Let’s go to John 4:27-30. We’re continuing with the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. The narrative here in John 4 isn’t explicit that she believed in Jesus and was born again but I think we’ll see that the way the story unfolds following verse 26 leads us to believe she did believe in Christ as a result of this exchange with Him.

Remember we noted last time that the point of chapter 4 is found in verse 26. The Samaritan woman has responded to Jesus’ statement about the question about worship, that it wasn’t one of place, it wasn’t one of where one should worship, but it’s a question of how one should worship. The only true worship is worship that comes from the heart. And she responds showing that she really doesn’t see who Christ is yet with a statement like, “yes someday the Messiah will come and clear up all these questions and disputes, he’ll make it all clear”. And Jesus responded by revealing to her who he is with this wonderful statement that had to surprise her “I who speak to you am he.” I am the Messiah.

I would like to have seen her face.

Well, not only was she surprised but we’ll see there’s surprise all around — for everyone but Christ.

Let me remind you that John is helping us see that Jesus is God in flesh — that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31).

Let’s look at verses 27 through 30 and lets think about the pointers to Jesus’ deity and lessons we learn about leading people to him.

When we read this passage we’ll see some surprise at how Jesus is working. We may even catch ourselves being surprised at how Jesus works. But if we really will fix our hearts in faith on God and His Word and His Son we’ll find ourselves far less surprised at how Jesus still works today and we’ll be more praise filled that He does still do His work in the hearts and lives of sinners.

So as we come to verse 27 Jesus has just told the woman at the well that He’s the Messiah.

27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 ”Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

Let’s note something we pointed to last week about how Jesus is doing his work in this passage. It may surprise us — it seems to have surprised His disciples — but Jesus took the time, made the time, made himself available for one needy soul. And what an interesting individual to whom he’s made himself available. Does that surprise you?

Did you see the surprise of the disciples? Verse 27 says, “they marveled that he was talking with a woman.” But Jesus was all about tearing down barriers to the life changing, transforming, saving, Gospel. If there’s a barrier to the Gospel in the way, Jesus is going to tear it down.

Now it might have been one thing in their minds for Jesus to have asked this woman for a drink of water, parched and wearied and hungry as he was and they were from their travels — but a conversation with a woman in public was surprising to them. Note that the Apostle John doesn’t tell us they’re surprised that he’s speaking to a Samaritan, he doesn’t say they’re surprised he’s speaking to such a sinner as this, he tells us they marveled that he was talking with a woman. 

About this Leon Morris writes:

“…no Rabbi would have carried on a conversation with a woman. One of their sayings ran: ‘A man shall not be alone with a woman in an inn, not even with his sister or his daughter, on account of what men may think. A man shall not talk with a woman in the street, not even with his own wife, and especially not with another woman, on account of what men may say.’” (Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, pg. 274)

The disciples arrive and can’t believe what they’re seeing. Jesus is speaking with a woman. That was remarkable in itself. But Jesus wasn’t afraid to challenge the status quo that hindered his purpose for being here on earth. Whatever Jesus does he has good reason for doing. 

And here’s a pointer to the deity of Christ. The arrival of his disciples at just the moment he’s telling the Samaritan woman that he is the Messiah is no accident. Had they come earlier they may have interrupted the witness and work of Christ in this woman’s life. Had they come later they would have missed him sharing the Gospel with a woman, a Samaritan, an individual with a seriously damaged reputation.

Jesus has just told this woman what she needs to know to be saved and at the same time he gives a very clear illustration to his disciples, and us, that salvation is for all mankind. The Gospel doesn’t play favorites. 

Well, Jesus’ disciples may have shown their prejudice against this woman with the look on their faces but they knew better than to ask, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” They may have thought it but they didn’t say it. Look at what happens next. Verse 28 says, So the woman left her water jar and went away into town… 

So, did the presence of the surprised looking disciples run her off? No, she left her water jar. Why did she leave the water jar? Did she leave it so Jesus could have the drink he’d asked for? Was she absent minded?  Did she leave it because it was too heavy to run to town with? Did she leave it because she planned to return? I say yes to all those possibilities.

She certainly could have left it as a courtesy to Jesus but I think there’s more too it than that. 

I think this is the first pointer to her conversion. Was she absent minded in leaving the water pot? Yes, I think she was absent minded because she’d come to faith in Christ and she had far more important things to think about than the water pot. Why? Because she “went away into town and said to the people, 29 ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’” 

She’s absent minded because She had good news and when you’ve been transformed by Christ you just have to tell others. 

Did she leave the water pot because it was too heavy to run to town with? Yes — this was no small pot, she would have had to carry it on her head or shoulder and she was in a hurry. Again she has good news to tell. 

Did she leave the water pot because she was coming back? Yes, she’s coming back to hear more from Jesus and she’ll get the water pot then.

Here’s another pointer to her salvation. Note what happens when Jesus saves you. We see it in this Samaritan woman’s actions.

It’s a small town and everybody likely knows this woman’s lifestyle, they know that she’s had five husbands, they know she’s in an illicit relationship with another man now and where does she go? She takes off to town and she heads straight for the people she’s been avoiding. Why does she do that? 

Here’s a reminder for us of the Deity of Christ. Her guilt and shame are gone. How do we know? Look at what she says in verse 29.

29 ”Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did…” 

Before Christ gently pointed to her sinful lifestyle she’d been trying to avoid these people. Before Jesus, God in flesh, the Word made flesh, pierced her soul with the truth that made clear the sad state of her life she’d gone out of her way to avoid the guilt and shame of her sin laden life. She needed to experience the guilt and shame of her sin before she’d come to a point of repentance. But now I think she’s repentant that’s why the guilt and shame are gone. And this is a pointer to the deity of Christ, because only God can take away the guilt and shame of sin.

Some preach today that there’s no need for guilt, there’s no need for shame over your sin, there’s no need for repentance, “just believe”, they say. That’s not what the Bible teaches and that’s also not a new problem. Charles Spurgeon spoke of this same problem in the year 1882. He says, 

If any teacher leads you to hope that, without repentance, or any sense of sin, you may be saved, he is not of Christ! I charge you, fling away any hope which is not consistent with your own entire hopelessness apart from Jesus! If you have not known yourself a sinner, you cannot know Christ as a Savior. Some are preaching, nowadays, a dry-eyed faith and men seem to jump into assurance as if there were no new birth, no conviction of sin and no repentance. But it is not so — “You must be born again.” That birth is not without pangs. Trust in Christ brings a hatred of sin and a mourning because of it. A man cannot hate what he does not know, but this woman was made to see her sin and that sight proved that the Messiah was dealing with her.

The non-repentance prophets cry, “Peace, peace,” where there is no peace! They film the sore, but Jesus puts the knife into it, lays it wide open and makes the patient see the gangrene of the wound — and then He closes it up and, with His heavenly ointment makes a sure cure of it. There is no binding up the heart that was never broken! There is no comforting a man who has always been comfortable! There is no making a man righteous who always was righteous — there is no washing a man who has no filthiness. No, and this is what the Messiah does — He lays bare the disease and this is a proof that He is sent of God because He does not adopt the flimsy, flattering mode of deceivers, but goes straight to the truth. Her argument is — He must be the Messiah, for He revealed me to myself! (C. H. Spurgeon, The Samaritan Woman And Her Mission, Sermon No. 1678)

So now her guilt and shame over her sin are gone. Only God’s healing work of regeneration can do that. 

And what does she do? She hurries to town to tell the very people she’s been avoiding that they should come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Not until she met Christ and was saved from the sin that brought so much guilt would she have said something like that. 

And this too is an illustration of Jesus’ deity. She tells the townspeople, he told me all that I ever did. Only the Messiah could know all the things I’d ever done.

Now, certainly Jesus didn’t recount for her every detail of her life but he obviously knew enough of the sordid details of her life that she could only conclude that he knew much more. It’s like when you have a close call and you say your life flashed before your eyes. Jesus revealed that he knew about her secret history and her life flashed before her eyes. She realized he knew all the sin she’d ever done. 

Here’s something else. Probably just as remarkable to her was that not only did this man know her sinful secrets but he was still willing to talk with her. And even more — he offered her the living water, that will become in her a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Well, as a result of her telling the people about this man who knew all about her, and posing the question, Can this be the Christ? verse 30 says the people went out of the town and were coming to him.

The idea here is that this was a large number of people. Not just a handful. So how did this woman who had such a bad reputation gather such a response? Well she didn’t go emphatically stating that this man was someone they would have to go meet and that he is the Messiah. No, she stated it as a question. 

But, you might ask, if she was convinced about who Jesus is, even converted, why did she not make an emphatic statement that this is the Christ? She probably knew they’d reject a claim like that from a woman like her outright. But if she posed a question she just might convince some to investigate and learn for themselves that this is the Messiah. And that was effective, because many went with her to see Jesus and verse 39 says “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’” 

Are you surprised at how Jesus works? You ought not be. Jesus was willing to wait for this woman, he was patient with her, he was gentle with her, he made time for this one woman whom many others had written off. And the living water, new life and forgiveness of sins was hers. And God used her testimony to bring many more to himself.

We’ve noted this often in our study here in John’s Gospel that the Apostle’s purpose in writing was to make it clear that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. I’ve pointed often to what is likely the verse that best describes John’s Gospel in John 20:31.

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.

John is making it clear here in chapter 20 verse 31 that Jesus is the subject of his writing. That’s just what we’ve seen in all of our previous studies in the first three chapters of John, that the focus is on Christ and him proclaimed as God in flesh. We’ve seen Jesus interacting with different people, yes, but the focus has always been on Christ. And what we’ve been seeing all supports Jesus’ claim of Messiahship.

Today we come to chapter 4 and Jesus’ interaction with and witness to the woman at the well. And here too the story isn’t really about the woman at the well, it’s about Jesus Christ. We’re going to look at verses 1-26 today and the point of this whole passage is seen in verse 26 when Jesus says to the Samaritan woman, “I who speak to you am he.” He’s telling her he’s the Messiah. Keep that in mind as we read these first 26 verses of John 4 — this too is about Jesus Christ, the Messiah. 

4:1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Note first as we enter chapter 4 that there’s this pointer back to what was happening in chapter 3 where we saw the disciples of John bringing their concern to him that Jesus was gaining more followers than he once had. John’s response was that this is just as things should be when he said back in John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” 

Verse 2 clarifies that it wasn’t Jesus doing the baptizing but it was his disciples who were doing the baptizing as a part of his ministry. But note that as we enter chapter 4 we find Jesus’ response to this controversy about his baptizing more followers than John. 

We see here that when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (vs. 1)… he left Judea and departed again for Galilee (vs. 3). 

What was Jesus’ response? Jesus refused to be a part of the controversy. Rather than stay and add to what appeared to be a growing rivalry between the followers of John and Jesus, which would have given the Pharisees and opportunity to try to bring division between the ministries of Jesus and John, Jesus decides it’s best to move on.

And Jesus, by walking away from this controversy, makes it clear that this was nothing to divide over.  

You may recall that Paul warned the church at Corinth about divisions like this when he wrote to them telling them they were acting like unbelievers with all the jealousy and strife. He says in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4,

3:1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

How easily the church still divides today. We should learn from Jesus’ example here in John 4. He wouldn’t have anything to do with it dividing believers over petty squabbles. What we see here in John 4 is Jesus’ true concern and this should be the real concern of the church today. This is what these introductory verses are leading up to: Jesus loves people. 

So he moves on to continue to take the Gospel elsewhere. Verses 3 and 4 say, he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria.

As Jesus arrives at the town of Sychar we have this vivid picture of his humanity. Yes Jesus is God but he was God in human flesh. So in the middle of the day, in the heat, and with the distance of his travels he’s exhausted and stops at a well; Jacob’s well. The well still exists and is used today. It’s a deep well that’s spring fed. And as Jesus rests beside the well along comes a woman from Samaria.

Now there’s an interesting contrast here between this woman of Samaria and Nicodemus whom we saw in chapter 3. 

D.A. Carson writes, “[Nicodemus] was learned, powerful, respected, orthodox, theologically trained; she was unschooled, without influence, despised, capable only of folk religion. He was a man, a Jew, a ruler; she was a woman, a Samaritan, a moral outcast. And both needed Jesus.” (D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, pg. 216)

Indeed, both needed Jesus and Jesus loves people so he has time not only for the learned but also the unlearned. Jesus loves people so he comes to rescue the perishing whether they be well off, well known and well respected or not so. Jesus loves people so he gives himself to all who believe in him without distinction.

So as we see in verses 7 and 8 Jesus asks this Samaritan woman for a drink of water because the disciples had gone into town for food. Her response seen in verse 9 shows her surprise that he would even talk to her. Not only would Jews have no dealings with Samaritans but she was also a social outcast. There was also a well in the city but here she is outside the city to draw water because her immoral lifestyle had brought public ridicule. 

Look at Jesus answer to her in verse 10. He knows just what she needs.

10 …“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 

What does she need? She needs the life that only comes through faith in Christ. So what is Jesus doing? He’s showing her the only way to real joy and true satisfaction. She needs living water. 

But she’s confused by this. We see her in verse 11 saying, “but wait, look at this deep well, you have nothing with which to draw water, so tell me where you’ll get this living water?” She’s thinking of running water — like water from a spring. Look at Jesus’ reply in verses 13 and 14.

13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

Jesus knows what she needs most is not water to temporarily quench her thirst. He’s talking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the life giving, never ending spring of water that brings new life and eternal life.  

She can’t quench her thirst. It’s one of the reasons she’s had five husbands. The unquenchable desire for “better”, for “more” can’t be satisfied in the flesh — it can’t be satisfied without the Holy Spirit and the spring of eternal life he brings.

But she still doesn’t understand. She’s still thinking about how nice it would be to not have to come all the way out here to draw water any more. And still, Jesus knows just what she needs. 

She needs what he offers and it’s not water, it’s forgiveness of sin and the work of the Holy Spirit to overcome the sinful desires of the flesh. In Mark 5:32 Jesus says, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. She needs to understand that she’s a sinner of need of repentance which leads to life. So Jesus suggests she call her husband. Why? Because Jesus wants her to deal honestly with her sin. 

She obviously has a desire and thirst from within that can’t be satisfied. She’s not only had five husbands but the man she lives with now is not her husband.  What’s obvious to Jesus is that she’s done nothing but worship her own flesh. What she needs to see is that the only way she’ll ever have the thirst of her soul quenched is to repent of her sin and believe in Jesus who gives the Holy Spirit, a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Jesus was lovingly, gently, without condemnation, leading her to see this truth.

In verse 19 she’s finally starting to understand. “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.” Then in verse 20 she brings up an issue that was a point of contention between Jews and Samaritans over where one should worship.

Jesus answered her question making it very clear that where one would worship would soon be of far less importance than how one worships. So how must one worship and how does this help this Samaritan woman see that repentance of sin and faith in Jesus is what she needs? Look at what Jesus says in verse 23.

23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  

Jesus tells her that the real question of worship will not be about where but how. True worship can only happen from within. These are the people that God the Father is seeking — people who will worship him from the bottom of their hearts. True worship only takes place when it is honest and heartfelt. True worship isn’t about going through the motions to merely hold to some standard of worship laid down by men. What we call worship is only worship when it happens from the bottom of our hearts. So Jesus says in verse 24, God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Her reply in verse 25 shows that she still isn’t quite understanding when she says, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” It’s like she’s saying, “oh yes, this is all confusing, but the Messiah will one day show up and make it all clear.” 

She still not quite following him, so Jesus makes it very plain by saying in verse 26, “I who speak to you am he.”

Jesus has just taken her from her place of unquenchable human thirst to the answer to that thirst, he’s just revealed to her that he is the Messiah. He is the only way to the true life giving water of the Spirit. 

About whether or not she ever believed in Him the scriptures aren’t explicit. But we’ll see later in verse 29 that it certainly appears as though she did believe. When she goes to tell of Jesus to the townspeople, who before she’d been avoiding, she says excitedly, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

In this Samaritan woman we have a vivid illustration of each of us without Christ. Each struggling, even thrashing about through life trying to satisfy all our cravings, trying to quench the thirst of our souls, without the life giving water of the Spirit. 

Then Jesus steps in and begins to show himself to us. He reveals the need of our souls is not the things with which we’re trying to satisfy ourselves — the need of our souls is really the spring of water welling up to eternal life. We need the new life that only the Holy Spirit brings and it’s only ours when we repent of our sin and trust in Jesus.

When you speak of your faith in Christ who do people see? Do they see you and your great accomplishments? Or do they see Christ? When you have opportunity to point people to Christ do they actually get to see him or do they just see you? 

Let’s look at John 3:22. Here we are at the end of John 3 and here we see the witness of John the Baptist for the last time in the Apostle John’s Gospel. 

What I want you to see today is what the Apostle John makes clear about John the Baptist. And it’s actually what John the Baptist makes clear about Christ. It’s plain in the text before us that John the Baptist was calling out to all who would listen that Jesus Christ is superior to all others. Jesus Christ is to be exalted and honored above all others. 

22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison).

Note here that it sounds like Jesus is doing the baptizing but it was actually his disciples who were with him who were baptizing. We’ll see that made clear in verse 2 of chapter 4. Note too that John was also baptizing. And this raised concern in the minds of some of John’s disciples. 

25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Did you see the concern that was raised as a result of some seeing Jesus disciples baptizing and John the Baptist also baptizing? Do you see a bit of rivalry in the minds of some going on here? Maybe a bit of jealousy? 

Jesus is with his disciples and they are baptizing and some of John’s disciples see this and bring this concern to John seen in verse 26, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”

A little competitiveness in the right context might be a good thing, but beware that the devil would just love to get John’s disciples and Jesus’ followers and the church today completely sidetracked with a competitive kind of jealousy that’s always trying to one-up the next person or the other pastor or the other church. It would be for our good and God’s glory for us to understand that we’re competing with no other church in this community and you are competing with no other believer in this church or any other and I am competing with no other pastor. 

So here come some who were with John saying, “what are you going to do — look at all those people who were once following you and now they’re all going over there to him.” 

Note how John answers their concern. Here’s the first part of his answer in verse 27.

27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.

What’s their concern? Jesus is getting more attention than John. What’s his answer? A person only gets what God gives him. You only have what you have because God allows you to have it. 

That goes for all of us. That goes for your neighbor too. Be careful that you don’t allow yourself to think that you achieve great things without God’s hand being in it.

John’s point is that any attention given him by others at any given point was to fulfill the role for which God had appointed him. 

This was even true of Christ which is what Hebrews 5:5 makes clear:

5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,”You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;

So John is reminding them here in John 3:27 that it was God’s appointment that allowed him to point to Christ, and for God’s glory, not his own.

Look at the second part of John’s answer to their concern. Verse 28.

28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’

It’s a though John is saying, “I made it clear to you from the beginning that I am not the Christ — I’m simply a messenger.” I’m a herald here to declare that Jesus is the Christ. It’s like John is saying to his disciples, “weren’t you listening to me?”

There’s a reminder here for all who serve Christ. We’re not serving to exalt ourselves over one another. We serve to exalt Christ. We serve not to make ourselves known but to make Christ known. We’re all part of the same body, the church, under the Head, Christ.

Note that third, John says this in verses 29, 

29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.

John says it’s his joy to be a member of the bridal party. He’s not there to take the bride from the bridegroom. He’s not there to get the attention at the wedding. He’s there to rejoice with the other members of the bridal party at the arrival of the bridegroom to take his bride. He makes this very clear when in verse 30 he says, He must increase, but I must decrease.

That’s what our lives lived for Christ should be all about. That ought to be the heartfelt desire of all who call themselves Christians — that Jesus would be magnified more and more as they seek to live for Christ and give Him the glory.

Now a question. Why should Jesus increase and we decrease in the eyes of others? Why must Jesus get the glory and not his followers? Look at verse 31.

31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all.

John is saying that he couldn’t be happier that people are going to Jesus because He is above all; he who comes from heaven is above all. Jesus is of heaven, he’s not limited to earthy wisdom like John is, Jesus has heavenly knowledge. Why? Because he’s God in flesh.

Now this is not to contradict the fact that the Holy Spirit gives heavenly wisdom to those who are Christ’s when they feed upon and yield to God’s Word. Certainly John had been sent and enabled by God as are all God’s faithful children. But he’s making a comparison here. Compared to Christ my wisdom is limited because it’s not the high truth that only God holds. He goes further in verse 32 saying “He bears witness to what he has seen and heard…”

John is pointing to the fact that Jesus Christ has witnessed and heard first-hand what He preaches. Christ has full knowledge of what he teaches. Again we see a pointer here to the divinity of Christ. God the Son knows fully because He’s been fully taught by God the Father. 

Yet note that John says in verse 32, no one receives his testimony.

This is not a problem with Christ, it’s a problem with mankind. It’s a sin problem. And John isn’t suggesting that literally no one believes in what Jesus preaches. It’s that in comparison to those who do believe, it’s the majority of people who don’t believe.

Why this is true is made clear by Paul in Philippians 3:19 when speaking of unbelievers he says, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. And in Ephesians 2:2-3 he reminds believers from what they had been saved saying they once followed “the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

So yes, sadly, there are many who don’t believe and the scriptures make it clear that Satan’s pull is strong and inviting. But here’s the good news, God is greater and His promises are sure. Look at verse 33. 

33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.

John continues to make much of Christ and and makes clear why it is far better to follow Christ than any man. 

It’s like this says John, when you believe in Christ you have the inner assurance of the Spirit, he whom God has sent. And the Spirit confirms for you that what Jesus says is true. You who believe in God the Son have the witness of God the Spirit within assuring you that you are indeed hearing the truth of God the Father.

And John says, all that Jesus speaks is with the final authority of God the Father. That’s why he says in verse 35 that, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.”

And this is why it is so important to see Jesus as the one supreme object of our worship and obedience. Here’s why you must see Jesus as the only way to life. Here’s why you must believe in him if you would be born again. We see it in verse 36. It’s a two-fold reminder. One hope filled reminder and one sobering reminder. 

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

So I ask again. When you point people to Christ do they actually get to see the One who gives eternal life or do they only see you? 

May God help us, each one, to live each day to make Christ known.

Is God a bully? Did Jesus have to come and die on the cross to rescue us from an angry God? Some think so. Did Jesus have to come to rescue us before God wiped us all out? Some say “yes”. But that’s not what we find in the passage before us. Let’s look together at John 3:16-21.

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 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. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Some say God is an angry God. Some might think of the famous sermon by Johnathan Edwards in 1741 that lead to a great awakening in England. The title of that sermon was “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God”. 

Some say God is an angry God who must be appeased. But our passage and all of Scripture says otherwise. And even though Johnathan Edwards used in his sermon some vivid imagery to depict the just wrath of God on sin, I don’t believe he was suggesting that God is mad at us and is out to get us to clean our clocks.   

Pastor and Author Ray Stedman says it well:

God does not wait with a stick behind his back when we want to come to him. He is not angry at us. He is not waiting to talk to us first about all the awful things we have done and said in our lives. His arms are open; he is ready to receive us. We can come just as we are. (Ray Stedman, The Best Possible News)

God doesn’t come looking for us with a big stick does he? Certainly not. It’s very clear from this much loved verse 16 that God loves the world. So much so that we’re reminded here that He sent his only son. 

Note as we begin here at verses 16-21 that some think these are Jesus’ words. But it’s more likely that this is the Apostle John’s explanation of what we saw in previous weeks when Jesus had shared with Nicodemus about his need to be born again and how he could be born again. 

What’s the only way possible for Nicodemus, or anyone else, to be born again? You can only be born again by looking to Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God — you must look to Jesus alone and believe in Him for salvation. And verse 16 makes that very clear here doesn’t it? “…that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”

As we read the text this morning we see clearly how God accepts us. He welcomes us with open arms. He doesn’t come chewing us out for all our sins, does he? No, he stretches wide his arms and says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Mat. 11:28)”

For God so loved the world, it says. The love of God for mankind is clearly seen throughout this passage.

Now I think there’s something very helpful for us here. I think that one of the implications of this passage is that when it comes to sharing the Gospel with unbelievers we ought to follow God’s example, we ought to follow the example of Jesus Christ.

Here’s what I mean. You ought not come to an unbeliever in the name of the Gospel with a judgmental attitude. You ought to come to an unbeliever with the love of Christ, sharing the Gospel of Christ. Yes they may be living in an awful state of sin. But Jesus Christ receives them with open arms. If you need an example let Jesus be your example. It’s interesting that we never find Him in the gospels condemning those who are living in sin. And I think we do the Gospel no favors when we condemn sinners thinking that that in some way will set them straight. 

Don’t misunderstand this. Sinners certainly need to realize that’s what they are. Jesus is certainly concerned about sin. Sin is why he came. Sin is why he willingly suffered. He came to take the punishment for our sin. 

But we never see Jesus dealing with people, even those living in blatant sin, with condemnation. Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10)” Sin does not keep you from the Savior. Your sin makes it clear that you need the Savior. 

In fact 1 John 4:9-10 makes this clear when it says that, 

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Quoting Ray Stedman again, who illustrates this well: 

Years ago I read a moving story about a young man who had quarreled with his father and left home. He continued to keep in touch with his mother, and wanted very badly to come home for Christmas, but he was afraid his father would not allow him. His mother wrote to him and urged him to come home, but he did not feel he could until he knew his father had forgiven him. Finally, there was no time for any more letters. His mother wrote and said she would talk with the father, and if he had forgiven him, she would tie a white rag on the tree which grew right alongside the railroad tracks near their home, which he could see before the train reached the station. If there was no rag, it would be better if he went on.

So the young man started home. As the train drew near his home; he was so nervous he said to his friend who was traveling with him, “I can’t bear to look. Sit in my place and look out the window. I’ll tell you what the tree looks like and you tell me whether there is a rag on it or not.” So his friend changed places with him and looked out the window. After a bit the friend said, “Oh yes, I see the tree.” The son asked, “Is there a white rag tied to it?” For a moment the friend did not say anything. Then he turned, and in a very gentle voice said, “There is a white rag tied to every limb of that tree!” That, in a sense, is what God is saying in John 3:16 and 17. God has removed the condemnation and made it possible to come freely and openly home to him. (Ray Stedman, The Best Possible News)

Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:19, “…in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.”

That’s all good news. And verse 18 starts this way: Whoever believes in him is not condemned. This is wonderful news. But there’s a serious note that’s sounded next. Here’s the seriousness of sin. But whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Yes, sin is a deadly problem. So deadly that the Bible makes it clear that without Christ we’re already condemned.  

The world is living under the just condemnation of God because of their sin. But it’s not as if God is out to get us. Verse 18 makes that clear when it states that those who do not believe are condemned already. And they are because that’s what those who don’t believe have chosen. 

So, what’s the alternative? The answer is to “believe in Jesus Christ and be saved”. Sadly, there are many who don’t believe and many who won’t believe. That may seem unbelievable if you’re a Christ follower. Why would anyone want to remain condemned? 

We have the answer in verses 19 and 20.

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. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

J.I. Packer in his well known book, Knowing God, explains:

…God’s wrath in the Bible is something which people choose for themselves. Before hell is an experience inflicted by God, it is a state for which a person himself opts by retreating from the light which God shines in his heart to lead him to himself. When John writes, “Whoever does not believe [in Jesus] stands condemned [judged] already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son,” he goes on to explain himself as follows, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (Jn 3:18–19). He means just what he says: The decisive act of judgment upon the lost is the judgment which they pass upon themselves, by rejecting the light that comes to them in and through Jesus Christ. In the last analysis, all that God does subsequently in judicial action toward the unbeliever, whether in this life or beyond it, is to show him, and lead him into, the full implications of the choice he has made. (J.I. Packer, Knowing God, Electronic Edition)

In verse 19 John says, “people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil”. It’s a plain fact here that mankind loves the darkness — and we’re not talking about nighttime here. Yes there’s a lot of sin that takes place in darkness or at night. But John isn’t pointing to a time of day. He’s making a statement about the condition of the heart without Christ.

This truth is easily illustrated by the fact that none of us likes to admit it when we are wrong. Who likes to admit they’re wrong. Not me. Not you. It’s the same for sinners who need to admit they are sinners. They need to repent and believe in Christ. But that’s not what we are naturally inclined to do.  

And this darkness in which the unregenerate heart resides is a universal problem. It’s not just that some people prefer the darkness of sin — it’s that in our fallen nature we all prefer the darkness of sin. That’s why God gives us a new nature when we’re regenerated by a work of the Spirit.

The heart without Christ is dark. It’s sin filled and can’t be any other way until it’s made new by the Spirit. And that’s what we see in verse 21. 

21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

This is not suggesting that there’s something different about some people that makes them good or better than others. This is making clear the fundamental difference between those who remain in darkness and those who have come to the light, come to the truth through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Only the soul transformed by Jesus Christ, “The true light, which enlightens everyone” (John 1:9), only that soul longs to do what is true, only that soul longs to be obedient to God. Only that person regenerated by the Spirit of God longs to show that his obedience is only by the work of God in him.

The message for us from this passage is that without faith in Christ we already stand condemned. But God’s desire is that we look to His one and only son, high and lifted up, the only way to forgiveness for our sin, and believe in Him, and live.

Let’s look at John 3:1-15 where we return to the remainder of the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus. 

John 3:9-15

3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 

Here’s a brief review of what we’ve noted so far in our study of this passage in the weeks previous.

We found Nicodemus in the first few verses of this chapter coming to Jesus by night to inquire of him. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews, a man of much learning who was a prominent scholar of the Old Testament Scriptures. 

But even though he’s a man of great learning who has seen Jesus’ miracles and admits that Jesus must be from God, Jesus plainly tells him, verse 3, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Then in verse 5 Jesus says, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

The challenge to Nicodemus from Jesus is this. Jesus is making it plain that though Nicodemus was ultra-religious he still was not a part of the kingdom of God, he was still not a child of God. To enter the kingdom of God, to be a child of God, he had to be born again. He had to be regenerated spiritually. 

Then Jesus further clarified that this was not a work Nicodemus performed himself, it was a work of the Spirit of God. Only the Holy Spirit brings new life. Only God’s Spirit brings regeneration. But Nicodemus was still confused — even as Jesus pointed to Old Testament truths that with all his knowledge of the Old Testament he should have grasped. So when we come to verse 9 we hear this from Nicodemus.

“How can these things be?”

Why could Nicodemus not make sense of the things Jesus was telling him? Why doesn’t Nicodemus understand? 

Jesus tells us. After Jesus expresses his surprise at Nicodemus’ failure to understand, he says in verse 11 that you do not receive our testimony. What’s the trouble Nicodemus is having understanding why he must be born again? He hasn’t received, or we could say he hasn’t believed, in the testimony that Jesus and others are delivering. 

We saw it back in John 1:12 that to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. People were believing in Jesus name, they were receiving him, but Jesus just made it clear that Nicodemus wasn’t one of them.

The trouble is Nicodemus wants to know more about this new birth but he can’t grasp these truths. Jesus explains in verse 12.

12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 

Jesus is telling Nicodemus here that he can’t grasp these truths about being born again. Jesus has already given him all the explanation he can. 

The problem isn’t with Jesus’ explanations. The problem is with Nicodemus’ unregenerate heart. Because a heart that hasn’t received Christ, a heart that won’t believe, can’t attain the heights of these truths about being born again.

What Jesus has been telling him is that being born again is something that no man can create, or begin in himself. Regeneration, a work of the Spirit, comes like the wind and can’t be controlled or explained. It’s a spiritual work. 

Jesus knows that Nicodemus isn’t understanding because he’s unregenerate. He’s still, spiritually, a walking dead man. But Jesus hasn’t written him off or sent him away. He’s not done with him yet. What Nicodemus needs is an illustration. And Jesus gives him one. That’s what we see in verses 13-15. 

Jesus begins by giving a little insight into his authority for making the statement we see coming in verses 14 and 15. Look at verse 13.

13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 

This may seem like a confusing statement, but note that Jesus is simply setting up the statement he’ll make after this. He’s making clear his authority to say what will come next in verses 14 and 15.   

D.A. Carson explains,

The Judaism of Jesus’ day circulated many stories of bygone saints who had ascended into heaven and received special insight into God’s ways and plans. Many of these stories focused on Moses. Jesus insists that no-one has ascended to heaven in such a way as to return to talk about heavenly things.  Only in heaven can true wisdom be found. But Jesus can speak of heavenly things, not because he ascended to heaven from a home on earth and then descended to tell other of his experiences, but because heaven was his home  in the first place, and therefore he was ‘inherently the fulness of heavenly knowledge’. He is the one who came from heaven; he is the revelatory Son of Man. (The Gospel According to John, D.A. Carson, pp. 200-201)

So here in verse 13 Jesus is essentially telling Nicodemus that he could tell him heavenly things, he came from heaven, but Nicodemus can’t receive these heavenly things. But Jesus is going to show him the way to be born again. And he’s going do it by using an Old Testament example that was a foreshadow of Christ.  

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 

Nicodemus needed to know that this is why Jesus came. He needed to know that the way had been made possible for his rebirth and it was no doing of his own. Rebirth is only possible because Jesus Christ came to be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 

Jesus says, pointing to the account we find in Numbers 21:4–9, that the new birth, salvation, eternal life, comes in the same way it was for those whose lives were saved when Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. What’s that about? Listen to Numbers 21:4–9. 

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Let’s note some things about this Old Testament text. Did you notice here that the people lashed out at God and spoke against God and against God’s servant Moses? 

And did you notice that God judged them. Verse 6 says, that the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 

And did you notice that as a result the people came to Moses admitting their sin in speaking against God and his servant? 

And did you see that God’s answer to Moses’ prayer was to make a fiery serpent  and put it on a pole. And what happened to those who were bitten by a serpent?

Verse 9 says, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. He would look and live — that’s it.

Do you realize that God is justly punishing those who were speaking out against him? And the he sends the way of relief — he sends the way of rescue from his own punishment? 

Do you realize that the Old Testament is full of examples like this that are a foreshadow of Christ? Jesus saw it this way and points this Old Testament scholar, Nicodemus, back to it to make a point — it’s the answer to his question about how he could possibly be born again. 

Jesus tells him that the only way possible for a sinner to be born again who deserves the just wrath of God for his sins is to look to Jesus. 14 …so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Jesus makes it very clear to Nicodemus, and to all mankind, that the only way to be born again, the only way to see the kingdom of God, is to declare your utter dependance on Christ, you must look only to Christ. You must believe in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for you on the cross and his rising from the dead on the third day for your justification if you want to have forgiveness of sins and eternal life, if you want to see the kingdom of God. 

Nicodemus needed to look to Jesus and believe and be born again. There’s a wonderful illustration of this truth in the personal testimony of Charles Spurgeon’s own conversion. Spurgeon gives the following account in his autobiography which occurred on January 6, 1850, when he was almost 16 years old. 

I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair until now had it not been for the goodness of God in sending a snowstorm, one Sunday morning, while I was going to a certain place of worship. When I could go no further, I turned down a side street, and came to a little Primitive Methodist Chapel. In that chapel there may have been a dozen or fifteen people. I had heard of the Primitive Methodists, how they sang so loudly that they made people’s heads ache; but that did not matter to me. I wanted to know how I might be saved, and if they could tell me that, I did not care how much they made my head ache. The minister did not come that morning; he was snowed up, I suppose. At last, a very thin-looking man, a shoemaker, or tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach. Now, it is well that preachers should be instructed; but this man was really stupid. He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had little else to say. The text was, – 

“LOOK UNTO ME, AND BE YE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.”

He did not even pronounce the words rightly, but that did not matter. There was, I thought, a glimpse of hope for me in that text. The preacher began thus — ”My dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed. It says, ‘Look.’ Now lookin’ don’t take a deal of pains. It ain’t liftin’ your foot or your finger; it is just, ‘Look.’ Well, a man needn’t go to College to learn to look. You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look. A man needn’t be worth a thousand a year to be able to look. Anyone can look; even a child can look. But then the text says, ‘Look unto Me.’ Ay!” said he, in broad Essex, “many on ye are lookin’ to yourselves, but it’s no use lookin’ there. You’ll never find any comfort in yourselves. Some look to God the Father. No, look to Him by-and-by. Jesus Christ says, ‘Look unto Me.’ Some on ye say, ‘We must wait for the Spirit’s workin’’ You have no business with that just now. Look to Christ. The text says, ‘Look unto Me.’”

Then the good man followed up his text in this way: — “Look unto Me; I am sweatin’ great drops of blood. Look unto Me; I am hangin’ on the cross. Look unto Me; I am dead and buried. Look unto Me; I rise again. Look unto Me; I ascend to Heaven. Look unto Me; I am sittin’ at the Father’s right hand. O poor sinner, look unto Me! look unto Me!”

When he had gone to about that length, and managed to spin out ten minutes or so, he was at the end of his tether. Then he looked at me under the gallery, and I daresay, with so few present, he knew me to be a stranger. Just fixing his eyes on me, as if he knew all my heart, he said, “Young man, you look very miserable.” Well, I did; but I had not been accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit on my personal appearance before. However, it was a good blow, struck right home. He continued, “and you always will be miserable — miserable in life, and miserable in death, — if you don’t obey my text; but if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved.” Then, lifting up his hands, he shouted, as only a Primitive Methodist could do, “Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothin’ to do but to look and live.” I saw at once the way of salvation. I know not what else he said, — I did not take much notice of it, — I was so possessed with that one thought. Like as when the brazen serpent was lifted up, the people only looked and were healed, so it was with me. I had been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard that word, “Look!” what a charming word it seemed to me! Oh! I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away. There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and at that moment I saw the sun; and I could have risen that instant, and sung with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith which looks alone to Him. Oh, that somebody had told me this before, “Trust Christ, and you shall be saved.” Yet it was, no doubt, all wisely ordered, and now I can say, – 

“Ever since by faith I saw the stream 

Thy flowing wounds supply, 

Redeeming love has been my theme, 

And shall be till I die.”

I do from my soul confess that I never was satisfied till I came to Christ; when I was yet a child, I had far more wretchedness than ever I have now; I will even add, more weariness, more care, more heartache than I know at this day. I may be singular in this confession, but I make it, and know it to be the truth. Since that dear hour when my soul cast itself on Jesus, I have found solid joy and peace; but before that, all those supposed gaieties of early youth, all the imagined ease and joy of boyhood, were but vanity and vexation of spirit to me. (Spurgeon’s Autobiography, Volume 1, pp. 87-88; Banner of Truth, Edinburgh. 1962)

This 4th of July, this Independence Day that we celebrate as a nation, would be a wonderful day for you to declare your dependance on Christ, declaring your dependance on his shed blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Look to Jesus and live. 

That’s a word for every believer here today as well. Look to Jesus and live. Because you never outgrow your need to look to Christ, for daily dependance on Christ and his finished work on the cross for you is how you live today. 

Let’s look at John 3:1-8 and the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus.

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

When people come to Jesus because of his signs, his miracles, Jesus always gets to the heart of the matter — the heart.

We saw it last week when we found Nicodemus’ statement in verse 2, “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.”

Moved be Jesus’ miracles there were some who were interested in Jesus at the end of chapter 2. But Jesus knew they didn’t truly believe in him with their hearts. Now we see Nicodemus coming to Jesus to inquire of him and he too has been observing Jesus’ signs, his miracles.

And Jesus knows just what Nicodemus needs. It’s not that he needs to know more about Jesus’ signs. What he needs is to know about his own lost condition — that he needs a new heart — he needs to be born again.

So Jesus gets to the heart of the issue and it’s that Nicodemus, and every other human being for that matter, needs to realize that they are dead in their sins and they cannot see the kingdom of God, they cannot enter the kingdom of God, without being born again. They must be regenerated.

Nicodemus needed to know this and so do we, that no one can see the kingdom of God, no one can be a part of God’s kingdom, no one can have eternal life and forgiveness of sins unless they are born again, because all mankind are dead in their trespasses and sins, says Ephesians 2:1.

That passage doesn’t stand alone. Later in verse 5 we hear this,

5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

John 5:21 puts it like this:

21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

And Colossians 2:13 also makes it clear that without Christ we are dead in our trespasses, our sins. That’s the most desperate need of all mankind. Before we meet Christ we need to know the solution to spiritual death and the eternal separation from God that’s the result of that deadness in sin. And Jesus tells Nicodemus to see the kingdom, which is to be saved from his sin, he must be born again.

Now just think with me for a moment about how this must have turned Nicodemus’ world upside-down. We noted it at length last Sunday evening that Jesus never made it easy for people to believe in him — he never sidestepped the truth or watered down the Gospel for someone who was finding it hard to believe.

John MacArthur notes that,

No matter how religiously active someone might be, no one can enter the kingdom without experiencing the personal regeneration of the new birth (cf. Matt. 19:28).

The implications of Jesus’ words for Nicodemus were staggering. All of his life he had diligently observed the law (cf. Mark 10:20) and the rituals of Judaism (cf. Gal. 1:14). He had joined the ultrareligious Pharisees, and even become a member of the Sanhedrin. Now Jesus called him to forsake all of that and start over; to abandon the entire system of works righteousness in which he had placed his hope; to realize that human effort was powerless to save. Describing the consternation Nicodemus must have felt, R. C. H. Lenski writes:

Jesus’ word regarding the new birth shatters once for all every supposed excellence of man’s attainment, all merit of human deeds, all prerogatives of natural birth or station. Spiritual birth is something one undergoes, not something he produces. As our efforts had nothing to do with our natural conception and birth, so in an analogous way but on a far higher plane, regeneration is not a work of ours. What a blow for Nicodemus! His being a Jew gave him no part in the kingdom; his being a Pharisee, esteemed holier than other people, availed him nothing; his membership in the Sanhedrin and his fame as one of its scribes went for nought. This Rabbi from Galilee calmly tells him that he is not yet in the kingdom! All on which he had built his hopes throughout a long arduous life here sank into ruin and became a little worthless heap of ashes. (The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel [Reprint; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1998], 234–35) (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Electronic Edition)

So here comes Nicodemus, not really knowing what he needed. But Jesus knows. He tells him that he cannot see the kingdom of God unless he’s been born again. Nothing he can do, no great religious accomplishment, and it certainly wasn’t a matter of being more religious than he already was. Jesus tells him that he has to start over — you must be born again. And, to say the least, that puzzles Nicodemus. How can one be born again?

MacArthur goes on to say,

Far from minimizing the demands of the gospel, Jesus confronted Nicodemus with the most difficult challenge He could make. No wonder Christ would later say to His disciples, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:24). By calling him to be born again, Jesus challenged this most religious Jew to admit his spiritual bankruptcy and abandon everything he was trusting in for salvation.

So what does it take to be born again? We pick up in verse 5 with Jesus’ answer.

5 …“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Unless one is born of water and the Spirit. Jesus is giving Nicodemus more detail about what it means to be born again. What does Jesus mean?

There have been several ideas given for what it means to be born of water.

Some have said this is talking about our first birth, your natural birth. They would say Jesus’ statement is symbolizing two births here, the water being your first birth, and the Spirit being the spiritual re-birth. But that’s not likely since Jesus’ statement here in verse 5 is a parallel to the statement in verse 3, unless one is born again. So there’s really only one birth here, not two.

Some say being born of water is about Christian baptism. But that can’t be it since Christian baptism didn’t yet exist. And similarly some say Jesus is talking about John’s baptism here, which also isn’t likely since Nicodemus would have understood what John the Baptist’s baptism was.

I think it’s interesting that Jesus expected Nicodemus to understand this. Later in verse 10 Jesus remarks, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?”

Unless one is born of water and the Spirit. What could this be? It will help us to understand that this isn’t two things, it’s really only one — one statement, intended to shed further light on what it means to be born again.

I think Jesus had in mind a passage from the Old Testament — one Nicodemus would have been familiar with. I think he’s pointing back to Ezekiel 36:24-27. Listen to this passage, because I think we find being born again, regeneration, is being spoken of here in this Old Testament text.

24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 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. 26 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. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Here’s Nicodemus, this man who knew the Old Testament Scriptures and I think Jesus is pointing him back to them to help him understand just how it can be that one is born again.

And what this passage in Ezekiel is pointing to and what Jesus is saying in fact is that no one enters the kingdom of God without having his soul washed clean, cleansed through God’s Word and by God’s Spirit.

In another New Testament passage, Ephesians 5:26, speaking of believers as a part of Christ’s church, says that they have been cleansed by the washing of water with the word. That points to this need for the cleansing work of the Word in our lives. That’s what Nicodemus needed. He needed his soul washed clean.

And Jesus is making it very clear to this Pharisee, this man of knowledge and religion that it’s not by his own works or wisdom that he’s saved, it’s only by the work of the spirit of God. Titus 3:5 makes this clear saying,

5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

This is just what Jesus is pointing Nicodemus to as he continues in verses 6.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Listen Nicodemus, you may be a man of great learning, but your learning has not cleansed you because it has not brought you to the point where you see yourself as a sinner in need of regeneration. Jesus is making it very clear here that no amount of effort, or learning, or good works saves you. Spiritual regeneration is completely a work of God.

And maybe you can see the stunned look on the face of Nicodemus as Jesus says in verse 7 and 8,

7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

You want an illustration of how the Spirit works? You want to understand more clearly that you don’t control the Spirit, that God moves as he wishes in the heart of man? The illustration doesn’t get much clearer than the one Jesus gives Nicodemus.

You try grasping the wind Nicodemus. You try making the wind go where you want. You can’t see the wind or control the wind. The Spirit of God is like that.

Nicodemus needed to know and believe this and so do you, that the Spirit’s work in saving you is all his own. Titus 3:5-6 makes that truth wonderfully clear.

5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

How the Spirit of God does this is a mystery to us. But just like the effects of the unseen wind after a storm are clearly seen, so the effects of the Spirit of God are clearly seen in the lives of those who are born again, born of the Spirit.

If you’ve been born of the Spirit then you have great reason for gratitude. Gratitude toward God that he gives to you. And out of gratitude for his grace shown to you in your salvation you will happily yield to his Word. That’s one of the effects of being born of the spirit.

But like Nicodemus, you may need to be born again. If so then your first step of obedience should be repentance of sin and belief in Jesus Christ for salvation.

As Mark 1 says of Jesus’ ministry, that he, 14 …came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying,“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

We’re coming to chapter 3 of John’s Gospel today and the story of Nicodemus, and I’d like to read the first 15 verses to begin with to get an overview of this conversation Jesus has with him and then we’re going to take a closer look at verses 1-4.

John 3:1-15
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Jesus knows just what you need. How do we know that?

We noted it last week in the closing verses of chapter 2. Verses 24 and 25 say, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Jesus knew what was in the heart of man.

One thing is clear as we enter chapter 3 today — it’s that Jesus knows just what you need. We’ll see it in the exchange with Nicodemus. He knows just what Nicodemus needed, and he knows that because he knows what’s in the heart of man.

What was it Nicodemus needed? He needed to be born again. Jesus tells him so. As we come to chapter 3 we find that this is actually a continuation of the train of thought we saw last week at the end of chapter 2. (Just remember as you read your Bible that the chapter breaks came after the fact — they’re not a part of the original Scriptures — and sometimes, like here, a chapter break can be awkward.)

In showing us Nicodemus who comes to Jesus to inquire of him, the Apostle John is giving us an example of those we saw at the end of chapter 2 who saw Jesus’ miracles but didn’t see Jesus as the Messiah — they believed in his signs but didn’t believe in Jesus as their Savior. These were people who, because of the signs they saw him perform, believed that Jesus was a man of great importance, and some were showing interest in following him, but John tells us that Jesus knew their hearts. Jesus knew theirs was not true belief. They were only drawn to the miracles.

In Nicodemus we have an example of one who was like that. It’s seen in the fact that he comes to Jesus talking about the signs, verse 2, “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.”

So it’s apparent that Nicodemus has seen what took place at the temple and had been watching Jesus because he was aware of the miracles he had been performing. So who is this Nicodemus?

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, he was a member of the Sanhedrin, he was a ruler of the Jews as part of that Jewish ruling council. Jesus acknowledges that Nicodemus is a well known teacher in verse 10. As the account begins we find him coming to Jesus at night. Why he came at night we don’t know — it may have been for the cover of darkness. Some have suggested that. Or it may have been that he was a very busy man. It may have been he wanted some uninterrupted time to inquire of Jesus. We don’t know.

But note what is most interesting about this exchange as it begins.

Verse 2 says that Nicodemus came to Jesus saying: “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.”

Nicodemus is like those we saw at the end of chapter two who aren’t totally convinced about Jesus, so Jesus would not entrust himself to them. But note there’s something different about Nicodemus.

He respectfully calls Jesus Rabbi. Then he indicates that he certainly thinks there’s something different about Jesus, because of what he observes. He’s seen Jesus’ signs, his miracles, and who could do these miracles unless God is with him?

But even though Nicodemus is a man of great wisdom, Jesus’ response shows that he was missing something. Nicodemus was like those who were seeing Jesus’ signs but not seeing him for who he is. Look at verse 2 again. He says to Jesus:

“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.”

He acknowledges that Jesus is a teacher, Rabbi, and implied here, even a remarkable teacher, because no one like this could exist unless come from God. But note that missing in this exchange is any recognition of Jesus as The Messiah, or even a Prophet. So in effect he too is coming, as we’ve seen of others, to inquire of Jesus, just who he is.

And in Jesus’ response there’s a lesson for us about how everyone must come to Jesus. Certainly Nicodemus thinks he sees something of who Jesus is as he’s observed his miracles. But note Jesus’ response in verse 3.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

What is it to see the kingdom of God? What does that mean? That’s exactly what Nicodemus was thinking. Look at verse 4.

4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Nicodemus is puzzled by Jesus’ statement. But Jesus knows what’s going on in the heart of Nicodemus, Jesus knows just what he needs. He thinks he has Jesus figured out. He calls Jesus Rabbi, which was polite, but he’s coming to Jesus as one Rabbi to another. So Jesus makes it clear that Nicodemus really doesn’t know him by making a statement that causes Nicodemus to stop and think. Jesus is saying, “You think you know me Nicodemus, but to really see the kingdom of God you have to be born again.” Jesus is saying that to really know me you must be born again.

So what is it to see the kingdom of God, and why does Nicodemus have to be born again to see it?

I think it helps to understand seeing the kingdom of God as being a part of the kingdom of God. To see the kingdom of God is to be a part of the kingdom of God. And Jesus makes it clear that you are not a part of the kingdom of God unless you are born again. And Nicodemus says, “How can that be?” “What is this being born again?”

Here’s what we need to understand about being born again because people often identify being born again with the wrong things. For instance you may be born into a family with Christian parents and they may have taken you to church regularly, you may speak like a Christian, you may dress like a Christian, you may carry and read a Bible like one, and you may go to church like a Christian, but none of those things makes you a Christian. Only being born again. Only regeneration. And regeneration is only by the work of the Spirit of God on your heart and the Holy Spirit only works the work of regeneration in you when you believe in Jesus Christ, his sacrifice on the cross and his rising from the dead for you. But even belief is not yours until the Holy Spirit brings belief to your heart.

Jesus points to this truth when he tells Nicodemus, verse 5, that unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And then in verse 6, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. And then in verse 8, The wind blows where it wishes… So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Philippians 2:13 says it this way:

for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

If you are God’s child do you realize how blessed by God you are to have faith — to believe? It’s a work of the Spirit. We’re going to come back to this thought next week, beginning in verse 5. Because there are some deep and wonderful truths here that we dare not miss. I want to dwell on them a bit more next time.

But let me come back to the point that we see Jesus making here in these first few verses of chapter 3.

Nicodemus was intrigued with Jesus and thought he had a handle on who he was, and he wanted to know more, so he came inquiring of Christ. But Jesus, knowing what Nicodemus and all mankind needs, gets right to the heart of the matter and it’s that you must be born again.

Born again means, spiritual transformation, spiritual regeneration. Being born again, or regenerated is what Colossians 1:13 speaks of when we’re told that as believers,

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

This is an important truth for us to comprehend and believe. Your understanding of your need to be born again will shape whether you truly understand your need for Christ. And it will shape, once you come to Christ, how you share him with others. You must be born again if you wish to be a part of God’s kingdom. You must be spiritually regenerated if you wish to see the kingdom of God.

Of regeneration Charles Spurgeon spoke, saying,

It is one of absolute and vital importance. It is the hinge of the Gospel. It is the point upon which most Christians are agreed, yes, all who are Christians in sincerity and truth. It is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation. It is the very groundwork of our hopes for Heaven and as we ought to be very careful of the basement of our structure, so should we be very diligent to take heed that we are really born again and that we have made sure work of it for eternity. (C.H. Spurgeon, Regeneration, Sermon #130)

It’s of critical importance that you understand today that you must be born again — you must be regenerated, you must be spiritually transformed by God’s Spirit taking up residence in your soul. And that is only yours by faith in Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross for you.

My brother and his family were with us for a couple of days last week and we were talking about our passage of study this morning. He told me that every time he thinks of this passage and Jesus’ statement that you must be born again he thinks of wife’s late grandfather.

He spent nearly his entire life going to church; he was a faithful church attender but did not know Christ as His savior until very late in life. Even after all those years of faithful church attendance he finally realized that he really had never believed in Jesus for salvation. He’d never really been born again. After trusting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, so thoroughly convinced was he of his own regeneration in Christ that in the last few days of his life, as he was loosing his ability to carry on normal conversation one thing he would say when he saw his family coming to visit was, “born again, born again!”

Are you born again? As Spurgeon says, have you made “sure work of it for eternity”?

John 2:23-25

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

As we come back to our study in John’s Gospel this morning I remind you that his purpose in lining up the events that we’ve seen so far and throughout this Gospel is so that we might believe in Jesus Christ and have life in his name.

That’s the truth of John 20:31 and John’s purpose for writing.

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.

This is why John, inspired by the Holy Spirit writes what he writes. So that those who read this account, this Gospel will believe in Jesus and have life.

Now we’re only at the end of chapter 2 in this 21 chapter book and we’ve seen that John has been right on task with this purpose — we see it repeatedly in these first two chapters.

We see it in chapter 1 where John the Apostle points to John the Baptist back in verse 6 when he says,

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

Then in verse 12 John writes,

12 …to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Then in chapter 2 we see Jesus turns the water to wine and verse 11 says,

11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

And then last week we saw Jesus say this in verse 19,

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

And then John points to the time after Jesus’ resurrection when his disciples remembered that he had said this, verse 22 says,

22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

This is great isn’t it? John’s writing about Jesus so that people will know about who he is and believe in him and have life in his name and he’s giving these examples of people who are seeing the ministry of Jesus and they are believing in him.

But when we get to the end of chapter 2 and we read the verses I began with a moment ago, 23-25, something doesn’t seem right. Look at those verses again.

Verse 23 says,

23 …many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

This is good right? You come to verse 23 and you read it and you think — “This is good. People are believing, this is good.” Then you start reading verse 24 which starts with the word “but”. Now that can’t be good. It’s kind of like the person who says to you, “I really like what you’re doing with your hair — but…”, Or, “you know you’re my best friend, right? — but…”

Isn’t there something in you that makes you just forget everything that came before the word “but”? Doesn’t it seem like whenever someone says something nice to you followed by that three letter word it devalues what came before it?

That’s kind of what’s happening here when John goes on to say, in verse 24,

24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Doesn’t reading those two verse after reading in verse 23, that people were believing in Jesus, make you wonder what in the world is going on here?

What’s happening here, and this is important, is that John is telling us simply that not all belief is belief that saves. Not all belief is real belief. That’s made clear by the fact that Jesus knows what’s going on in the heart of man and does not entrust himself to them.

Verse 23 says he knew all people. It means he sees what they really are. We saw a glimpse of this truth back in chapter 1 verse 47 when Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said,“Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” And when Nathanael was surprised that Jesus really knew him Jesus said, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Jesus knows the true nature of man. John says plainly here in verse 25, that Jesus knew what was in man.

While you and I know about people, because we hear of and see the things they do, verse 25 makes it clear that Jesus needed no one to bear witness about man. He doesn’t need to see people’s actions or hear the witness of others about their actions; Jesus knows their heart. He knows their real motives, their real intentions, their real longings of heart. While we don’t know what’s truly in the heart of man, there’s no guessing about the heart of man for Jesus.

What we learn from this account may make us uneasy but it’s an uneasiness we need to feel.

We learn something about man here don’t we? We learn that though some may say they believe in Jesus or show outward signs of belief not all that appears to be belief is belief that saves. We can see it in the text, because Jesus was not entrusting himself to those whom he knew weren’t really believing in him. John says they were believing in his name, but the idea here is that it was not saving belief in his name, it was belief that he had some kind of authority.

These were people who were seeing the signs Jesus was performing, very likely his healing of the sick and casting out demons, and they were believing that he had to be someone special, but they weren’t putting their faith in him as the Savior.

John Gill notes that many believed, “that he was some great prophet, or the prophet, or the Messiah; they gave an historical assent unto him as such, at least for that time. (John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible)

But Jesus knew their hearts and knew that this belief was not true belief because it was not true, heart felt, repentant, Gospel belief. They may have said, “we want to go where he goes”, they may have liked what he was saying, they may have taken great hope in his miracles, but Jesus knew their hearts. He knew that when things looked differently to them, when things got difficult, they would not be numbered among his true followers.

They were attracted to the miracles but not the man. They saw the signs but they didn’t see the Savior. And since Jesus could see that they really didn’t see and believe he would not be a part of them.

And that returns us to what we learn about Jesus here that points to his deity. John is showing us who Jesus is so that we’ll believe. He doesn’t want us to be those people who only see the miracles and not the Man, only the signs and not the Savior.

What we see here is the omniscience of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is this? It’d that he is all-knowing. God’s omniscience is clear throughout scripture. Take Psalm 33:13-15 for example.

13 The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;
14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.

Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, knows everything. Of course, we see it in our passage here in John 2:24 and 25, …because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Let that truth about Christ and it’s implications sink in. Think of this: if Jesus knows everything, even your heart, — and he does — then it follows that he knows just what you need, he knows just how you need to be saved from your sin. Jesus knows you better than you know yourself and he knows that it’s not being excited by his miracles that saves you, it’s only the shedding of his blood. As Hebrews 8:22 reminds us, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” And then in verse 26 that Jesus “put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

And in that truth there’s a reminder for us from our passage here in John. There’s a kind of belief that Jesus will not accept. It’s not great hope or belief in Jesus’ miracles that saves. It’s not a belief that Jesus will accept you because you have been a pretty good person that saves. It’s not a sincere belief that “there are many ways to God and that Jesus is just one of them” that saves. Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

So be warned that not all “belief” is belief that saves — Jesus can see belief that isn’t really belief and he’ll have nothing to do with those who don’t really believe in him. Heed Jesus warning in Matthew 7:21-23,

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Proverbs 21:2 makes it clear that the Lord knows the heart.

2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.

And it’s clear here in John’s Gospel in the closing of chapter two that only beginning in your faith is not enough. Some saw the signs that Jesus performed and had what may have been the beginnings of faith. But Jesus knew their hearts. Though they may soon be ready to make him a king he knew this wasn’t real faith.

So be certain your faith is in the man, Jesus Christ, and not in your works, or even his signs, because He alone can save you. In fact we see this very truth back in chapter one.

John 1:9-11 – 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. And if you have believed in Christ then be certain that your constant hope is in nothing but Jesus Christ.

John 2:12-22

12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

We’ve been keeping before us this one big idea, which is John’s purpose in writing this Gospel, it’s to make clear to us that Jesus is God. By inspiration of the Holy Spirit this is just what John continues to do in our passage of study today.

You may recall that last week we began our study at the end of our passage, verses 1-11. Last week we noted in verse 11 that This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Why did Jesus turn the water to wine? His ultimate purpose was to manifest his glory. And why did he manifest his glory? Remember that when Jesus manifests his glory, he’s making himself known as God in flesh. And the purpose for which Jesus manifested his glory was so that his disciples would be strengthened in their belief in him, and they were.

Like last week, we’re beginning at the end again today because again we see the purpose for which John shows us Jesus’ actions. And again it’s to see that Jesus is God. We’ll see it in two ways today; he’s revealed as God in two ways in the text before us.

1) He’s passionate for purity and 2) he holds the power over death.

But first let’s look at verse 22, starting at the end of the story.

22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Our whole text today leads up to this point. When Jesus’ disciples recalled what he did and said they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. So when they recalled this they were strengthened in their belief in and faith in Christ.

As we return to the beginning of the story before us now what we see is that Jesus and his mother and brothers and disciples go to Capernaum where they stay a few days and then we’re told in verse 13 that the Jewish Passover was coming as Jesus went on to Jerusalem.

As Jesus arrived at the temple what he found disturbed him deeply. I’m going to call this Jesus’ first temple cleansing. The other three Gospels also mention a time when Jesus cleansed the temple but they point to that time being at the end of Jesus’ ministry, while John points to this temple cleansing near the beginning his ministry. Another thing that seems to point to two temple cleansings is that in this one in John’s Gospel we don’t see the kind of opposition to Jesus’ ministry like the other three Gospels record. There’s a different outcome here as opposed to the others. So I think we’re seeing here in John 2 Jesus’ first temple cleansing.

Now the outer courts of the temple were intended to be a place for prayer and other acts of worship and instead what Jesus found in the temple courts which angered him so, verse 14 says, were those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.

Now why would there be this selling of animals here in the temple courts surrounding the temple? The reason for this is that the law required sacrifices of oxen and sheep and pigeons, so it was likely that this custom had been established of selling sacrificial animals. This would provide the necessary sacrificial animals for those who’d traveled from a distance and couldn’t bring their own. And then money-changers were needed because before anyone could purchase one of these animals they’d need to exchange their various types of money for the certain kinds of coins of purer silver which were the only ones the priests would accept, conveniently enough.

So what probably started out as a convenience for those who came to worship, had turned into quite the money making scheme under the guise of an act of kindness. That’s why we see Jesus in verse 15, making a whip of cords, driving out the sellers along with their sheep and oxen and pouring out the money and overturning the tables of the money-changers.

Now there’s nothing about this that suggests any violence on Jesus part. The whip was a whip of cords (or rope), fairly harmless, but handy for getting the animals moving. And had there been any danger to the people the temple guards would have likely stepped in. John does not say that Jesus hurt anyone physically.

But at the same time let’s understand that Jesus is no passive wimp — he did drive them all out with their animals. Those who’ve made Jesus out to be a docile, passive, effeminate have obviously done him wrong. Certainly we know from the Gospel accounts that Jesus is compassionate and has emotions that cause him to weep. He’s compassionate when compassion is needed. But when its time to set a wrong right he’s a passionate and strong individual.

So what’s the wrong that’s been done here? It’s seen in verse 16 in what Jesus tells those who sold the pigeons: “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

In the passage before us here’s the first pointer that Jesus is God. It’s his passion for purity, purity of heart, that points to Jesus being God.

Jesus Is Passionate for Purity of Heart

Note that Jesus didn’t condemn those who were buying, he wasn’t driving them out of the temple. He was driving out those whose hearts were wrong, whose motives were wrong, he was driving out those who were there for the wrong reason, the ones who were there for selfish gain.

Did you notice that contrast that Jesus pointed to? He said they were making his Father’s house (another pointer to Jesus’ deity) a house of trade. His Father’s house was a place of worship, a place of repentance, a place of sacrifice, a place of prayer. They were making a mockery of it by making it a marketplace veiled in worship.

Their marketplace in the midst of the temple courts betrayed the true condition of their hearts. In fact, later in verse 25, John tells us that Jesus knows what’s in the heart of man. Those who were there selling and changing money for great profit where not there because they wanted to honor and glorify God. And that’s what angered Jesus. It was greed veiled in religious piety.

Jesus gets right to the heart of the problem — it’s their love of money instead of love for God. Jesus’ disciples, John says in verse 17, remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” And there would be other times Jesus dealt with this same problem seen in the scribes and Pharisees in Luke 16:13-15. Jesus says,

13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15 And he said to them,“You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Jesus was zealous for God honoring purity and holiness in his Father’s house, which is an indicator of his passion for the purity of his people. Jesus Christ is zealous for holiness and purity of heart. It’s an indicator of his deity. It’s the same thing we see in 1 Samuel 15:22 when God rejects Saul’s sacrifice after his half obedience. Samuel tells Saul,

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

Now we may not buy and sell in the church for personal profit but the lesson for anyone who calls themself a Christian is that you dare not be one who honors God with your lips but has a heart far from Him (Matthew 15:8–9). God is much more interested in where your heart is than where you say your heart is. And to say you love God but instead have a heart that longs for personal profit over and above God’s glory profanes God’s name.

Jesus Christ came to make the glory of God known and to free us from anything that would entangle us and keep us from giving God the glory due His name. So the heart of the matter for you is what is it you really worship? That’s essentially the challenge Jesus was making as he chased these people from the temple courts.

So the fact that Jesus is God is seen in his passion for purity of heart. And Jesus Christ came to give himself as a sacrifice for sinners so that we sinners might be forgiven our sin and saved and be made pure in heart in him when we believe in his name. Sin is impurity and sin kills, but Jesus gives a new heart, Jesus saves, Jesus gives life.

There’s another pointer in the reference to the temple to the deity of Christ. Beginning in verse 18 the Jews push back. How? By saying they want a sign. Something to verify his authority to come in and tell them they’ve done wrong. 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” That’s a convenient question. They’re stalling. Jesus got right to the heart of the problem, their sinful hearts and they want to dodge and make it an issue of his authority.

In verse 19 Jesus responds to their stall tactic by saying,“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

In Jesus’ response he reveals more of his glory, his deity. John tells us in verse 21 that when he spoke of this temple he was speaking about the temple of his body. But in verse 20 it’s clear that the Jews didn’t see Jesus for who he is or understand what he was talking about; The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”

Jesus Holds the Power Over Death

Yes, you want a sign, says Jesus. The same sin, cloaked in religiosity, that causes you to take advantage of people for the sake of personal profit, all the while claiming to do good to them, is the same sin cloaked in religiosity that’s going to kill this temple, my body. And your sign will be that I raise this temple, my body, from the dead on the third day.

Jesus is pointing to the fact that he holds the power over death. Jesus reveals himself as God — he holds the power over death. Jesus says in John 10:15, I lay down my life for the sheep. Then in verses 17 and 18 he says,

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Who is Jesus? He’s the one with the power over death. He’s God. And because he is who he says he is you can believe in him and be saved from eternal death and separation from God in hell.

In verse 22 John tells us that, When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

At the time, John didn’t understand what Jesus meant when he talked about destroying this temple. The other disciples didn’t understand it then either. Nor did the Jews. But later Jesus’ disciples understood. It was after Jesus was raised from the dead. And even then they only understood because they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Do you believe in the scriptures? Do you believe the word Jesus has spoken? There’s a wonderful promise several chapters later for all who believe.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 2:1-11

2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

As we began our study in the Gospel of John and throughout our study in John 1 I have reminded you that the Apostle John’s purpose has been, as seen in John 20:31, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

As we continue our study we’re going to keep that thought in mind.

So we arrive at chapter 2 and we find here the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry — actually, this account is only semi-public. Now when we look at this first miracle of Jesus that John has included let’s ask this question: What about this points to the fact that Jesus is the Christ for the purpose of helping us believe in Him, the Son of God, giver of eternal life?

Now the key to understanding the importance of this passage is in verse 11.

11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

It says that Jesus manifested his glory. And we understand why Jesus manifested his glory when we see the response of Jesus’ disciples. They believed in him.

And that points us to the Apostle John’s purpose in writing this gospel that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31).

Verse 11 says that Jesus, manifested his glory. Now, I think the first way that Jesus reveals his glory is seen in His interaction with His mother. Do you see anything in verses 1-4 that seems unusual about how Jesus spoke to His mother?

When Mary comes to Jesus and tells him there’s a shortage of wine His response is not, “Mother”, what does this have to do with me? Wouldn’t we expect Him to address Mary as “Mother”? Yet He doesn’t.

But, when we see Jesus’ response our tendency is to think this is just a bit rude. And part of that thinking comes with how it would sound in our culture to call your mother “woman”. But Jesus calling Mary woman was not what we would make of it in our culture — it was more like you calling a woman “ma’am”. So Jesus wasn’t being rude but He was making a point. What’s the point? He’s making a point about where his allegiance was. He’s manifesting His glory. And His glory is mostly clearly shown in His obedience to God the Father.

Jesus is helping His disciples to see clearly who He is. And it’s much clearer who Jesus is when we understand that His allegiance is to His heavenly father and not to His earthly mother.

So when Jesus says “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” He manifests His glory in His glorification of the Father’s will over anyone else’s — including His mother’s. His response was not rude but it was unusual and it was for the sake of making it clear to whom He was obedient.

He also makes clear to whom He must be obedient when he says, what does this have to do with me? In effect He says, why are you asking this of me when it’s not really your place to ask me to use my power? This is about his allegiance to God the Father.

The allegiance of God the Son to God the Father is seen clearly in Luke 22:42 in Jesus’ prayer on the mount of Olives just before being betrayed and then crucified: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” It’s also seen in Philippians 2:8 where Paul says of Christ, And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Obedient to whom? God the Father.

I think we also see in Jesus’ response to His mother that there’s no special privilege in being part of Jesus’ earthly family. Just as Jesus is bound only to the Father’s will so salvation is only for those who believe in Jesus. Jesus even makes this clear in Luke 11:27-28 where we find this:

27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Jesus’ earthy family, his brothers or sisters or his mother, have no special privilege over the rest of mankind. Only belief in Jesus Christ brings forgiveness of sin and eternal life. And that’s great news for us isn’t it? Jesus is making it very clear right at the outset of His public ministry that He is not bound by any human demands.

That’s made even clearer when Jesus says, My hour has not yet come. We’re going to see Jesus saying this several times in John’s Gospel. Now listen to what He says in John 10:17-18

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

But wait a minute. Didn’t Jesus do what was asked of Him by His mother? Then why did he say what he did if he was just going to go ahead and do it? Yes He did. But it was for the purpose of revealing His glory, making clear who He is. No my time has not yet come but I will give you a sign of what’s ahead. How’s that?

It’s seen in what he’s pointing to when he says My hour has not yet come. What’s that? Jesus’ “hour” always points to the time of His death. It’s the purpose for His coming to earth the first time. His hour would be the the time of his death when he would bear the sin of the world and that being people of all nations who believe in His name.

Now, even though Mary and the others present would not have grasped the full meaning of Jesus’ “hour” they would in time. And John’s readers would more fully understand as they read this Gospel, just as we more fully understand because we’re already familiar with the whole story of Jesus’ sacrifice for sin.

They couldn’t yet fully understand what Jesus meant that His hour had not yet come — but he was about to give them some pointers. And He does so by doing what was asked of Him. He does not deny Mary’s request, so she says to the servants, verse 5, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Now look at verses 6-8.

6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it.

John tells us that there were six stone water jars and for the sake of his Gentile readers he explains that they were for the Jewish rites of purification. Ceremonial washing was an important part of Jewish religious practices. They used stone water pots because they believed they wouldn’t become unclean like clay pots. And there were several very large pots because of the large amount of water needed for the number of guests and for the washing of cookware and eating utensils.

Now note that Jesus had the servants fill these large pots all the way to the top, to the point there was no room for anything else. Jesus was going to miraculously change the water to wine and this was no slight of hand — nothing could be added.

Note too that with such a large supply of wine they would not run out again. There would be plenty left over.

Isn’t that just like Jesus and the grace He shows all who believe in Him. Jesus’ followers all receive a full measure of His grace, with plenty to spare.

Now look at verse 9 and 10.

9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

The master of the feast, we might call him the head waiter, tasted the water become wine, and though he didn’t know where it had come from, he was amazed at how good it was.

But it’s no surprise to us and it’s instructive to His disciples as Jesus manifests His glory He shows himself to be the Creator that He is. Didn’t we see this of Christ in John 1:3? All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

So, it’s no surprise for us that when Jesus makes wine that needed no grapes, nor a growing season nor fermentation that it’s the best wine ever. And no doubt this too is how Jesus choses at this early stage of his ministry to show his deity.

This is made clear when in verse 11 it says,

11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

The point is not the wine. The point is that Jesus manifested his glory. He put who he is as God on display for His followers to witness. He wants them to see that He is fully God. And John tells us that Jesus’ disciples believed in Him. In other words His disciples saw His glory and were strengthened in their faith in Him. This is just what Jesus intended.

But note this, that not everyone at the wedding witnessed His glory as His disciples did. Not even those servants who knew that a miracle had taken place.

John doesn’t tell us that the servants who clearly witnessed this miracle believed. We see no evidence that any of these servants followed Christ as a result of witnessing this miracle. How can this be. How can you witness a miracle of Christ’s and not believe? It’s an obvious result of the truth we see in 2 Corinthians 4:4,

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

And that still happens today. Even when a follower of Christ has faithfully shared the truth of the Gospel and lived as a powerful witness of the love of Christ, there very often still remain those who do not believe in Jesus.

But what happens when you believe in Jesus and you see the signs of His deity? You grow in your faith. You are strengthened in your walk with Christ. You are encouraged to continual, faithful belief and obedience. And that is why we have this account of Jesus first miracle. And isn’t that why God has given us His Word, the Bible?

John 1:43-51

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 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.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Who is Jesus? As we’ve been studying here in John 1 we’ve been seeing the answer to that question. Everything we see here points to the deity of Christ. As we’ve been studying here through chapter 1 we’ve been seeing several different names for Jesus that help us understand who He is.

1) First we saw that Jesus is the Word. As such Jesus reveals the heart and mind of God. 2) Then we saw that Jesus is the Light. Light reveals truth and light means life. 3) Then we saw the Jesus is the Son of God. And God the Son reveals God the Father. 4) Then we noted that Jesus is the Christ, which means He is the Messiah, THE anointed one. 5) We’ve also seen that Jesus is the Lamb of God. He’s the once for all sacrifice for sin to all who believe. And today we come to the last two names we’re looking at here that help us see Jesus for who He is. 6) The sixth name is seen in verse 49, King of Israel 7) and the seventh name is seen in verse 51, Son of Man. And again these names for Christ are all helping us see and understand who Jesus is. We’ll get to how these last two names help us see who Christ is in the course of our time together today.

Now, in the account we saw the last time together here in John, two Sundays ago, we saw that Jesus did not take the initiative in calling the two disciples of John the Baptist to follow him. And note that when we call them disciples of John we mean that they followed his teaching. So they had followed John’s teaching and the natural outcome of that teaching was that when Jesus was introduced to them they followed Him. Then in Simon Peter’s case he was brought to Jesus by Andrew.

We see something different in the passage before us this morning. In the setting that develops beginning in verse 43 Jesus is taking the initiative. It says that, the next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee.

And whom does Jesus go looking for? He goes to Philip.

Now everything we know about Philip points to him being simply an ordinary individual. And obvious in the text is that Philip wasn’t seeking Jesus. But Jesus was seeking Philip. Be encouraged by this, that Jesus seeks out ordinary individuals like Philip (and like you and me). God has use for what we might call, ordinary people. The Bible is full of examples of ordinary people whom God chose to use to do His work and bring Him glory. And God chose you before you were ever thinking of Him.

Now, what does Jesus call Philip to do? It says here that Jesus said, “Follow me.” Let’s understand here that what Jesus is saying isn’t simply, “walk this way”. He’s saying “be my disciple”, that’s what the meaning of the original language points to. And that’s not uncommon in the New Testament. When we see in our Bibles Jesus saying “follow me”, he’s saying, “follow me for the purpose of being my disciple.”

We’re going to see three important truths about Jesus in the text. Here’s the first:

Jesus: the one with authority

Now, who is Jesus to say, “you come follow me and be my disciple”? Who is he? He’s no ordinary man. Jesus is the God-man. Jesus is the one with authority.

We would have very good reason to consider someone to be arrogant who approached us and said, “you follow me and be my disciple.” But it’s certainly not arrogant for Jesus to say this because He has the authority to do so. Let’s note that because this is important for us to understand if we’re going to see Jesus for who He is and believe in Him. Jesus is the one with authority. Let’s keep that in mind. We’ll come back to that thought.

Look at what happens next.

44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Did you notice what just happened? One disciple finds another. Jesus find Philip and Philip proceeds to tell Nathanael that they’ve found who? “him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph”. That’s another way of saying, “We’ve found the Messiah”, which is what Andrew had said of Jesus when he took Simon Peter to Him.

Notice another thing Philip is saying in verse 44. He’s pointing back to the Old Testament prophets. And in this we see once again as John writes this Gospel that he’s pointing to who Jesus is. Jesus is the Messiah. He’s God’s anointed one. He is God come to man. Remember that John’s purpose in writing this Gospel as he states in chapter 20 verse 31 is that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John is still on message.

Then in verse 46 we see Nathanael is surprised that Philip is calling this man the Messiah.

46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”…

It’s likely that Nathanael’s response was due in part to the fact that Nazareth was a town that was little known. It was a place of little significance as far as Nathanael was concerned. Add to this that Nathanael was from Cana and he may have been showing a little bit of the rivalry that likely existed between these two towns.

Note Philip’s response. Did he try to argue with Nathanael? No.

46b …Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Philip essentially says, “if you can’t believe me, just come and see for yourself.”

And this is often still the best answer there is to someone who questions who Jesus is. Have you ever met a professional arguer? They just love to debate and question and argue. Do you realize that you don’t have to be a great Bible scholar who can debate every detail of doctrine to take someone to Jesus? Sometimes the best answer to a skeptic or to one who seems to have endless questions or reservations is simply, “why not come and see for yourself?” How do you do that? Invite them to join you for a study of God’s Word that will help them see for themselves who Jesus is. We have access to several good resources that will help you begin a study with a friend who’s questioning who Jesus is. You can also invite then to join you for Sunday services as we study the Word together as God’s Word is preached. Take them to Jesus — say to them as Philip did, “come and see.”

Jesus: the one who knows you

Look at how Jesus addresses Nathanael.

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

There’s another pointer here to the deity of Christ, because when Jesus Christ looks at you he sees more than anyone else can see — he sees who you are. Jesus gives this knowing, omniscient declaration that Nathanael is a man who is without deceit, a man who is free of cunning craftiness. Who else could look at an individual he’d never met and say such a thing. This is much like when Jesus looked at Simon and saw what He would make of him declaring that he would be called, or he would become, Peter, Rock. Jesus now looks at Nathanael and shows him that He knows who he is.

You see, Jesus isn’t only the one with authority, He’s also the one who knows you. He knows who you are. And let’s clarify here that Jesus didn’t call Nathanael to be His disciple because he knew he was an upright man. God choses no one to be His child because He knows he or she will “turn out” to be a good person.

The Bible makes it clear that God chooses a people for His own and they come to Christ on no merit of their own. For example, in John 15:16 Jesus says to His followers, You did not choose me, but I chose you… And in Romans 3:23, 24 it says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

God’s Word repeatedly makes this clear that God choses a people for his own and saves them by no merit or good of their own. Yes, Jesus’ statement about Nathanael is fairly remarkable because this is rare that a person be found without deceit. But He’s not suggesting that this is a perfect man, he’s still a sinner. Nathanael is unusually upright, but he still needs Christ and the forgiveness of sins that all sinners receive who trust in Him. Jesus just made it clear, “I know who you are, I know what you are.”

Now look at the exchange in verse 48.

48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”…

Nathanael is surprised that Jesus could know him. They had never met. How could this man know who he is? Jesus could know him because He is no mere man. Jesus is God’s revelation of Himself to man and all mankind are known by Jesus because He is fully God. Look at it here in verse 48.

48b …Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

What is this time Jesus points to when Nathanael was under the fig tree? Some believe that this is in reference to a place where Nathanael went to study the Old Testament scriptures. The point is that Jesus supernaturally saw him and having never met Jesus this got Nathanael’s attention. To say the least.

That ought to get your attention too. Christ sees you and knows you, even though you may give Him no thought. He not only knows where you are, He knows what you are, He knows your heart.

In verse 49 it’s obvious that this became clear to Nathanael because of the way he responds to Jesus.

49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

This is the second time in chapter one that we’ve seen the use of the name Son of God; we saw it back in verse 34. Here, Nathanael recognizes who Jesus is because of the knowledge Jesus had of him. Remember, the name Son of God, points to the truth that Jesus is the Messiah. The Messiah had been predicted in the Old Testament. Then he adds, You are the King of Israel. This is the sixth name for Christ we’re looking at here in chapter 1. And this name for Christ also points back to Old Testament prophesy of the coming Messiah.

Now, at this early contact with Christ Nathanael certainly didn’t have a full understanding of all the details of Christ’s sonship. But with all that Christ obviously knew about him, Nathanael confidently verbalizes his understanding that this has to be the Son of God, this is the long awaited Messiah.

Notice here too that Nathanael is verbalizing his recognition of Jesus authority over him and his submission to Christ when he says, You are the King of Israel.

This is what happens when you fully understand that Jesus knows you and you believe in Him and you place your trust in Him. The natural response of one who believes is to submit to Christ as King of your life and then verbalize your heart felt belief in Him. That’s the truth Romans 10:10 points to when it says that, with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Which is to say that if you have a deep, heart felt belief in Jesus Christ you will make a natural expression of that belief with your mouth. And your verbal expression of faith in Christ is an affirmation to you and to others that you truly believe in Christ and recognize His authority over your life.

You need to see Jesus as your King. He may have come in lowly circumstances. He may have been cruelly crucified for your sins but that in no way diminishes His divine royalty. And when you see Jesus for who He is you too will recognize Him as your King.

Look at Jesus’ answer to Nathanael.

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.”

Jesus is essentially saying to Nathanael, “you may have been moved to belief by what I told you about yourself but we’re only scratching the surface here compared to what you will see. I’m only getting started.” Then in verse 51 we see the example of what Nathanael was to witness.

Jesus: the one who reveals the love of God to man

51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Jesus is telling Nathanael to listen closely because this is important when he says Truly, truly. Listen up Nathanael, you’ll see the things of heaven revealed to you. You’ll see the realities of heaven made clear to you. And Jesus points to himself as being the one who will make things clear for him. It’s a figurative statement here when Christ says, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

Here’s this seventh name for Christ we’re noting in chapter one; Son of Man. And Jesus, as the Son of Man is the revealer of God to man. Jesus is the one who reveals the love of God to man. Jesus is the one who communicates heaven to earth. Jesus is like the ladder upon which the communication of God’s love for mankind is sent from heaven to earth, from God to man. It’s the truth we know so well echoed in John 3:16, 17:

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Who is Jesus? Jesus, is the Son of God, the one with authority; Jesus is the one who knows you; and Jesus is the one who reveals the love of God to you.

The question for you is will you believe in Him? And if you have believed in Him will you yield to Him daily?