Today we look at one of the most quoted chapters in all the Bible. And what a chapter it is. John 3:16 is found here. I don't know about you but getting to John 3 feels like the crystal blue lake at the end of a long hike, it's clear yet deep waters invite us to plumb the depths of this amazing chapter. Now Jesus talks about water a lot in this chapter, so are you ready take a dip and jump in? Verse one, “Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher who's come from God. For no one could perform the signs you're doing if God were not with him.” Can you hear the angst? You must be from God, the signs the miracles, but how? Nicodemus was a man of status within the Jewish religion, he knew stuff. But in this passage, we're going to see that he didn't understand stuff. Jesus’ responses seem to confuse him even more. In verse 3, “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they're older?” “Surely they cannot enter the second time into their mother's womb to be born!” There's the how question from Nicodemus. How would you describe the mysterious things of this Spirit? Spiritual things? Simple, you keep it simple. You explain the spiritual things by using natural things that people already know about. To explain deep spiritual things Jesus doesn't expect us to have theology degrees or have gone to seminary. Nicodemus had lots of theological training, but it wasn't helping him understand Jesus here. Instead, Jesus backs up and speaks to Nicodemus like you would a child. He uses word pictures. Look at verse 5, “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they're born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.” The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you can't tell where it comes from or where it is going. So, it is with everyone who's born of the Spirit.” The wind, water, being born, you and I have all experienced these things. Here's a statistic, one out of every one person on the planet has experienced birth. And for all of Nicodemus’s knowledge of religious things, it was experience and spiritual things that he was lacking. He knew what wind was, he knew what water was, he knew what it meant to be born. But it wouldn’t get him into the kingdom. Jesus isn't speaking about wombs and babies, he's telling Nicodemus that entering the Kingdom is like being made completely new, starting over, like a baby, being born, and it has to be experienced. We said that reading this chapter is like jumping into a clear crystal blue lake. You jump in and it’s refreshing, it's simple, it’s clear, but Nicodemus gets a shock to his system as his body temperature hasn’t adjusted to the cold. In versus 9, Nicodemus is shocked. “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Again, Nicodemus knew things, he just didn’t understand Spiritual things. Jesus continues, “Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” That last part, “everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” seems straightforward, but now Jesus may have lost the rest of us, I mean what's the snake on a pole stuff? Well, Nicodemus knew well and couldn’t misunderstand. Nicodemus knew it because he read it in the Old Testament. Back in numbers, Gods people rebelled against him. So, God sent poisons snakes to bite them, in hopes that his people would turn back and repent and follow him again. As the poison flowed through their veins, all they had to do to be saved was look at a bronze serpent that was lifted high on a wooden pole and that one look would reverse the poison and save their lives. In the same way Jesus said, “So the Son of Man must be lifted up”. It would be another piece of wood and instead of a bronze serpent on it, Christ himself would be hanging there. That picture leads John into one of the most beautiful promises in all of scripture. That gives us much hope to those who look to Jesus to be saved, as it did for those who looked in Moses day. John 3:16, “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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for the fear that their deeds will be exposed. No matter how many times I hear this scripture, those words have life and power in them. Enough to change your eternal destiny. In verse 19, “This is the verdict” in other words this is the way it is, this is the conclusion, the sentence is already passed. Light has come; salvation is here. Men are dying in darkness and in less they turn to Jesus they will die in their evil. In verse 20, “they will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” It’s possible Nicodemus had deeds he didn’t want exposed. We all have something to lay down. Something to let go off. For Nicodemus, it might have been clinging to his power, reputation, prestige and knowledge. Like a child who wants to learn to swim under water but that’s afraid to stop clinging to the side of the pool. Remember, Jesus wants Nicodemus to experience the depths of who God is. For Nicodemus, his position and knowledge were like a child’s floaties getting in the way of discovering the deeper things of God. Anything we cling to that keeps us from knowing God is as silly as a grown man wearing floaties at the pool. What’s holding you back from the light? Only you know what you’re still clinging to that keeps you from the light. Moving on, we come across John the Baptist who also has something to give up and lay down. His followers. He and Jesus are baptizing each other, and John's followers complain that everyone's going over to follow Jesus instead of John looking verse 27, “To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, “I'm not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.” The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.” He must become greater, and I must become less! That's what it all comes down to right? We know that if we follow Jesus, he becomes greater, and we take second place. That's hard. It was hard for Nick but a welcome relief to John. John saw himself as the best man at the wedding. Happy to see Jesus and the people he loved connecting and John interjects his commentary into the conversation again, echoing the Baptist claim that he must become greater, verse 31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted it has certifies that God is truthful. That word “certified” means to sign your name. Like signing your name on the dotted line, it's a recognition like Nick had that everything Jesus is saying must be from God, even if I don't understand it. And accepting his words is certifying that God is truthful. It's like signing my name, I agree and certify that this is true. What about you, my friend? Do you know things like Nicodemus? But are struggling to understand things or are you ready to sign your name today on the dotted line?
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