Jesus understood exactly how this news would affect the disciples. He knew they might feel like orphans. That's why He explained His going and the Spirit's coming in such detail. Jesus was not leaving them. He was following God's plan to the letter. Remember what Jesus said: "...the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me." God's plan has always met every need of every individual in His plan and it always will. God sent the Son to preach, die, rise from the grave, and ascend back to the Right Hand of God. The Son sent the Spirit from God to continue His ministry with the disciples and all who would follow the commandments of God. The Holy Spirit would comfort, guide, encourage and strengthen the disciples. The Spirit would also continue Christ's preaching ministry to convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. He would do it through the lives, voices and writings of the disciples.
Jesus was very honest with the disciples. He explained that their journey would be hard. People would misunderstand them, hate them, even try to kill them. Jesus told them, "I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy." (John 16:20) Jesus was speaking there about His death on the cross and how the disciples would grieve and then later rejoice when they learned about His resurrection. They would have many sorrows and difficulties years later to fulfill Christ's prophecy concerning their lives. Most were killed because of their ministries in the Name of Christ. But one thing they had during their entire journey was the Presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit did guide them into all truth. He did tell them what was to come. He did bring glory to Messiah by taking from what was His and making it known to the disciples.
Here are some thoughts about the Spirit's involvement in the death and resurrection of Christ. The Bible teaches us that Messiah offered Himself as a worthy sacrifice "through" the Spirit of God.
"When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"Hebrews 9:11-14
"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God--the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord."Romans 1:1-4
"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."Romans 8:11
God's Spirit, once hovering knowingly and creatively over the surface of the deep, hovered over the beaten and lifeless body of Jesus Christ almost two-thousand years ago in a small rock tomb and brought Him back to life! The Spirit is life and gives life to all who believe. We have life through God's Spirit. Hallelujah!
We usually think of the Twelve Apostles as Christ's disciples, but Jesus had many more than that. We read about Christ calling His first disciples in Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:14-20, Luke 5:1-11, and John 1:35-51. He later designated twelve of them as apostles.
"One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor."Luke 6:12-16
Luke 6:17 speaks of Jesus' disciples as being "a large crowd" (Luke 6:17). John 4:1 states that "Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John." John the Baptist had baptized hundreds, possibly thousands, by that time. Mark 1:4 has this about John's ministry: "The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." We usually think of Christ's disciples as being only men, but Jesus had many women who believed His message and supported Him. They knew first-hand the power of God's forgiveness.
"Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means."Luke 8:1-3
More than a hundred of Christ's disciples waited for the promised Holy Spirit in the days after Christ ascended to heaven.
"In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, 'Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus--he was one of our number and shared in this ministry."Acts 1:15-17
Some of Christ's disciples were quieter about their beliefs than people like Peter, James and John.. Nicodemus is an example. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night to ask Him questions (John 3:1-21). The other Pharisees who questioned Christ did it in front of crowds of people for the purpose of embarrassing Christ. However, Nicodemus came alone at night to speak with Christ. His purpose was to learn, not to embarrass. Nicodemus later questioned his own group of Jewish leaders about the way they were treating Christ (John 7:45-52). It's interesting to note that the Pharisees asked if any of the rulers or Pharisees had believed in Christ just before Nicodemus questioned them about their treatment of Jesus. After Jesus died, Nicodemus accompanied Joseph of Arimathea to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus. The two men prepared the body for burial and placed it in a tomb (John 19:38-42). Nicodemus is never mentioned by name again in the Bible, but it's obvious from his actions that he was a disciple of Christ.
It was to Nicodemus that Christ shared profound truths about the Holy Spirit and His relationship to Christ's disciples. Read along in John 3. Nicodemus said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were note with him." Jesus replied that "no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." You will probably hear the term "born again" often during your spiritual life. The Greek words are gennethe anothen . The translation is "is born from above." The word anothen , comes from the words ano (above) and then (from). The word is used 13 times in the New Testament. Most of the translations are "from above" and "top." Some usages of the word (John 19:11; James 1:17; 3:15, 17) would seem to indicate that "above" means coming from God.
Let's first place Christ's statement in the correct context. He is speaking about entrance into the kingdom of God. Nicodemus and other Jews understood that to mean the earthly Messianic kingdom the Old Testament prophets had promised Israel for hundreds of years. They saw it as a physical kingdom. Most seemed to miss the spiritual implications of the kingdom.
Nicodemus missed the point about being "born again" (born from above). He asked Jesus, "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Nicodemus viewed Christ's comment as meaning only a natural rebirth. He did not grasp the supernatural aspects of what Jesus was saying. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." Jesus now begins to define the meaning of being born from above. It is a birth of water and a birth of Spirit. What are these births? Some Bible students believe the water speaks of water baptism while the Spirit is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. However, Jesus explains exactly what he meant: "Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." I believe Jesus would have said "baptism" if he had meant baptism. Instead he speaks of flesh giving birth to flesh. That's not part of the doctrine of baptism. Jesus is talking here about the physical birth and spiritual birth that a person must have in order to enter the kingdom of God. Flesh giving birth to flesh is a woman giving birth to a baby. The amniotic sac, a membrane containing water that envelops the baby inside it's mother's womb, breaks before or during labor. The water flows out through the vagina. That's the water Jesus was speaking of in John 3. A person could not enter the kingdom of God until they had first been born physically. Then they had to be born from above, from God, spiritually. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. Only He can give spiritual life.
Jesus went on to tell Nicodemus, "You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 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." Spiritual birth is not something anyone can see, but you can see its effects. As a journalist, I have covered many wind storms: tornadoes, hurricanes, microbursts. I couldn't see the wind but I could see the impact of the unseen wind on people and property. The same is true with spiritual birth. We can't see the Spirit, but we can see what it does to people. It changes them, makes them new inside and out. I have seen that change in my life and the lives of hundreds of other people through the years. The work of the Holy Spirit is just as real as the wind that moves upon the face of the earth.
Still, Nicodemus fails to understand Christ's meaning: "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked." Christ's answer to this final question is one of the most famous and most quoted passages from the teachings of Jesus the Messiah.
"You are Israel's teacher,' said Jesus, 'and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."John 3: 9-21
Notice that Jesus began this discourse by reminding Nicodemus He was Israel's teacher. This is specifically a Jewish message What Jesus was telling Nicodemus was true for Jews and those who became Jews through the Law of Moses (proselyte). We'll have to search Paul's teachings to see if being "born again" is also true for Gentiles in the Age of Grace.
After reprimanding Nicodemus, Jesus tells him that He speaks of what He knows and what He's seen. The truths of Jesus are from the lips of the Eternal God Himself! This is not hearsay. This is not something to debate or question. It's absolute Truth! Jesus was a witness of these heavenly truths. He came from heaven. He was the Son of Man!
We find nine basic truths in this discourse:
John does not write about how Nicodemus reacted to Christ's teaching. The next verse states that Jesus and His disciples went out into the Judean countryside to spend time with them and to baptize new disciples. However, we know from John's Gospel that Nicodemus did become a disciple of Jesus. We are not told whether he became a believer the same night he visited Jesus in secret. These are truths Nicodemus may have had to consider for a time before accepting. That's the way it is with many people. It took me many weeks of consideration before I was ready to give my life to Christ, but it was the best decision of my life! I know it was for Nicodemus, too.
Taking God's Grace to the World!
"Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright ©, 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers."
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Last Updated: 12/20/1999