Introduction:
I. John began his gospel with these words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
II. One of the words that jumped out at me as I read that passage was light.
III. The word “light” is used 47 times by the gospel writers.
A. Although all 4 writers use the word, John seems particularly to enjoy using it.
B. John uses the word some 16 times, and always it is a reference to Jesus Christ.
IV. The picture is this.
A. Man is lost in the darkness; stumbling around looking for the meaning of life, and even looking for life.
B. But all the while that man stumbles in the darkness, Jesus Christ, the light of the world is standing nearby, shedding light on the path, for all that will but come into it.
V. Nicodemus is an example of one that is drawn to the light of Jesus Christ.
A. His journey, rightly enough begins in the darkness, but if I interpret John 19 correctly, his journey ends in the light.
B. Nicodemus came at night, but in chapter 19; the last time we read his name, Nicodemus is in the light.
VI. Nicodemus,
A. His names mean “conqueror” and I believe he must have become more than a conqueror.
B. The name of Nicodemus is listed in scripture 5 times.
1. Three times it appears in John chapter 3, as he approaches Christ in the dark.
2. The next time is in chapter 7, verse 50 Nicodemus appears as a defender of Christ before the Pharisee’s.
3. And for the last time, he is mentioned in chapter 19, verse 39, and why is he there?
VII. Let me ask you,
A. Who buried the body of Christ, after the crucifixion?
1. Joseph of Arimathea, you say, and you would be correct.
2. John 19 states that Joseph appeared before Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.
B. But, the text states that none other than Nicodemus, a Pharisee came also with him to ask for the body.
C. From darkness “Into the Light” that was the journey of Nick at night.
VIII. Open your bibles please to John, chapter 3. A Ray of Light (vs. 1-2)
3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Him by night, and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
I. The bible has very little good to say concerning the Pharisee’s, especially in their dealings with Christ.
A. In Acts 6, the Pharisee’s planned to kill the Apostles.
1. But Gameliel stood before his Pharisaical brothers and said, “...I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or actions is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”
2. Those were pretty powerful words.
B. The only other positive picture of the Pharisee’s comes through a man named Conqueror (Nicodemus)
II. It is also pretty unusual in scripture for positive things to happen at night.
A. Jesus was arrested by cover of darkness.
B. Darkness or night is more often symbolic of evil.
III. It was much more typical that confrontations and questioning of Jesus appeared in the daylight,
A. Where people could see and hear the interactions between Christ and his detractors.
B. But Nicodemus appears in the dark.
IV. There are several theories among theologians as to why Nick came at night.
A. Was he afraid to be seen;
1. Personally,I kind of doubt it.
2. The Pharisee’s didn’t often demonstrate fear, plus
a. Nicodemus uses the word “we”, so there must have been others at this early stage that had questions.
B. Did he decide that at night Jesus would be free from the crowds, and have time to talk.
1. Perhaps that is the case, But,
2. It seems like the Pharisee’s really didn’t have much problem getting to Jesus when they wanted to question him.
C. Personally, I believe God moved this Conqueror to come at night, almost as a metaphor for his spiritual condition.
1. Nick came at night, because spiritually he was in the darkness
2. I suppose he probably left in the darkness, but that ray of light which attracted him in the first place, must have widened a bit.
V. One point we see about Nicodemus’ coming to Christ is that he came based on what he knew at the time.
A. Nick didn’t know everything there was to know about Christ, all he knew was that Jesus had exhibited signs that He was sent by God.
1. He didn’t yet understand all the implications of that sending or coming.
2. He didn’t understand his sinfulness before a Holy God, in fact Nicodemus most likely saw himself as fairly sinless, after all he was a pharisee.
VI. Nick also came in humility
A. Nicodemus was a Pharisee,
1. Pharisee’s were more than mere teachers of God’s law.
2. Pharisee’s made every attempt to live in exact accordance with the law.
3. Pharisee’s set an almost unattainable example of what it meant to live for God.
B. But Nicodemus was also a ruler of the Jews.
1. He was part of the Council of 70.
a. The Council of 70 interpreted the spiritual law for Israel, but
b. They also enforced the civil law under authority of Rome.
C. And yet Nicodemus calls Jesus “Rabbi” or teacher.
VII. We are not going to understand everything there is to know about Christ until we are with Him in heaven.
VIII. We also cannot expect those that have not come to faith in Him to know everything.
IX. In verses 14 and 15 Jesus says, “The Son of Man must be lifted up.”
A. When Christ is lifted, His light will begin to shine.
B. At that point, some will be drawn, simply based on what they know at the time.
You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet (vs. 3-5)
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
I. To this point Nicodemus was seeing Christ with earth-bound eyes.
A. He has already said, “I/we know you are sent from God, based on the things we have seen you do.”
1. Maybe someone had told of turning the water into wine.
2. There is no doubt that the Pharisee’s were aware that Jesus had cleared the temple.
3. And chapter two stated that Christ had done other miracles while in town.
II. Nick says,
A. We have seen and heard all of these things about you.
1. We learn by the speech of Gemliel that others had come, professing to be the messiah.
2. But there was something different about this Jesus.
B. A ray of light had struck Nicodemus, and he had begun to see, but Jesus says,
III. “You can’t really see the kingdom of God, unless you are born again.”
A. The word translated as kingdom here is not referring to a place.
B. This word means,
1. “royal power, kingship, dominion or rule.”
2. This kingdom is not a place, but a right or ability.
IV. Nicodemus, you think you have seen the power of God, but you can’t really see the light, because you haven’t yet been born again; so the Conqueror says, “How can I be born again?”
V. I want to stop here for just a moment.
A. We use the phrase, “born again” to mean, “Have you come to faith in Jesus Christ.”
1. And we look for an answer that essentially says, “Yes. I have come to the place of understanding that Jesus died for my sins, and by accepting that I have eternal life.”
2. The implication, “Yes. I have seen the truth. I have come.”
B. And primarily that phrase comes from John 3, verse 3, “you must be born again.”
VI. But this is what Jesus is really saying, and it is important.
A. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
B. Do you see the difference,
1. Our English says “born again” implying something that we can at the least assist in.
2. Jesus says, “born from above” stating that God is in control, even of our salvation.
VII. I believe what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus is this,
A. God has brought you to a place of seeing the light for yourself.
B. I believe this is more appropriately a call for Nicodemus to take the next step of beginning to understand what this truth means.
C. Nicodemus; you have seen a glimpse of the power of God, now let me explain how you can really experience what God has to offer.
C. Nick, allow the Holy Spirit to take you on a journey that will lead you into really seeing what God can do.
New Life is Through the Power of God (vs. 6-9)
6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
I. Nicodemus wants to know, “How can I really see the kingdom of God” and Jesus’ response, “only by the power of God.”
II. We need to understand who Nicodemus was,
A. He was a man of power and influence,
1. He was a Pharisee,
2. He was a “ruler” of Israel.
B. He was a very devout, religious, man of God, or so he thought.
1. He knew the scriptures well.
2. He basically lived at “church.”
C. He was a man that recognized two correct facts about Jesus,
1. Jesus was sent by God.
2. Jesus was a teacher, who had a special relationship with God.
D. He was a man that was lost in his search for God, because Nicodemus had been searching according to his own power and understanding.
III. Jesus must have blown his mind when He says, “You, a great man of understanding cannot understand this new life thing, because it comes through the movement of God.”
IV. Next Jesus says, “The new life is found in believing in Jesus.” New Life is Found In Believing in Jesus (vs. 16-21)
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.19 “And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
I. If you ask many people today, “Will you go to heaven when you die” they will answer something like,
A. “I hope so.
B. I try to live right and treat people right.
C. Sure, I’m not perfect, but I do more good than bad, and so God will accept me into heaven.”
II. To this point that was actually the basis upon which Nicodemus had lived his life.
A. But now he had been given a glimpse of the light of Jesus Christ.
B. If Nicodemus really believed that Christ was sent by God, I can only imagine what a shock it must have been when Jesus said, “I was not sent to be a judge, but to offer eternal life based on belief.”
III. Jesus says, “I did not come to be a judge, BUT consider that in His coming and ultimately going to the cross, judgement surely came.”
A. Eternal life is not given based on man’s perception of good and evil.
B. Eternal life is not based on whether our good deeds outweigh our bad.
IV. Eternal life is based on only one fact, have I responded with belief that God loved the world so much that He would send his only Son to die in our place.
V. If you are still trying to please God through your actions, apart from belief in Jesus, I am extremely glad you are here this morning.
A. I believe God has brought you here to give you the opportunity of moving from the darkness into the light.
B. To move from hoping your goodness is enough better than you badness that God will accept you.
C. Jesus made clear to Nicodemus and to us that there is only one criteria by which we will all be judged,
1. Have you looked up at Jesus on the cross and believed He died for you,
2. Or
3. Have you chosen to remain in the darkness.
VI. The Apostle Paul would write to the Corinthians, “If you believe in your heart, and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you WILL BE SAVED.”
VII. If you have believed, just follow me in this prayer, and tell it to God.
