seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[d]
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[e] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[f] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”[g]
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”[h]
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God[i] gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
a. John 3:3 The Greek for again also means from above; also in verse 7.
b. John 3:6 Or but spirit
c. John 3:7 The Greek is plural.
d. John 3:8 The Greek for Spirit is the same as that for wind.
e. John 3:13 Some manuscripts Man, who is in heaven
f. John 3:14 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted.
g. John 3:15 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 21.
h. John 3:30 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 36.
i. John 3:34 Greek he
This morning I read the blueletterbible.org commentary.... and of course I used the easy English site to help me get a second look.
Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God: Jesus' reply to Nicodemus shatters the Jewish assumption that their racial identity - their old birth - assured them a place in God's Kingdom. Jesus makes it plain that a man's first birth does not assure him of the kingdom - only being born again gives this assurance.
How can a man be born when he is old? Nicodemus' reply may not be out of ignorance, but from thinking that Jesus means "turning over a new leaf. " His question may be "How can you teach an old dog new tricks?" One way or another, Nicodemus clearly does not understand Jesus or the truth about the new birth.
This is might make it easier......
When we believe in Jesus, we are sorry because of our sins. We realise that we can never be good enough for God. We know that our sins deserve punishment. But Jesus suffered that punishment on our behalf. He has paid the price for our sins. So when we accept him as our Lord, God forgives our sins. And he accepts us. Then the Holy Spirit enters us and God begins to change us. Our spirits are born again! Our spirits become alive. We know that God is real. We love him and we want to please him. We become different people inside our hearts.
Everyone who has been born again belongs to God’s kingdom. It does not matter where a person lives in the world. It does not matter whether that person is rich or poor. It does not matter whether that person is young or old. The colour of that person’s skin does not matter. God accepts everyone who believes in his Son, Jesus.
And finally.... not to leave John the Baptist out.... this is from enduringword.com.All are coming to Him! John’s disciples seemed alarmed, but it didn’t bother John one bit. John would not allow envy or the fickle crowds make him forget his mission: to announce that the Messiah had come, and then to step back and let the attention be focused upon the Messiah.
I'm old. I'll be 70 in a few months.... so I remember things.... like prayer in the public schools.... reading the Bible in public schools.... and medicine that was beyond yucky. I saw, online, that a woman was saying she believes all the ill in the world goes back to the wickedness of the single minded pious people of the church in the 50s. Yep... in the 50s we said the pledge of allegiance, read a verse out of the Bible, and said the Lords Prayer every morning Monday through Friday.... and on Sunday... we went to church. The Baptist kids had to go to church from nine til noon on Sunday... while those lucky Catholic kids only had to go for a short mass... and they could go on Saturday instead of Sunday.... or they could go on Sunday evening while I was back at church again for Sunday evening Bible study with the pastor. That song.... "A spoonful of sugar" was a real thing when I was a kid. Antibiotics were prescribed liberally.... and believe me they weren't pink and they sure didn't taste like bubblegum. We took antibiotics for ear aches.... sore throats.... and I bet if mom had taken me to the dispensary.... [that's what the Navy called the doctor back then]..... they would have handed me some of that nasty stuff for a stubbed toe.
Life for the Jewish people was like that. They were born to a "special" family. God handed their laws down to them. They had to go to Temple at a special time... They had to do this and do that in a specific manner. They knew all the steps to being a "godly" person. It was their job to be miserable... the more miserable they were... the more they must be following all the Temple laws.... and they made a huge deal about it. Meeting a truly religious man on the streets back in the day meant I would probably have to suffer through how that godly man was fasting and miserable. I was to know his godliness by the length of his fasting.
Jesus said... forget all that. Jesus said.... I brought the antidote. It's better than fasting and moaning. It's better than stumbling over one man made ritual after another. It's the antidote to death..... take this medicine and you will live forever!
Wait... what.... live forever? In this God forsaken world with sickness, murder, rape, incest and on and on and on..... what good is that? That's like being stuck in an XXX version of the movie "Groundhog Day". Why would anyone want to live forever?
That same stuff that is making me sick.... that same thing that is making the world crazy.... that all started here on earth. A snake gave Eve a sales pitch, Eve bought it and gave it to Adam...... and now..... in order to escape what happened after that..... we all have to take our medicine.
Now we can refuse to take that nasty step.... we can stomp our feet and tell God that we are not horrible sinners..... and we will stay sick....
OR... we can stop fighting it and just Believe. If we will accept the fact the medicine will make things better... and take our medicine.... we might get better.
IMHO....Jesus came here to offer us the antidote to death. On top of that... to ease our concerns..... He told us that once we take our medicine.... we will have a better life..... We'll heal.... all we have to do is open our mouth and let Him give us the cure.
It's hard to admit that I am a horrible human...... and I need to Believe in Jesus to get Salvation..... I need to take my medicine.
