Introduction to John 3.

There is continuation of the issues presented in 2:23-25 into 3:1. Jesus was said to “not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people, and needed to one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. Now there was a man of the Pharisees …” The word “man” (anthropos) occurs three times in 2 verses. The connection seems unmistakable.

The man who came to Jesus was identified as a Pharisee. This was the group that was most strongly opposed to the Person and Work of Jesus. They were his chief persecutors and they prosecuted him with charges that led to his death.

C.K. Barrett (John) notes that there was “minimal dialogue” between the man and Jesus. There was no purpose given for his visit to see the Lord. But the purpose was known to Jesus. Remember 2:25, “he knew all men” and “he knew what was in man.” And so he does in this conversation with Nicodemus.

Summary Outline of John 3

John 3: 1-15 – discourse / questions between Nicodemus and Jesus

John 3:16-21 – the meditation by John the Evangelist (the writer of the Gospel)

John 3:22-36 – more on John the Baptist. After being introduced, John is sidelined almost immediately when Christ appears on the scene. His testimony is recounted, and the fact that he would be imprisoned and killed is anticipated (3:24).

Nicodemus’s timeline through John

Nicodemus is introduced in John 3 but he appears in John in two other sections. In this first encounter, nothing is said about his faith or his response in any way. He responds almost in a dismissive way to the claim that “you must be born again,” but when Jesus gives a more detailed description of the new birth, there is nothing recorded of Nicodemus’s response.

John 7:50 – in the rising tide of Pharisaical hatred of Jesus, Nicodemus rises in the defense of Jesus inasmuch as the charges brought should be tried carefully and there should not be a rush to judgment without “giving him a hearing and learning what he does.”

Nicodemus had, in fact, done these very actions. He interviewed Jesus and he was aware of his miracles, having either seen them or come to believe they had been done through his own research and information-gathering. In this conflict in Chapter 7, Nicodemus is appealing for the leaders and Pharisees to be careful not to rush to judgment.

John 19:39 – After the crucifixion of Christ, Nicodemus, along with Joseph of Arimathea, tended to the burial of Jesus. Joseph by providing the tomb. Nicodemus by bringing the spices required for the if they saw someone raised from the deadpreparation of the body for interment.

His name only appears five times in the whole of the New Testament — John 3:1, 4, 9; 7:50; and 19:39.

The power of the miracles and their danger.

The miracles of Jesus were powerful testimony to his authority over nature, his ability to heal diseases demonstrated his compassion for the hurting and his healing power was certainly miraculous, outside the realm of our normal experiences. His miracles are called signs. They point to the one who does them.

The signs to Grand Canyon can be impressive, but if you merely stopped your car and took all your pictures standing beside the sign that said, “Grand Canyon” you would miss the point. The signs and miracles can be of that sort. They can be so powerful that they command the attention and admiration of the viewer, but they can hide the purpose of the miracle. The miracles themselves were not the stuff out of which faith is made. Faith comes from knowing the One who creates the miracle.

He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Luke 16:31 ESV)

He came to him at night.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. One might think this to be an unimportant detail, but something that an eye-witness might think to include. But when you look at the others references to night in John, and the introduction that wrote about the darkness and the light, then perhaps there is something more.

Night and darkness referenced:

Night:

• John 3:2

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, 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.”

• John 9:4

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

• John 11:10

But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

• John 13:30

So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

• John 19:39

Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.

• John 21:3

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Darkness:

·         John 1:5

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

·         John 3:19

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

·         John 8:12

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

·         John 12:35

So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

·         John 12:46

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

The passage present the dark, the night as having a moral component. Nicodemus came to Christ at night, because he was in the dark. There were forces of spiritual darkness at work. The darkness is being engaged in conflict with the Light of the World.

These concepts are important to the message of Jesus and they appear quite remarkably in the account of the Gospel.

Water and spirit.

John 3:5 has been given many different interpretations, from believer’s baptism, to physical human birth, to a hundred other options. But it seems that perhaps the best understand must come from the Old Testament. Jesus points Nicodemus the Old Testament, he was “The Teacher of Israel” an important post, and he would have been teaching the content of (what we now call) the Old Testament. Certainly it must be said that Ezekiel 36:25-27 is one of the most  important of the prophetic proclamations. And in that important declaration, Ezekiel speaks about the cleansing of water (implying the forgiveness of sins) and the giving a new heart by an act of the Spirit. There could not be a clearer picture of the new birth that this section.

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”  (Ezekiel 36:25-27 ESV)

But it was eternal life that Nicodemus did not understand. He should have had some understanding of the promise of sprinkled water and the new heart of flesh. So many in Israel knew something about the life of faith, but they had missed the central point. Faith is knowing God. Believing in God is more than obeying the Law.  Loving God is much more than justifying yourself. Nicodemus was at this point woefully lost and incapable of understanding eternal life. He asked, “How can these things be?”

“You must be born again,” Jesus told him.

Overview of Chapter Two

2:1–11 The miracle at Cana of Galilee
2:7-10 Wine made from water
2:11 the declaration about the First Sign
2:11 down to Capernaum
2:12 up to Jerusalem during the Passover
2:14-17 Cleansing of the Temple
2:18 the Jews demand a sign
2:19–22 The Temple and his body
2:22 the sign of the resurrection
2:23 Jesus at the Passover
2:24 Jesus’ caution about the “faith” of men
2:25 His independence from and knowledge of men (preparation for 3:1, There was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemas ….”)

1. After the Hymn to the Logos 1:1-18, the Evangelist turns to the ministry of John the Baptist.

a. John the Baptist boldly announced Christ as the Messiah, the Lamb of God, at this time in his ministry, but in Matthew 11:1ff (and parallels) he asks for another confirmation that Jesus is indeed the Coming One. When John was in prison, about to die, he seemed to need further assurance from Christ. Christ gave him great words of confirmation.

b. Some of the Baptizer’s disciples left him and followed Jesus. This seemed to spark the selection of his disciples. Jesus welcomed the disciples of John – one of whom was Andrew – who found Peter, his brother …. and John, whom Jesus accepted. Then Jesus found Phillip, who found Nathanael (1:45–48).

c. Jesus promised greater glory in the future to those who followed him (1:51).

2. The time of the sign is given: “Three days later.” The site of the wedding was about 60 miles away from the place of John’s ministry. In this place, Cana, there was a wedding and Jesus’ mother was there.

a. Jesus does not address Mary as his mother, or by name in the whole of the Gospel.

b. He is careful to address her as “Woman,” though he identifies her as John’s mother when he committed her care to John when he was on the cross,

i. “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” (John 19:26-27 ESV)

ii. This may bring to mind the call of Jesus regarding physical parents, children, and kin, that “whoever follows me … must hate father, mother, …” See Luke 14:26.

c. The wedding was not a completely public event. The people there were invited.

d. The hour.

i. Jesus’ reply to his mother is centered on his “hour.” “My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)

1. His hour has “not yet come” in 2:4; 7:30; and 8:20.

2. His hour has arrived in 12:23, 27; 13:1; and 17:1.

ii. The condition of the miracle was not to rest on the desire of his mother, but on the fulfillment of his ministry, and of the will of the Father (see John 5:19, ‘So Jesus said to them,

1. “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” (John 5:19 ESV)

iii. There is a tension between the rebuff of Mary and his immediate willingness to help resolve the dilemma at the wedding celebration, “They have run out of wine.”

1. Mary is now powerless to compel him to act. But she is hopeful that he will answer the need she identified. She is not rebuffed. She immediately prepares for his reply and answer by telling the servants to “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5)

2. This is the life of faith in a Sovereign God. He does what he wants/ He loves his children and delights to answer their prayers/ But he does only what he chooses to do for his glory / And he delights in our faith and worship and he acts for our good and blessing.

iv. The principle seems to be that Jesus, at this point in his life and ministry is not directed by or engaged in ministry solely on the direction of his mother. That time had passed. His role as her son was replaced by his identity as the Son of the Father, the Son of God, Messiah, Lamb of God. So everything he did was to be focused on his new and expanding ministry leading to the Cross in every choice and word.

v. The miracle was limited in scope. Few people at the wedding knew, at the time, what had happened.

1. It would seem that only the servants who filled the water jugs and drew out the new wine were aware. His disciples knew, also. But beyond that, the chief steward didn’t give credit to Jesus for the miracle, he praised the Groom (see 2:9).

2. It could be that few knew about the miracle except the disciples and the servants. Perhaps after the festivities settled down, word would spread about the miracle.

vi. The result was that his disciples believed. An overview of faith in John’s Gospel:

1. John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

2. John 1:50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

3. John 20:8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;

4. John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

5. John 20:31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.)

3. Cleansing of the Temple.

a. Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.”

b. Lightfoot notes (in John):

i. He condemned Jewish Worship.

ii. He destroyed the Old Order.

iii. He brings his Work and Ministry into focus.

c. Three uses of Temple.  Matthew 12:6, “I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here.

i.The Temple in Jerusalem

ii. The Temple of Jesus’ physical body (which would be resurrected).

1. It was the promise of Jesus that he “would destroy the temple and in three days it would rise again,” that was one of the chief charges against Jesus by the Pharisees. It was a charge of treason against the Temple and was punishable by death. (see Matthew 26:61; 27:40)

iii. The Temple of our bodies as Christians, in whom God resides today. (See 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17; 6:19)

d. Jesus drives out those selling and changing money for the pilgrims who traveled great distances to come and worship at the Temple.

i. He drives them out. See 2:14-17.

ii. The prophecy about the Temple of his body: “Destroy this temple and, in three days, I will raise it up.” (John 2:18)

4. Jesus’ refusal to trust people (2:23-25).

a. The report is that many people believed because of the signs he performed.

i. He continued his healing ministry in Jerusalem, having begun the signs in Cana.

ii. But they though they believed in Jesus, Jesus didn’t believe in them. The same Greek word is used in both places – they believed, but Jesus didn’t believe “did not entrust himself to them” – same word (see John 2:23–24).

5. Applications from John 2

a. Jesus is the Lord of every event, every occasion, every interview, every contact, everything.

b. Jesus, even today, only does what he sees the Father doing.

c. Jesus is not subject to human relationships and loyalties.

d. He is Sovereign over matters of faith and salvation.

e. He is able to create anything (wine) out of anything (water). (He turns water into wine every day, through natural means.)

f. He is not limited or constrained by anything or anyone, when he does the will of his Father.

g. His miracles do not cause faith – they confirm the faith that is there. People do not believe solely because of the miracle, they believe in Christ who performs the miracles. Christ gave the signs and wonders to strengthen our faith in him. But he didn’t need them if our faith had been stronger.

h. Christ is completely unmoved by people. He is guarded about peoples’ promises and enthusiasm.

i. Jesus is questioning of our requests, but willing to take them all to the Father.

j. Like Mary, we should leave our requests, more as stating a fact or a need, and then wait to see what Jesus will do to meet it.

k. He is able to refuse every request, but willing to grant them, for his glory and for our good, as he sees fit.