follow the real Head of our Church.

Day 4 – Life and Wrath

I have always believed that life is all about choices. I know that is an unpopular position given the fact that I live in a culture where people refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. If I am overweight, it is my parent’s fault for giving me these genes or because my mother overfed me. Of course, I have never seen anyone put a gun to someone’s head and force them to overeat and avoid exercise. Still, it is easier to blame others. It takes all of the responsibility for my own bad choices off of me and gives them to someone else. Today we are going to be taking a look at the last six verses in the third chapter of John. You might want to open your Bible and read John 3: 31-36 a few times to get a feel for what John is talking about.

Just like verses 15-21, I also believe these words were not said by John the Baptist but by John, the Apostle. I say that because the concepts that are talked about are really New Testament in their cast. It’s just that I have my doubts that John the Baptist would have understood Jesus’ ministry at this early stage to this extent. It is easier for me to believe that the Apostle John, writing sixty years later, would write about these concepts.

Whichever John it was, starts out by contrasting He who comes from above, Jesus, with he who comes from the earth, John the Baptist. Notice how John uses the term “above all” twice in the same verse. Whenever a phrase like that is repeated, it is done for emphasis. The idea here is that Jesus Christ is preeminent in any discussion about heaven. He is the one who is placed in a position of being above all things. It is Jesus who testifies about the realities of heaven. After all, is there anyone who is more qualified? Only Jesus has been in heaven and has come to earth to talk about it. Everything else you read about heaven from other people is only speculation. They haven’t been there. When Jesus speaks about heaven, men are faced with only two alternatives. Either they believe it or they don’t. The idea in verse 32 that no one believes Jesus’ testimony is another way of saying that the majority of people living on planet earth from the first century on have rejected what Jesus had to say.

Yet there are some who do accept and believe Jesus. Notice in verse 33 about the man who accepts Jesus’ testimony about heaven. He does what to the truthfulness of God? I like way the New American Standard Bible says it, “He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.” The idea of “setting his seal” has the idea of setting an emblem of ownership that Jesus is being truthful about all He says about heaven. In other words, when it comes to how to get into heaven, I have bought what Jesus was selling.

Now as we close by looking at verse 35, look again at the contrast that John draws between the two kinds of people in this world. As you look closely at John’s sentence, he says that when a person obeys God, He is giving the only evidence that he can that he truly believes God in his heart. You can talk about belief all day long, but it’s when you actually put your life into obedience to God that your words truly count for something. It is only that persuasion of the truth that will result in a true faith, a faith that saves. Do you see the difference?

It is the ones who reject what Jesus had to say, the ones who are not persuaded, who will experience the wrath that John talks about in this verse. There are two Greek words for wrath. John doesn’t use the one that means a sudden outburst, an agitated condition of the emotions. The word used here suggests a more settled, more controlled condition of God’s mind. In other words, it’s the kind of wrath that God has been considering from the beginning of time. It is not based on emotion; it is logical and well thought out. That means that the wrath that awaits the one who rejects God’s offer of eternal life has already been determined and is set in stone.

I don’t say these things with the intent to frighten anyone into the Kingdom. On the other hand, I don’t want anyone reading this book to misunderstand the consequences of our choices when it comes to what we do with Jesus Christ. As I said in the beginning, life is all about our choices. When you are standing before God in the end, don’t expect Him to accept your attempts to point your boney little finger at someone else. It will not be someone else’s fault.

Day 5 – The Hated Race

As we enter into the fourth chapter of the book of John, we see Jesus going into Samaria. In these readings I have stated that traveling through Samaria by a Jew just wasn’t done in those days, but I have never explained why that was so. If you read historical writings of the time, you get the impression that the Jews tolerated most of the Gentile nations that surrounded her. Don’t get me wrong, they didn’t love the Greek influence that surrounded them in Bashan and Decapolis to the north and east and Idumea and Egypt to the south. Yet they were allowed to travel through those lands and not go through a lengthy process to become ceremonially clean again. That was not true of Samaria. In that day, Jews did not travel through that land unless it was absolutely necessary. There was a road that went from Jerusalem to Galilee that was much shorter than the normal route, but since it went through Samaria, it wasn’t normally traveled. So you have to ask yourself, why all of this hatred towards each other?

In order to get to the heart of the question, you need to first understand that Samaritans could also trace their lineage back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Back in the days of Solomon, they were a part of Israel. That was, until Solomon decided to depart from the ways of his youth and allow the worship of foreign gods within Israel. This spiritual infidelity so angered God that He decided to rip the kingdom away from Solomon’s descendants. Yet, God would not tear away all of the tribes for the sake of Solomon’s father, David. He left two tribes, Judah and Benjamin with Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, and the remaining ten tribes followed Jeroboam. Jeroboam and those kings after him ruled what was known as Israel, and David’s descendants reigned over the southern kingdom of Judah.

The northern kingdom of Israel had a succession of twenty really awful kings who pulled Israel into all kinds of evil idol worship. When God had finally had enough, he blew his whistle, pointed his finger at the nation and said, “You, out of the pool.” All right so God didn’t really say that. He did raise up a strong neighbor to the north in the Assyrians who under the leadership of their king, Tiglath Pileser III, conquered the northern kingdom. It was under Sargon II that the Assyrian kingdom decided to homogenize their people. This was done in order to destroy the old nationalism. They mixed the entire country up by relocating people throughout their lands. The ten tribes that made up the northern kingdom were moved all over Assyria. Now if you’re living in those days and you get moved far north, who is your daughter likely to marry? I mean the guy next door is not from Israel. So over time, the ten tribes intermarried with other nations and are now lost.

Those that remained in the old nation of Israel married into the other nations and lost their identity as Israel. That is one of the reasons they were hated by the Jews, they were thought to be of impure bloodlines and not worthy of the inheritance that they had dreamed about since Abraham. Since they were thought to be impure, they were not allowed to worship in the Temple, so the Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerazim near the city of Sychar. There they worshiped and held the same animal sacrifices that took place in Jerusalem. They even obeyed the Sabbath and held to the Pentateuch as the only valid scripture. They understood that Messiah would come to the Jews but felt that the Jewish prejudice would drive their Messiah into Samaria where He would find much more fertile soil. When you understand the background, it will make the reason Jesus’ ministry in Samaria started out so successfully and why He was rejected the only other time He visited the area.

I have always been impressed with the difference between how the Jewish nation reacted to the Samaritans and how Jesus reacted to them. The Jewish solution to the problem was to avoid them. Jesus’ solution was to win them. I wonder which of those solutions honors God. How do you do in this area? Do you tend to write off people are reach out to them? Think about it the next time God places you in a situation where you are able to reach out to a person of another culture. How do you think God would want you to respond?

Day 6 – Bad Road

When we last saw Jesus, He and His disciples were baptizing Israelites in the Jordan River. John the Baptist had moved north and was baptizing near a city called Aenon. This places John in his last public work close to the seat of Herod Antipas in Galilee, while Jesus was still in the region of Judea. Now Galilee was ruled by Herod and Judea was ruled at the time by the Roman Procurator, Pontius Pilate. Already we see the workings of power to remove the threat caused by both men. It wasn’t very long afterwards that John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod Antipas. Though outwardly Herod arrested John because of John’s outspoken criticism of his marriage to his brother’s wife, I’m sure it also involved a little intrigue brought about by the Pharisees. You can see evidence that Jesus knew the two groups were working together in His remarks recorded in Luke 13: 31. After all, it would not be too difficult for the Pharisees to arouse the suspicions of one as mean and jealous as Herod Antipas.

I say all of that because it just appears to me that Jesus in John 4: 1-4 appears to be escaping all of the intrigue by returning to Galilee via Samaria. Such a move would not be expected by the conspirator