John 2:23-3:19 - Part A

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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. I do not remember my birth. That is, I don't remember my physical birth. I do, however, remember very clearly my second birth, my spiritual birth.

When I was born, I can only remember the stories that my mom and others told me about how it went down, so I have to take their word for it. But when it comes to my second birth, my spiritual birth, it's very vivid in my mind, where I was, how old I was, what time of the afternoon it was, what I said to the Lord, what I felt like immediately afterwards. That is the second birth, and that is really one of the main topics, subjects we enter into in John chapter 3. It's one of the most famous passages where Jesus tells Nicodemus, you must be born again. Now in Jerusalem, and that is where Jesus was, before he even meets with Nicodemus, he has been in the temple area.

He has cleansed the temple, we call it. He took a cord of ropes and he overturned tables, and he called the temple his father's house. And it astonished some of the leaders. Most all of the leaders were a bit shocked at Jesus' behavior. But there were some who were very interested in what he had to say and what he was even doing because they wondered, are these authenticating signs that he is the Messiah, the one that God sent? And among that interested group was a man named Nick, Nicodemus. And since Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, I think it's safe to say we can call this Nick at Night because Nicodemus comes to seek after Jesus in a nighttime one-on-one. But certainly not everyone was of that same ilk or desire as Nicodemus. There were other people who were interested in Jesus but not for the same reasons.

And we read about them at the end of chapter 2. You know, when you go to Israel, one of the highlights is the town of Capernaum where Jesus spent three years of his life. It was his headquarters. And as you walk into Capernaum, there's a fence around the whole archaeological site, the church, et cetera. And it says, Capernaum, the town of Jesus. It's a blue sign with white letters.

I can see it in my mind. Years ago, the sign was a little bit different. It used to say, Capernaum, the town of Jesus, opened from 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. And I remember when I first saw that sign, that was my reaction.

I chuckled at it. I said, you know, when I read that sign, it almost looks like Jesus' office hours. Come and see Jesus from 8 to 4.30 p.m. And of course, we know from the gospel records, Jesus never worked on that kind of a schedule. He worked on his father's schedule, his father's timetable. Even as we saw last week, he said to his mother, my hour has not yet come. This isn't the time. He's working on his father's timetable. But that sign was as absurd to me as signs that I have seen on churches for years.

Signs like this. Revival. This week, Monday through Friday, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., as if you can schedule when God is going to show up and work and he's going to revive. We've got it all planned. We've got it all mapped out. God is going to revive us this week.

From Monday through Friday, beginning at 7 p.m. And then of course at 9 p.m., we'll taper off, we'll mellow out, and we'll go home. And then often the signs will say, Revival, Monday through Friday, Wednesday night, special miracle service. Again, as if you can decide when God will perform a miracle.

Yet, that is done because people know people. And people know that an underlying motivation to seek the Lord is the spectacular, the awesome. I want the ground to shake. I want the earth to move.

I want the heavens to part. And Wednesday night may be my night for that miracle to happen. After all, it's on the sign.

They've scheduled it. They must have checked with God and he's going to be there. There were, in Jerusalem at the time of the feast, because Jesus did perform signs and wonders, many signs, we are told that there were people in Jerusalem that saw them and believed in Jesus for the reason of the miracle. They were seeking him superficially. They were seeking him for the movement, for the miraculous, not for the mission of Christ, but for the miracles of Christ. And John, and this is sort of particular to John's writing, at the end of chapter two, and also he does it at the end of chapter three, he gives some editorial comments.

He tells you what he sees, what has happened, but then he gives his comments. And notice, it says in verse 23 of John chapter two, that's where I want to begin. Now when he, Jesus, was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name. Now stop right there. Now admit it, when you read those words, you get excited. Wow! Many are starting to believe in Jesus.

This is awesome. Get their names. Put them on the mailing list. Make them a deacon. Give them a responsibility. There's people that are believing in him.

You want to strike while the iron's hot. But keep reading. Many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did. So now we have a motivation.

Now we have a reason. They are believing, but they're believing because of the miracles he did. Well you say, so what? But notice Jesus' response, according to John, his editorial comments. But Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all men.

He had no need that anyone should testify of man for he knew what was in man. In part, John, the author, wants you to know that his summary of these events in Jerusalem is that we are dealing with, we are looking at, we are observing a man who is more than a man. A man who exhibits the very characteristics and qualities of God. Somebody who has, well, x-ray vision into one's thoughts and motivations. One of whom you can call, you can say, and you can't say it of anyone else, for he knows what people are thinking. He knows what's in the heart and the very mind of a person. Those are John's comments. He exhibits the character trait of omniscience.

He knows everything. And you will see this quite a bit through the book. But what's interesting is John's choice of grammar, his language use. It's really a play on words. It says many believed in him.

But Jesus did not commit himself to them. That's a play on words. Because the word believe and the word commit are essentially the same exact word. So if you'll permit me to retranslate that for the effect of the play on words. Many believed in him, but he did not believe in them.

That's sort of the intended impact and the force of these words. There is a faith short of saving faith. And so how many people do you talk to go, Oh, I believe in God.

Right? I believe in Jesus. And especially we love God. If somebody famous like our favorite musical rock star or something has has any lyric at all that's spiritual. Oh, wow, he must be a born again Christian.

Why? Because he said, Spirit in the sky, where I'm gonna go when I die. Or even if he mentions Jesus, go, we got all all excited. But there is a faith that is short of saving faith. There is superficial faith.

How do we know that? Well, James describes it, he says, You say you believe in God, you do well. But I want you to know even the demons believe. And they tremble. They believe in God so much that they have an emotional response.

They tremble. Warren Wiersbe calls these people in Jerusalem by a special interesting little title. He calls them unsaved believers.

It's an interesting phrase. They are unsaved believers. He knows what's in their heart. He knows they want a free meal. He knows they want a miracle. He knows that they're not really fully committed to him with saving faith. They just like what they see. They love the entertainment value. They're going along for the ride.

Unsaved believers. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, Nate Heitzig has written a children's book just in time for Christmas. And this month we're offering it to you as thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig. Christmas Under the Tree follows the timeless story of Jesus Christ from the cradle to the cross through the eyes of an unlikely character, a humble tree. This beautifully illustrated book, which includes a companion audio experience, is a wonderful way to tell the Christmas story and the story of Christ to the children in your life. This resource is our thanks for your gift of just $25 or more today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give $25 or more today to reach people all around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. But he did not commit himself to them because he knew all men. And he had no need that anyone should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. In Hebrews chapter 4, it's a sobering verse. It says, Neither is there any creature hidden from his sight, for all things are naked and open before the eyes with whom we must give an account.

We will and we must give an account. And everything we say, everything we think, everything we do, he has full appraisal of. He knows everything about us.

Here's what's amazing about the gospel. He knows everything about you, but he loves you anyway. When you hear the first part, you go, oh, he knows everything about me. What about, uh-huh, that too? Even, uh-huh?

Yep. Yeah, he heard it. He saw it.

But he loves you. And the whole reason for the cross proves that point. I wanted you to see that because I believe the last part of chapter 2 and the first part of chapter 3 go together. Sometimes the chapter divisions, by the way, they're not inspired.

They were added many years later, are in my view unfortunate because I believe the thought carries here. He's talking about them, the men, the people of Jerusalem believing in Jesus, but Jesus didn't commit himself to them because they had a superficial interest in him. But in contrast to them, there was a man who had a sincere interest in him. I want you to see how it's worded. Verse 25, and had no need that anyone should testify of man for he knew what was in man.

Look at the very next phrase. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Verse 1 is set in contrast to the previous paragraph. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Jesus, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. If you were to just read verse 1, you actually pick up quite a bit of information about Nicodemus. We are given a description of him physically. He was a man, a Jewish man. We're given a description of him ethnically. He was Jewish.

We know that is his background. We're given a description of him spiritually. He was a Pharisee. Now let me tell you about the Pharisees. They were one of two major leadership groups during the time of the New Testament in Judaism. The other ones, the liberal wing, were the Sadducees. According to Josephus, there were only about 6,000 Pharisees living at the time of Christ.

Where did they come from? You don't read about Pharisees in the Old Testament. It is believed that it was in between the Testaments that it really developed. Now we believe, I believe, that the seed of the Pharisees began in the Babylonian captivity.

After the Babylonian captivity, the Jews in captivity felt that they were sufficiently spanked by God that they were learning their lesson. They wanted nothing to do with idolatry. They were cured of idolatry. They wanted to just go back to the land and in simplicity serve the Lord.

Out of that grew a group called Parashim. Parashim Pharisees means the separated ones. Oh, they wanted to be separate from the rest of the world, the rest of people doing what everybody else in culture and civilization does. They want to be called out and separated from that. They don't want to go anywhere near the kind of activity that caused the children of Israel to go into captivity. So they want to be separate. They want to be holy.

And it started out beautiful. During the 400 silent years between the Old and the New Testament, that movement grew larger and larger and became quite renowned. But what started as a wonderful movement eventually disintegrated into just some kind of legalistic traditional group by the time of Jesus.

What began as a wonderful movement had now degenerated and disintegrated into pure legalism. Because though they wanted to keep the law of God, they were also committed to keeping the Mishnah, the oral law. Not just the first five books of Moses, but what all of the sages had commented on about the laws of Moses, the oral law, all of the pages of copious laws regarding the Sabbath, etc.

And if you didn't keep it, you'd hear from them. At the same time, they were very influential. They were the conservative wing of Judaism. Nicodemus was one of them. So spiritually, we know that he was a Pharisee of this group, wholeheartedly wanting to keep the laws of God, wanting to be separated from the rest of the world.

But keep going in verse one. We're told about him politically. He says he was a ruler of the Jews.

What does that mean? The Jews had a Supreme Court called the Sanhedrin. And if you can picture our Supreme Court and the Senate all rolled up into one body, you sort of have the Sanhedrin. Very influential religiously and politically in the nation. Seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin. He was one of them. So he was very, very prominent.

But we're also told about him professionally. Not in verse one, but in verse 10. Jesus said, are you not the teacher in Israel?

Not a teacher, the teacher. Meaning you must be a renowned figure in Judaism. So he was well known. He was influential.

And then there's another little piece of the Nicodemus puzzle that we don't get to till later on. And that is at the burial of Jesus Christ, he brings a hundred pounds of burial spices, Merinalos, which is quite costly. And that amount was quite costly. So we can safely surmise that he was a man of means. He was wealthy. So it is this influential member of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who must have been watching, must have been listening in the crowd. He was there the day Jesus overturned the tables.

He was there when he took that cord and drove people out and said what he said. And I believe when Nicodemus saw and what Nicodemus heard, it was like fresh water on a parched soul. He was drawn to Jesus. He wanted to know more.

So verse two, this man came to Jesus by night. Now why did he come at night? There is no answer because we're not told. You can guess all you want, but we're not told.

So let's make a few guesses. Number one, he was afraid. That's what a lot of people will say, well, he was afraid, and perhaps rightfully so. He didn't really know who Jesus was. He doesn't want to attach himself, his start of that wagon until he knows a little bit about him. He didn't want to be seen publicly with him until he vets him a little bit.

So yeah, he could have been a little bit afraid to be seen with Jesus, number one. Number two, he was busy. As a member of the Sanhedrin, as a ruling Pharisee, he had stuff to do. His schedule didn't permit it. You just can't take time off in the middle of your Pharisee work day and do whatever you want. You have certain duties to perform. That's a possibility.

Another possibility is he just wanted quality, unrestricted time. It's interesting, the rabbis used to say that the best time for studying Torah, for studying the law, for studying the scripture is at night. When you are undisturbed, the rest of the world is turned in, gone to bed.

You light a candle, you light a lamp, and you open up the scroll, and you read, and you spend time with God. At night, you get quality time, they used to say in those days. So during the day, there were always crowds around Jesus. But if I could get him at night undisturbed, have a one-on-one private conversation with him, it may be better.

So it could be all of those reasons, it could be one of those reasons, we're just not told. Nicodemus wanted a private meeting with Jesus. Can I suggest that you become like Nicodemus? That you don't get satisfied with just meeting with God with the crowd? I mean, you need the crowd, I need the crowd, we need fellowship with each other. I believe greatly in the importance of being together like this and being on the same page and going through great chunks of scripture together.

But there are things you can't get from Jesus in the crowd. You need a private meeting with him, seek out a private meeting with him. And lay those things, those concerns, those burdens of your life before him in private.

You need both, you need private time, you need public time. Nicodemus came to him and he said, Rabbi, now that's a term of respect. He was a rabbi himself, Nicodemus, and he looks at Jesus and calls him with a term of respect, you are a Jewish rabbi. However, that's an assumption. The assumption in giving him the title that was his title is saying, you know, you and I are on the same level. We know, we being we the Sanhedrin, we who are interested in these things, we know that you are a teacher come from God.

That's again, an assumption and he's wrong. He's more than a teacher come from God. He is God who has come to teach. But his assumption is we have a new rabbi. He does things nobody else does. He has an authority nobody else has. And he uniquely refers to the temple, not as the house, but as my father's house, my father, not our, my father's house. He claims a unique relationship with our God.

I need more information. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resource that will help you and the children in your life see the timeless story of Christ with fresh eyes.

Nate Heitzig's book Christmas Under the Tree with Forward by Levi Lusko is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copy when you give $25 or more. Call 800-922-1888.

That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can find full message series and libraries of content from Skip Heitzig on YouTube? Simply visit the Connect with Skip Heitzig channel on YouTube and be sure to subscribe to the channel so you never miss any new content. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.