The Great Communicator

We first looked at in John that Jesus was Word and Word was with God and the Word was God.

To reveal to us that now the Word is not only spoken but the Word is seen…In the flesh, He dwelt among us.

Then we looked in John and found out that Jesus turned water into wine, so not only would He quench the thirst of those who attended the wedding, but because of His life, death and resurrection, He would quench the thirst of anyone who thirst after righteousness!

Tonight we are going to look and see the Word teaching the Word, so that not only would people hear the Word, but they would apply the Word. But before people can do that they must understand the Word, so we are going to hear from the great communicator.

Nicodemus was a person who seem to have everything money, power, position, but like so many other people he was not happy, there was a void in his life.

As a ruler of the Jews, he was a member of the sanhedrin, the highest ruling body among his people.

John 7:50-52-Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

John 19:39-And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

This suggest that Nicodemus came as the respresentative of a group. Even though Jesus was a teacher, he was not accredited by any official Jewish body. It was the responsibility of the Sanhedrin to examine anyone who proposed to be a teacher.

Verse 3-Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Ye Must Be Born Again…There is no other option, no plan B

Born again Christian is a term we use, but the truth is you have to be born again before you are a Christian.

Jesus used the shock method, the Pharisees thought they already had a place in heaven, (They had two strikes in their favor, they were born Jews, and they were religious) but Jesus said, "unless any man"

Isn't funny they put so much emphasis about being born a Jew (If a Gentile wanted to follow the Jewish religion they had to be circumcised and follow all the laws, in since being reborn as a Jew) and yet Jesus said you must be born again.

Now Jesus really had Nicodemus confussed, his whole religious world consisted of doing. He knew what sacrifices to make, and Sabbath rules of conduct, for instance, how far he could walk; just what weight he could lift. He knew what to eat and what not to eat, this would assure his place in heaven.

Now Jesus is talking about not doing but about becoming.

Nicodemus that he had arrived, but Jesus is saying he hasn't even started.

"If the Central Intelligence Agency wanted you to be an agent behind the bamboo curtain in China, you would be trained to talk, ask, look, and think Chinese. You would go to school and learn the Chinese language so that you could speak it fluently without a trace of an accent. After studying the mores of China and watching films of Chinese physical characteristics, you could duplicate their mannerisms. Perhaps you would undergo plastic surgery and have your face changed so that you would look Chinese. Then you could enter Communist China and be welcomed as one of them.

"You would then do everything in the Chinese manner. No difference would be noticeable. As far as anyone in China is concerned, you are Chinese. But would you be Chinese? No, not if you did not have Chinese parents. Nothing you can do will change your race.

"Actually, it's the same way spiritually. You may talk and dress like a Christian. You may join Christian organizations and sing Christians songs, and in all ways act like a Christian. However, none of these things will make you a Christian. You were born sinful and you have the nature of a sinful race. Nothing you can do outwardly can change this fact. Just as you would have to have been born of Chinese parents to be Chinese, so you need a new birth spiritually to be a Christian."

Verse 8-13-The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”