The Apostle Paul calls us Jars of Clay (2 Corinthians 4:7). As followers of Jesus we must allow the Word of God to fill us with it's message of Truth and Grace. In this way, we become a "vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work" (2 Timothy 2:21).

Sunday, January 6, 2013

January 6th Bible Study Companion


John 3-4,
John 3
*      John 3:1-3  Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin; the ruling council of 70 who governed the religious affairs of Israel and who were responsible to the Romans for maintaining civil rule.  Nicodemus was also a teacher (rabbi) and a Pharisee, so he would have been the best of the best.  And yet the best Israel had to offer came to Jesus at night and could not grasp spiritual matters.  I think John mentioned the evening visit for an important reason.  Consider what Jesus says in John 3:19.  Night is an important theme here, and under the cover of darkness, a person’s sins just don’t seem as bad.  The impression I get here from Nicodemus is that he approached Jesus hesitantly, perhaps even somewhat jealous.  How long had Nicodemus been ministering for God?  It doesn’t say, but it seems to me that Nicodemus saw something in Jesus that he didn’t see in himself.  I get the impression that Nicodemus was looking for advice on how his life and his ministry could become deeply rooted in Spiritual things.  “People never respond like that when I preach”, Nicodemus observed.  “What must I do to have that kind of effect on people”?  I think that’s what was going through his mind, especially considering how Jesus responds.  “You want this kind of Spirituality then you will need to be born from above (or “born again”).  Notice that Nicodemus never even asks a question.  He merely states that Jesus is truly gifted by God.  And in response, almost knowing what Nicodemus was thinking, Jesus tells him to be Born Again; to have a Spiritual transformation.
*      John 3:5  What did Jesus mean by being born of the water and of the Spirit?  There are several views.  Some feel that this refers to “natural” birth and “Spiritual birth”.  Others feel that it refers to the act of being baptized, a necessary part of regeneration (although this view contradicts other passages that say otherwise, like John 3:16, for example).  Still others say that it implies the work of John the Baptist combined with the work of Jesus.  This view actually seems plausible.  John called the nation to repentance, and symbolized a repentant heart through a water baptism.  Jesus called the nation to belief through faith in Him.  So these words possibly mean that Jesus looked at Nicodemus and said, “If you want to understand what’s going on here, you will first need to repent of you sins, and instead of placing you faith in a system, place your faith in Me”.  And for a Pharisee to hear that he needed to repent of sin was a difficult statement to comprehend.
*      John 3:9  Nicodemus wondered how a Spiritual transformation can take place.  Shocked, Jesus wonders how he could not know this.  Nicodemus was THE teacher in Israel, so how could such a learned man miss passages like Isaiah 32:15, Ezekiel 36:25-27, or Joel 2:28-29.  The answer is obvious; God will institute a Spiritual awakening.  And Jesus is trying to tell Nicodemus that He is the One through whom this awakening will come (John 3:14-15).
*      John 3:16  This gift of eternal life and of salvation is to be received, not earned.  That’s what makes it the most unusual statement by and god who humanity has ever created.  No other god offers life to those who simply believe.  No other god is so gracious and loving.  No other god has ever provided the means necessary for a person to receive the reward of Heaven.  This is the one phrase that sets Christianity apart from all the rest.  Jesus tells Nicodemus that He will do what Nicodemus cannot do for himself, if only he would believe that the Man standing before him is the long awaited Messiah; the Christ.
*      John 3:17  The word “Judge” in this verse is the Greek word Krino which means “to be summoned to trial.  So what Jesus says is that He did not come to earth the first time to summon us to trial but to provide a way to escape the trial altogether.  However, this does imply that a day is coming when all will be summoned to trial.
*      John 3:18-21  Wherever Christ is, there is light.  And when the light of Christ shines, darkness is revealed.  I think this is why some people do not like coming to church.  Some people talk about how judgmental Christians are, but I really meet few judgmental Christians.  What I think is happening is that a person (like Nicodemus) starts hanging around followers of Christ, and soon their sin stands in stark contrast to the righteousness of Christ.  It is not the Christian who judges them; it is their sin that judges them.  Even Christ does not judge (yet).  He merely reveals.  In the darkness it is difficult to distinguish black from blue or red.  Only when exposed to the light are we able to distinguish any difference.  And frankly, I think this is what happens to people who get all nervous around Christians, especially around Christians filled with the Spirit of God.  They are nervous because they are not such a wonderful person after all.  They are not as perfect as they had been led to believe.  So they are given two choices, either confess their sin or run and hide.  It’s that simple.  And those who run and hide have already admitted they are sinful.  I ask this simple question to those who reject Jesus or hate Christians.  I ask what they are afraid of; why are they trying to hide, and what do they want to keep secret.  I think this is what was going through the mind of Nicodemus, I really do, but the good news is that apparently his attitude changed.  Looking ahead at John 7:50-51, we see Nicodemus not so silent or secretive about his feelings toward Jesus.  He even helped bury Jesus once He died on the cross (John 19:39-40).
*      John 3:25  The debate about ceremonial cleansing surrounded the idea that a Jew needed to be immersed.  You see, Ritual Washings were already happening.  The Essenes (monastic Jews living in the countryside ) had their own prescribed ritual of immersion, as indicated in their Manual of Discipline (a document found among the Dead Sea Scrolls).  The Pharisee’s had their particular mandates on washing.  So what was significant about John’s baptism?  What stands out here is that John’s baptism was in preparation for something, not the end of something, unlike the Essene Baptism or the Ritual Hand Washing.  Truthfully, the end of the Christian journey is not reached on the day of water Baptism, nor is it reached on the day of Spiritual baptism.  Actually, these two baptisms more appropriately mark the beginning of the Christian journey.
*      John 3:26-36  In John’s testimony, there is a truth that is often missed by most.  John the Apostle mentions God’s Wrath several times, a point not mentioned in the other three Gospels.  It’s important to note the wording, though.  Look closely at John 3:36, specifically the second half of that verse.  “Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”  Do you see the important word here?  “Remains”, says John.  In other words, all are under God’s angry judgment.  “The wrath of God abides on us all”.  God’s wrath is not given to those who reject Jesus; His wrath is already there.  That explains what Jesus meant in John 3:18.  In other words, we are all born into sin; all have fallen short of the glory of God.  It is not God who sends anyone to hell; we condemn ourselves.  We condemn ourselves to the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth by rejecting Jesus as Lord.  God sent His Son to redeem us and rescue us.  Is He then to blame for our rejection of the Son?
John 4
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John 4:1-6  Because of the hatred between Jews and Samaritans, most Jews would take a route east of the region (see map below).  However, John says that Jesus needed to go through Samaria.  Really?  He was in that big of a rush?  I suspect Jesus needed to go through Samaria because He had an appointment with a woman at a well.
*      John 4:7-19  In this first part of this dialog Jesus basically is calling this woman to repentance.  She is asked to confess her sin, ironically quite similar to what Jesus told Nicodemus to do (born of the water and of the Spirit).  The woman does confess.  She admits that she has no husband.  But when Jesus tells her the true depth of her sin (you’ve had five so far), notice how quickly she changes the subject (see John 4:20).
*      John 4:20-24  She changes the subject and talks about proper worship.  In other words she was trying to find out if she could worship God while still remaining an unrepentant sinner.  She felt (and many do today as well), that worship was something external; that God could be worshiped regardless of the condition of our heart.  But that simply is not true.  It’s important for us to know this.  We can worship God while a sinner, but we need to admit that we are sinners (“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”, not “who are righteous”).  She was not willing to admit she was living in sin; consequently her worship was missing that essential element of spirit.
*      On a side note here, some today want worship to be purely spiritual; an exercise in feeling good.  Others pound the pulpit and leave people feeling miserable and helpless.  True worship is a combination of both.  True worship happens when sin is revealed, our helplessness is seen, and our salvation is made known.
*      John 4:28-30  I’m not convinced this woman was truly born again, but Jesus certainly impressed this woman.  “Could this be the Messiah”, she asked.  However, she must have been quite enthusiastic about her discovery.  And her enthusiasm was contagious enough to attract a crowd.
*      John 4:35  Jesus obviously had His eyes opened to the Spiritual hunger of those around Him, for example, the Samaritan woman and the crowds who came out to see Him.  If the disciples would be sensitive to Spiritual things, they would see the Spiritual hunger in those around them as well.  It even seems that Nicodemus had a Spiritual hunger.  Sadly, this problem still exists within the Church today.  Sometimes the Church is long on judging someone a sinner and short on offering grace.  Jesus could have spent time condemning this Samaritan woman (as I’m sure the disciples would), but instead He offered her Spiritual food.  Perhaps the Church needs to wake up as well, and look to the world with Spiritual eyes and a sensitive heart.
*      John 4:39-42  Samaritans believe that Jesus is the Messiah.  Amazing, isn’t it?  These were the descendants of Israel (the Northern 10 tribes) who turned from the worship of God back in the days or Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:25-33).  These were the people who had intermarried with the Assyrians who had been moved into the land after their conquest.
*      John 4:43-45  Jesus now returns to Galilee, putting this portion of John alongside what we read in Matthew 4:17 or Luke 4:14.
*      John 4:46-54  This government official was possibly Jewish, not Roman, because Jesus included him in the group who would not believe unless a sign and wonder was given.  Perhaps he served in Herod’s (Antipas) Palace.  It’s also clear that this is a different event than what is recorded in Matthew 8:5-10.  There is no rebuke from Jesus in that account.  This makes you wonder why Jesus spoke so harshly to this man.  Well, perhaps it was not directed at the man, maybe it was directed to those living in the area.  Or maybe He could see what was in the man’s heart and spoke to the absence of faith.  If we contrast this story with the incident in Samaria, this man was looking for proof while the woman at the well believed merely by His testimony.  Either way, it is clear the man’s faith in Jesus was awakened by this incident because not only did he believe, but so did his whole household.  The Seventh Hour would have been either 7 pm according to Roman Time or 1 pm according to Jewish Time.

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