John 3
For the rest of my life,
whenever I'm reading this chapter
I will remember something that happened
right after I became a christian.
I had just finished reading this chapter
when I decided to try a new church one Sunday morning,
and so I walked into the room
not knowing anyone,
and coincidentally the pastor talked for nearly an hour
about Nicodemus.
The very same chapter I had just finished.
I was blown away.
First by the coincidence,
and secondly by the fact that when I was reading to myself
I didn't get any real meaning of it,
but after hearing him talk about it in detail
I was filled with meaning.
Yeah, I mean full.
A full head.
Have you ever felt like that?
that your brain is totally occupied
and can't take any more in?
Well anyway... I'll never forget that experience.
So Nicodemus is this Jewish Pharisee,
a ruler of the Jews, and
Whoa... stop right there.
There is something about these two verses together
that seems foreign to me.
This is the first time these two have met.
The word has gotten around about Jesus
and everything I have heard about the Pharisees
were the things Jesus says about them in public.
He seems so disappointed in them,
(if not downright angry)
even though they are some of the most well respected
citizens of society.
These are People that people look up to
or at least look to for guidance.
the wise men.
So one of these high Jews
comes at night as a stranger
and says
"We know you are from God".
wow.
Now what if I just stopped right there and asked myself
"What would Jesus say?"
Hmmm, what would Jesus say?
"Nice to meet you, thanks for coming.
I'm glad you recognize me for who I am.
Can I get you some tea?
Nice weather we're having, huh?
Please have a seat. Where are you from?"
no, he doesn't waste much time on chit-chat
I'm amazed at the depth shared at this first meeting
He says
"Truly, Truly, a man needs to be born again
to see the kingdom of God".
Gosh, that's kinda deep. We just met, after all.
He goes on to elaborate:
Another Truly Truly.
Would Jesus share his Truly Trulys with everyone?
Did he speak to the disciples in the same way?
Or do you have to seek him out
and ASK
to get these truths.
What if no one had asked?
These seem like crucial secrets
the keys to the whole plan.
Are there other secrets we don't know about
because few people had these deep one-on-one
conversations with him?
Or did, but didn't write it down?
In a way, I think not.
Did people always speak to each other this way
back then?
I don't get in that many deep conversations
with anyone these days.
Are people around me having deep conversations
just not with me?
I can't remember the last time I had a deep conversation
with anyone other than my wife.
Maybe its me.
Or maybe its Him.
If you were face to face with him right now
(or alone with him in the middle of the night)
what would you ask him?
Are there missing truths that could help us
if we only knew them?
What is not clear enough?
Maybe I'm a babe in the woods,
but I think I have what I need to make it
Here's another deep thought:
Man, I just don't hear people talking like that.
I just glanced back at the beginning of this,
and now I realize I started writing about meaning
and then I got distracted
by the depth of conversation they had
instead of the meaning of it.
but now I'm getting tired.
That's Good News.
whenever I'm reading this chapter
I will remember something that happened
right after I became a christian.
I had just finished reading this chapter
when I decided to try a new church one Sunday morning,
and so I walked into the room
not knowing anyone,
and coincidentally the pastor talked for nearly an hour
about Nicodemus.
The very same chapter I had just finished.
I was blown away.
First by the coincidence,
and secondly by the fact that when I was reading to myself
I didn't get any real meaning of it,
but after hearing him talk about it in detail
I was filled with meaning.
Yeah, I mean full.
A full head.
Have you ever felt like that?
that your brain is totally occupied
and can't take any more in?
Well anyway... I'll never forget that experience.
So Nicodemus is this Jewish Pharisee,
a ruler of the Jews, and
Joh 3:2
He came to Jesus by night and said to Him,
Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God;
for no man can do these miracles which you do
unless God is with him.
Joh 3:3
Jesus answered and said to him,
Truly, truly, I say to you,
Unless a man is born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Whoa... stop right there.
There is something about these two verses together
that seems foreign to me.
This is the first time these two have met.
The word has gotten around about Jesus
and everything I have heard about the Pharisees
were the things Jesus says about them in public.
He seems so disappointed in them,
(if not downright angry)
even though they are some of the most well respected
citizens of society.
These are People that people look up to
or at least look to for guidance.
the wise men.
So one of these high Jews
comes at night as a stranger
and says
"We know you are from God".
wow.
Now what if I just stopped right there and asked myself
"What would Jesus say?"
Hmmm, what would Jesus say?
"Nice to meet you, thanks for coming.
I'm glad you recognize me for who I am.
Can I get you some tea?
Nice weather we're having, huh?
Please have a seat. Where are you from?"
no, he doesn't waste much time on chit-chat
I'm amazed at the depth shared at this first meeting
He says
"Truly, Truly, a man needs to be born again
to see the kingdom of God".
Gosh, that's kinda deep. We just met, after all.
He goes on to elaborate:
Joh 3:4
Nicodemus said to Him,
How can a man be born when he is old?
Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born?
Joh 3:5
Jesus answered,
Truly, truly, I say to you,
Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6
That which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Another Truly Truly.
Would Jesus share his Truly Trulys with everyone?
Did he speak to the disciples in the same way?
Or do you have to seek him out
and ASK
to get these truths.
What if no one had asked?
These seem like crucial secrets
the keys to the whole plan.
Are there other secrets we don't know about
because few people had these deep one-on-one
conversations with him?
Or did, but didn't write it down?
In a way, I think not.
Did people always speak to each other this way
back then?
I don't get in that many deep conversations
with anyone these days.
Are people around me having deep conversations
just not with me?
I can't remember the last time I had a deep conversation
with anyone other than my wife.
Maybe its me.
Or maybe its Him.
If you were face to face with him right now
(or alone with him in the middle of the night)
what would you ask him?
Are there missing truths that could help us
if we only knew them?
What is not clear enough?
Maybe I'm a babe in the woods,
but I think I have what I need to make it
Here's another deep thought:
Joh 3:19
And this is the condemnation,
that the Light has come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than the Light,
because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20
For everyone who does evil hates the Light,
and does not come to the Light,
lest his deeds should be exposed.
Joh 3:21
But he who practices truth comes to the Light
so that his works may be revealed,
that they exist, having been worked in God.
Man, I just don't hear people talking like that.
I just glanced back at the beginning of this,
and now I realize I started writing about meaning
and then I got distracted
by the depth of conversation they had
instead of the meaning of it.
but now I'm getting tired.
Joh 3:17
For God did not send His Son into the world
to condemn the world,
but so that the world might be saved through Him.
That's Good News.