The Gospels Part 03

1. The Gospels Part 03 At the Passover In Jerusalem to The night time conversation with Nicodemus

2. What Scripture say is so – is so !! • We are not free to ignore it or change it. • There is much detail that Scripture does not elaborate upon. • -- They are left ‘vacant’ since they are not necessary to the story, point or principle that God is communicating to us. • -- The ‘missing’ detail can often be useful to our understanding of the times, and customs of what Scripture says and can be ascertained using historical information and good use of logic and God directed common sense to fill in those details. • We are free to do this so long as: • We do not obscure God’s message contained in what He has revealed to us in Scripture. • We do not alter, revise, or explain away what Scripture does say in order to fit our “theory” into God’s account. • We recognize that anything and everything other than what Scripture actually reveals is only a possibility no matter how ‘probable’ it seems to be.

3. 21 John 2:13 – Jerusalem, Judea At Passover, Jesus Drives the Traders Out of the Temple • 13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, • John's gospel was written well after the others to a Greek audience. • John's gospel was written to reveal Jesus deity, not detail events in His life. • John’s intent was not only to reveal to the Greek's who Jesus was, but • to explain the Jewish tradition Jesus encountered and • to fill in gaps left by the other Gospel writers.

4. 21 John 2:13 – Jerusalem, Judea At Passover, Jesus Drives the Traders Out of the Temple • 13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, • John's Gospel has Jesus in Jerusalem repeatedly. • The other Gospels only once. • This is not a contradiction but a relating of different parts of Jesus life and ministry. • The Passover was the greatest of all Jewish feasts. • Every male within 15 miles of Jerusalem was obligated to attend at Jerusalem. • Every Jew from around the world desired to at least once attend Passover in Jerusalem. • Jerusalem was an extremely busy town during Passover accommodating up to 2.25 million people during the feast.

5. 21 John 2:14 – Traders in the Temple • 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: • Every Jew over 19 had to pay the Temple tax. • It was this tax that financed the day to day operation and business of the Temple. • The tax was one half shekel which at that time was almost 2 days wages.

6. 21 John 2:14 – Traders in the Temple • 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: • For ordinary business almost any coin was valid but for the Temple tax only or Temple shekels could be used. • In the outer court of the temple, money exchange booths had been set up. • The money changers charged a ma'ah (about 4-6 ma'ah = 1/2 shekel) for each 1/2 shekel exchanged • They charged another ma'ah for each 1/2 shekel of change they had to give back if the coin they exchanged was larger than the exact amount needed • If a man came with a coin worth two shekels, he was charged another half shekel to give him his Temple coins and his change. • His costs doubled to a full shekel, nearly one weeks wages.

7. 21 John 2:14 – Traders in the Temple • 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: • By law each family had to present a sacrifice at Passover. • It was to be perfect, unblemished. • The Temple authority had appointed inspectors (mumcheh) to examine each animal brought to the Temple. • The inspection fee was again about one ma'ah. • If you had not purchased your sacrificial animal within the Temple grounds it was almost always rejected, perfect or not. • If you had bought within the Temple grounds it was almost always approved, perfect or not.

8. 21 John 2:14 – Traders in the Temple • 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: • A pair of doves (poor man's sacrifice) cost about 1/2 shekel outside. • Inside they cost from 15 to 20 shekels (one months wage). • 1/2 shekel = 1½-2 days wages. • Off temple On temple • Doves 1.5-2 days wages 1-2 months wages • All this activity was licensed and supported by the Temple authorities (which helps explain why there were no poor authorities). • They received a cut and kick back on all these activities. • When Crassus took Jerusalem in 54 BC, he took over $4,000,000 from the Temple treasury - he couldn't carry off any more. • At that point he had barely dented the treasury.

9. John 2:15-16 Jesus takes the upper hand • 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; • 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. • Jesus words are given a little differently in the Gospels • Jesus was angry and acted to correct the situation. • The court of the Gentiles (the outer most had been turned into an outdoor market). • Any Gentile wishing to pray could only do so in the Court of the Gentiles, now he could not even pray there. • No one could with all the noise and activity. • God's wrath will always be express toward those who make it difficult for others to come to God.

10. 21 Title Court of the Gentiles Court of Women Court of the Israelites Court of the Priests Temple and Holy of Holies

11. 21 John 2:17 The disciples remember… • 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. • His disciples remembered what it was written … • Psa 69:9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You • have fallen on me.

12. 21 John 2:18 Who do you think you are ? • 18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? • The Jews asked him by what authority he presumes to act for God. • His action was recognized by them as being the act of the one who is from God, Messiah. • If he claimed to be from God they would arrest him for heresy. • If he did not claim God's authority, he would be arrested for vandalism and desecrating the Temple.

13. 21 John 2:19 If you quote me, get it right. • 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. • Jesus never said he was going to destroy the Temple. • His claim was you destroy this temple and I will build up a temple not made with hands in 3 days. • Mark 14:58 • 3 days = the time in the grave before the resurrection and • the time Jonah spent in the belly of the great fish • Jesus was saying the Temple and its trappings were irrelevant. • God is not approached nor confined to any place or ritual that man develops.

14. 21 John 2:20 Can’t see past what I’m looking at … • [20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? • Herod's temple, the one in existence at the time, was begun in 19 B.C., • It was 64 B.C. before it was completed. • It was destroyed around 70 B.C. when the Roman General Titus leveled Jerusalem.

15. 21 John 2:21-22 The disciples remember, again … 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. The disciples recalled the O.T. prophesies concerning Messiah as they related to Jesus life, death and resurrection but not until after Jesus had risen from the dead and the Holy Spirit had come upon them to abide in them. John 12:16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. John 16:4 But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. "And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

16. 21 John 2:23-25Many believed in His name observing His signs • 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. • Jesus did not openly declare himself to be Messiah because he did not want an emotional or political response from men. • He wanted men to follow Him because they knew and accepted the challenges that accompanied such a decision. • The decision to follow Christ must recognize the cost involved. • Miracle is Gk: teras - a marvelous thing. It is Gk: dumamis - power. • It is Gk: semeion - a sign. • Miracles were intended to reveal something about the nature and character of God to mankind.

17. 22 JN 3.1-3.21 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem • This chapter may be divided into three sections: • Joh 3:1 - Nicodemus is introduced; • Joh 3:2-10, Nicodemus asks 3 questions and receives 3 answers; and • Joh 3:11-21, dialogue becomes a discourse • — Nicodemus becomes a silent listener to the words of Jesus • The discussion of “earthly things” is replaced by Jesus teaching concerning “heavenly things.”

18. John 3:1-4 KJV 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

19. John 3:5-8 KJV 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee-, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

20. John 3:9-12 KJV 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

21. John 3:13-18 KJV • 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. • 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: • 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have life eternal. • 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. • 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. • 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

22. John 3:19-21 KJV 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

23. 22 JN 3.1-3.21 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem • The Son of God reveals himself to ever widening circles. • In Joh. 2:23-3:21 (especially Joh 2:23 and Joh 3:21) Jesus makes himself known to the people who are present in Jerusalem on and after the Passover Feast. • For the most part we see Jesus surrounded by the ordinary people, but here we see him in contact with Nicodemus one of the aristocracy of Jerusalem, an influential religious leader. Joh 3:1-21 • In Joh 3:22-36 he becomes known to the inhabitants of the country-region of Judea. • Joh 3:1-21 is an illustration of Christ's penetrating insight into the secrets of the human soul, • an insight to which reference was made in Joh 2:24-25.

24. John 3:1 Nicodemus • [For those of you who are keeping track of such things, John Chapter 3 is the one-thousandth (1,000th) chapter of the Bible.] • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • One night, while the Lord was carrying on his work in Jerusalem, he received a visitor. • A Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews • Nicodemus = Greek name meaning: “victor over the people” • Nike, rule, victory; demos, people. • [Rev 2:6-15; nicolaitansruled over the laity.] • Beginning with the period of the Maccabean rulers who followed Simon, the Jews adopted and intermingled Greek personal names along with their Hebrew names. • We do not know Nicodemus Hebrew name…

25. John 3:1 Nicodemus • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • Nicodemus was a Jew who belonged to the party of the Pharisees and he was a ruler (archon) of the Jews. • Archon (ruler) suggests a member of the Sanhedrin, but not one of the chief priests (archiereus). • The Sanhedrin was a court of seventy members and was the supreme court of the Jews. • Of course under the Romans its powers were more limited than once they had been; but they were still extensive. • The Sanhedrin still had religious jurisdiction over every Jew in the world and one of its duties was to examine and deal with anyone suspected of being a false prophet.

26. John 3:1 Nicodemus • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • Nicodemus financial standing would seem to be implied in John 19:39. • When Jesus died Nicodemus brought for his body "a mixture of myrrh and aloes about an hundred pound weight" • Only a wealthy man could have brought that. • The Talmud records Nicodemus as one of the four richest men in Jerusalem and a disciple of Jesus.

27. John 3:1 Nicodemus • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • Speculations • Hoskyns records that Nicodemus was a member of the aristocratic family that had furnished the Hasmoneaean king, Aristobulus II, with his ambassador to Pompey in 63 BC. • In 63 B.C. the Romans and the Jews were at war. • Aristobulus, the Jewish leader, sent a certain Nicodemus as his ambassador to Pompey, the Roman Emperor. • This may have been an ancestor of our Nicodemus • In the last days of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the man who negotiated the surrender of the garrison prior to the final destruction of the city was a certain Gorion, who was the son either of Nicomedes or Nicodemus. • Talmudic references link him to Nicodemus ben Gorion, brother to historian Josephus, a very wealthy member of the Sanhedrin in the first century. • He lost his wealth and position later; a reversal due to his becoming a Christian?

28. John 3:1 Pharisees • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • Nicodemus was a Pharisee. • Their entire religious hope rested upon their lineage, a physical descent from Abraham. • The emphasis of this racial heritage is contrasted with the “new birth” in John 3. • The Lord denounced them again and again for their exhibitionism and holier-than-thou attitude • Ma 5:20; Mt 16:6, Mt 16:11-12; Mt 23:1-39: Lu 18:9-14 • Too often outward conformity to the law was considered by the Pharisees to be the goal of one's existence.

29. John 3:1 Pharisees • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • Often they honored the oral law was honored more highly than the written law which they claimed could be traced through the men of the great synagogue, the prophets, the elders, and Joshua, back to Moses and thus to God himself. • As with any oral law – it’s application and meaning tended to change with time and circumstances. • Still in some ways the Pharisees were among the best people in the whole country. • The Pharisees were right in many points of doctrine • — the divine decree, • — Man's moral accountability and • — Man’s immortality, • — the resurrection of the body, • — the existence of spirits, • — rewards and punishments in the future life

30. John 3:1 Pharisees • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • The Pharisees were known as a "chaburah" or "brotherhood" • They entered into this brotherhood by taking a pledge in front of three witnesses that they would spend all their lives observing every detail of the scribal law. • There were never more than 6,000 of them; • Among the Pharisees were men of high reputation • — Gamaliel, — Paul, — Josephus

31. John 3:1 Law / Religion / Rules • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • Their basic and very tragic error was that they externalized religion. • To the Jew the Law was the most sacred thing in all the world. • The Law The Torah) was the first 5 books of the Old Testament. • They believed it to be the perfect word of God. • To add one word to it or to take one word away from it was a deadly sin. • If the Law is the perfect and complete word of God, • that must mean that it contained everything a man need know for the living of a good life, • if not explicitly, then implicitly. • If it was not there in explicit words, it must be possible to deduce it.

32. John 3:1 Law / Religion / Rules • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • God’s written Law became a compilation of great, wide, noble principles from which a man had to work out detailed rules for himself. • They said: "The Law is complete; it contains everything necessary for the living of a good life; therefore in the Law there must be a regulation to govern every possible incident in every possible moment for every possible man." • They set out to extract from the great principles of the law an infinite number of minute rules and regulations to govern every conceivable situation in life. • They changed God’s great principles into a man made legalism of by‑laws and regulations. • They elevated their rules above the principles God had given them. • Forget the principles, Follow the rules

33. John 3:1 TALMUD / MISHNAH • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • 2,000+ scholars / rabbis worked from A.D. 250 AD ‑ 500 AD. to understand the meaning of God's word for their particular situation. • Out of these efforts they produced the TALMUD (Hb: "study" or "learning“) • A library of Jewish wisdom, philosophy, history, legend, astronomy, dietary laws, scientific debates, medicine, and mathematics. • The Talmud is made up of interpretation and commentary of the Mosaic and rabbinic law contained in the MISHNAH, • Mishnah: an exhaustive collection of laws and guidelines for observing the law of Moses. • As a guide to following the law, the Talmud also serves as a basis for spiritual formation.

34. John 3:1 Law / Religion / Rules • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • A good example of what they did is in the “Sabbath laws”. • God’s Word tells us that we must remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy and that on that day no work must be done, either by a man or by his servants or his animals. • The Jews spent hour after hour and generation after generation defining what work is and listing the things that may and may not be done on the Sabbath day. • The Mishnah section on the Sabbath extends to 24 chapters. • The Talmud is the explanatory commentary on the Mishnah, • In the Jerusalem Talmud the section explaining the Sabbath law runs to 64 ½ columns; and • In the Babylonian Talmud it runs to 156 double folio pages.

35. John 3:1 eg: The Sabbath • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • To tie a knot on the Sabbath was to work; but a knot had to be defined. • "The following are the knots the making of which renders a man guilty; the knot of camel drivers and that of sailors; and as one is guilty by reason of tying them, so also of untying them." • On the other hand knots which could be tied or untied with one hand were quite legal. • Further, "a woman may tie up a slit in her shift and the strings of her cap and those of her girdle, the straps of shoes or sandals, of skins of wine and oil.”

36. John 3:1 eg: The Sabbath • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • Suppose a man wished to let down a bucket into a well to draw water on the Sabbath day. • He could not tie a rope to it, for a knot on a rope was illegal on the Sabbath; • but he could tie it to a woman's girdle and let it down, for a knot in a girdle was quite legal. • To the scribes and Pharisees this was a matter of life and death; • that was religion; • that to them was pleasing and serving God.

37. John 3:1 eg: The Sabbath • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • "Remain every man of you in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." Exo.16:29 • A Sabbath day's journey was limited by the scribes to 2,000 cubits, that is about 1,000-1,500 yards; just over ½ mile. • But, if a rope was tied across the end of a street, the whole street became one house and a man could go a 1,000 yards beyond the end of the street. • Or, if a man deposited enough food for one meal on Friday evening at any given place, that place technically became his house and he could go a 1,000 yards beyond it on the Sabbath day.

38. John 3:1 eg: The Sabbath • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • The rules and regulations and the loopholes to evade them piled up by the hundreds and thousands. • "Take heed for the sake of your lives • and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day." Jer.17:21‑24 • A burden had to be defined. • It was defined as "food equal in weight to • a dried fig, • enough wine for mixing in a goblet, • milk enough for one swallow, • honey enough to put upon a wound, • oil enough to anoint a small member, • water enough to moisten an eye salve" and • so on and on.

39. 22 John 3:1 eg: The Sabbath • Their scrupulosity knew no bounds, especially with respect to the observance of man-made Sabbath laws. • Some of them held that a woman should not look into a mirror on the sabbath because she might see a gray hair and be tempted to pull it out, which would be working! • One was allowed to swallow vinegar on the sabbath, as a remedy for a sore throat, but not use it as a gargle. • An egg laid on the sabbath could be eaten, provided one intended to kill the hen. • The Pharisees tended to ‘make it up as they went along’ which laid a tremendous burden on the people. • To this salvation-by-works party Nicodemus belonged.

40. John 3:1 eg: The Sabbath • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • On the Sabbath • Could a woman wear a brooch? • Could a man wear a wooden leg or dentures? • or would it be carrying a burden to do so? • Could a chair or even a child be lifted? • And so on and so on the discussions went and the rules and regulations where established and the loopholes defined to avoid them without angering God (who had nothing to do with them). • It was the scribes who worked out these regulations; • it was the Pharisees who dedicated their lives to keeping them

41. John 3:1 Nicodemus, a Pharisee • 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: • The name Pharisee means the Separated One; • The Pharisees were those who had separated themselves from all ordinary life in order to keep every detail of the law of the scribes. • However misguided, he must be desperately in earnest if he proposed to undertake obedience to every one of the thousands of rules. • That is precisely what the goal of the Pharisees was. • It is astonishing that a man who regarded goodness in that light and who had given himself to that kind of life in the conviction that he was pleasing God should wish to talk to Jesus at all • unless he recognized the futility of his religious convictions

42. 22 John 3.1 Nicodemus, a VIP • Nicodemus occupied a very prominent position, being a ruler of the Jews. • Joh 3:10 Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? • Joh 7:47-50 47 The Pharisees then answered them, …. 50 Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) *said to them,… • Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, • Nicodemus was also a scribe: • i.e. a professional student, interpreter, and teacher of the law.

43. 22 JN 3.2 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem • 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. • He came to him by night - We do not know why • It may have been a sign of caution. • Nicodemus quite frankly may not have wished to commit himself by coming to Jesus by day. • Was he fearful of being criticized by other Sanhedrin members? • This opinion is popular among commentators and may be correct (Joh 19:38). • But, at the early stage of Christ's ministry, opposition to Jesus’ teachings could not have been so great as to produce such fear.

44. 22 JN 3.2 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem • 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. • He came to him by night - We do not know why • The rabbis declared that the best time to study the law was at night when a man was undisturbed. • Throughout the day Jesus was surrounded by crowds of people all the time. • Nicodemus may have come to Jesus by night because he wanted an absolutely private and completely undisturbed time with Jesus. • Or it was simple practicality - it was just too hot during the day • At night one could converse privately, comfortably. • Of course, that heat did not stop the crowds.

45. John 3:2 • 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. • Nicodemus came to Jesus for a talk so that somehow in the darkness of the night he might find light. • Nicodemus had everything: • He was a Pharisee: • He was disciplined and respected. • He was wealthy and from a distinguished family. • Nicodemus was also a ruler (in the Sanhedrin) and a teacher • ...but despite all of this, he was still “in the dark” before he met Jesus! • Plural verbs: Was Nicodemus possibly representing a faction? (3:2, plural “you” 7,10,11,12).

46. John 3:2 • 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. • Nicodemus Progression: • Came by night, John 3:2-10 • Defense at Sanhedrin John 7:51-52 • Anointed Jesus’ burial John 19:39-42

47. 22 JN 3.2 Jesus' Discussion With Nicodemus – Near / In Jerusalem • And (he) said to him, Rabbi we know that you are a teacher come from God … • This amounted to saying, • “We — I and other likeminded persons (Jn 2:23; 3:11) — we know that you are a prophet.” • The reason which Nicodemus assigns for this conviction is given in these words: • … for no one can do these signs which you do unless God is with him. • Nicodemus was convinced that Jesus must stand in very close relation to God to be able to do these signs.

48. John 3:2 • The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. • “Teacher from God”: • How do you know if a teacher is from God? • 2 Cor 11:13, 14; 2 Thes 2:9 • Test his teaching: 1 Jn 4:1; Rev 2:2; 1 Thes 5:20-21; Acts 17:11; 1 Cor 12:3; Gal 1:8-9 • By the Word: Isa 8:20; 2 Jn 10;

50. 22 John 3:3 • 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. • Nicodemus has not asked Jesus any question. • Yet, Jesus answers the question which was buried deeply in the heart of this Pharisee. • On the basis of Christ's answer we may safely assume that the question of Nicodemus was very similar to the one found in Mt 19:16. • Like “the rich young ruler,” Nicodemus, a “rich old ruler,” really wanted to know what good thing he had to do in order to enter the kingdom of heaven – i.e. to have everlasting life. • Jesus never even gave Nicodemus the chance to put into actual words the question of his inner soul. • Mat 6:8 • Mt 9:4 Mt 12:25 Lk 5:22 Lk 6:8 Lk 9:47 Lk 11:17 • Ps 139:2; Je 17:10; 1Co 14:24-25; Ep 5:13; Rv 2:23 • Rom 8:26