John 2:23-3:8

Well great, we had a week's break didn't we last week from John's Gospel and we're back in John's Gospel and we're trying to work out what is genuine Christian belief that's if you've been here over the last few weeks what is it what isn't it are we doing it are we not doing it and in our passage today we come to another one of John's belief motifs it's there in verse 23 of chapter 2

there we're introduced to a new group John calls them the many doesn't he the many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing it's exciting isn't it we've been set up to look for this kind of thing as we read through John's Gospel and we're told the many believe in him as a result of seeing their miracles the signs that he

does they believe in his name John picks up of the language that he uses in the prologue in in chapter 1 when he's describing what genuine belief is he uses that language doesn't he a belief in his name those who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God it looks like God's family is growing isn't it as the many believe in his name

John's clear isn't it as the many believe in his name John's clear isn't he that they believe they're not pretending to believe they're not saying one thing and doing another they're not being hypocritical so verse 24 comes as a great shock doesn't it it's a very disturbing verse but Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people

Jesus is reluctant to count them as followers of whom he can be sure the impression made on them of his miracles was no guarantee in Jesus's mind of their perseverance and of their genuine faith the kind of belief that he was looking for and the couple of verses at the top of your sheets there are a kind of set up for the famous encounter between Jesus and

Nicodemus in chapter 3 and Nicodemus in chapter 3 John is teeing us up for that and the key message that John wants us to understand as Jesus and Nicodemus meet is that if you want to know what faith is if you want to know what genuine belief is and whether you're doing it and whether you're not doing it humanly speaking to get it right you cannot get it right

why doesn't Jesus sign up for that and why doesn't Jesus sign up for the church on that morning into church membership it is a problem verse 24 Jesus knows about all people they look legit don't they and John adds that little comment it's really interesting in verse 24

Jesus on his part did not interest himself to them as if to say isn't it everyone else thought they were legit we all thought I mean you know John the apostle thought you could have fooled me

we thought they were genuine believers but Jesus singular on his part with his unique knowledge of humanity sees right through them doesn't he and it's a problem of human nature of all people everyone thinks revival has come but God incarnate he's not being insulting to our species here but he thinks hang on a minute for a second here

you are only human it is your fallen human nature verse 25 Jesus knew what was in man John uses the word anthropos that the human person no matter what you look like from the outside Jesus knows what is in on the inside of a fundamental human person and it's an inability to believe properly

and we've got to realize to get belief right we cannot get it right in ourselves I've got two main points really this afternoon our problem we see is two things first of all our natural human attitude towards Jesus our natural human attitude towards Jesus your only human

Nicodemus he comes to Jesus doesn't he and I want to focus in on a few key bits here look at verse two in the second paragraph this man came to Jesus by night and said to him rabbi we know that you're a teacher come from God for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him

now you might think okay that is good isn't it Nicodemus's attitude towards Jesus seems well here he says good things about him he calls him rabbi what a sign of respect that is

God is with you so that you can do these miracles Nicodemus actually puts his finger on some of the things that Jesus will later stress that we must believe about him that he has come from God

Nicodemus gets that right doesn't he his knowledge of Jesus seems right and good but the problem is his deep seated attitude towards Jesus his problem is clear the moment he opens his mouth

what are his first words rabbi we know rabbi we know that you are a teacher come from God notice Nicodemus he comes to the rabbi doesn't he this great teacher but he doesn't come with a question he comes with a statement

he doesn't really ask him a question even to start off with does he he does later but he comes with a statement

Nicodemus's posture in the conversation is one of initial certainty certainty concerning the things that he thinks he knows already about Jesus

so he comes to him doesn't he Jesus your signs are so very convincing

and I've come to tell you that that we now know who you are we know who you are we know who you are we know what you're doing here you're you're a teacher aren't you you're you're you're a good man so good you're here

others thought that he was going to bring about a revolution didn't they others thought that he was just a prophet either way we've got you sussed Jesus

and that carries on today doesn't it people think that maybe he was a social revolutionary

and others think he was a good moral example others a wise sagely teacher others a spiritual mascot others a philosopher

others think he was just a con man or a magician others think he was a trickster but either way whatever you think of him either good or bad

the bottom line is we know who you are Jesus we've got you nailed we've worked you all out all by ourselves

and we just want to let you know that Jesus the point here is not what Nicodemus thinks of him

whether he thinks good things or bad things about Jesus that is kind of irrelevant

the point actually is that he thinks he knows Jesus in the first place

that by himself he's got the know-how that he's got the insight

and we can be like that can't we we've got all the data we've got all the interpretative skills

we've got the intellects and to nail Jesus down to nail the person of Jesus Christ down to make our informed

decisions about him to take him or to leave him to believe him or not we know who he is

and people say don't they your Jesus is clearly not the same as my Jesus

we come to Jesus with a statement of who we know he is

Jesus you are this to me we don't come to him with a question

and Nicodemus is the spokesperson for the human race here isn't he

he represents human certainty based on human deduction of what human beings see in Jesus Christ

he's got a superiority complex hasn't he

but that arrogance actually makes Nicodemus stupid

it makes him ignorant of the things that he should know about Jesus

Jesus says doesn't he later on in this chapter

how can you be the teacher of Israel and not know these things

John shows us here that it's not for lack of information that people don't see Jesus for who he is

or understand what he's come to do

it is fundamentally an attitude problem

it is a posture of certainty in our own inventions of Jesus Christ

that make people stupid as to who he really is

and we all do it don't we

there's a great episode of a TV show

called Undercover Bosses

where an overzealous factory manager

features in the show

and he is so sure that he knows who the new guy

in the forklift truck department is

he's just another lackey

who signed into the company a couple of weeks ago

we as the audience know that he's actually the CEO of the whole company

and he signed on to work undercover

and at one point the manager gets so annoyed with him

without realising it he fires his own boss

the reveal at the end is TV gold

you should watch it

your attitude is that natural pride of having Jesus nailed

isn't it

thinking we know who you are

but Nicodemus

you're only human

you're only human

and I know what's in humans

Jesus says

I know what's in man

and this is what you do

isn't it

with me

you can't believe

because you are blocked

by this natural

fallen human attitude to me

your natural assumptions

and your sense of certainty about me

that's the first thing

secondly

you can't believe

not only because of your natural attitude

but because of your natural human birth

you can't believe

because of your natural human birth

look at verse 3

Jesus answers him

truly truly

I say to you

unless one is born again

he cannot see the kingdom of God

Jesus is saying there isn't he

that true belief

and entry into God's kingdom

is more than natural human deduction

it's more than simply being impressed by Jesus

it's more than the belief

that you are competent to judge who Jesus is

true belief actually is not at all natural

it is entirely supernatural

Jesus describes it as being born

doesn't he

being born again

or above

what's he saying there

let me say that

if you hear that

and you haven't understood it

then you're halfway to understanding it

because what we're talking about here

are deeply mysterious things

in the work of God

we are walking here

right at the bounds of human language

so much so that John

in the original Greek

he has to use a word

that has two meanings

it can mean to be born from above

or to be born again

but if we can simplify it

Jesus shows Nicodemus

that true belief

is about something far deeper

than what you claim to know

and what you judge about Jesus

from your own experience

it is about something far more fundamental

to your identity in the first place

it's not about how you conceive of him

but how you are conceived

what matters in believing in the right way

is having the right birth

Jesus describes two kinds of birth

doesn't he

in verse 6

if you look there

born of the flesh

or born of the spirit

imagine your birth certificate

Jesus looks at your birth certificate

doesn't he

and with all the details on it

and next to your name

he sees only one of two possibilities

flesh birth

or spirit birth

they're Bible words

flesh

it just means

natural human birth

and spirit

is to do with God

isn't it

it's being born by God

conceived by God

in about an hour

if I go down to Buckingham Palace

after this talk

and I speak to the Queen's guards

at the gate

imagine it

and I could tell him

couldn't I

I want to come in

can you let me in

just me

I really want to sit in the royal suite

I want to be a royal

for the rest of my life

can you let me in

I really want a Range Rover

he'd say get lost

wouldn't he

don't waste my time

and I could say

well actually

don't you know who I am

I am a member of the royal family

Lord Robert

this is preposterous

let me in

to the palace

well what would he say

he would say

well show me your birth certificate

then

if you're conceived

by royal people

if it says

royal birth

on your birth certificate

then come in

to the kingdom

but if not

forget it

birth is everything

isn't it

when it comes to royal things

and when it comes to kingdoms

and when it comes to the kingdom of God

it's true

you can do all you like

to try and be royal

but without the right birth

you're not coming in

and the same goes for belief

that is why this passage is here

after the many

believe

it is explaining to us

what is going on here

it's the same

with belief

true belief

is like birth

in one sense

it is something

that you just

cannot do

by yourself

your first birth

you had no part in it

did you

you did nothing

really

you were a shriveled mess

of flailing limbs

you were so vulnerable

you were so weak

and it's the same

with belief

it's like being born

born again

and it must be done

by God

and God alone

you've got to be born

of the spirit

of God

really

the meeting of Nicodemus

is an exposition

of John

John 1:12–13

chapter 1

verse 12

to 13

do you remember that

John says

to all who did receive him

who believed in his name

there's that language again

he gave the right

to become children of God

and we're thinking

aren't we

well John

clarify what that means

believing in his name

what is that

and he does that

he said

people who believe

in his name

are people who are born

not of blood

nor of the will of flesh

nor of the will of man

but they are born of God

he says

true belief

in his name

is of God

it comes from him

to get it right

we've got to realise

we

can't

get it right

just as to be born

right

we don't

get it right

do we

that's the point

but here's the rub

with it

because it's the very

impossibility

of it for you

to do it

that will actually

lead you to the

possibility of it

once you grasp

that you cannot

do it

you will begin

to do it

as soon as you

start saying

I can't do this

Lord

I need your help

to get into the

kingdom

even to believe

when you think

you can't achieve

perfect belief

actually

you're well

on your way

the kind of

believing Jesus

is looking for

is the kind of

believing that

is only from God

I've spoken on

Nicodemus

on this passage

quite a few times

before

and because he's

religious

that's always

why I've gone to him

he's an easy target

isn't he

to kind of attack

religious people

John tells us

he's the ruler

of the Jews

but what I've

missed actually

until this week

is that

Nicodemus

is put here

not because of

what is unique

to him

as a religious

person

but actually

what is common

to him

as a man

as a human

being

you see

at the end

of chapter 2

verse 25

there

John ends

with the word

man

doesn't he

Jesus knew

what was in

man

and then

in the next

verse of chapter 3

he uses the same

word again

there was a man

of the Pharisees

named Nicodemus

and John

flows them together

if you've got a

title in your

Bibles at home

it might say

something like

you must be

born again

that's not part

of the original

text

get a black

permanent marker

and scrub it out

because the flow

between chapter 2

and 3

is so important

here

John flows

them together

he says

in chapter 2

doesn't he

Jesus knows

what was in

man

so let me

give you an

example of a

man

here is

Nicodemus

and so

by scrubbing

out the little

title in our

Bibles

we see

don't we

that Nicodemus

is just like

all of us

maybe his

religion makes

the point even

more strongly

doesn't it

that after all

all of that

religion

he's still

only human

underneath the

robes and all

the religiosity

he's just one

of the many

he's one like

us

and Jesus

knows what

is naturally

in us

it's wonderful

as you follow

the gospel

how Nicodemus

later

he stands up

for Jesus

doesn't he

in the Sanhedrin

in the court

he arranges

an honourable

burial for

Jesus

I think

Nicodemus

did believe

in the end

and perhaps

this was the

moment wasn't it

in this

conversation with

Jesus where

he stopped

bringing statements

to Jesus

and he started

asking questions

we like him

with this

superiority

complex

we make

ourselves

stupid

before Jesus

and we

kid ourselves

that we

can believe

by pure

human deduction

without God's

help at all

but we get it

right don't we

when we know

we can't

get it right

we're only

human

and we need

to be born

of God

born again

let's pray