Q & A with the Messiah Part One

The title of today's sermon is Q &A with the Messiah, because that's what we have in the preceding verses here.

John chapter 3, verses 1 through 21 really is this Q &A with the

Messiah between a Pharisee and Christ. And so we will look at these 21 verses over the course of the next few

Sundays. This is Q &A with the Messiah, part one. And as we think about this passage, we can think about even the context of the passage in what had just happened in John's eyewitness account.

As John recorded for us the first sign wonder of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana, and then the cleansing of the temple, last week we looked at this little insert that he gave us talking about the people that had witnessed these things, how they believed, but that Jesus didn't count them as his true disciples.

So now we will continue in the eyewitness account, and we'll see this conversation start.

So we have these miracles, we have a note about false conversion, and then we have now a conversation where we get to be a fly on the wall and listen to the words of Christ describe what true conversion looks like.

This is what salvation is, and he's going to explain it for this religious leader,

Nicodemus. False conversion versus true conversion. And I think

I may have shared this story before, but I'm aware of us, of a pastor's wife who was saved 15 years after the pastor had started his preaching ministry in a local church.

So they met each other, both professing Christians, he goes through seminary, becomes a pastor and is called to pastor a church.

And 15 years into that ministry at the local church, preaching every Sunday, think of all the fellowship and just all the

Sundays of preaching, 15 years, he notices that his wife is weeping and there's some emotions coming out after the sermon, and he goes down to check and she's sort of surrounded by some folks from the church, and she had professed

Christ for the first time. Now that original profession was with her mouth, but there was some, obviously, something going on in the heart where she didn't truly believe.

She had a misunderstanding based probably on her upbringing, you know, I went to church as a kid, my parents brought me to church,

I've been in the church my whole life. And there's no relationship with Christ. So here she is, a pastor's wife, 15 years, and the

Lord, in His perfect timing, at the time of His good pleasure, according to the counsel of His will, as Paul says, just graciously saved her.

So for those 15 years, she was a false convert. False conversion versus true conversion.

Now we don't know what was going on in her heart, but I think it's fair to say we live in a generation that likes the emotions and the feelings that can be elicited in even singing worship songs or a powerful sermon, or actually a sermon that just kind of is a warm and fuzzy sermon.

It's something that sounds good, and you come out of the church feeling great about yourself.

Just how special you are, and God is love, and just a warm and fuzzy. So you go out of there with really no conviction of sin, no understanding of theological truths, a sermon where the pastor reads a passage out loud and then talks to you about whatever political, social, cultural things are going on in society, and makes a strong case for what his opinions are as he cherry -picks verses of the

Bible. We see that in this generation, described in this part of the gospel here, that the folks were seeking a sign.

They were responding to the miracles. They wanted to see something. And when they saw that, it was a spectacle.

And so seeking a sign versus trusting in the teachings of Jesus is what we really have before us.

I'd say in this contemporary time, we have just a general desire to have an emotional experience, a feeling -based experiential response to whatever is being said in the pulpit or in the worship songs.

Well, in this passage, we see really just a question -and -answer session between a

Pharisee and Jesus as he explains false conversion versus true conversion, and he helps

Nicodemus to understand a bit more about true salvation. And so we can break this passage down.

As we look at this chapter, we're going to focus on the first 21 verses, and we'll look at this over the course of the next few

Sundays. And this is really three truly, truly, I say to you statements. So if you look at verses 1 through 21, that's what you'll see.

Three truly, truly, I say to you statements. The first part is the introduction.

Let's break this down. The introduction. That's the first three verses, and that's what we're going to look at today. The start of the

Q &A exchange and introducing the matter of discussion. It's the first truly, truly statement.

The next would be the inquiry. The inquiry in verses 4 through 15. The follow -up questions and answers.

The Q &A is underway. You have the next two truly, truly statements, and then finally, the explanation.

The explanation. Verses 16 through 21. This is the wrapping up of the

Q &A on the topic of true conversion and salvation, and a thoroughly, really explaining the three truly, truly statements.

So if we look at the whole unit as this Q &A with the Messiah, we can see these statements, and you could break it up just like that.

The introduction, the inquiry, the explanation. And false conversion versus true conversion is the topic at hand.

And so now Jesus is going to answer Nicodemus' first statement, which is really a statement, but it's kind of in the form of a question.

In verses 1 through 21, the Apostle John records the Q &A between Nicodemus and Jesus on the topic of true conversion so that you can understand salvation and true conversion according to God's understanding, not an incorrect personal or worldly understanding.

And so the first area we'll look at is the introduction, verses 1 through 3. So that's what we'll look at this morning, and as we look at these first three verses, the introduction is really straightforward.

It's the man in verse 1, it's the meeting in verse 2, and it's the matter in verse 3.

The introduction, verse 1, the man. Verse 1, the man.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the

Jews. And so the first verse sets the stage for really the rest of the exchange between Jesus and the man,

Nicodemus. The Q &A that follows starts with this benign introductory statement.

John identifies the man who was involved in the exchange, a man named Nicodemus. The background of this guy is really important for us to think about, is what

Jesus is about to say. John tells us two important things about this man to start.

John will reveal more about Nicodemus in verse 2, but for now, he starts with the man's credentials.

Who is Nicodemus? Well, he was a member of the Pharisees, but not just that, he was a ruler of the

Jews. So understanding, the Pharisees were part of the ruling council, and it's even referred to as the high council.

This is the ruling council of the day. Another name for the high council was the

Sanhedrin, the Sanhedrin. This was the ruling authority of the synagogues at the time.

Some of these men would be Levites or descended from Levites. This is the priestly order of the nation of Israel.

However, they mostly consisted of the Jewish middle class and businessmen. The Sanhedrin held the power to really put people out of the synagogue, and at that time, it wasn't like a, you know, it's not like our culture.

So if you were at the synagogue worshiping, you would count on them for even clothing, food, community.

So if you were put out of the synagogue, it's like you were put out of the community. You might as well just move. You were like an outcast.

So the Sanhedrin held a lot of power over these individuals' lives that would attend the synagogue in the local area.

They also held the power to interpret and teach scripture. So they're interpreting and teaching

Old Testament scripture, but here's the thing. Their interpretation was elevated to the status of the law.

What they said went. And they had the power and authority to put people out of the synagogue, not just that.

They could have people beaten. They could have people arrested, and in Christ's case, what did they do to him?

They had him arrested and executed, and they appealed to the authorities of Rome. But these were a very powerful group of men, and the

Sanhedrin was made up of two groups, the Sadducees and the Pharisees.

The Sanhedrin was about a 70 -person council. So you can think about it like 70 -person kind of Supreme Court of ancient

Israel. And there are similarities between the two groups that make up the Sanhedrin, but also some differences that are important for us to understand.

Both groups would have honored Moses and the law, and both groups wielded extremely powerful political power.

The Sadducees are considered more conservative by us today because they held to a more literal interpretation of the text of Scripture.

So that's a plus for them, good for them. However, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and they rejected the idea of the afterlife.

Essentially, the Sadducees believed that the soul perished at death. And I remember just a sort of a weird cliche where I heard a pastor say, oh, you guys may have heard this, where they're sad, you see, because they don't believe in the resurrection.

They're sad, you see. I just thought that was stupid. I'm sure you guys have heard that at some point. You see, they don't believe in the afterlife.

They're sad, you see. I thought it was dumb, too.

Yeah, they don't believe in it, and they reject the idea. So essentially, once you die, your soul just perishes at death.

No afterlife. And it goes beyond that, too. But to their credit, they did not add to the

Scripture, and if they couldn't find a teaching in the law, they held that to be man -made.

So these are different than the Pharisees, the Sadducees. However, to their discredit, they also rejected the concept of an unseen or spiritual realm.

So no afterlife, no resurrection. The Pharisees did believe in the afterlife and a correlating or appropriate reward or punishment for people based on how they lived.

So that's a good thing for them. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but here's the problem.

They elevated their interpretation and oral tradition to the equal authority of Scripture.

So there's some kind of a misunderstanding here, where they have these traditions and oral tradition, their own interpretations, and they're elevating that to the point of, like, the

Bible, the Old Testament. So there's similarities and differences, and the New Testament gives us some insight to both.

Both were part of the ruling authority of the day, the Sanhedrin. And it was the

Sanhedrin, comprised of both groups, that were responsible for the mock trial and murder of Jesus.

In Matthew 26, we see this account. It says, Now those who had seized

Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together.

But Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in and sat down with the officers to see the outcome.

Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death.

So we're not giving the Sadducees a pass here, but Nicodemus is a

Pharisee. You see, there's plenty of New Testament passages that highlight the differences.

Mark chapter 12, Then some Sadducees who say that there is no resurrection came to Jesus and began questioning him, saying, and you know, they're just challenging him basically.

In contrast, the Pharisees did believe in the resurrection. Paul's words recorded in the

Acts of the Apostles. This is Acts 23. But knowing that one group were Sadducees and the other

Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Sanhedrin. Brothers, I am a

Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead.

And as he said this, there was dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, but listen to this, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the

Pharisees acknowledge them all. But by no way does this excuse the Pharisees.

Jesus often criticized the Pharisees for being hypocrites, for being hypocrites in a way that we just don't see the same weight in power and indictment in his comments regarding the

Sadducees. And I believe that is because of their higher view of Scripture, looking at the

Bible and not adding man -made rules. You know, not elevating oral tradition to the authority of the

Scripture. They got it wrong and had to be corrected by Jesus, but not in the same way as the

Pharisees, just in the gospel accounts. Look at the attitude of the Sadducees and the response of Jesus.

So here they're asking this question. In Matthew 22, it says, on that day some Sadducees, and again,

Levi, Matthew puts the insert, who say there's no resurrection. They came to Jesus and asked him a question, saying,

Teacher, Moses said, if a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife and raise up a seed for his brother.

Now there were seven brothers with us and the first married and died and having no seed, he left his wife to his brother.

So also the second and the third down to the seventh. And last of all, the woman died in the resurrection.

So now here they're asking a specific question based on what they believe. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be?

For they had all married her. But Jesus answered and said to them, you are mistaken, not understanding the

Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God saying,

I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the

God of the dead, but of the living. And when the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

Not the same kind of attitude and indictment we see in Jesus's exchange with the

Pharisees. Even later in that same chapter, Matthew 22. But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the

Sadducees, they gathered themselves together and one of them, a scholar of the law, an expert in the

Old Testament, asked him a question, testing him. So you see, that is left out in the first exchange there.

It says that the Sadducees came to him asking a question. It doesn't say that they were trying to scheme behind the scenes.

They weren't testing him. They were asking a question and he explains the theology behind their question.

According to these passages, the simple takeaway is the Pharisees had bad motives. They had bad motives.

But by this, in no way excuses the Sadducees either. John the

Baptist's rebuke of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, really the Sanhedrin, Matthew chapter 3, but when he saw many of the

Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, you brood of vipers.

He's calling them snakes. You brood of vipers. Who warned you to flee the wrath to come?

So the Pharisees were in a league of their own and we see that in the way Jesus interacted with them.

The Pharisees had bad motives and they held man -made laws up to Scripture.

So let me explain that to you. According to some scholars and various calculations, listen to this.

They had a system of 613 laws, 600, over 600 laws, about 365 negative commands and 248 positive commands.

So I guess the Ten Commandments like wasn't enough for them. 613 commands are these areas that they wanted to live by.

They also are recorded again and again in the Gospels as having false motives in questioning or testing

Jesus. And why are they doing that? To find fault in something he said, not asking for the right, you know, to want to know the answer.

No, they are recorded as being intellectually dishonest and having a false pretense in their speech and secret heart motives toward Jesus.

Listen to Jesus's assessment of the Pharisees. Matthew 23, then

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples saying, the scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.

Now, think about that. He could have said the Sanhedrin. He could have said the

Pharisees and the Sadducees, but he said the Pharisees. Therefore, all that they, it says, all that they tell you do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds.

For they say things and do not do them. And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.

But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men, for they brought in their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.

And they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues.

And respectful greetings in the marketplaces. And they love being called teacher by men.

They love being called rabbi by men. And this Nicodemus, he was a

Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin. So now we can rightly understand the importance and how profound the first truly, truly, truly statement is for us.

Nicodemus was not like the other Pharisees. The apostle does not record a disingenuous heart or false motive in this

Pharisee. A clue for Nicodemus genuinely seeking the truth may be in the manner in which he approached

Jesus and his statement. Not necessarily a question, but sometimes a statement can be made that masks a question or a statement that can demand an answer.

And that's what we see in the introduction. The man, the man Nicodemus, despite a heavy religious background, demonstrated a genuine and humble desire to seek the answers from the questions he had from Jesus.

We can look at Nicodemus as an example to follow. Instead of going along with the others, he genuinely wanted to know the truth.

And for this reason, he was genuinely ready to receive. The truth.

You must examine Jesus for yourselves. Another person can't do that for you.

You yourself have to interact with God's Word and discover for yourself who

Jesus is. It's like I was raised in the church, and this is what they always taught. Who cares?

Who cares? It's what the Bible teaches. Read the Bible. Read the gospel for yourself.

And if you genuinely are seeking answers, let me give you an encouragement today.

You will find the answers. But if you're reading the Bible looking to find something wrong, here's another thing.

You will find something wrong. What are you looking for? Are you looking to find something wrong? Are you looking for the truth?

And that's an important principle we have to understand. No one else can examine Jesus for you.

This is between you and the Lord. When you are before him at the end of the age, you're not going to stand before the pastor.

You're going to stand before him. Yeah, others cannot do it for us. We must examine

Jesus for ourselves. And not church tradition or whatever religious background you got brought up in.

Only then, if we truly believe he is who he says, the Christ, the

Son of the living God, the Savior of sinners, then we will follow him and submit to him.

Then we will truly want to speak up for him and make him known to those who don't know him.

That's the man. And this explanation of who Jesus is about to talk to now sets up the meeting.

Verse two. Verse two. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him,

Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

Now, there are a few possibilities in John's inclusion of the timing of Nicodemus' visit.

Some have taken this to reflect a figurative suggestion of John that insinuated the spiritual condition of Nicodemus, in terms of he had come at dark because his heart was spiritually dark.

That seems almost nonsensical in the greater context of the gospel. It's like, what are you talking about?

I thought that was a weird position. He came at night because his heart was dark too. It's like, what?

It's like a weird Hallmark card, kind of over -spiritualizing the text. No, that seems just like that does not fit, especially with John.

John did not write like that. He was more factual. He gave historical details to the narrative accounts because they're eyewitness testimony.

Now, next, giving Nicodemus the benefit of the doubt, there is the position that he came at night because he wanted to have uninterrupted conversation with Jesus.

So, Jesus is surrounded all the time during the day, just too busy. I can't get a word in. I'm going to go at night because then we'll be uninterrupted.

I'll have more time with him. If no one else was around, then he would have more access and more time to converse with Jesus.

So, this is really giving him the benefit of the doubt. That's not directly implied in the text.

So, I see that as more speculative. I think a more common sense conclusion without importing our thoughts is, we can assume as a

Pharisee, Nicodemus wanted to avoid any controversy amongst his fellow Pharisees.

Remember, the Baptist had already called out the Sanhedrin as what? A brood of snakes, a brood of vipers.

Obviously, the Pharisees knew the Baptist's association with Jesus and his disciples on some level, and then now here you are, a member of the

Sanhedrin, going to go talk to that guy. So, a plain reading of the text, simply John is letting us know

Nicodemus wanted to talk with Jesus, but he didn't want to talk during the day in the open.

We also need to understand that most of the Pharisees were not fans of Jesus. He's not popular.

It is not popular to hear somebody using the word of God to call you to repentance and to reveal the sin and bring the sin to the heart.

They were not Jesus fanboys. They did not like him. So, we need to understand that.

We'll see in many of the exchanges in the gospel that these men were extremely jealous of Jesus.

They responded to witnessing miracles and signs with hardened hearts of unbelief.

And we can ask, what was the difference? Why did some witnesses respond with belief and why did some respond with scoffing or unbelief?

And I think the answer is genuinely looking or seeking. It's almost like, what can you get out of it?

What can I get out of this? The Pharisees hated Jesus because he undermined their authority.

He called into question their incorrect religious views and pulled their secret sin to the surface and they hated him for it.

They didn't care if the blind could see or if the deaf could hear or if the lame could walk.

A dead person brought back to life, they didn't care. Jesus was challenging their views and they hated him for it.

They didn't care about the truth proclaimed by the word of God. So, they didn't care about the one who

God sent to explain that truth to them. The difference is that Nicodemus had seen some of the signs and he was searching for answers.

He was genuinely looking for the truth from the word of God. And if you want the truth, you will humble yourself to receive it.

Not only will you seek the answers, but you will accept the answers. Nicodemus was searching and he believed that Jesus had some of those answers.

Even though the man was a learned teacher himself, Nicodemus came to the meeting and sought out

Jesus to be taught. Another important observation from the meeting is that Nicodemus came personally to Jesus.

Remember, this was a ruler of the Jews. He certainly could have sent one of his scribes or assistants.

No, this was too important. This was personal. Nicodemus needed to examine

Jesus for himself. This man had witnessed the signs and there is an acknowledgement that Jesus had come from God.

Sure, it's true on some level Nicodemus was, you know, possibly afraid of what his fellow

Pharisees would say about the meeting. But also on some level, he didn't care. He likely was acting shrewd and coming after dark, but he came nonetheless.

At this point, he clearly had some misunderstandings. And we can probably assume here that he may have even been among the group who believed, but Jesus had not yet counted as his disciples.

Remember the context of this passage. It's chapter 2, verses 23 through 25.

How those verses are really sandwiched between Jesus's first sign wonder and the cleansing of the temple with this record of the

Q &A with the Messiah. A note on false conversion followed by a conversation about true conversion.

Look at chapter 2, verse 23. Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the

Passover during the feast, many believed in his name when they saw his signs, which he was doing.

But Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them for he knew all men.

And because he had no need that anyone bear witness concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man.

In verses 23 through 25, the apostle explained the outcome of Jesus's first sign wonder in the cleansing of the temple.

So that you can understand that believing in Jesus for the wrong reasons does not equal genuine conversion.

John's explanation of the outcome of false conversion, actually. The context in verse 23 sets the stage for Jesus's discerning reaction to those who merely profess belief outwardly in response to the good things he does.

The contrast in verse 24 shows that outward profession of belief does not equal genuine heart conversion because Jesus's disciples follow his way, not their own.

And then the conclusion in verse 25 is that Jesus knows the heart. And whether a professing believer truly desires to submit to him as a follower and disciple.

And this reality also informs how Jesus would answer Nicodemus in verse 3.

Compared to other spots in the gospels that recorded Jesus's interactions with Pharisees.

Matthew 23 is this just scathing indictment for religiosity.

Matthew 23 is the woes, the woes to the Pharisees. I'll just give you a small excerpt instead of reading the whole passage.

But this, these can be found in Matthew 23, 13 through 33. Here's just a few.

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people.

For you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers.

Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

Ouch. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness.

But these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others, you blind guides who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

In this way, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?

That's what Jesus said to the Pharisees. These accounts are valuable for us to understand that that is not how

Jesus saw Nicodemus. Number one, Jesus answered Nicodemus's statement from verse two in the following verse with an answer explaining his misunderstanding.

And number two, John records more information about Nicodemus when he understood that Jesus was truly the

Messiah. Later in this gospel, John recorded the switch from Nicodemus being a truth seeker, having a meeting in the dark, to a true follower who spoke up boldly in Jesus's defense.

Later from this gospel, chapter seven, Nicodemus, he who came to him before, referring to this meeting here in chapter three, being one of them, a member of the

Sanhedrin, said to them, in the presence of all, does our law judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing?

Now he is publicly, in the midst of the Sanhedrin, defending

Jesus Christ. This is no longer a secret meeting. No, this account shows

Nicodemus had become a follower and disciple and records how he defended Jesus in the very presence of his fellow

Pharisees. The meeting is helpful for us to consider Nicodemus's attitude and posture toward Jesus.

The meeting, the meeting demonstrates the correct posture toward Jesus in genuinely seeking answers from him and humbly approaching him as the source of true understanding.

No matter how intelligent and well -educated you are, no matter how much wealth or esteem you have accrued, no matter how much you think you know the

Bible, you must come to Jesus with an open mind and heart so Jesus can teach you the truth about God.

Whether you agree with the teaching or not, will you humbly submit to doing things

Jesus' way, not your own? Will you humbly submit to accepting the answers that Jesus gives?

Nicodemus was not asking with false motives. The Pharisees were unbelievers, so they weren't genuinely seeking the truth.

Lost sheep become Christians because God causes them to genuinely seek the truth.

Sometimes even as regenerated sinners saved by God's grace, we can behave like Pharisees and try to avoid or dismiss

Jesus' teachings, to have an apathetic attitude, a flippant attitude, a dismissive attitude.

Sometimes we're looking for the euphoria of emotions and feelings over truth.

The Bible teacher and evangelist Andrew Rapoport said this, quote, there are far too many

Christians that are focused on, quote, miracles rather than pointing to the scriptures itself.

This is to miss out what God has provided for the Christians. When we focus on the wrong elements for spiritual maturity, we will eventually go astray.

Nicodemus wasn't focused on the signs or the miracles. He wanted answers according to the scripture.

And he recognized Jesus as the one to go to to get the answers, the meeting.

And then now in verse three, the matter, the matter. Jesus answered and said to him, truly, truly,

I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Verse three is the first truly, truly statement that starts really the meat of the conversation to follow.

This is the heart of the matter that the follow -up questions and answers will go back to and further examine.

From the statement in verse two in Jesus's first answer, we can see that Nicodemus knew about the kingdom of God on some level.

It seems that there is an underlying misunderstanding that Jesus now begins to explain and correct.

It seems Nicodemus understood from the Old Testament scripture that the kingdom would be ruled by God.

Number one, that there is a kingdom and that it would be ruled by God. There seems to be an acceptance in his comment in verse two that the kingdom would be restored on earth.

It would include God's people, we believe. Nicodemus recognized that some of the

Jews knew that Jesus had come from God and that only someone that came from God could do what

Jesus had been doing on the earth. In the famous gospel passage of verse 16,

Jesus would go on to reveal that the whole world would experience the kingdom because Jesus was the kingdom on earth.

We'll see that in the explanation of true conversion in verses 16 through 21. In other words, the kingdom was not just for the

Jewish people. In the inquiry recorded by John in verses 4 through 15,

Jesus will go on to explain that Nicodemus personally could not enter the kingdom unless he was personally born again.

This went beyond Nicodemus' status as a Jew. Here in verse 3, Jesus begins to discuss the greater matter and theological understanding of true conversion.

Salvation comes from God. The Holy Spirit causes a person to be born again, to be regenerated.

So Jesus starts by saying, truly, truly. And this is the

Greek word amin. It is translated as truly, and it might sound familiar to you, or amen.

He's using the word amen. This is the Greek word for amen. This is a strong affirmation of what is stated as expression of faith.

Let it be so, truly, amen. It is also translated in the

New Testament as a proper name or title, Revelation chapter 3. And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write, this is what the amen, capital

A, the faithful and true witness, capital W, the beginning, capital

B, of the creation of God says. It's referring to Jesus Christ. He is the amen, capital

A. I mean, think about that. We say this word at the end of every prayer. It is used in liturgical formula at the end of the liturgy or the benediction, spoken by the congregation to affirm the statement that preceded it.

Here, it is used simply as a particle to declare or state something emphatically.

Truly, always. And this is the beginning of a solemn declaration, but important, only ever used by Jesus in this way.

Jesus is the only one that uses this term in this way. And we can read it like this.

I assure you that, I solemnly tell you, truly, truly, very important.

The double usage is superlative and emphasis, emphasis. What I'm about to say is very important.

Listen up. This is very important. Truly, truly, I say to you, the heart of the matter.

Unless you are born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. Two things here.

One, Jesus accepts that Nicodemus has rightly understood that he is from God.

And two, that Jesus helps Nicodemus to understand the only way to rightly enter the kingdom of God.

The entrance isn't based on whether you're a Jewish person or national Israelite. The entrance requirements of the kingdom of God are repentance and spiritual birth.

Jesus would later teach that God's kingdom had already begun in the hearts of believers.

Luke chapter 17 says this. Now, having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them and said, the kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, look here or there.

For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. The kingdom had already begun in the hearts of the believers.

Kingdom entry wasn't on acceptance of witnessed miracles or the emotional reaction you get from listening to good worship music.

It was on the heart change brought on by the spirit of God as people came to believe that Jesus was the

Christ, the son of the living God. And we know from later New Testament revelation that the kingdom of God will be fully realized when

Jesus returns again to judge the world and abolish evil forever. Two small excerpts from the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 21, the kingdom of God. John, same author here in our gospel, records this.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there is no longer any sea.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and he will dwell among them and they shall be his people and God himself will be among them and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there will no longer be any death.

There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain. The first things passed away.

And again from Revelation, just the next chapter, 22. The words of Christ, behold,

I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to render to every man according to his work.

I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the authority to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city.

Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices lying.

A future day that is marked on God's calendar that every true believer eagerly awaits.

Here in verse three, Jesus is pointing Nicodemus to an amazing theological truth.

You must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven.

John records Jesus's comments with the Greek word for procreation. Literally, to become the parent of, to beget.

Specifically, the word here is being used to convey exercising the role of a parental figure, to be born.

The clue that this is beyond the concept of the physical body or earthly parents is not just in the reference to the spiritual reality of the kingdom of God.

The clue for John's readers is in the adverb describing the verb to be born. What's the description?

Well, here translated, I'm reading the Legacy Standard Bible and depending upon what translation you have, you'll probably see it as again.

Here translated as again, the word in the Greek is literally from above.

An extension from a source that is above, from above. No, this is more than physical birth.

Jesus is talking about a spiritual rebirth as he'll go on to explain in the truly, truly statement of verse five.

For now, we can understand that Jesus is talking about spiritual rebirth and being born again in the

Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul talks about this new birth as a new creation.

You're new. It's, it's, you're not the old way. You're the new way, a new creation.

Paul says this in his second letter to the church in Corinth. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old things passed away. Behold, new things have come. Kind of interesting that it's that same language that he's talking about in the new heavens and the new earth.

The Apostle Peter connects this new birth with being made alive by Jesus. First Peter chapter one.

Who through him, referring to Christ, are believers in God. Who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God.

Since you have in obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a love of the brothers without hypocrisy, fervently love one another from the heart.

For you have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible.

The idea is perishable versus imperishable. You have been born again, not of perishable, but imperishable.

That is through the living and enduring word of God. An important observation that new birth and true conversion is tied directly to your love for other

Christians. Fervently love one another based on that you have a new birth.

Now we can think of verse two in probably two ways. The theological truth, very important.

God is the causer of our salvation. We were born again and sealed with the promise of the

Holy Spirit at the time we believed in Jesus for salvation. Ephesians chapter one, in him, you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed you were sealed in him with the

Holy Spirit, a promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance unto the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of his glory.

That's the theological truth. Theologically speaking, you were dead in your sins and now you are alive in Christ.

The wrath of God no longer abides on you. Now, reconciliation and peace with God.

The second way we can think of this new birth is in the applicational truth. Very important.

What does it mean to be born again or a new creation in terms of application?

Again, the apostle Paul is helpful here in his letter to the church in Ephesus. What are the old things that have passed away?

What are the new things? Listen to Paul's words here. This is chapter four of Ephesians.

He says, therefore, this I say and testify in the Lord that you walk no longer just as the

Gentiles, as the unbelievers also walk in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their mind.

Alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.

And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

But you did not learn Christ in this way. If indeed you heard him and were taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus, to lay aside in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind and to put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

Be angry and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and do not give the devil an opportunity.

He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for building up what is needed, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Instead, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, graciously forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also graciously forgiven you.

A true conversion will be marked by a changed life. No more bitterness and roots of resentment taking hold in the heart.

No more slander and anger. Now, words of edifying encouragement, saturated with a loving disposition.

Now, forgiveness and grace. The matter of true conversion is explained by Jesus as the loving

Savior, who desires for none to perish, but for all to repent and believe in the gospel.

You must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. And we can ask these questions.

Have you bowed the knee to Jesus and confessed him as Lord? Do you pray to God and ask for forgiveness?

Do you have a desire to read the Bible? Do you have a love for God's people in the church?

Have you committed to a local body of believers and submitted to that local pastor or elders?

Do you genuinely seek to be led by the teaching of Jesus in your life?

Have you truly repented and believed in the gospel? If you were born again,

I pray to God that some of those questions were yeses. And if they're not, repent of that and start obeying

Christ in your life. That you would demonstrate true conversion. This isn't works -based.

This is a love for Christ. Jesus says, I call you friend when you do what I say. Is Jesus your friend?

Do you know him as your friend? In verses 1 through 21, the apostle John records the

Q &A between Nicodemus and Jesus on the topic of true conversion. So that you can understand salvation and true conversion according to God's understanding, not an incorrect personal or worldly understanding.

In today's passage, we saw the introduction to the Q &A with the Messiah. The man

Nicodemus, despite a heavy religious background, demonstrated a genuine and humble desire to seek the answers from the questions he had from Jesus.

The meeting demonstrates the correct posture toward Jesus in genuinely seeking answers from him and humbly approaching him as the source of true understanding.

The matter of true conversion is explained by Jesus as the loving savior who desires for none to perish, but for all to turn away from sin, to return to him, to believe in the gospel.

I pray today that you would look upon Jesus and turn away from sin. Return to God, to Jesus, to believe in the promise of everlasting life that you may be truly born again from above.