How To Study The Bible

All the references to Nicodemus in Scripture, that's all in the Gospel of John, as we made note. Ultimately, lots of evidence. John had special connections with the Sanhedrin. He had special connections with the chief priests to the point where he could get people in to the chief priest's house, like Peter. Even on the night of Jesus' betrayal, he could get Peter in the door, otherwise Peter was going to have to stand outside. John records things about the Sanhedrin, people, personalities, conversations, and insights about who had what position when that none of the other Gospels record. So John's got the inside track. Real interesting. And he was also a very young fellow, possibly middle teens even. Yeah, very young. Very young. So anyway, this is a fascinating thing here.

We have these recordings in sequence about Nicodemus, and even to the point here in chapter 7 where Nicodemus actually defends Jesus before the Sanhedrin, and they chastise him for it. He gets a biting response. And in the end, we find that Nicodemus is also, and it's even referenced, the one who first came to him by night. I mean, this is amazing insight that John has about this, and we're kind of getting a first peek as we look at the third chapter. Here's something else to ask a question about before we proceed into this. There is, as we come into these various places, there is a sense of drama. By that I mean, here is this tension. Here's Nicodemus coming from a group that's the uppity up. This is the top echelon in terms of knowledge, acceptability, power, even wealth.

And this one comes to Jesus, who is from Galilee, uneducated, not a part of the Sanhedrin. The truth is that by, I think I have this right, about 6 AD, the Sanhedrin had their area of authority reduced down to just Judea. So it didn't include Galilee. So here was kind of a shrinkage of power. So Jesus was actually from an area where the Sanhedrin didn't have authority. Yes, Tom? Yeah, what happened is that change took place about 30 AD. And the reference that we have is from some Jewish traditional writings in which we're not able to nail down that date. So somewhere about that time.

I'll call it unfortunate, we're not able to nail down the date, plus the exact chronology of where Jesus and the Gospels fits in there has not been nailed down precisely. So the truth is, yes, it took place exactly where that fits in the Gospels is subject to further discussion and investigation. But at some point, yeah, they really weren't able to do so, and it's pretty apparent by the time the trial of Jesus comes up. They could do all the deciding they wanted, but they had to turn him over to the Romans to carry it out. So by that time, it had certainly come to pass.

Good point, Tom. Getting back to this issue, though, of the drama, you will find situations in Scripture where there is, in a sense, really a drama that is a part of it. And I would say that it's okay to see that. That's alright. We want to be careful we don't look at it as just drama, and we don't want to let that somehow override or out-balance the other truths that are being brought forward. But if there's some drama in a passage, that's fine, and it's fine to recognize that. Here's a for instance.

Here's Peter, who having denied Christ, Remember, right there at the high priest's house, denied Christ. And afterwards, Jesus comes up to him on the shores of Galilee, and what does he say? Peter, do you love me? What do you think Peter was feeling there?

Do you see the drama in that? There is drama in Scripture, and this is no exception. We're going to see this morning additional reasons why there's this conflict and tension in the midst of the passage. And recognizing that is just fine. Yes, Nancy? Yes, drama does not mean fiction at all. That's right. In fact, drama would not have any appeal if it did not have some connection to reality. Drama does not equal fiction. That's a good point. So anyway, as we go through that, we're going to see some more tension, some more drama, more reasons why what we're starting to look at here is a very dramatic scene.

Stark contrast, shocking statements, baffling questions. In fact, baffling responses. Jesus' next verse we're going to get into, Jesus is going to respond with an answer that goes, huh? How did that respond to what he just said? So we're going to see things like that.

And this sense of drama, if you recognize it, it's just fine. Just again, keep it in the total perspective. Just like, for example, if you recall what I did on the Easter morning, essentially was a kind of a back-and-forth drama. And recognizing that drama is fine, and it actually provides a context for better understanding the passage. It is a part of understanding the passage. Am I making sense? All right. You have in front of you, besides the catching up on the handout, It was supposed to print out, I'm baffled as to why it didn't, so please write it on there.

The one where it says just John 3, 1-21, that's a translation by Kenneth Wiest, it's the Wiest translation. His translation actually doesn't include the verse numbers, and so I've added that in. for easier reference for us. Kenneth Weiss was a Greek professor at Moody Bible Institute. It's my understanding he's passed away now, but he produced not only an expanded translation of the full New Testament, but also some commentaries on a number of New Testament books based on insights from the Greek. I like his translation in general because he does a good job, even though it's a bit wordy at times, conveying the sense especially of the Greek verbs.

And we're going to see that in a passage here as we look at it this morning. The other thing that I handed out, and this is the one with the yellow highlighting, is this is from the Bible background commentary by Craig Keener. And I've highlighted some in yellow because I thought it would be particularly important to us. I do have a caution on the top of it, and then occasionally Craig Keener gets off on some of his theology. Particularly he'll get off in sort of a non-millennial direction once in a while. So that's a caution. I don't see that he goes off too badly here, but just in general I don't want to pass something out and have you think that I think that that's just fine.

The reason I think it's valuable, and I still make reference to his Bible background commentary, look for the historical and cultural facts and then be discerning about what conclusions he draws from that. In this case, for instance, we'll actually not be getting out of verse 2 this morning. Here we are in the third week and we're still in verse 2. But the reason I wanted to bring it in is he provides, I think, some interesting insights on even verse 2.

And so we'll take a look at that one. So anyway, that's the handouts that you've gotten. Obviously, because these continue on through the rest of the passage, we'll continue to make reference to them. So get them in your binder and keep them with you.

Yeah, Dave? Your caution comment? Yes. In the prefaces you have some names and organizations. Right. Do they fit into that category or are they saying the same thing? Here's a for example. The reviewers quoted in their institutions have known lapses of sound theology. The bottom line is they are passing this around to and making reference to outfits that are, you know, hey, this is a good book and some of them I know their theology has slipped.

Darrell Bock, for example, I don't know if he currently is, but he has been a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. He was one of the guys that started this progressive dispensational movement back in the 80s. Bock and Blazing together wrote the book Progressive Dispensationalism. Gordon Fee is actually of Assembly of God background, and he is on the board of Christians for Biblical Equality, which is, you know, women have all the same, you know, positions and roles as men.

Stuart Briscoe and his wife have both gotten a lot of psychology moved in, so that, you know, multiple, like Denver Seminary is, you know, local here and they've unfortunately slipped. So Regent College has got folks that go off in directions of as I say, post-millennialism and some other strange teachings.

So anyway, the point being there's multiple indications here. You need to be cautious. So use the cultural and factual information. Be discerning about anything else that you see. Yes, Nancy? No, they're not contributors. They just reviewed it and said, hey, we like this and this is a great thing and all that. There's a theological shift there.

And so, like I say, use the factual information and we'll use that here this morning. But be cautious about theological conclusions, because it's based on some things you want to be careful about. So again, it's a valuable resource. Be discerning, as always. Acts 17 and 11. So this is case in point. Now, let's take a look at some things here.

We're not done with verse 2. As a matter of fact, we started last week in verse 2, and we're not going to get out of verse 2 this morning, most likely. And think about this, we've got something like 23 weeks left to go. Odds are we won't get out of this passage in the next 23 weeks. There's that much in here. I mean, we'll see, but we're going to keep digging. And notice too, all we're doing is asking questions and saying, where could you find the answers? We haven't necessarily been doing all the digging that you could do.

But let me turn a question over to you. So far have you found this helpful? Are you finding this to be such that it gives you insight and understanding? I hope so. That's what we're here for. The idea is not that we sit there and, you know, I don't want to just go through and tell you stuff. I want to work through the passage with you so that you know what kind of questions to how to go about it, where to find the answers. That's our purpose here in going through this. We're going to get a lot of insights just in asking the questions. Now, let's take a look at this other point. Verse 1 is just sort of a narrative. Here's what happened.

Verse 2 is what Nicodemus' It's his first shot as sort of an introduction. Generally speaking, how would you characterize that introduction, that first set of words that Nicodemus comes up with? How would you describe it? It looks to me like Nicodemus is saying that there must be something to this rabbi, this Jesus, because He's attesting to all these miracles and so on. He's saint. It's kind of a statement of Nicodemus' I've got a lot of interest here. Skepticism maybe. A lot of interest in what's going on here. How would you characterize it? Is it positive, negative, neutral? Tom?

I get a kind of slight impression of honeyed words. Ah, interesting. Hmm. Honeyed words. It's sort of like, okay, here's Nicodemus getting together with Jesus for the first time, as far as we can tell. And it's all kind of real nice. Sounds like there's a but coming. Yes. Yes. A big however is about to arrive. Nancy?

Well, also I think just the first verse sort of points out that The people in authority have taken note. Okay, this has arrived on their radar screen. Last week we asked the question, who's the we in this? Nicodemus says we. Who's we? Is this all the Sanhedrin?

One of the things that becomes apparent, remember at Jesus' death, we see Nicodemus, and that's the last mention of him in the book of John and in the whole Bible, Nicodemus and one other from the Sanhedrin comes forth to take care of Jesus' burial, which is actually a pretty phenomenal thing. And so now you have two of the Sanhedrin. Is it possible that there are some others that are starting to listen to Jesus' message too? Even among the Sanhedrin, even among this top echelon, that are starting to listen and think about this stuff.

Boy, this is pretty amazing stuff. And is it possible he's out of this group who's really kind of afraid to step forward publicly, but he's got their interest and that Nicodemus might be representing them. Yes, Joanne? Excellent point. Excellent point.

What's happened here is John the Baptist has really arrived on the scene first, hasn't he? John the Baptist has been preaching a very Jewish message, but a baptism of repentance, and his job was to prepare the way for Christ's coming. Here's John the Baptist, behold the Lamb of God, pointing to Jesus. So there is a preparation from John the Baptist.

There is also even an overshadowing. Do you remember the comment, you know, kind of the question, you know, who's getting the more disciples, Jesus or John the Baptist? And basically, you know, it's a non-issue, but people have those perceptions. So you bring up an excellent point.

John the Baptist, in a way, partly because people misunderstood what he was doing, was kind of overshadowing Jesus' initial ministry. And people were trying to figure out, how do these two connect? Well, they came to John the Baptist and asked him, what are you doing? What is your calling? Yeah. In truth, when people listened carefully, there was no conflict at all.

But there was a perceived conflict, just because there's him and there's him. Geographically, where did John the Baptist hang out? And Jesus, where did he hang out? Sea of Galilee was kind of a backward place. He'd come around to Jerusalem once in a while. As a matter of fact, if you map where Jesus went, it's just all over the place. So people just didn't always make the connection there.

But Joanne brings up an excellent point that you've got this people trying to sort out. Now wait a minute, you've got this John the Baptist guy and they seem to be on good relations between him and Jesus, but naturally, is there a competition? Who's got control here? Who's on top?

Those kinds of questions. And that's a part of the drama, too. And it's a kind of a bigger picture drama that isn't mentioned directly in here, but it's part of the larger context, isn't it? All right, now let's take a look at something else. Here's an instance from Matthew. This is later, and this is actually in Jesus' last week, before the crucifixion. So this is much later, but it gives us an indication.

Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap him and what he said. My guess is that that doesn't include Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. But the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap him and what he said, and they sent their disciples to him, and here's a weird thing, along with the Herodians.

The Pharisees were a religious group with some substantial political influence through the Sanhedrin. The Herodians were primarily a political group, trying to keep Herod in place, and there was a heritage of the Herod family. This was the same family, remember, that Herod sent the soldiers down to kill all the babies in Bethlehem? That's the political group.

Imagine the two of them tying together, but they were willing to tie together because they both saw Jesus as a person of opposition to what they were trying to accomplish, even though the two of them, at any other issue, would be at odds with each other. and say, I don't like you, you don't like me, but we'll work together because we don't like him. And what do they say? Read what's in blue there. Does that sound a little bit like what Nicodemus said to Jesus? It's not unlike it, is it?

It appears that that was sort of a standard approach, kind of butter him up, So there is a sense here in which what Nicodemus first said to Jesus may not necessarily have guaranteed that Nicodemus was intending to be kind and polite. This was sort of a standard way of introducing yourself. Dave? Aren't they possibly just sort of trying to show respect without actually admitting it yet? Yes. As it turns out, we have other instances outside of Scripture of this same kind of thing. This is the way that they would start off with some sort of a question.

You'd come up to somebody who is a rabbi or a teacher, and you'd give them all the right introductory phrases, and then you'd fire the question at them, and then the rabbi would come back with a da-da-da-da-da-da answer. The difference in the Jesus pattern, in that whole thing, is not what they start off with, But the fact that Jesus always comes back with a definitive answer, with this being somewhat of an exception, but Jesus would come back with a definitive answer, the classic Jewish answer is to give you two or three choices and let you pick. So in that respect, Jesus was different. That's why I would say from time to time they marveled at what he was saying. But the character of what Nicodemus came out and said was Jesus had heard that kind of stuff before and he was going to hear it again.

So it was almost like... That's all fine and well, but I don't have good reason to take you terribly seriously and literal. Yes, Tom. Well, what it says actually is Pontifex Maximus, which is the title that the Catholic Church has applied to the Pope. And it actually means the chief bridge builder. It's the one that puts him at the top and essentially the one that connects you to heaven. Now, let's take another look at something here.

How about the title Rabbi? What do you see in these verses out of Matthew? Is Rabbi a nice thing? What do you think after reading the verses that include the word Rabbi in Matthew? What's your impression? Isn't that interesting? We have Jesus saying, don't be called rabbi. Don't let anybody call you that. And then, the next two references are basically Judas betraying Jesus. Interesting. Matthew's gospel has nothing positive to say about the use of the title rabbi.

It turns out if we look at the passages in John, and there are numerous ones, we're looking at the third one. Here, let me move this up so we can see it. We're looking at the third one here, 3.2. John is less negative about it, more willing to just go ahead and include it in conversation.

But one of the key things to remember is that the title was sometimes just used as a sort of way of buttering people up or giving people an exalted title and position. Basically, Jesus wasn't into taking titles to elevate yourself. And so he wasn't recommending that they do it. And he never really seemed to bask in being called that anyway.

Now, what does rabbi mean? It means basically teacher, sometimes a translated master. It would typically be used, you would have a rabbi, he would have pupils. And the idea is these pupils or disciples would seek to be like the rabbi. And so the tendency is to get this rabbi and have all those pupils around him and the pupils were constantly calling him rabbi.

So to have Nicodemus coming up to him, on the one hand, he's recognizing Jesus isn't just a carpenter from Galilee. But on the other hand, he uses a title that in a lot of ways, it doesn't guarantee that Nicodemus is really respecting what Jesus says. Because it was something that was just sort of standard usage. Used a lot. All right, let's look at another point here. This is a different point of tension. Here's from Luke 18, and this is one, I'll let you read it here.

This is the passage where it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. By the way, how many of you have heard the proposal that that's a camel going through the needle's eye gate? Have you heard that one? I've heard it too, and I don't particularly believe that that's what it's referring to. There's nothing in here that specifically refers to that.

The other thing is, in verse 27, the things that are impossible with people. It was possible to go through the needle's eye gate. He says impossible. So anyway, I'm disinclined to go after that idea. Aside from that though, look at the response in verse 26. What you see is the response in verse 26. They who heard Jesus say that, who can be saved? What kind of a question is that?

Yeah, concern over how do I stand with other people. Comparing yourself to others is a part of what's there, but this reflects This reflects another aspect of Jewish culture. The mindset was if you are wealthy, it was you are wealthy because God has blessed you. If you are wealthy because God has blessed you, you must be doing it right. That was the Jewish mindset.

And so for Jesus to come and say this was just totally upside down. Because it's hard for a rich guy to, you know, enter the kingdom of God, to them that was like, whoa! If rich people can't do it, because they're obviously blessed of God, the rest of us are just lost. Just forget it.

See the contrast there? Now, Jesus even goes on just a couple chapters before that, and I'm not reproducing the entire parable, if you will, here, but the rich man and Lazarus. Who's in Abraham's bosom? Lazarus, who is the poor man, right? And where's the rich man?

So now, what have I got? Jesus has, again, crossed the cultural understanding, hasn't he? The rich man, according to the Jews' mindset, should automatically just bang, he's going to heaven. See? And the only one in question would be the poor man. That would be a question mark as to where he would go.

That's right, we have the same problem today, don't we? It's the, you know... basically prosperity doctrine, get rich spiritually, all those things. It's basically the same mindset, isn't it? That's an excellent point. But what you see here is this idea of a rich person automatically has it with God right. It's just the poor ones that are in question. That's the mentality. Now, the handout that I gave you, this is the one that's highlighted in yellow.

What does it say about verse 2? Yeah, here's this Nicodemus, it may or may not be the one that we have other record of, but Nicodemus is without doubt a wealthy fellow. And so for Jesus to call into question, as he will subsequently, to even put at issue that Nicodemus might not be headed for heaven, being not only a Pharisee of the Pharisees, but a well-to-do fellow, Every possible indication would be that Nicodemus is just on the highway to heaven. And so now here's Jesus, and where is Jesus in his economic standing?

Poor. Which means his spiritual standing is in question. Uncertain. How's that for another reversal? It is a part, again, of the drama. Here's this guy who's top echelon, who is, because of his group of the Pharisees, because he's so highly respected, and as we see here, because he is well-to-do, there is just no question in most people's mind that this Nicodemus guy is just on the highway to heaven. And here's Jesus, who by his economic standing, not the speak of where he's from and all the other issues, Jesus would be, in the Jewish mindset, the one in question. So here you have a real reversal. Do you see that? And again, this is part of the drama that's taking place here. You have a totally shocking kind of experience.

The next chapter, we won't go into detail, we'll never get through this, but the next chapter is chapter 4 and Jesus sits down with a Samaritan woman and talks to her. Wrong place, wrong person, wrong thing to do. One of the rabbinical writings says a person like that you most certainly wouldn't want to even ask for a cup of water. And what does Jesus do? The exact opposite. And we've got that kind of a shocking contrast here that starts in this gospel of John chapter 3.

The social clash, the social conflict written into this thing is like, oh no, oh my, do you see it? It is startling what is about to take place here. Yeah. Now in terms of the same issue of wealth. Yeah. In in in Greece. Yes. Sure. But it's more and more. Yeah. Definitely more in America than anywhere else.

When we talk about how to study the Bible, we talk about observation, interpretation, application. We have plenty to apply here, don't we? There's a lot to apply, because the truth is, we may look at that and say, look at those funny people, that's what they did. But here it is, almost 2,000 years later, and guess what?

We've got an awful lot of the very same issues. It's amazing. And why do we have so many of the same issues, even though we're distanced by numerous centuries, and even geographically? Why so many of the same issues? It has to do with the nature of man. The Bible is applicable, even though centuries will separate us, even though geography will separate us. If you and I were to step back into the culture, we would definitely go through culture shock. Yet, there is so much commonality because of human nature being what it is. We can readily see the application just pouring out of these pages. Amazing stuff. We're not done. Here's Nicodemus and he's coming to Jesus. Let's think through these phrases.

At the very end of there, he says, unless God is with him. What does that mean? What does God is with him mean? What does he mean by that? How would you figure that out? Does he mean... I mean, here's Jehovah right there with ya! Right with ya! Or does it mean sort of a general thing, God's on your side? Does it mean you do the sort of things that are kind of on the same list of things that God approves of?

How specific a statement is this? There's some correlation there anyway, isn't there? How would you investigate that? How would you check that out? Try to figure out, is there a pattern in those words? Is there something we can get better insight from? How would you look that up? It turns out, let me switch overheads here. It turns out that this is an Old Testament phrase. And we find it showing up.

Here's Acts 10.38. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. See the same phrase coming up again. Is it a good phrase? Yeah.

As a matter of fact, what's the context of Acts 10.38? It's in the book of Acts. It's in the first part. It's chapter 10.

Paul has just become a believer, so this isn't a Paul saying. This is Peter talking to these people. What's the context? Well, that was earlier. This is the telling of the gospel for the first time to the Gentiles. And so he's relating to them. And so this statement, God was with him, that would be a pretty intense kind of thing to say, wouldn't it? But let's look at it. That was afterwards in a different context. A better context in terms of understanding how this would be used is the Acts 7, 9 and 10.

The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, yet God was with him, and what was the consequence there? And rescued him from all his afflictions and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household. What does that passage tell you about the meaning of the phrase, God is with him? It's a favoring and blessing statement, is basically what it's saying, isn't it? And that would be more along the lines of what Nicodemus would be thinking, wouldn't it?

If God is with you, it means God favors you, God is blessing you, that kind of a statement. Yes, Tom? Kind of like that often repeated to the point of asserting St. Patrick's Day blessing, Right, all this kind of stuff. God's given you all the right favorable situations and it's obvious that God's blessing you. That's the kind of statement that Nicodemus is making. He isn't saying, you know, Jehovah God is right here, present with you, side by side. He's making a general statement about God's being favorable to you.

The same kinds of things we see going along with that statement. So here we use other passages of the Bible, and notice the change in verb tense here. So notice when you're looking, you have to maybe in some cases look for a slight change in verb tense, but these passages, and especially the second one, give us insight into what Nicodemus might have meant when he said that. So we can use scripture to help interpret scripture. Now, here's another one.

Look up John 8.42. We know this is a good reference because it's John writing. So it gives you the same author, same book, just a few chapters later. So we know that that's a real good source. Can somebody read that for us? father, he would love me. For I proceed forth and came from God. Neither came I myself, but he sent me." Okay, and why am I having you read that?

Because it answers what Nicodemus says, we know you're from God. It's the from God phrase. You know, when Nicodemus says we know you're from God, what does that mean? From God means you stood before God and God said, okay, I'm sending you. Or from God meaning God sort of blessed your birth and brought along the right kinds of things to bring you here.

Which one is it? Jesus' statement here is really very specific. He was saying he personally was sent by the Father. Do you think that's what Nicodemus means? Well, Nicodemus probably saw him as a prophet. Jesus was sitting here. Ah, okay, yeah. In other words, the truth is that from God phrase has a range of meanings, and prophets were said to be from God, okay? And so Nicodemus is likely not being so specific as to say, we know that you are the Son of God and that you have been sent by the Father. That's not likely Nicodemus' statement. More likely, The more general idea, like a prophet is sent from God, that kind of thing, is what Nicodemus has in mind when he's saying these things. Okay. Is that like saying a missionary is from Holy Hill? That kind of idea? For being sent from the Church?

Well, that would be more, that would be, yeah, I'd say that would be in general a good way of putting it, a good way of comparing it. Yeah, yeah, that would be a good way to compare it. So, anyway, after all these questions here, again, what we want to do is boil down here. Here are the questions. Where do I find the answers? You notice a number of these are just a matter of looking things up.

I cheat. I use a CD concordance where I can put phrases in, and that helps. If cheating means that, then go ahead and cheat, because it's real helpful. You can put phrases in, it really narrows down versus just trying to look things up in a concordance.

So I can say, from God, and just put that in there and the computer goes and zeroes in on those kinds of statements. Or I can say, okay, God is with him, that's the only place it shows up. God was with him, all of a sudden I get two more show up. So there are advantages to being able to use that.

The bottom line is a lot of this really comes out of just concordances, Bible dictionaries, things of that sort. I've handed out a couple of little more unusual esoteric things, but the truth is a lot of the tools for studying it are fairly readily available. You don't have to have a massive library to take advantage of a lot of these, and ask some really good questions and get some really good insights.

Now, we're out of time, but we actually have not finished verse 2. OK, but we have to stop. So let's do OK. Lord Jesus, it is astounding, the depth of your word. And it's to your credit and to your honor and to your glory. And we give you thanks, Lord, that you have not left us empty and blank, but instead have given us abundance of truth. And we just pray that you would guide and lead us as we continue to look at your word in the days and weeks ahead. Looking forward to the day that you come. In Jesus' name, amen.