FELLOWSHIP STUDY

John Chapter 3

Jesus teaches Nicodemus 3:1-21

v1-2 A *Jewish leader called Nicodemus came to speak to

Jesus. Nicodemus was a *Pharisee. He came to Jesus at

night. Nicodemus said to Jesus, ‘Teacher! We all know that

God has sent you to teach us. You do *miracles. These *signs

prove that God is with you.’

v3 Jesus answered, ‘You must be born again. If you are not

born again, you can never enter God’s *kingdom. I tell you the

truth.’

v4 Nicodemus asked, ‘How can an adult be born again? A

man cannot go back inside his mother’s body and be born a

second time!’

v5 Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth. Nobody can enter

God’s *kingdom unless he or she is born by means of water

and the *Holy Spirit. v6 A person is born physically by means

of human parents. But a person can be born *spiritually only

by means of the *Holy Spirit. v7 I said that you must be born

again. Do not be surprised at this statement. v8 The wind

blows wherever it wants. You can hear the sound that it

makes. But you do not know where it comes from. And you do

not know where it is going. It is like this with everyone who is

born by means of the *Holy Spirit.’

v9 ‘What do you mean?’ asked Nicodemus.

v10 Jesus answered him, ‘You are a great *Jewish teacher.

But you do not understand these things! v11 I tell you the

truth. We speak about what we know. And we report what we

have seen. But nobody believes us. v12 You do not believe

me when I speak about things on earth. So you cannot

believe me when I speak about things in heaven. v13 Nobody

has ever gone up to heaven, except the Son of Man, who

came down from heaven. v14 Moses lifted up the metal snake

in the desert. In the same way, people will lift up the Son of

Man. v15 Then everyone who *believes in him can have

*eternal life.

v16 God loved the people in this world so much that he gave

his only Son. So everyone who *believes in him will never

really die. Instead, they will have *eternal life. v17 God did not

send his Son into the world to *condemn its people. God sent

his Son to *save them. v18 God will not *condemn anyone

who *believes in his Son. But he has already *condemned

anyone who does not *believe in him. This is because they

have not *believed in God’s only Son.

v19 The *light from heaven has come into the world. But God

will *condemn people who do evil things. This is because they

preferred the darkness instead of the *light. v20 People who

do evil things hate the *light. They will not come into the *light.

They are afraid that the *light will show clearly all their evil

acts. v21 But people who do good things are happy to come

into the *light. Then everyone can see that they obey God.

And that is why they do these good things.’

 

Verses 1-2 Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin. The

Sanhedrin was a group of 70 *Jewish leaders, plus the *High

Priest. The *Romans ruled the *Jews. But they allowed the

*Jewish leaders to make decisions about certain legal matters

and also matters about their religion. These 70 *Jewish leaders

came from rich and important families. Nicodemus was also a

*Pharisee (see note on John 1:24-25).

There are two possible reasons why Nicodemus came to see

Jesus at night. Perhaps he did not want the other *Jewish

leaders to know that he had spoken to Jesus. Jesus was not

popular with the *Jewish leaders. He often argued with them in

public. But perhaps there was another reason. *Jewish teachers

taught that the best time to study God’s *Law was at night. Jesus

was very busy all day. He was a popular teacher and crowds

followed him. So maybe Nicodemus wanted to discuss important

*spiritual matters in private, when Jesus was alone.

Verses 3-4 The other three *Gospels contain many references to

God’s *kingdom. But this verse is the only place where we read

the phrase ‘God’s *kingdom’ in John’s *Gospel.

God’s *kingdom is not a country that has borders. It is not in one

particular place. Perhaps the best description of God’s *kingdom

is in the *Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). This is

the prayer that Jesus taught us to say. In this prayer, we ask for

God’s *kingdom to come to the earth, so that everyone will obey

God. The *angels in heaven obey God. We ask that this will

happen on the earth, too.

The writer William Barclay said that God’s *kingdom is a society.

In this society, people do everything that pleases God. God’s

*kingdom has begun already. Because when a person *believes

in Jesus, they join God’s *kingdom. In the future, God’s *kingdom

will come completely to the earth. This will happen when Jesus

returns to *judge the world.

(Revelation chapters 21 and 22).

 

DISCUSSION: what does it mean to you to be apart of God’s

Kingdom?

What are you doing right now to help establish it on earth?

Jesus told Nicodemus that there is only one way to enter God’s

*kingdom. A person has to be born again. These *Greek words

can mean also ‘born from above’. This is because Jesus was not

talking about the birth of our physical bodies. He was talking

about our spirits.

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 color of that person’s

skin does not matter. God accepts everyone who *believes in his

Son, Jesus.

 

DISCUSSION: knowing that you will never be “good

enough” yet Christ still died for you, what does this tell you

about the Love of God for His people?

How does this affect you in your desire to honor Him?

‘I tell you the truth’ (verse 3). Jesus used the phrase ‘I tell you

the truth’ often, when he wanted to emphasise very important

statements.

Verses 5-7 ‘By means of water and the *Holy Spirit’ (verse 5).

Jesus said that a person needs two births. The first is the natural

birth of the body. This happens by means of one’s parents. The

second birth is a *spiritual birth. Only the *Holy Spirit can make

this happen.

We cannot get this new *life for ourselves. Only the *Holy Spirit

can give it to us. It is a gift from God (see Romans 8:16; 1

Corinthians 2:10-12; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6).

Verse 8 Jesus said that the *Holy Spirit is like the wind. Actually,

the words for ‘wind’ and ‘spirit’ are the same in both *Hebrew and

*Greek. Like the wind, the *Holy Spirit is invisible (something that

we cannot see, although it is there). Like the wind, the *Holy

Spirit can go anywhere and everywhere. Like the wind, we can

feel the effects of the *Holy Spirit. And like the wind, we cannot

control the *Holy Spirit.

We cannot explain how the *Holy Spirit gives to us this new birth.

It is a mystery. We can never really understand it. We just know

that it is true. It happens!

 

DISCUSSION? According to verses 5-8, how does salvation

occur?

Is it mans choice or Gods choice?

What can we do to cause Spritual birth in ourselves?

Now that we know there is NOTHING we can do to CAUSE

our own birth, how much more thankful should we be to

God for our salvation?

Verses 9-11 Nicodemus was a very clever man. He knew the

*Scriptures well and he taught people about them. But he did not

understand what Jesus was teaching him. Because he was

clever, he realised this. He was wise enough to ask Jesus some

questions. Nicodemus really wanted to learn and to understand.

Because Nicodemus was honest and sincere, Jesus explained

things to him.

. However, people do not have to be clever to

*believe what Jesus said. They just have to have *faith in him.

His words are all true!

Jesus used the plural ‘we’ in verse 11. Some people think that he

was referring to the *disciples. But the *disciples had known

Jesus only for a short time. So perhaps Jesus was including God

the *Father and the *Holy Spirit with himself.

Verse 12 Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus meant

about the second birth. But Jesus had explained it well. The

word ‘you’ in this verse is plural. So Jesus was referring to

everyone who did not understand him.

Although the second birth is a *spiritual matter, it happens here

on the earth. But some people did not understand this. So they

would not understand the things that happened in heaven. (See

also John 12:44-50.)

Many people today do not understand what Jesus taught about

*spiritual matters. It is not because they are not clever. Often, it

is because they do not want to understand. Perhaps they are too

proud. Or perhaps they are too lazy!

Paul wrote about this matter in his letter to the *church in Corinth

(an important city). He wrote that the *Holy Spirit helps us to

understand *spiritual matters. If the *Holy Spirit is not present in

a person’s spirit, that person cannot understand *spiritual

matters (1 Corinthians 2:13-16).

But when we understand, we have to do something about it. It

affects us. We must choose whether to obey Jesus or not.

Verse 13 Jesus, the Son of Man, is the only connection between

heaven and earth. He was in heaven but he came down to live

with us on the earth. After his death and *resurrection, he

returned to heaven. And now he lives in our spirits by means of

the *Holy Spirit.

 

NOTE: knowing that our understanding of spiritual things

depends completely on our ability to hear the Holy Spirit, it

is most important that we spend time developing our

spiritual ears and communing with God and His people so

that we can hear as clearly as possible.

Verses 14-15 This verse refers to an incident in the *Old

Testament (Numbers 21:8-9). The *Israelites were wandering in

the desert. They had complained about God. So he sent many

snakes to punish them for their bad attitude. The snakes bit and

killed many people. Then God told Moses to make a metal

snake. He told Moses to put it on the top of a pole. When the

snakes bit the people, the people had to look up at the metal

snake. If they did this, they would not die.

*Sin is like a snake’s bite. A bite poisons our bodies. And *sin

ruins our lives. But God has provided a way to cure us. He has

provided a way to save us from *sin and death. Jesus said that

people would lift him up, like the metal snake. He was referring

to the time when they would put him on the *cross. They would

lift him up on the *cross for everyone to see.

We must look up at him on the *cross. In other words, we must

trust him, because of what he did on the *cross. We must believe

that he will save us from *sin and death. For the *Israelites, the

only way to cure the snake’s bite was to look at the metal snake.

And the only way to free us from the results of our *sin is to look

at Jesus on the *cross. When we look at the *cross, God rescues

us from the results of our *sins. In other words, we must trust

Jesus to save us from the punishment for our *sins. He died so

that God would forgive us. There, at the *cross, Jesus took away

our *sin.

Verse 16 This is probably the most famous verse in the Bible. It

expresses in only a few words what *Christians *believe. It tells

us the main reason why God sent his Son to die on our behalf.

There are several reasons why God did this.

He did it because he is just. If people do wrong things, they

deserve a punishment. So Jesus (God in the flesh) suffered our

punishment in our place.

He did it because he is *holy. God cannot accept us, because we

*sin. But Jesus, who never *sinned, took our place. He died

instead of us. When we believe this, we receive Jesus’

*righteousness as our own. So when God looks at us, he

chooses to see Jesus’ *righteousness instead of our *sin.

But this verse emphasises the main reason why God sent Jesus

to die. It was because God loved us so much.

Love is more than just one of God’s qualities. His nature is love.

God does everything because he loves. God’s love always

reaches out to us, the people that he has made. God’s love is

never selfish. He gave to us the most precious thing that he had:

Himself, in the form of his only Son.

‘*Eternal life’ does not mean just life that continues without an

end. Many people have miserable lives. Many people are poor,

or hungry, or ill; or they suffer with pain. It would be bad if this

kind of life continued without an end. But *eternal life means the

wonderful *life that God gives to us by means of Jesus. He gives

it to us now. It is our promise that we will live *forever, even after

our death. In *eternal life, there is no more death, or disease.

There is no enemy or *sin. Bad things do not happen. Our life on

the earth is only a short part of our life with God. After we die, we

will live this wonderful *life with him always.

*Eternal life is God’s free gift to us. We cannot earn it. There is

only one way to receive it. We must *believe in Jesus. ‘To

*believe in’ means more than just to know that Jesus is God.

Even the devil knows that! (For example, Luke 4:33-34; James

2:19.) It means that we must trust Jesus completely. Only Jesus

can save us from the results of our *sins. We must let him rule

every part of our lives completely. He has a plan for each one of

us. We must believe that all his words in the Bible are true. We

must obey him. We must believe that he gives us the power to

change our characters. He will make us become more like him, if

we let him.

Verses 17-21 God sent Jesus to rescue us from the results of

our *sins. He did not send Jesus to punish us. But that does not

mean that everyone will avoid punishment. It is our choice. Jesus

showed us the bad things that we do. He is the meaning of the

*light from heaven. But some people prefer to continue to *sin.

They do not want to change what they do. So they do not want to

know Jesus. They *reject him and they *reject the *Christian

message. However, other people become *Christians because

they want to change. They do not still want to hide their *sin.

Instead, they want to obey God and to do good things. So they

are happy to come to Jesus.

 

Note: it is not merely enough that we “say” we believe. We

must truly understand and believe in Christ (who He is and

what He has done). When this occurs you will naturally

begin to fall in love with Him (by His spirit) as well as begin

to trust and submit yourself to His Lordship. Pray that the

Lord will give you a better glimps of His son and what was

done for you. It is always good to remember what brought

you here and the Love it takes not only to convert you, but

also to keep you. Take a moment to praise God for this

miracle.

John the *Baptist talks more about

Jesus 3:22-30

 

v22 After this, Jesus and his *disciples left *Jerusalem.

However, they stayed in *Judea (a *province). Jesus spent

some time with them and they *baptised people. v23 John the

*Baptist was at Aenon near Salim. Also he was *baptising

people because there was plenty of water there. And people

continued to come to him for *baptism. v24 This, of course,

was before John the *Baptist went to prison. v25 At that time,

a certain *Jew began to argue with John the *Baptist’s

*disciples. The argument was about the special ways that the

*Jews used water in their ceremonies. v26 John the *Baptist’s

*disciples came to him. They said, ‘Teacher! Someone else is

also *baptising people. It is the man that you met on the other

side of the river called Jordan. It is the man that you called the

*Messiah. And everyone is going to him!’

v27 John the *Baptist replied, ‘God in heaven chooses each

person’s work. v28 You must remember what I told you. I

said, “I am not the *Messiah. I am only the person whom God

sent ahead of him. I prepare the way on his behalf.” v29 The

bride belongs to the bridegroom. The bridegroom’s friend is

happy to be there with him. He is happy to hear the

bridegroom’s voice. That is why I am so happy. v30 The

*Messiah must become more important. And I must become

less important.’

 

Verses 22-30 At this time, both John the *Baptist and Jesus’

*disciples were *baptizing people. But they were in different

places. However, it seems that more people were going to Jesus

instead of to John the *Baptist. And it seems that John the

*Baptist’s *disciples were worried about this. Probably, they did

not like it because they were loyal to their teacher. Probably,

they expected him to be jealous of Jesus.

But John the *Baptist was not jealous. He knew that God had

given him a special job to do. He had to prepare people for the

time when the *Messiah came. John the *Baptist had to guide

people to Jesus. So because people were going to Jesus instead

of him, John the *Baptist had been successful. This did not upset

him and he was not jealous. He was very happy!

To show what he meant, John the *Baptist talked about a

wedding. It is very likely that he chose this idea on purpose. In

the *Old Testament, writers often used the idea of a wedding to

show how God loved his people, called *Israel. The writers wrote

that God was like a bridegroom. *Israel was his bride. This is

because he had chosen *Israel to belong to him in a special way.

He wanted *Israel to be loyal to him.

Also, in the *New Testament, the *church is called ‘the bride of

*Christ’ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:22-32).

So John the *Baptist said that his situation was like a wedding.

Jesus was like the bridegroom because he was the most

important person. John the *Baptist was like the bridegroom’s

friend. At a *Jewish wedding, the bridegroom’s friend had many

duties. For example, this friend arranged the wedding and he

sent out the invitations. But he had one special duty. He had to

guard the bride’s bedroom. He did not allow anybody to enter.

He opened the door only when he heard the bridegroom’s voice

(verse 29).

So John the *Baptist was pleased because he had done his duty.

People were coming to see Jesus, God’s Son. John the *Baptist

wanted this to happen. As Jesus became more important, John

the *Baptist would become less important. This did not matter to

him. He had obeyed God and he had done his work well.

 

DISCUSSION: Like John’s disciples, are you more loyal to

your teacher, pastor, parents, friends or mentors than you

are to the Messiah himself?

How important is it that Christ shines brighter than you?

What are you doing in your life to make Christ more known

than yourself?

What can you change in order to make sure this occurs?

 

 

God’s Son, who comes from heaven

3:31-36

v31 ‘God’s Son has come from heaven. He is greater than

everyone. A person who is from the world belongs to the

world. That person can understand and speak only the world’s

language. But God’s Son has come from heaven. And he is

greater than everyone. v32 He speaks about what he has

seen. He talks about what he has heard. But few people

believe what he says. v33 But God is truthful! Whoever

believes the words of God’s Son shows this. v34 God sent his

Son to speak God’s words. And God has given to him the

complete power of the *Holy Spirit. v35 The *Father loves his

Son. And the *Father has given to his Son the authority over

everything. v36 Everyone who *believes in God’s Son has

*eternal life. But those who do not obey God’s Son will never

have *eternal life. God will be angry with them always.’

 

Verses 31-36 These may be the words of John the *Baptist. Or

they may be the words of John, who wrote this *Gospel. Often, in

this *Gospel, it is difficult to know when the author has added his

own words. But this does not matter. The passage is very

important anyway.

It emphasizes clearly that God’s Son is superior to everyone,

even to the greatest human teacher. Human teachers know only

what it is like to live in this world. So they can speak only ‘the

world’s language’ (verse 31). But Jesus knows what heaven is

like. He had come from there to the world. He returned to heaven

after his *resurrection and he is there now. He came to tell us the

truth about God. God himself sent his Son. And God’s Son knew

God’s thoughts, so he spoke God’s words.

In the *Old Testament, the *Holy Spirit came and remained with

certain people. This was so that they could do special work for

God. Now, all *Christians have the *Holy Spirit in them. But the

*Holy Spirit was in Jesus in a special way. Because Jesus was

God, there were no limits to the *Holy Spirit’s power in him

(verse 34).

But not many people believed what Jesus told them. However,

the people who did believe received *eternal life. This is still true

today. Anyone who *believes in Jesus has *eternal life. They

have it now, not just after their death. They can enjoy the

wonderful quality of life with God from the moment that they

*believe in Jesus.

However, we must remember that there is a choice. If people do

not *believe in Jesus, they have chosen to *reject God. They

have *rejected his gift of *eternal life. They have chosen death.

God loves them. But it is their choice that God *condemns them.

This is because they have *rejected his love.

God designed people so that we would be able to make

decisions for ourselves. He does not force us to *believe in

Jesus. He does not force us to receive *eternal life. He offers it to

us. But we must choose it or *reject it. That is why it is important

to tell people about Jesus. But it is their choice whether they

*believe in him or not. God gives us the ability to see, how we

react to what we see is up to us.

DISCUSSION: Now that you have a better understanding of

salvation and how it occurs, How does this affect your

relationship with God?

In the future, how can you do a better job of displaying

Christ and His love to those around you?

NOTE: Take a moment and pray for those who are lost.

Remember that you only have faith because God granted it

to you, we are so blessed to even be apart of His kingdom.

This understanding should kill all of your pride in the face of

the fact that YOU ARE NOT WORTHY! Christ was worthy for

you. Praise God!