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Bible Study the Crux • Chapter 2 • Who Is Jesus and Why Did He Come? 2 and Yet, Their Conversation Reveals More About Nicodemus’ Character

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Bible Study the Crux • Chapter 2 • Who Is Jesus and Why Did He Come? 2 and Yet, Their Conversation Reveals More About Nicodemus’ Character BIBLE STUDY The Crux • Chapter 2 • Who Is Jesus and Why Did He Come? (John 3:1-21) What’s This Passage All About? The Big Picture Last time, we examined the story of Adam and Eve and the brokenness that came as a result The Big Picture of their sin. Before there was harmony; now chaos and brokenness reign—between God and humankind, between certain members of humankind and others, between humankind and Nicodemus talks to creation itself, and within each member of humankind. Most men and women experience the Jesus about some emptiness that comes from this brokenness. In this study, we introduce the solution to this of the most problem—Jesus. intriguing questions of His day and This passage from the Gospel of John explores Jesus’ identity and purpose through a ours—who is Jesus conversation He has with a Jewish teacher named Nicodemus. After Jesus performed signs or and why did He miracles, Nicodemus comes to Jesus. They discuss how to enter the kingdom and why Jesus come. has come into the world. A messiah context Throughout history, the Jewish people were acutely aware of the need to fix the problem of sin that had begun in the garden. They waited for the day when God would make everything right and fix the chaos in humankind and in nature. In particular, they were waiting for a messiah. Messiah in Hebrew means anointed one and refers to the anointing of a king. They envisioned a day when God would send a new messiah or king who would resolve the problems that started with Adam and Eve. The messiah and the Pharisees (John 3:1-2) The Gospel of John tells us that Nicodemus was a “man of the Pharisees” (John 3:1). The Pharisees were a prominent group of teachers at the time of Jesus. They eagerly awaited the coming of the messiah and believed that he could come at any moment. They attempted to live out the Jewish law to the fullest extent while they waited for the messiah to come. In the Gospels, Jesus slowly reveals Himself to be this messiah to the Jewish people, but some Jews, including the Pharisees, have a hard time accepting Jesus’ kingship and question His teachings. One of the promises of the messiah was the signs or miracles that he would do. Just before this passage, Jesus teaches in the Jewish temple. The teachers there question Him by asking, “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” (John 2:18). Then, in John 2:23-25, Jesus performs many signs and some of the Jews believe in Him. In the dark Nicodemus enters the conversation with Jesus as a Pharisee and as one who believed in the signs that Jesus performed. We are told that he comes by night in order to avoid persecution and calls Jesus a “man of God” (John 3:2). He courageously tries to investigate who Jesus is because of the signs that Jesus performed (John 3:2; 2:23). Continued on page 2 Bible Study The Crux • Chapter 2 • Who Is Jesus and Why Did He Come? 2 And yet, their conversation reveals more about Nicodemus’ character. Nicodemus is interested in what Jesus has to say but remains skeptical. At the heart of their conversation, Jesus and Nicodemus discuss the kingdom of God that the Pharisees were waiting for. Specifically, Jesus (as King) tells Nicodemus how to enter this kingdom by being born again through water and Spirit (a reference to Baptism). Born again But Nicodemus fails to understand what Jesus is saying. Rather than accepting the teaching and trying to understand, Nicodemus challenges the validity of the teaching—“How can a man Application be born when he is old?” (John 3:4). He has seen the signs that Jesus has done and yet still will to Jesus not put his full trust into what Jesus is saying. Jesus points out the key problem, that Nicodemus fails to get beyond the flesh or the natural world to see the work of the Spirit (John Ultimately, Jesus is 3:6). Because of this, Nicodemus cannot understand what Jesus is saying. Nicodemus does not sent to us because trust the signs that he has seen or the testimony that he has heard (Jesus’ reference to “our of the love of the testimony” in John 3:11 refers to the testimony of Jesus and John the Baptist). Father. It is Jesus who saves us. For God so loved the world Jesus makes a bold claim in order to establish credibility and authority with Nicodemus—He has descended from heaven. Jesus has descended from heaven and then will be lifted up. Jesus refers to a story about Moses. During the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, the people were bitten by serpents. In order for them to be healed and their lives to be saved, Moses erected a golden Application serpent for the people. Whoever looked upon the serpent would be healed. Jesus takes this to Our Lives analogy and uses it to provide the reason that He is here on earth—He will be lifted up (on the Are we open to cross) and whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. seeing the spiritual side of life? Jesus Jesus then utters one of the most famous verses in the Bible, John 3:16—“For God so loved the grants us the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have opportunity to eternal life.” It has become famous because of its ability to state succinctly the reason why the come out of the Father sent Jesus into the world—not to condemn it but to save it. This is the revolutionary darkness and into point for our culture. There are people who associate Christianity with a condemnation to hell. the light.Application Here, Jesus notes that this is not His intention at all. He has come not to condemn but to save. to Jesus Why does the world reject Jesus? So, if Jesus came to save, why does the world reject Him? Jesus gives a direct answer—the world loves the darkness instead of the light (John 3:19). They mistakenly prefer condemnation over salvation. They are unwilling to have their lives and works exposed in the light and so they stay there in the darkness (John 3:20). In a subtle way, Jesus is also speaking of Nicodemus’ actions in the darkness. Nicodemus must not be afraid to let them be exposed. At the end of the passage, Jesus connects with the theme of sin and brokenness, which was in the last chapter of our study. Many people are given the opportunity to leave the brokenness and yet they do not because a part of them still ironically clings to this brokenness. Jesus comes not to just give us a free pass, but the opportunity to transform our lives from division and strife to wholeness and peace if we are willing to do so. But we have to make the decision to cross this line. We have to overcome our attachment to the darkness. We will explore this theme more next time with the story of the Prodigal Son. Continued on page 3 Bible Study The Crux • Chapter 2 • Who Is Jesus and Why Did He Come? 3 Final analysis The goal of this chapter is to reveal some of the history and background behind Jesus in the Gospels. In some ways, the people in your study could be very much like Nicodemus. They have heard of Jesus and accept the invitation to hear more about Him. They know the miracles that He performed and how He rose from the dead, but they remain skeptical. Hopefully, through the questions of Nicodemus, they can courageously explore who Jesus is and why He came to earth. Through an exploration of the message of Jesus and His death and resurrection on the cross, they can come to trust Jesus fully just as Nicodemus did at the foot of the cross (John 19:39). Continued on page 4 Bible Study The Crux • Chapter 2 • Who is Jesus and Why Did He Come? 4 DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR YOUR BIBLE STUDY Opener Have you ever spent an extraordinary amount of time trying to figure out an answer to something? Perhaps you had a marathon watching of a TV show to see what happens in the end. Or, maybe you have googled a topic and did not stop until you found exactly what you were looking for. Background Last time, we examined the story of Adam and Eve and the brokenness that came as a result of their sin. Throughout history, the Jewish people were acutely aware of the need to fix the problem of sin that began in the garden. They waited for the day when God would make everything right and fix the chaos in humankind and in nature. In particular, they were waiting for a messiah. Messiah in Hebrew means anointed one and refers to the anointing of a king. They envisioned a day when God would send a new messiah or king who would resolve the problems that began with Adam and Eve. One of the promises of the messiah was the signs or miracles that he would do. In the Gospel of John, we explore Jesus’ identity and purpose through a conversation He has with a Jewish teacher named Nicodemus. After Jesus performed signs or miracles, Nicodemus comes to Jesus and they discuss how to enter the kingdom and why Jesus has come into the world.
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