Participants: Deyvy Rodriguez & Jon Paulien
Series Code: JBOTB
Program Code: JBOTB00008A
|
00:20 Hello and welcome again to "Books of the Book."
00:22 My name is Deyvy Rodriguez and I am so pleased 00:25 that you are able to take this time to study the Bible with us. 00:29 And we are studying the Gospel of John. 00:31 And in this program we are studying-- 00:33 we are focusing on Nicodemus that is chapter 3. 00:38 And we are with Dr. Jon Paulien, 00:40 he is the Dean of Religion at Loma Linda University. 00:45 And welcome again, Dr. Paulien. 00:48 It's good to be with you again. Good to have you. 00:51 We are talking today about Nicodemus. 00:54 We have all read the story of Nicodemus in the Bible. 00:57 And the Bible says, and we'll read it in a minute. 01:00 He comes to Jesus and he has some questions and doubts. 01:04 And these answers that Jesus gives to him 01:07 are just take-- have taken him by surprise, 01:11 because apparently he does not know this things 01:14 and he is a teacher. 01:16 So, where shall we start? Okay. 01:19 I think we can start with the idea 01:22 that the stories in the Gospel of John. 01:24 Well, they are real stories actually occurred. 01:28 John selects and uses them 01:31 with a deeper spiritual purpose in mind. 01:34 And this becomes evident right in the first two verses 01:38 which so if our viewers want to take a look it's 3:1 and 2. 01:45 And we're gonna look at those in just a minute. 01:48 But these verses tie us 01:50 in with the previous verses in the program. 01:53 In the last program I talked about dual directional passages, 01:56 2:23-25 is such a dual directional passage. 02:03 It builds on the cleansing of the temple story, 02:06 but it also bridges over to the story of Nicodemus. 02:09 So Nicodemus in a real sense is coming to Jesus, 02:13 because of the cleansing of the temple, 02:15 because of the miracles that Jesus did at that time. 02:19 And in the end of chapter 2 it says 02:23 people believed in Jesus, because of the miracles He did, 02:27 but Jesus didn't entrust Himself to them. 02:30 He recognized that their faith was not really a true faith. 02:34 He was grounded in spectacular stuff and miracles, etcetera. 02:38 And it was not grounded in a true spiritual commitment. 02:41 So Nicodemus thinks Jesus will be flattered with his visit. 02:47 But Jesus reads right through him, 02:49 He knows what's inside human beings. 02:51 He illustrates that knowing when Nicodemus comes 02:55 and Jesus keeps hitting him with stuff is--how did you know that? 02:59 So, let's take a look at the first two verses 03:01 I want to point out a few things. 03:03 "There was a man of the Pharisees 03:05 named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 03:07 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, 03:10 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, 03:14 for no one can do these things 03:16 or these signs that you do unless God is with him.'" 03:20 Let me point out a few things. 03:22 First of all, something you would not see in translation. 03:25 My translation says "Now there was a man of the Pharisees--" 03:28 what did yours say? "There was a man--" 03:30 "There was a man of the Pharisees--" 03:32 or it doesn't even have, there. 03:33 Doesn't have the noun. 03:34 But there's a little word in there, in the Greek, 03:36 it's just a two letter word, de, 03:39 and that word is a conjunction often translated but. 03:45 But whenever that occurs 03:48 it's never a new story, it's a connector. 03:52 So the first word grammatically in this story is a connector. 03:58 So we are not starting a new story in 3:1, 04:02 we are connected to the previous story. 04:05 So right in the Greek language that's put right in there 04:09 to show that there's a connection. 04:11 The last word of chapter 2 is man, Anthropos. 04:17 The first keyword here is a man of the Pharisees. 04:21 See, that's not an accident. There's a connection there. 04:25 Jesus have been dealing with the rulers 04:27 of the Jews in the temple. 04:28 Now one of them, a man of the Pharisees 04:32 comes to Jesus by night. 04:35 One thing to keep in mind, you know, 04:38 we have a negative view of Pharisees today 04:40 because of the way many of them responded to Jesus. 04:43 The reality these were the best people of their time. 04:46 These were serious about God. 04:49 They tried to organize their lives around God. 04:52 They studied the scriptures. They spent lots of time praying. 04:55 You would want to have a Pharisee as a neighbor. 04:58 Because really their people are very--very moral 05:01 and ethical and serious about their faith. 05:05 But unfortunately even moral, serious people in faith 05:12 sometimes allow themselves to get off track 05:15 and that's what seems to have happened here. 05:19 I've mentioned that in John, 05:21 the stories becomes acted parables 05:23 that becomes clear in this night stuff here. 05:26 He came by night. 05:30 In English that's a very simple phrase that normally would mean 05:35 simply he came during the dark hours of the day. 05:38 But in Greek, time can be expressed 05:40 in three different ways. 05:43 One of those ways, and they are all different forms. 05:45 So you can see in the text exactly 05:48 which form is being used. 05:49 One of them would be a point in time. 05:51 He came at this point in time in the middle of the night. 05:56 Second way is duration. 05:59 You know the night is 12 hours long, 06:01 in the middle of there somewhere he came. 06:03 All right, it doesn't say exactly when, 06:04 but somewhere in that, in the duration of the night he came. 06:07 The third one is more of a qualitative usage. 06:12 It points to something different than simple chronological time. 06:16 He came by night means he came in darkness. 06:20 And the darkness wasn't just physical darkness, 06:23 it was a darkness of soul. 06:25 In other words, John takes a literal event 06:28 and by using this particular form in the Greek, 06:32 he triggers the reader to see, 06:34 oh-oh, this coming by night is more than just an accident. 06:38 It says something about Nicodemus and who he is 06:41 and what his problems are. 06:43 So Nicodemus is clearly an example of inadequate faith. 06:48 He believes in Jesus 'cause he saw miracles, 06:51 he doesn't believe in Jesus because he wants to conform 06:53 his life to the character of God. 06:56 He hasn't come to be transformed, 06:58 he has come to be a part of a movement 07:00 that's gonna be popular. 07:02 So Nicodemus is a spiritual teacher, 07:04 yet he is in spiritual darkness. 07:07 He's coming to Jesus as a rock star. 07:10 He's not coming to Jesus to have his soul transformed. 07:12 Well, that's, that's hard to imagine that, you know, 07:15 a teacher who teaches spiritual things, you know, 07:18 the things of God and yet that teacher be or live in darkness, 07:24 but in this case Nicodemus is that example. 07:28 And this is not saying that Nicodemus is a perverse person. 07:32 And there are lot of people who honestly feel 07:34 they're following God to the best of their understanding 07:37 but somehow, somewhere little choices they've made 07:39 in their lives steer them a little bit off the track. 07:42 And then when a big decision has to be made, 07:45 they may not be in a place to make it. 07:47 We will get to that actually at the end of this session. 07:51 Verses 18 to 21 talk about that spiritual dynamic. 07:55 Why was Nicodemus in darkness? 07:57 And how do you get out of that darkness? 07:59 So John actually fixes it here. 08:02 But he's telling the story of a man 08:04 who was kind of supporting Jesus, 08:07 but supporting Jesus as a popular teacher, 08:11 as somebody who might conquer the Romans, whatever. 08:14 He's not wanting to be transformed himself. 08:18 Now, who is this Nicodemus? He's not just a teacher. 08:23 If you go to verse 10, my translation says, 08:27 "'You are Israel's teacher,' said Jesus." 08:31 That sounds like a bit more than just one of Israel's teachers. 08:35 Because in the Greek he says he uses the definite article, 08:39 you are the teacher of Israel. 08:43 He was either the predominant teacher of Israel 08:46 or he may even have been seminary dean. 08:49 He may have held my position, you know, 08:51 at Loma Linda in the University of Jerusalem 08:55 a position of the one head of all the other teachers. 08:58 So he was the most prominent figure 09:00 and we even know about Nicodemus from the Talmud. 09:03 100 and more years later on Nicodemus 09:06 is mentioned as a significant figure at this time. 09:09 So he was a very popular figure, a very revered teacher 09:14 and yet when he comes to Jesus there's something missing. 09:18 And the remedy that Jesus offers him is in verses 5 to 8. 09:22 And before we read that because verse 25 which you said, 09:27 even though it's a new chapter, it's not a beginning of a story 09:30 but rather because verse 25 says 09:32 that Jesus knew what was in man's heart. 09:34 And so Jesus knows what is in Nicodemus' heart, 09:37 Nicodemus' heart and his need. 09:40 Yeah. Is that correct? 09:41 So Nicodemus came hiding something. 09:44 He was sort of exploring 09:45 whether he wants to get in relationship with Jesus. 09:48 And Jesus goes right to the core of his inner being 09:52 which is scary, when it happens. 09:54 So we are reading verses? Five to eight. 09:57 "Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, 10:00 unless one is born of water and the Spirit, 10:02 he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 10:05 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, 10:07 and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 10:10 Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again." 10:14 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, 10:17 but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. 10:20 So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'" 10:23 By the way that's my favorite text I think, John 3:8. 10:27 It's the text most people sort of pass over. 10:31 But it's interesting. 10:32 I always thought that, that text was about 10:35 the Holy Spirit but it's not. 10:38 It says the wind blows wherever it wishes to, 10:40 no one knows where its' coming from or where it's going, 10:43 so is everyone, everyone who is born of the Spirit. 10:49 In other words when the Spirit enters your life 10:52 or when you truly are filled by the Spirit, 10:54 you become a little unpredictable like the wind. 10:59 And one thing I have learned is the closer you walk to God 11:02 the more out of step you may be with people. 11:05 Because every church is liable to be filled 11:09 with some people at least like Nicodemus 11:12 who are doing all the right things, 11:13 saying all the right things 11:15 and yet their heart is not right with God. 11:17 And the interesting thing is 11:18 that the closer you walk with the Spirit, 11:21 the more unpredictable you almost become. 11:24 Spirit doesn't create cookie cutter Christian, 11:26 it brings out our individuality 11:28 and I think we are sometimes afraid of that. 11:30 That why I point that out. 11:31 And so if you are led by the Spirit then you will be taken-- 11:34 You will be unique. 11:36 You will be taken anywhere like the wind will take you. 11:39 A lot of people would like us all to look alike, talk alike, 11:43 say the same things, say it just the right way. 11:47 And yet this perhaps underlines the fact 11:49 there's more than one right way to think, 11:52 more than one right way to say the truth sometimes. 11:54 And when it's combined with our own individuality 11:58 you can have special power I think. 12:01 Now going back to what Jesus told Nicodemus in--apparently, 12:05 Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus was saying, right? 12:09 That's right. 12:10 And shall we read what he replies. 12:12 Sure. Go ahead. 12:13 And we are in verse 9, 12:14 "Nicodemus answered and said to Him, 12:16 'How can these things be?' 12:20 And Jesus answered and said to him, 12:21 'Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?'" 12:25 So apparently he lacked a major spiritual lesson 12:31 that he didn't know about. 12:33 For a lot of people religion is a matter of the head 12:37 rather than the heart. 12:39 We like to know the right things. 12:40 We like to teach the right things. 12:43 But to allow the heart to be 12:44 genuinely transformed, that's a challenge. 12:47 We can often be one thing in public 12:49 and another thing back home. 12:51 You see, that's very, very easy to do. 12:53 Who the person is when nobody is looking, 12:56 that's what character is all about. 12:58 And Nicodemus evidently failed that test. 13:00 He was a great teacher, he knew all kinds of things 13:03 but his life was not there. 13:05 And this is a real big challenge to me 13:07 'cause I think I have a tremendous responsibility 13:09 as someone who teaches these things, 13:11 has may be studied more deeply than many people have studied. 13:15 Yet if I don't let that change my life 13:18 and that's why I like 3:8 so much. 13:20 Because it encourages me to let the Holy Spirit change my life. 13:24 I can't be the same as I was before, you know. 13:29 When the Holy Spirit enters your life nobody can predict 13:33 where God is gonna take you. 13:34 His purpose may take you places you never dreamed, you see. 13:38 So I think that this kind of genuine transformation 13:43 is what this is talking about. 13:45 When we receive Jesus Christ, the Spirit comes in 13:47 and transforms us if we allow Him. 13:50 Can we say then that Nicodemus was filled with knowledge, 13:53 but then he was lacking the Spirit? 13:56 And that brings us back to water and the Spirit. 14:00 If what he needed was water and Spirit, what is the water? 14:04 And we can come to that after the break. 14:06 Well, stay with us as we continue to study 14:08 how the Holy Spirit leads us today. |
Revised 2014-12-17