How Can This Be?
Fortifying the Foundations # 7
John 2:23-3:21
4-27-03
Intro:
This morning we are introduced to a man named Nicodemus and his struggle to understand the kingdom of God. We will hear Jesus’ explanation to him concerning new birth and from that become better equipped to share our faith with others. If you’re active as a witness for Jesus Christ you will probably encounter someone like Nicodemus, a sincere seeker looking for some answers.
Follow with me as we read John 2:23-25
23Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man. NIV
Here is Jesus in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. A few days earlier[1] he created quite a commotion at the Temple when he cleaned house and drove out the moneychangers. I’m sure the news of all that spread like wild fire through Jerusalem. Who is this guy who upsets the religious status quo and claims authority over the temple?
The crowds came out to see him and when they came he healed their sick and delivered the oppressed.
There is an interesting contrast in the last couple of verses in Chapter 2 that is more obvious in the Greek than in the English. Verse 23 says that many people saw the miraculous signs and believed (pisteuo) in Jesus. The same Greek word is used in verse 24 to say, however, that Jesus did not believe (pisteuo) in them. He knew how fickle public opinion could be.[2] He knew how shallow these people’s commitment was. He thoroughly understood human nature.
One key to navigating life successfully is to love people, serve people, give your life for their best interest, but understand where to put your trust. Rely upon God as your source. That doesn’t mean you don’t trust people at all, but you do understand the limitations involved. Jesus did not trust in these people and he was wise not to—later we will see the same crowd that hailed him as King shouting “Hosanna in the Highest”, turn against him screaming “Crucify him, crucify him!” Jesus thoroughly understood the make up of human nature and the need for regeneration.
One person in Jerusalem impacted by the miracles was this man, Nicodemus. As a member of the Sanhedrin he was no doubt aware of Jesus’ cleansing of the temple.[3]
Then he saw the power of God operating in Jesus’ ministry, miraculous signs,[4] a certain level of faith was stirred. He says to Jesus in John 3:2 “…For no one could perform the miraculous signs your are doing if God were not with him.”
Who is this man, Nicodemus? As I have mentioned he was a member of the prestigious Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin consisted of the High Priest and seventy top Jewish leaders.[5]
Nicodemus was wealthy, cultured, and educated—a Hebrew scholar, a Pharisee of Pharisees, a man of high moral and ethical standards, highly respected in the community, very knowledgeable of scripture and orthodox in his belief.[6] This is the kind of man Jesus tells in John 3:3 “…no one (not even you Nick) can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
This man is very different from many of the people who came to Jesus. On the surface he appears to be anything but needy. He’s not a leper. He is not blind or crippled. He is not a social outcast, in fact, society has given him considerable recognition. He stands in an altogether different social status from the woman at the well whom we will meet in the next chapter. He is unlike the woman caught in adultery or Zaccahaeus, the swindler.
Jesus ministered to anyone who would receive his message. He ministered to the down and outers and he ministered to the up and outers, like Nicodemus. God is not looking at social status either way. He does not reject the poor because he is poor. He does not reject the rich because he is rich. He knows what is in each and everyone of us—a deep need for God and the transformation He alone can give.
I’m glad it is Nicodemus Jesus confronts so forcefully about the need to be born again. If this man needed it, everybody does. Nobody is good enough, moral enough, religious enough to get to heaven on his own. You must be born again. I must be born again. A miracle from God has to take place far beyond anything found in our own goodness. It is an essential preparation for an eternity with a holy God.
Read John 3:1-21
The central point of our text is found in Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John 3:3. Notice how the Lord emphasizes the importance of what he is about to say, “I tell you the truth,…”. That is the translation of two words, “amen, amen.”—sometimes translated verily, verily or truly, truly. It is Jesus saying to Nicodemus and to you and me—what I am about to tell you is of supreme importance: “…no one (absolutely no one) can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
That statement was not what Nicodemus expected to hear from Jesus! Verse 2 tells us “…he came to Jesus at night…” It was not an easy thing for a member of the Sanhedrin to meet with this peasant from Galilee especially after what had happened at the temple a few days earlier.[7] But Nicodemus is hungry for more of God. He is cautious, we can perhaps judge him for being too cautious, but he had a lot to lose. At least he was there. At this point he’s not sure exactly what to think of Jesus.[8] That’s why he has come. He wants to know more. The miracles have convinced him that Jesus is a man sent from God. He approaches Jesus very respectfully, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher come from God.” There is some level of faith behind those words. Perhaps he is near the kingdom. He has been polite. I don’t think he is expecting such an abrupt statement from Jesus.
Why does Jesus do that? Because it is in Nicodemus’ best interest. It is exactly the thing Nicodemus needs to hear. Have you ever had God hit you between the eyes with the one thing you had just as soon avoid? I don’t think Nicodemus was avoiding this subject—I think it was totally outside his box. He had it all figured out religiously, but his religion missed the main point.
From the text it is clear that Nicodemus is confounded about this whole subject. “What in the world are you talking about, Jesus? Surely, you know a man can not enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus then gives an explanation of how one enters the kingdom of God. As we touch upon the instruction Jesus gives in this passage about being born again, if you are not sure that has happened to you pay special attention. If you have the assurance that you have been born again the answers Jesus gives Nicodemus will help you share your faith with others.
Like people we may encounter today, Nicodemus is a sincere seeker. He simply does not understand. For a Jew in that day, salvation was tied to natural birth as a child of Abraham and fidelity to the Law. This concept of regeneration, born from above, born again, was not even in their vocabulary.[9] Nicodemus’ running question in this encounter is, “How can this be?” This morning we want to see Jesus’ answer to that question.
I. It is possible because it happens in a totally different realm than what Nicodemus was thinking. Nicodemus was locked into the material world in his thinking. Theologically he believes in God, he believes in angels, he knows there is a devil and demons. All of that exists in a realm unseen to the natural eye. But his experience with religion has dealt with externals—cleansing rituals, sacrificial rituals, and other religious activities. He is thinking only of the material realm.
But Jesus is saying in verses 5 & 6 this second birth happens in the spiritual realm—it happens in ones innermost being—it is a quickening of a man’s spirit. “I tell you the truth…” (now hear this and hear it well) “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” Some say “born of water” and born of the Spirit both refer to the new birth with “born of water” referring to the cleansing that occurs in that experience. Others see it as a reference to water baptism. That doesn’t seem to flow consistently with the conversation that is taking place but it is possible. The water probably refers to the fluid surrounding a baby in the womb—born of water is probably just a reference to natural birth.[10] It doesn’t matter a whole lot because the point Jesus is making is clearly that one must be born of the Spirit. There must be a second birth, a spiritual birth. Just as natural birth is a radical transition into a whole new environment, spiritual birth is a radical entrance into the family of God.
The kingdom of God is a significant phrase in the gospels. It means the same thing as the kingdom of Heaven. What is it? It is the realm of God’s rulership. It has reference to the King and his domain. Israel as a whole had come to see it only as an eschatological rule of the coming Messiah in the age to come. But it is broader than that. It will express itself in that way. But it is first and foremost a spiritual rule that does find expression in the natural realm. Jesus is saying to Nicodemus, “No matter how religious you are, no matter how pious you are, without this radical transformation in your spirit you can not enter the kingdom of God. This is first base and it cannot be skipped. Without it your religion is vain. Without it your good works are futile. Without it you are spiritually blind and can not see what God is doing in that realm.
No amount of religion—whether Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal or anything else can substitute for being born again. You must be born again. You must be translated out of the rulership of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. (Col.1:13)
This is not a result of self-improvement. It is not the result of human effort, no matter how sincere—verse 6, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) gives birth to spirit.” Everything reproduces “after its own kind.”[11] Jesus is calling upon Nicodemus to take the religious blinders off and see beyond his previous understanding. “Nicodemus, this is possible because it does not require a person to re-enter the womb and have a second natural birth. It simply requires a person to open up the spiritual activity of God and let God work the miracle.
You ask, ‘How can this be?’ Feel the breeze. Can you fully explain its activity? No, but you accept its reality! You see its effect upon the visible things it touches. You feel you hair blow in the wind. You hear the rustling of the leaves. You know its there because there is solid evidence of its activity. But you do not thoroughly understand everything about the winds.
This new birth is possible because it does not depend upon a full comprehension of the process. In verse 8 Jesus tells Nicodemus—the activity of God in the new birth is like the activity of the wind. You can’t see it with the natural eye but you can see its influence upon those who are born of the Spirit.
There is a subtle point of intellectual pride in Nicodemus that Jesus is addressing here. Jesus is saying to him, “Don’t reject something simply because you can not fully explain it.” In Nicodemus’ day they knew less about wind currents, barometric pressure, and other weather activities than we do. But we also do not fully comprehend the wind. If we did we would do away with tornados. There would be no hurricanes. The wind would blow in the clouds on our command and rain would fall when we want it and it would be sunny when we decided it needed to be sunny. The truth of the matter is, even today we don’t fully understand the activity of the wind. But that doesn’t keep us from recognizing its reality.[12]
I have never led anyone to the Lord who fully understood theology before he came to Christ. That’s not a prerequisite. Nicodemus is creating his own barrier to the kingdom of God. We have a saying in our society, “Seeing is believing.” That is man’s motto. But God’s motto reverses that, “Believing is seeing.” Verse 3, “I tell you the truth no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “Nicodemus, to enter into this you must get passed the intellectual pride that insists on full comprehension before acceptance.” I’m not saying faith is irrational. I am saying faith is super rational. It moves beyond the limitations of human reason and trusts the evidence God provides.
As I was preparing this message I came across Eccl 11:5, “As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.” NIV That verse touched my heart deeply because I had just learned that my newborn granddaughter’s bones did not develop just right in the womb. What did Eccl. 11:5 say to me about that situation? I don’t have to understand it all to believe God to heal that child. I don’t have to fully comprehend how He is going to do it. I can right now pray and believe God to fix her leg and foot.
How can this be?
It simply depends upon a receptivity to true testimony! In verse 10 Jesus says to him, “You are Israel’s teacher”(You are the teacher of Israel).[13] “and do you not understand these things?” “Nicodemus, this is basic. This is essential.”
How can you accept it if you don’t fully comprehend it? You accept the true testimony of one who knows! Verse 13, “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.” Jesus alone has full knowledge of all these spiritual matters. To fully understand these heavenly things one would have to ascend into heave and see it for himself. “But, Nicodemus, you can’t do that and neither can anybody else. So what must you do? You must accept the witness of one who knows.” That is humbling but that is the only way anyone can come into this. Jesus put his finger on the problem in verse 11 “I tell you the truth, we speak what we know, and we testify to what we have seen…” Now the problem: “but still you people do not accept our testimony.” The way God has chosen for this to work is through the foolishness of preaching.[14] What is preaching? It is the proclamation of good news. It is the testimony of what we know by experience—what we have seen in the spiritual realm after believing. John puts it this way in the opening of his first epistle: 1 John 1:1-3
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” NIV
Entrance into the kingdom of God does not require full intellectual comprehension. It requires a receptivity to true testimony—testimony that does have evidence behind it but could not be fully comprehended even if God did explain it all. Jesus says to Nicodemus in verse 12 “I have spoken to you earthly things and you do not believe, how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” “I’m already over your head on this. Your solution will not be found at a purely intellectual level. Will you receive the testimony of one who has been there or will you reject it out of intellectual pride? That’s the real issue here.
How can this be?
It is possible because it comes through a simple, obedient act of faith!
In verse 14 Jesus takes Nicodemus to and Old Testament story that was very familiar to both of them. It comes from Numbers 21. Some of you know the story. Israel was in the wilderness. God was not doing everything for them they thought He ought to be doing. Has anybody besides me ever been there? Is anybody there this morning? They lost perspective and began to grumble and complain—that resulted in judgment. Num 21:6-7
“Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.” It was a terrible situation. “The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you.” NIV
How many know the rest of the story?
And the Lord said, Well you seem to be truly sorry for your sin, that’s OK, your forgiven.
No! That is not what happened.
God gave them a way of escape of His own choosing. He provided a solution to their problem that at first seems strange to us and must have seemed strange to them. God had Moses make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. God’s provision of deliverance was this: When anyone was bitten by a snake if he looked at the bronze snake, he lived. If not he died of the snake bite.
How many think those people liked snakes? No, the snakes had killed children, wives, husbands, loved ones. The last thing they wanted to look at was a bronze snake hanging on a pole. I suspect some of them had a real intellectual struggle understanding just how a look at a bronze serpent would bring healing. It made no sense. But it was God’s chosen way of deliverance—take it or leave it.
We know from Jesus’ statement in or text, that bronze serpent on a pole foreshadowed God’s ultimate provision of salvation. Jesus who was sinless took our sin, our curse, on the cross and suffered the judgment of God in our behalf. Today God says to you and me, “Salvation is found in a faith look toward Jesus dying for our sin on the cross.” A look at that serpent on the pole forced Israel to acknowledge their sin and the consequences of their sin. It was a look of faith. It looked through the serpent on the pole to the God of deliverance.
Jesus is graciously giving Nicodemus support from his own Old Testament scripture for the way of salvation. Every Israelite who obeyed God’s command and accepted God’s provision was saved from death. Those who refused to look because they could not fully explain it died in their sin.
How can these things be?
Because God has taken the initiative for it to happen.
Verses 16 & 17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. NIV[15]
The emphasis in verse 16 is on the gift of God’s Son, Jesus. The new birth is possible because God loved you enough to give the most precious thing in heaven for your salvation. It’s all possible because God has already taken the initiative for it to happen. God sent Jesus. He sent him with a purpose—not our condemnation and eternal doom but our salvation. All this is possible because God is for you, not against you.
If it depended upon us finding a way of salvation, if it depended upon us coming up with a religion that would get us to heaven—there would be no hope at all. But God! He has made a way. He has sent The Light into the world that we may see and live. There is only one thing we must do—we must choose to accept the gift He offers.
How can these things be?
It is possible for you and me to be saved because all God requires is that we make a moral choice to trust in Christ. Verse 18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” NIV
Many people have the false idea that salvation is a matter of God looking at the good things we have done, weighing those against the bad things we have done, and hopefully the good will outweigh the bad and we will get to go to heaven. That is nowhere near what Jesus tells us here.
The sin that condemns a person to eternal doom is not lying or cheating or stealing.
Those activities just confirm the person’s guilt and condemnation. It is the sin of unbelief that is ultimately the issue. God has sent His Son. He has made provision for our salvation. That gift of mercy can either be embraced and relied upon or rejected for any number of reasons. Nicodemus didn’t have a problem with pornography or adultery or extortion. His problem was unbelief. That was what he needed to turn from.
One of the greatest motivations for evangelism I have ever read is found in verse 18—two words, “condemned already.” People stand condemned already in their unbelief. To simply live and let live is to leave them in their state of unbelief.[16] It is our calling to tell them the good news—God has made a way, look to Jesus in faith and you will be saved.
This morning I direct your attention to Jesus as he hung on the cross for you and me. There he bore my punishment. There he paid the consequence of my sin. Will you look to him for your salvation? Will you put your trust in him this morning? With each head bowed I must ask you a most important question—have you been born again? Do you have an assurance in your heart that God has worked that miracle in you? If not, please raise your hand so that I can pray with you about that. You can receive Christ right now and know that he has come into your life and made the change we have talked about this morning.
******************** Outline ********************
How Can This Be?
I. Happens in a totally different realm!
Verses 5 & 6
II. Does not depend upon a full comprehension of the process!
Verses 7 & 8
III. Simply depends upon a receptivity to true testimony!
Verses 9 - 13
IV. Comes thru simple, obedient act of faith!
Verses 14 & 15
V. God has taken the initiative for it to happen!
Verses 16 & 17
VI. All God requires is a moral choice of faith in Christ!
Verses 18 – 21
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[1] The feast followed for seven days right after the Passover. (John 2:23 Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft & Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament. Copyright (c) 1985 by Broadman Press)
[2] Vincent quotes Godet’s explanation (He had no faith in their faith" (from John 2:24Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft) . Living Bible says, in John 2:24, “But Jesus didn’t trust them, for he knew mankind to the core. No one needed to tell him how changeable human nature is! TLB
[3] Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Vol. 1, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1984) p. 381
[4] Greek-Semeion which is of particular interest to John in this Gospel as invoking belief in Jesus as the Christ and Son of God (John 20:30-31)
[5] SANHEDRIN (from Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
[6] Arthur Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975) p. 121
[7] Edersheim, p. 381
[8] We will encounter Nicodemus in John 7:50 and 19:39 and see the progression of his commitment.
[9] Even though O.T. scriptures like Ezek. 11:19-20 and 36:26 addressed it.
[10] Leon Morris, Reflections of the Gospel of John, (Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 2000), p. 90-91 Morris suggests a euphemism that also may tie the phrase to natural birth.
[11] Arthur Pink, p.115
[12] G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According to John ,(Los Angeles: Fleming Revell Co.) p. 59
[13] Ivor Powell, John’s Wonderful Gospel, (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publishing, 1983) p. 71 Powell emphasizes the presence of the article which would indicate Nicodemus was Israel’s premier teacher.
[14] 1 Cor. 1:21
[15] There is debate as to whether verses 16 thru 21 were words spoken by Jesus or words of explanation written by the Apostle John. It significance is minimized by the fact that either way the words were inspired by the Holy Spirit for our edification.
[16] Romans 10:14
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
