Jesus and Nicodemus

1
Jesus and Nicodemus

• A conversation between two teachers

2
John 31-3

• There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
  a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by
  night and said to Him,

3
John 725-27

• Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this
  not He whom they seek to kill? But look! He
  speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do
  the rulers know indeed that this is truly the
  Christ? However, we know where this Man is from
  but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He
  is from."

4
John 728-30

• Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple,
  saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I
  am from and I have not come of Myself, but He
  who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. But I
  know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."
• Therefore they sought to take Him but no one
  laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet
  come.

5
John 731-32

• And many of the people believed in Him, and said,
  "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs
  than these which this Man has done?"
• The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these
  things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the
  chief priests sent officers to take Him.

6
John 745-49

• Then the officers came to the chief priests and
  Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not
  brought Him?"
• The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like
  this Man!" Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are
  you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the
  Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that
  does not know the law is accursed."

7
John 750-53

• Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being
  one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a
  man before it hears him and knows what he is
  doing?" They answered and said to him, "Are you
  also from Galilee? Search and look, for no
  prophet has arisen out of Galilee."
• And everyone went to his own house.

8
John 1938-39

• After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple
  of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews,
  asked Pilate that he might take away the body of
  Jesus and Pilate gave him permission. So he came
  and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at
  first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing
  a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred
  pounds.

9
John 1940-42

• Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in
  strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of
  the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where He
  was crucified there was a garden, and in the
  garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been
  laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the
  Jews' Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.

10
John 31-3

• There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
  a ruler of the Jews. 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." Jesus answered and said
  to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one
  is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

11
John 34-7

• 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?"
• Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you,
  unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
  cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is
  born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
  born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that
  I said to you, 'You must be born again.'

12
John 38-10

• "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the
  sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from
  and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of
  the Spirit."
• Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can
  these things be?"
• Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the
  teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?"

13
John 311-13

• "Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We
  know and testify what We have seen, and you do
  not receive Our witness. If I have told you
  earthly things and you do not believe, how will
  you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one
  has ascended to heaven but He who came down from
  heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

14
John 314-16

• "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
  wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
  up, that whoever believes in Him should not
  perish but have eternal life. For God so loved
  the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
  that whoever believes in Him should not perish
  but have everlasting life."

15
2 Peter 39

• The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as
  some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward
  us, not willing that any should perish but that
  all should come to repentance.

16
John 317-18

• "For God did not send His Son into the world to
  condemn the world, but that the world through Him
  might be saved. He who believes in Him is not
  condemned but he who does not believe is
  condemned already, because he has not believed in
  the name of the only begotten Son of God.

17
John 319

• "And this is the condemnation,

18
THE WORST PLIGHT

• "And this is the condemnation..."
• Salvation is for those who accept Jesus Christ.

19
John 316-17

• For God so loved the world that He gave His only
  begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
  not perish but have everlasting life. For God did
  not send His Son into the world to condemn the
  world, but that the world through Him might be
  saved.

20
THE WORST PLIGHT

• "... this is the condemnation..."
• Salvation is for those who accept Christ.
• Condemnation is for those who reject Christ.

21
John 318

• He who believes in Him is not condemned but he
  who does not believe is condemned already,
  because he has not believed in the name of the
  only begotten Son of God.

22
THE WORST PLIGHT

• "... this is the condemnation..."
• Salvation is for those who accept Christ.
• Condemnation is for those who reject Christ.
• The lost pass judgment on themselves.

23
Acts 1344-46

• On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came
  together to hear the word of God. But when the
  Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with
  envy and contradicting and blaspheming, they
  opposed the things spoken by Paul. Then Paul and
  Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary
  that the word of God should be spoken to you
  first but since you reject it, and judge
  yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold,
  we turn to the Gentiles."

24
THE WORST PLIGHT

• "... this is the condemnation..."
• Salvation is for those who accept Christ.
• Condemnation is for those who reject Christ.
• The lost pass judgment on themselves.
• There is no condemnation to those in Christ.

25
Romans 81

• There is therefore now no condemnation to those
  who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk
  according to the flesh, but according to the
  Spirit.

26
John 319

• "And this is the condemnation,

27
John 319

• "And this is the condemnation, that the light has
  come into the world,

28
THE GREATEST BLESSING

• "... that the light has come into the world..."
• Christ is the personification of the light.

29
John 812

• Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the
  light of the world. He who follows Me shall not
  walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

30
THE GREATEST BLESSING

• "... that the light has come into the world..."
• Christ is the personification of the light.
• Light is revealed in the gospel.

31
2 Corinthians 43-4

• But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to
  those who are perishing, whose minds the god of
  this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest
  the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
  who is the image of God, should shine on them.

32
John 319

• "And this is the condemnation, that the light has
  come into the world,

33
John 319

• "And this is the condemnation, that the light has
  come into the world, and men loved darkness
  rather than light,

34
THE MOST DISASTROUS DECISION

• "... and men loved darkness rather than light..."
• Darkness represents ignorance of truth.

35
2 Corinthians 46

• For it is the God who commanded light to shine
  out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to
  give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
  God in the face of Jesus Christ.

36
THE MOST DISASTROUS DECISION

• "... and men loved darkness rather than light..."
• Darkness represents ignorance of truth.
• Works of darkness are to be cast off.

37
Romans 1312-14

• The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
  There-fore let us cast off the works of darkness,
  and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk
  properly, as in the day, not in revelry and
  drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in
  strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus
  Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to
  fulfill its lusts.

38
THE MOST DISASTROUS DECISION

• "... and men loved darkness rather than light..."
• Darkness represents ignorance of truth.
• Works of darkness are to be put off.
• The value of the right decision can be seen in
  the choice of Moses.

39
Hebrews 1124-26

• By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to
  be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
  choosing rather to suffer affliction with the
  people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures
  of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
  riches than the treasures in Egypt for he looked
  to the reward.

40
John 319

• "And this is the condemnation, that the light has
  come into the world, and men loved darkness
  rather than light,

41
John 319

• "And this is the condemnation, that the light has
  come into the world, and men loved darkness
  rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

42
THE UNHOLIEST MOTIVE

• "... because their deeds were evil..."
• They do not want their deeds exposed.

43
John 320-21

• For everyone practicing evil hates the light and
  does not come to the light, lest his deeds should
  be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to
  the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen,
  that they have been done in God."

44
THE UNHOLIEST MOTIVE

• "... because their deeds were evil..."
• They do not want their deeds exposed.
• Evil deeds come from an evil heart.

45
Mark 721-23

• "For from within, out of the heart of men,
  proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
  murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
  deceit, lewd-ness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
  foolishness. All these evil things come from
  within and defile a man."

46
HOW ABOUT YOU?

• Are you in the worst plight,
• having made the most disastrous decision
• from the unholiest motive?
• Won't you accept the greatest blessing?