years,” they said (v. 20).
The second response was from the disciples. They did not seem to understand at the time what Jesus meant either. But when Jesus was actually bodily raised from the dead and they not only looked into the empty tomb, but they also walked, talked, and even ate with Him in His resurrection body, then they understood. This post-resurrection experience reminded them what Jesus had said when asked for a sign of His authority.
There was a third response to the demonstration of Jesus’ authority in the temple. It came from some of the people who had witnessed Jesus’ miraculous power displayed before their very eyes. Most likely, not everyone who claimed to believe in Him did so sincerely and for the right reason. Jesus knew then, and He has known ever since to this very hour, who has genuinely trusted Him and who has not.
Personal Application
What lessons can we learn from this portrait of Jesus as the One with divine authority? How can we apply these things to ourselves? Here are a couple of suggestions: (1) Jesus alone has the authority, the power, to save sinners and who of us is not one? He does not force anyone to accept Him as their Substitute for sin. He and His saving authority must be received by faith and (2) Jesus also wants to be on the throne of our lives. He wants authority over us. That means we need to surrender to His control. Someone is on the throne of everyone’s life. Either we are or God is. Jesus longs to be not only our Savior but also our Lord.
Study Questions
1. How did Jesus show His divine authority at the wedding?
2. What role did Mary His mother have in His demonstration of authority?
3. Why do you think Jesus was so willing to demonstrate His authority so early in His public ministry?
4. What exactly was the problem in the temple experience?
5. There were three responses to what Jesus did in the temple. What were they?
6. What are some ways you can allow Jesus to be more in control of your life?
Savior of Sinners
Portrait 4
John 3
Not all of Jesus’ people, called “His own” (John 1:11), rejected Him out of hand. Some did sincerely want to know more about Him; some did believe “in His name” (2:23). Nicodemus was very likely one of these even though he was “a ruler of the Jews” (3:1). How to know God for sure and have eternal life must have been why he came to Jesus. As the Son of God, Jesus read Nicodemus’ mind, as it were, and gave him the answer to his question even before he asked it. Jesus made it abundantly clear that He alone was the Savior of sinners and apart from Him there was no salvation. Jesus told him right up front that he needed to be born again.
Jesus and Nicodemus, vv. 1–21
The two met personally for the first time, it seems, when Nicodemus came to Jesus. Rabbi teacher, he called Him. This was a term of respect. God must be with you, you must come from Him, Nicodemus insisted, because of the signs or miracles you are performing. This “ruler” was different than most of the others in that he did not reject Jesus out of hand.
Nicodemus was not just an average Jew either. He mwas a member of the Sanhedrin, one of the highest classes in Judaism, consisting of 70 or 72 teachers, rulers, of the nation. Added to this honor, this man was also a Pharisee. That tells us he was a devoted believer in the Old Testament and a strict interpreter of its laws. As a group, the Pharisees were well-intentioned but spiritually blind to who Jesus really was. We do not know for sure why Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. Maybe it was because he was fearful of being seen by his peers. More likely, it was because he wanted to visit with Jesus alone and that would be easier to do at night.
The response Jesus gave Nicodemus seems a bit abrupt at first sight. He ignored completely the high commendations which Nicodemus gave Him. Instead, Jesus went immediately to the real issue. The interested ruler had a much greater need than an answer as to how Jesus did what He did. Nicodemus needed to be born again first; then his surface and general questions could be answered. In essence, what Jesus said to him was, Here is how you and anyone else can get into the kingdom of God, can get rightly related to God, and have eternal life.
How does one become born again? That is what the puzzled ruler of the Jews then asked Jesus. He was confused and expressed his confusion very clearly. Nicodemus knew no one could ever be physically reborn. And even if that were possible, how would that equip one to see the kingdom of God? This ruler knew he needed a new start in life. Being a ruler of the Jews apparently did not give Him any assurance of eternal life with God. That is sad, is it not? This man was not a wicked person. Why did he and his peers need such a transformation which only a new birth could provide? And how could he get it if he wanted it?
Entrance into the kingdom of God, Jesus said, required two births—one physical and the other spiritual. “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (v. 5). The water Jesus referred to was the water sack housing the fetus in the womb. Before physical birth this must be broken. This seems to be the meaning of the “water” Jesus spoke of to Nicodemus. Contextually, it fits perfectly with the questions he raised. In this way, the inadequacy of physical birth alone was stressed. Jesus spoke similarly as He comforted Martha when she mourned her brother Lazurus’ death. On that occasion He said, “. . . everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Luke 11:26). Of course, one must live before he or she can believe in Jesus. Here again, Jesus was teaching that physical life does not equip one for heaven.
Do not try to understand what I have said to you, Jesus told Nicodemus. Then he illustrated from nature how even though we know the wind blows, yet we do not know where it comes from or where it’s going. So it is with the Spirit-produced new birth (v. 8). It is all of God and must be experienced by faith.
Nicodemus’ question, “How can these things be?” (v. 9) shows his genuine interest in what Jesus was saying. He was groping for an answer. Jesus gently reminded him that as a religious teacher of the Jews, he should have known what was being told him (v. 10). Jesus and His disciples spoke the truth but their testimony was not believed by many including Nicodemus (v. 11). Further, Jesus said to him that he had not believed what He had told him about earthly things and the liklihood was that neither would he believe what He said about heavenly things (v. 12).
It is difficult to know for sure whether verses 16 to 21 continues Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus or represents John’s own words as he summarizes Jesus’ teaching regardingt the new birth. Evangelical scholarship is divided over this issue. It seems to me that these verses constitute the words of John the apostle as he was led by the Spirit to write.
The key verse in John’s summary and in the entire chapter is verse 16. Without doubt, it is the most often quoted verse in the entire Bible. It states clearly the extent and degree of God’s love, the greatest gift ever given, the condition of salvation and the promise of eternal life to those who believe.
Why will many never experience the eternal life which Jesus referred to? Could it be they just did not work hard enough, did not do enough good works? Or could it be the fact that they were born in sin and committed terrible sins? No, regardless whether Jesus said it or John, it is precisely recorded that it is because they have “not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (vv. 17–18) that they will experience eternal condemnation. Of course, it is true that because of their sin, they commit the greatest sin of all—reject Jesus the gift of God’s love.
Jesus and John the Baptist, vv. 22–36
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