How to Be Born Again Jesus John
James J. Tissot, detail of 'The Interview between Jesus and Nicodemus' (1886-94), gouache on paper, 9-i/eight x 7", Brooklyn Museum, New York.
Celebrities often attract people for the wrong reasons. People desire to exist close to glamour and fame, hoping that some of it will rub off. People want to be able to say they saw so-and-so, since it adds to their own condition. And if the person is a performer, people are attracted by the act. In Jesus' instance, many were attracted past his actions, his miracles, and, sadly, many went no deeper. This business relationship is of one man who did go deeper.
Nicodemus the Pharisee (3:1)
Jesus is however in Jerusalem during the Passover. While there, he receives a nocturnal visit from a very important man.
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a fellow member of the Jewish ruling quango." (three:1)
"Nicodemus" is a Greek proper noun (Nikodēmos, from nikos, "victorious" + dēmos, "public, people") that means "conqueror of the people." The name was establish among both Jews and Greeks. Perhaps he was a member of the Greek-speaking synagogue that met in Jerusalem (Acts 6:9; 9:29). Nosotros just don't know.[85]
All the same, nosotros acquire several things about Nicodemus hither and in the two other passages where he is mentioned. Starting time, he was a minor glory in his ain right as one of the seventy Jewish rulers[86] who served on Jerusalem's Swell Sanhedrin, the body that made decisions for the land -- nether Roman dominion, of grade.[87]
He was also a Pharisee, that is, a strict observer of the constabulary (7:50-51). What's more, he was an good in Jewish law, a scribe, since Jesus calls him "Israel's teacher" (3:10). He was probably wealthy, both to be considered to exist a member of the Sanhedrin and because he assisted Joseph of Arimathea in Jesus' burial, both physically and financially (19:39).
Nicodemus the Seeker (3:2)
Simply at that place is something dissimilar about Nicodemus from the other members of the Sanhedrin: he is spiritually hungry.
"He came to Jesus at dark and said, 'Rabbi, we know y'all are a teacher who has come up from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.'" (iii:2)
Twice, the Gospel of John tells the states that he came to Jesus at nighttime (3:2; 19:39). Why the nocturnal visit? There are several possibilities:
- Fear. We're told that beau Sanhedrin fellow member Joseph of Arimathea hadn't publicly identified himself with Jesus "considering he feared the Jews[88]" (xix:38). Was Nicodemus afraid too? Perhaps, but he seemed bolder, since he stood up for Jesus in a meeting of the Sanhedrin (7:51).
- Caution. Probably caution fits Nicodemus. He doesn't want to be seen endorsing the teachings of this new Galilean teacher until he is sure. That's wise, it seems to me.
- Accessibility. Perhaps the best reason for seeking out Jesus at night is the ability to engage him in a longer conversation and ask hostage questions without interruption.[89] Night was probably a practiced option for an earnest seeker.
Observe what this esteemed Bible scholar acknowledges when he meets Jesus.
1. Rabbi, which means in Hebrew, "nifty i." Nicodemus acknowledges the legitimacy of Jesus' teaching role, though Jesus hasn't been educated in the finest schools under the best rabbis, as had Paul, for example (Acts 22:3). Jesus had, of course, impressed the temple teachers as a boy of twelve (Luke 2:46-47), and had, no doubt, studied Hebrew and the Holy Scriptures under a local rabbi at his own synagogue when growing up. Nicodemus is impressed by him as a instructor, which is high praise coming from a well-known teacher like Nicodemus.
ii. A teacher come from God. Different some of his fellow Pharisees who claimed that Jesus cast out demons by the devil himself (Marking 3:22), Nicodemus recognizes the divine origin of Jesus' miracles.
I used to remember that Nicodemus was just being polite when he said: "Rabbi, we know you lot are a teacher who has come up from God" (three:2a). But I call back I was incorrect. Nicodemus is just beingness honest. It is these miracles that make Nicodemus so curious.
Lots of people had seen Jesus' miracles and been attracted to him.
"While [Jesus] was in Jerusalem at the Passover Banquet, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name." (2:23)
Nicodemus is one of these. He isn't a total believer all the same, only the miracles cause him to recognize that God is backside Jesus' miracles. I know that the get-go fourth dimension I saw a phenomenon first-mitt, it exploded my world-view. Unlike almost of his fellow Pharisees, instead of rejecting Jesus' miracles or signs, he sees them as an indication of God's mitt. Now he has come to acquire more.
Discerning the Kingdom of God (iii:3-five)
Now Jesus begins to teach well-nigh the spiritual nature of the Kingdom of God.
"3 In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no i tin can run into[90] the kingdom of God unless he is born again.'
4 'How can a man be born when he is one-time?' Nicodemus asked. 'Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother'south womb to be born!'
5 Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one tin can enter the kingdom of God unless he is built-in of h2o and the Spirit.'" (3:3-5)
I've e'er idea that Jesus' reply to Nicodemus' statement seems rather precipitous and off-topic. Nicodemus is talking about miracles and Jesus is discussing the Kingdom of God. Then I realized that Nicodemus' ain presence that dark with the phenomenon-worker is powerful testimony that he is seeking the Kingdom of God to which the miracles attest.[91] Nicodemus is hungry to see and understand the Kingdom.
James J. Tissot, 'Nicodemus' (1886-94), Watercolor, The Brooklyn Museum, New York.
We're often so eager to empathize what it ways to be "born again" that we miss what Jesus is saying about the Kingdom. The prevailing Jewish expectation was that the Messiah would come as a military leader to deliver them from Roman oppression, perhaps in the way that Judas Maccabeus and his family had led a rebellion to deliver Israel from the control of the infidel Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes less than 2 centuries before.
Jesus tells us two things virtually the Kingdom:
- The Kingdom is spiritually discerned, that is, you tin't come across it or grasp it spiritually unless you are "born from above," unless God enables you to see information technology.
- The Kingdom is spiritually entered, that is, you tin't enter into the Kingdom, which is a synonym for inheriting eternal life, unless y'all are changed spiritually.
Recall with me a couple of verses. Jesus has this dialog with Pontius Pilate:
"Pilate ... summoned Jesus and asked him, 'Are y'all the king of the Jews?'
... Jesus said, 'My kingdom is non of this globe. If information technology were, my servants would fight to prevent my abort by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from some other identify.'
'You are a king, and then!' said Pilate.
Jesus answered, 'You are right in proverb I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth....'" (18:33, 36-37)
And some other teaching, this time nearly the hiddenness of the Kingdom.
"No one knows the Son except the Father, and no 1 knows the Male parent except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (Matthew 11:27)
"No ane can come to me unless the Begetter who sent me draws him." (John 6:44)
The parables of the Kingdom are subconscious from the unbelievers, too.
"The disciples came to him and asked, 'Why practice you speak to the people in parables?'
He replied, 'The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you lot, merely non to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.'" (Matthew 13:10-12)
The Kingdom of God is hidden from unbelievers.
"The god of this historic period has blinded the minds of unbelievers, and so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the celebrity of Christ, who is the prototype of God." (2 Corinthians iv:4)
Unbelievers can run across that the Kingdom might be nowadays from the signs or miracles that event, and this may crusade them, similar Nicodemus, to search farther. But unaided, they tin't see or discern the Kingdom, much less enter it. Information technology is God'due south prerogative to reveal.
At one level, this may not seem quite fair. Subsequently all, seeing spiritual things is a right, isn't it? No! We are blind, unless God graciously rescues united states of america, saves us. There is a spiritual war going on. Salvation is costly. And so costly that information technology can only be a souvenir.
Does this sound similar the sovereignty of God and predestination? Yes, that is what it is. But as we'll come across presently, there is something that human being tin and must do to prepare himself to receive the gift.
Q1. (John three:3, 5) What does Jesus teach here almost the nature of the Kingdom of God? Practice you lot think Nicodemus understands him? Why or why not?
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Begotten or Born? (three:3-5)
Now let's explore this heavenly birth that Jesus teaches:
"3 In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no i can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.'
4 'How can a man be born when he is quondam?' Nicodemus asked. 'Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother'south womb to exist born!'
5 Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one tin can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.'" (3:3-5)
The word "built-in" is gennaō, "go the parent of, beget" by procreation.[92] The passive can mean either, "built-in," as by a mother, or "begotten," every bit by a father.[93] Nicodemus takes the word in its feminine sense of being in 1's mother'due south womb. Merely elsewhere, the idea seems to exist "beget" in the masculine sense:[94]
Look at places where this concept of being born/begotten is used elsewhere in the New Testament.
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God -- children born not of natural descent, nor of human being decision or a hubby'south will, simply born of God." (1:12-13)
"No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed (sperma [95]) remains in him; he cannot go along sinning, because he has been born of God." (i John 3:9)
"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child too." (ane John 5:ane)
"For you have been built-in once again, non of perishable seed (spora [96]), but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (ane Peter one:23)
"Again" or "from In a higher place" (3:3, 5, 7)
There'due south another issue to examine every bit we endeavor to sympathise Jesus' instruction equally accurately equally possible. The adverb modifying "born/beget" in verses iii and v is anōthen. The Greek word tin have both the meaning "from above" (which is near common) also as "over again, anew" (less common).[97]
1. Argument for "from above"
Most modern commentators[98] take the primary meaning here as "from above," since that is how the adverb is used three other times in this gospel (iii:31; xix:11, 23). In addition, John's writings comprise the idea of "born of God" in several verses, which is the same thought as "born from above" (as seen in the previous paragraph -- 1 John 3:nine; four:vii; 5:1, four; 5:18). A.T. Robertson observes that though Nicodemus took the word in the sense of "once again," "the misapprehension of Nicodemus does not prove the meaning of Jesus."[99] The translation "from above" is contained in the NRSV and NJB.
2. Argument for "again, anew"
I believe a strong case can exist made for the translation "again, anew." First, the possibility of two meanings of the word is possible in Greek only, not in the Aramaic that Jesus would have spoken.[100] 2d, Nicodemus clearly took information technology in the sense of "once again" when he pictured a person crawling dorsum into his mother's womb "a second fourth dimension"[101] to exist born. Third, Jesus seems to accept taught something like in Matthew:
"I tell you lot the truth, unless you lot change[102] and go like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3)
We also clearly see the idea of being "born anew" elsewhere in the New Testament:
"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, simply because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth (palingenesia [103]) and renewal (anakainōsis [104]) past the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3:5)
"In his swell mercy he has given us new birth (anagennaō [105]) into a living hope...."
(i Peter 1:3)
"For you have been born again (anagennaō), not of perishable seed, only of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (one Peter i:23)
For these reasons, I think that the translation "born anew" reflects Jesus' meaning hither.[106] Indeed, a number of commentators support this view.[107] The NIV and ESV translations utilise "built-in anew/again." Jesus intends this to be understood as not a repetition of a previous birth, simply clearly a "new" kind of birth brought about past the Spirit.
Having said that, commentators hold that John deliberately used the ambiguous adverb anōthen so that both ideas of "afresh" and "from in a higher place" would exist considered, since the spiritual nascence is both "anew" and "from above."
Q2. (John 3:three-5) What does "inbound the Kingdom" take to exercise with being "built-in anew"? Which do you recall is the best translation here: "born again," "built-in anew," or "born from to a higher place"? Defend your reasoning.
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Born of Water and Spirit (three:v-7)
Jesus has explained the concept of existence "born anew." Nicodemus responds with a repetition of ane's physical birth. It'south not articulate whether Nicodemus is making fun of the thought or simply struggling to grasp it. Merely Jesus continues on instructing the hostage man.
"5 Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of h2o and the Spirit. half-dozen Flesh gives birth to flesh, only the Spirit gives nascency to spirit. seven You should not be surprised at my saying, "Y'all must be born over again."'" (3:5-7)
It's pretty clear that Jesus is differentiating this as a spiritual birth in distinction from a physical nativity (as Nicodemus had understood it). What isn't so clear is what he means past "built-in of water and the Spirit." We understand the thought of being built-in of the Spirit in the sense of Jesus' conception (Matthew i:twenty). Merely it'southward the reference to the water that is confusing to us.
Morris recites the various interpretations of water in the passage.
- Christian Baptism. John must take known that water would be associated by his readers with Christian baptism. Indeed, some groups have used this passage to teach a doctrine of baptismal regeneration, that a person cannot be saved without being baptized. Nevertheless, Nicodemus could not have understood such a reference to a not-yet-existent sacrament. This explanation doesn't make sense to me.
- Procreation. Since Jesus contrasts physical nascency with spiritual nascence, some see the water as a reference to either semen or the purse of waters in the womb. Though such ideas may seem offensive to modern ears, there are many references in Rabbinic, Mandaean, and Hermetic sources that use terms like "water," "rain," "dew," and "drop" in the sense of male semen. Moreover, Hellenistic mystery religions made utilise of the terminology of rebirth.[108] I meet h2o as referring to procreation equally a possibility.
- Repentance and Purification. Dipping in water naturally suggests washing and cleansing. If we wait at the context of John'south Gospel every bit far equally chapter 3, the only water we've seen is the h2o of John'south baptism and the water that Jesus turned to wine in Cana. Therefore, I recall the nearly natural interpretation is to have "water and Spirit" to refer to the ministry of John the Baptist who preached "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Mark 1:four). His baptism with h2o was besides assorted with the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Mark i:eight; John i:33).
Every bit we saw earlier, since John's baptism was probably viewed in the light of a baptism required of Jewish proselytes in the get-go century, it would have a existent center of humility for a Jew to submit to information technology, especially those who already considered themselves religiously pure, such every bit the Pharisees. Many of Nicodemus' colleagues bristled at the thought of them being baptized. Luke reports,
"The Pharisees and experts in the constabulary rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John." (Luke 7:xxx)
Nosotros don't need to be cleansed like some new proselyte, they would assert proudly. We are Abraham's direct descendants! John the Baptist'southward response was abrupt. He called them a brood of vipers:
"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And practice not think you lot can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our begetter.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham." (Matthew 3:viii-nine)
And so, in this context, I believe Jesus is proverb to Nicodemus: You must be built-in afresh by your own repentance and humbling yourself before God and the Holy Spirit's divine regenerative work within y'all. You can't enter the Kingdom of God by your own endeavor. You must give up yourself to God! Only God tin can bring almost this new creation in you.
Q3. (John 3:five-7) What does it mean to exist "born of water and the Spirit"? What do yous call up "water" refers to? Why take you come to this determination? How, and then, would you paraphrase "built-in of water and the Spirit" to all-time bring out the total meaning?
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The Air current of the Spirit (3:8)
Jesus reinforces this by emphasizing that the Holy Spirit cannot be manipulated. He is out of man'south command and entirely directed by God:
"The wind (pneuma) blows wherever information technology pleases. You lot hear its sound, merely you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. Then it is with everyone born of the Spirit (pneuma)." (iii:viii)
"Wind" is pneuma, the breath of God, the same word that is translated "Spirit" at the end of the verse. People who have been built-in of the Spirit, Jesus is proverb, are motivated and moved by an unseen merely powerful strength across themselves. The life of the Spirit is a new level of spiritual being, a different airplane entirely. Only people who accept been built-in of the Spirit can perceive and enter the Kingdom of God.
The Witness of the Son of Man (3:9-xiii)
Nicodemus is mystified. He hasn't heard anything like this before. He asks a somewhat arrogant question: How tin can this be true if I don't know almost it?
"9 'How can this be?' Nicodemus asked.
10 'You lot are State of israel'southward teacher,' said Jesus, 'and do you not understand these things? 11 I tell yous the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what nosotros have seen, just even so you people do not accept our testimony.'" (3:9-11)
Jesus responds to Nicodemus with a gentle rebuke. In his respond yous come across a couple of key words that appear over again and again in John's Gospel -- bear witness/testimony and truth. Jesus is claiming to exist an bystander to heavenly things. At present he makes an amazing claim:
"12 I have spoken to you lot of earthly things and you practise not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No i has e'er gone into heaven except the one who came from sky -- the Son of Human being.'" (3:12-13)
Every bit nosotros discussed previously, Jesus' cocky-descriptive title of "Son of Human being" is taken from a passage in Daniel that discusses the heavenly nature of this figure:
"I saw in the dark visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven in that location came 1 like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting rule, which shall not laissez passer abroad, and his kingdom 1 that shall non exist destroyed." (Daniel vii:xiii-14)
When Jesus made merits to exist the Son of Man quoting this passage at his trial (Mark xiv:61-64), the High Priest alleged the statement blasphemy. Nicodemus, the strict Pharisee, the "teacher of Israel," must take pondered these words deeply.
The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Upwardly (3:14-xv)
James J. Tissot, detail of 'The Brazen Serpent' (1896-1904), watercolor, The Jewish Museum, New York Metropolis, NY.
Now Jesus now refers to a curious image from the Old Attestation.
"14 But as Moses lifted upwards the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted upward, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." (iii:14-15)
Jesus is teaching Nicodemus well-nigh the relationship of faith and life. Jesus calls attention to an incident that took place during the Israelite's sojourn in the desert afterward the exodus from Egypt. Many of them had been bitten by poisonous snakes, and Moses asked God what to exercise.
"The LORD said to Moses, 'Make a snake and put it upwards on a pole; anyone who is bitten tin look at it and alive.' And then Moses made a bronze snake and put information technology upwardly on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived." (Numbers 21:viii-9)
A bronze snake was lifted up on a pole[109] for people to wait at in faith, and in looking they were healed.
Jesus is saying that in the same manner that people looked with belief upon the bronze snake that was lifted up, then must they look with belief upon the Son of Man, who will be lifted upwards. Nicodemus tin't know what this means fully, but in hindsight we come across that Jesus was lifted up on the cross, raised from the dead, and finally ascended to celebrity.
This phrase "lifted up" is found three times in John.
"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, then the Son of Human being must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." (iii:fourteen-fifteen)
"When you accept lifted up the Son of Homo, then you will know that I am [the ane I claim to be]...." (8:28a)
"'But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, volition draw all men to myself.' He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die." (12:32-33)
Even early in his ministry building, Jesus knew that information technology would terminate on the cross, the precursor to the resurrection.
For God And so Loved the World that He Gave (iii:xvi)
What we've been discussing is the context for the nearly famous verse in the Bible:
"For God so loved the earth that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (iii:xvi)
Allow's examine the verse phrase by phrase so nosotros can understand it fully. The speaker[110] attributes two actions to God: God loved and God gave. Both are in the Aorist indicative tense, which indicates a particular point in past time that God and then loved and therefore gave (presumably, gave on the cross):
"Loved" is agapaō, the give-and-take used in the New Testament for the highest grade of love, "to take a warm regard for and involvement in another, cherish, have affection for, dear."[111] "Loved" is modified by the adverb "so," which indicates an intense degree of beloved.[112]
The object of beloved is "the globe," the kosmos, a broad word that here refers to "humanity in full general, the world."[113] This verse doesn't limit God's love only to the Jewish people or to believers, but to all of humanity.[114] Thus he loved u.s. while were still his enemies (Romans 5:viii). In his first alphabetic character, John writes:
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours only as well for the sins of the whole world (kosmos)." (1 John 2:two)
"God was reconciling the world (kosmos) to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them." (2 Corinthians v:19)
"Nosotros take put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe." (1 Timothy four:10)[115]
Gave in John 3:16 is the common verb didōmi, "to give." It echoes the related verb paradidomai in Isaiah 53:12 (Septuagint), "He was given up for their sins." The verb in 3:16 isn't "sent," but "gave," emphasizing the idea of sacrifice.[116]
Jesus, God's Unique Son (monogenēs)
Let'south pause here to consider how the speaker describes Jesus as God'south "one and only Son" (NIV), "merely Son" (NRSV, NJB), "merely begotten Son" (KJV, NASB). The give-and-take modifying Son is monogenēs (which we saw in 1:14, xviii), "pertaining to being the only i of its kind or grade, unique (in kind) of something that is the but example of its category."[117] This compound discussion is formed from monos, "sole, unmarried" + genos, "kind." Chocolate-brown comments, "Although genos is distantly related to gennaō, 'to beget,' there is trivial Greek justification for the translation of monogenēs as 'only begotten.'"[118]
This poesy points clearly to Jesus as God'south unique Son, ane of a kind. We become sons and daughters of God by spiritual nascence or adoption (depending upon which illustration you choose). Praise God! What a privilege this is! Notwithstanding, though we resemble Jesus, he is unique in his human relationship to God, since he is the Son from eternity, the Second Person of the Trinity.
Results and Purposes of God's Beloved (iii:16)
We've been moving word by word through John three:16. Now we're at the 2d half. Have another await:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (3:sixteen)
Find the ii "thats" in the verse:
- Consequence. The commencement "that" (hōste [119]) indicates result in verse 16a. God's intense love resulted in him giving/sacrificing his Son.
- Purpose. The 2d "that" (hina [120]) indicates purpose in verse 16b. God's love resulted in giving or sacrificing his Son for the purpose of (a) preventing us from perishing, but rather (b) having eternal life.
Not Perish (3:16b)
God'due south purpose is for us who believe to have eternal life. Merely to clarify this, we are given both the positive purpose, to have eternal life, and the flip side, the negative way of stating the same thing, to avoid perishing.
In our day, at that place's a lot of resistance to the idea of hell. Even Evangelical Christians seem to be moving towards the Jehovah's Witness position that hell is a sudden extinguishing of life into pettiness, non eternal penalisation in the fires of hell. Later on all, how could a God of beloved allow people to suffer, even wicked people?
What does information technology mean to perish? The verb is apollymi, "to crusade or experience destruction." In the middle voice as here, information technology means, "perish, be ruined." This word encompasses dying past storm at bounding main, by the sword, killed by snakes, and especially of eternal expiry.[121] This Greek give-and-take is often used of missing out on eternal life -- both in the Old Testament Greek Bible (the Septuagint)[122] as well as in the New Testament.[123] , [124] New Testament scholar Albrecht Oepke concludes, "In view is not merely physical destruction merely a hopeless destiny of eternal death."[125]
Jesus' Teaching on Hell
Though in John'south Gospel words for "hell" don't appear[126], in the Synoptics, Jesus uses two Greek words that have been translated "hell" in the KJV.
Hadēs , "(originally a proper noun, god of the underworld), then the nether globe, Hades as place of the expressionless."[127] Jesus taught that unbelievers would "go downwardly to the depths" (Matthew 11:23; Luke ten:fifteen), identified the "gates of Hades" (Matthew sixteen:18) as the enemy of the church building, and the opposite of Abraham'south bosom, a place where the rich man asks to accept Lazarus "dip the tip of his finger in h2o and absurd my natural language, because I am in desperation in this fire" (Luke 16:23-24).
Gehenna , "Valley of the Sons of Hinnom," a ravine south of Jerusalem. There, according to later on Jewish popular belief, God'southward final judgment was to take place.[128]
In the Gospels, Ghenna is the identify of punishment in the next life, "hell."[129] Jesus speaks of the "fire of hell" (Matthew v:22: xviii:ix), being "thrown into hell" (Matthew five:29-xxx), the place "where the fire never goes out" (Mark 9:43, 45, 47), "condemned to hell" (Matthew 23:33).
Some of the well-nigh graphic images of hell are in the last book of the Bible, beingness "thrown into the lake of burning sulfur ...tormented day and dark for e'er and ever" (Revelation 20:10).
Finally, Jesus as well talked nearly beingness "bandage out into outer darkness" where "there shall exist weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:12; cf. 13:42, 50; 22:13, 51; 25:30).
Of course, these descriptions are all symbolic rather than literal -- aren't they? And if they are symbolic, the reality must be terrible beyond anything we can imagine.
Why do nosotros ruin the discussion of such a pretty verse as John 3:16 by talking about a literal hell? Considering, if we don't understand what it means not to perish, we don't understand the greatness of the alternative -- everlasting life.
Just Take Everlasting Life (3:16b)
"Eternal life" (NIV, NRSV, NASB), "everlasting life" (KJV) is made upwardly of two words:
- Zōē (from which nosotros get our words, "zoo" and "zoology") ways, "life," particularly "transcendent life."[130] In the New Testament, it is the word used for eternal life, rather than the other give-and-take for life, bios (from which nosotros get our give-and-take "biology"). Bios refers particularly to life in its appearance and manifestations, distinguished from zōē, the condition of beingness alive.[131]
- Aiōnios , from the noun aiōn, "an extended catamenia of time, age." Aiōnios means hither, "pertaining to a period of unending duration, without cease."[132]
"Eternal life" was used in the Judaism of Jesus' fourth dimension as a synonym of inbound or inheriting the Kingdom of God. You tin see these terms used as synonyms in Jesus' encounter with the rich immature ruler, who asks what he must do to "inherit eternal life" (Mark x:17, cf. verse 30). When the rich young ruler is unwilling to obey the Master, Jesus says to his disciples, "How difficult it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" (poesy 23).
Our passage in John three begins with Jesus' statement that a spiritual birth is necessary to "enter the kingdom of God" (3:5). Here faith is required to receive eternal life (3:16).
Q4. (John three:16) Why is this poesy so famous? What does it teach u.s.a. about God? What does information technology teach u.s.a. almost salvation? Since "entering eternal life" is a synonym for "entering the Kingdom of God," what does this verse teach usa about our destiny?
http://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/topic/1412-q4-john-316/
Not to Condemn, but to Save (three:17-19)
Our passage concludes with two sayings, the kickoff near condemnation and the 2d well-nigh calorie-free.
"17 For God did non send[133] his Son into the world to condemn the earth, just to save the earth through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, just whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the proper noun of God's one and simply Son." (3:17-nineteen)
This passage helps fill out the meaning of poetry xvi:
- "to save the world" (verse 17) corresponds to "have eternal life" (verse 16)
- "to condemn the earth" (verse 17) corresponds to "perish" (poetry 16)
Annotation that "has not believed" is perfect tense, indicating a continuing disbelief. This is non a momentary lapse, just a adamant unbelief.
Drawn to the Light of the Gospel (iii:19-21)
John concludes this department with a teaching nigh light and darkness:
"19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the globe, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. xx Everyone who does[134] evil hates the light, and will non come into the light for fearfulness that his deeds will be exposed.[135] 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the calorie-free, so that information technology may be seen plainly[136] that what he has done has been done through God." (3:19-21)
We offset saw this conflict betwixt the calorie-free and darkness at the beginning of John'due south Gospel.
"4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, simply the darkness has not understood it." (i:four-5)
Why do evil people adopt darkness rather than light? Why do they try to hide their sinful actions? Considering when non-believers see deposition and corruption with clarity, they volition likely condemn it. No wonder Jesus developed enemies, because he shed a strong lite on hypocritical, unethical, and downright wicked practices -- and because of his lite, they could no longer hibernate. When we live good, honest, and righteous lives -- even when we don't loudly criticize others' lifestyles -- our lives often cause a negative reaction in those who don't believe, since our righteousness casts a light on their unrighteousness. Jesus said, "No servant is greater than his main. If they persecuted me, they volition persecute you besides" (John 15:xx).
Lessons for Disciples
This passage tells us some very bones things about the Kingdom of God.
1. It is a spiritual kingdom. The very finest religious person doesn't have a inkling what the real Kingdom of God is about unless he has been born by the Spirit of God. Remember your parents saying, "When you're older y'all'll understand"? You lot couldn't understand and then because you lacked the basic life experience and understanding that was needed to decipher what you were seeing. The Kingdom is spiritually discerned.
2. Heart conventionalities in Jesus is the key to this spiritual kingdom. Sometimes we misfile new nativity with a radical conversion experience. Often conversion is sudden and radical, only sometimes information technology is gradual. Sometimes we confuse the new nascency with proverb the "sinner'due south prayer." That's an entry door for many, but many have prayed that prayer from unprepared hearts and come up away with hearts notwithstanding unlit past the Spirit. Information technology comes dorsum to our mental attitude towards Jesus. Practice nosotros "believe in him"?
3. All men and women are lost and need rescuing. This truth cuts very clearly across a culture that desperately resists accented truth, absolute right and wrong, and vocally attacks whatsoever kind of judgment on its lifestyle. "Human is basically good, and just needs a lilliputian moral direction." No! To evidence this, all yous demand to do is expect at the environs, economic disparity, the apathetic consciences of the privileged, and the mess that many take fabricated of their lives. Jesus teaches in this passage that man is basically blind, and lost, and perishing. The Kingdom is essentially God's rescue mission to a doomed planet.
"For God so loved the earth that he gave his one and but Son, that whoever believes in him shall non perish but have eternal life." (3:16)
Nicodemus came seeking truth from Jesus one night and got more he bargained for. We have no record of a conversion that night. But on reckoning day, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, buried the King as best they could. Out of the fog of Nicodemus' understanding, the shape of Jesus began to emerge and then acuminate in focus. I twenty-four hour period, Nicodemus would come to believe in Jesus so much, that where a prudent leader would distance himself from an executed criminal, Nicodemus instead cradled Jesus in his arms, washed his body, and tenderly anointed and wrapped it for burying. Did he believe in the stop? O yes, he believed. He could now see the Kingdom across the grave.
Prayer
Thanks, God, for your patience with us. And then often we have been too busy to heed, also self-absorbed to recognize you. Cheers for coming to rescue us from our incomprehension. For taking u.s.a. past the manus, and teaching us, and opening our eyes to your Kingdom, and flooding u.s. with your Spirit. Thanks, King Jesus. Amen.
Fundamental Verses
"I tell you lot the truth, no i can run into the kingdom of God unless he is born once again." (John iii:three, NIV)
"I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to mankind, but the Spirit gives nativity to spirit. Yous should not exist surprised at my saying, 'Y'all must be built-in again.'" (John 3:5-vii, NIV)
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:sixteen, NIV)
Endnotes
[85]TalBab Taanith 20a speaks of a wealthy and generous human being in Jerusalem prior to 70 AD named Naqdimon ben Gurion (or Bunai), only he probably isn't the aforementioned person (Chocolate-brown, John 1:130).
[86]Nicodemus was an archōn, "ane who has authoritative authority, leader, official." Archōn, BDAG 140, 2a.
[87]The Jewish Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish governing trunk in Palestine, was "made upwards of priests (Sadducees), scribes (Pharisees) and lay elders of the aristocracy. Its seventy members were presided over past the loftier priest" (Brownish, John 1:30). See more in Appendix 3. "Religious Leaders in Jesus' Day."
[89] Beasley-Murray, John, p. 47.
[ninety]"Encounter" is eidōn, an obsolete course of the nowadays tense, of horaō, "to catch sight of." Here information technology is used figuratively in the sense of "to be mentally or spiritually perceptive, perceive" (BDAG 719, iv).
[91] Edersheim (Life and Times, 1:383) put it this way: "His errand was before long told: i sentence, that which admitted the Divine Teachership of Jesus, implied all the questions he could wish to ask. Nay, his very presence in that location spoke them."
[92]Gennaō, BDAG 194, 1a.
[93]The aforementioned meanings are possible for the Hebrew root yld (Brown John,1:130).
[94]"Despite the fact that the Spirit, mentioned in vs. five as the agent of this nascence or begetting, is feminine in Hebrew (neuter in Greek), the main pregnant seems to be 'begotten'" (Dark-brown, John 1:130).
[95]Sperma, "'seed,' male seed or semen" (BDAG 937, 1b).
[96] Spora, "primarily 'the activeness of sowing' and figuratively 'procreation,' then past metonymy, 'that which is sown, seed'" (BDAG 939). We go our word "spore" from this word.
[97]"In extension from a source that is above, from above" ... "at a subsequent signal of fourth dimension involving repetition, again, anew" (BDAG 92, 1 and 4).
[98]Brown, John 1:130-131; C.K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John (Second Edition; Westminster Press, 1955, 1978), p. 206; Beasley-Murray, John, p. 45.
[99]A.T. Robertson, Discussion Pictures, in loc.
[100]Chocolate-brown (John i:130) observes, "Such a misunderstanding is possible only in Greek; we know of no Hebrew or Aramaic discussion of like pregnant which would take this spatial and temporal ambivalence."
[101]Deuteros, "second" ... "for the second time" (BDAG 220, 2).
[102]Strephō, "turn around," here figuratively, "to feel an inward alter, plough, change" (BDAG 948, 5), "be converted" (KJV).
[103]"Rebirth" (NIV, NRSV), "regeneration" (KJV) is palingenesia, from palin, "once again, again, anew" + genesis, "birth," meaning "experience of a consummate change of life, rebirth" of a redeemed person (BDAG 752, 2).
[104]Anakainōsis, "renewal" (BDAG 64) is found here and in Romans 12:2, "the renewal of your minds." It is a compound discussion from ana-, "repetition, renewal" (equivalent to denuo, 'anew, over again," Thayer p. 34) + kainos, "new, fresh."
[105]Anagennaō, " beget again, cause to be born once again" (BDAG 59).
[106]Edersheim (Life and Times, 1:384) explains that the term "new-born" was used in rabbinical literature to refer to both Gentile proselytes, also equally "the bridegroom on his marriage, the Master of the university on his promotion, the rex on his enthronement.... The expression, therefore, was non only common, but, and then to speak, fluid...."
[107]Morris (John, p. 213, fn. xiii) cites Edwin A. Abbott, Johannine Grammar (London, 1906); Strack and Billerbeck 2:420f; and Brook Foss Westcott, The Gospel co-ordinate to St. John (G Rapids, 1954) 1:136. Rudolf Bultmann (Das Evangelium des Johannes (Göttigen, 1956), p. 135) also favors this view (as cited past Beasley-Murray, John, p. 45).
[108]H. Odeberg (The Fourth Gospel Interpreted in Its Relation to Contemporaneous Religious Currents in Palestine and the Hellenistic-Oriental World (Uppsala, 1929)) argues that the water stands for the celestial waters, viewed in mystical Judaism as corresponding to the semen of the fleshly being. Thus to be built-in of water and the Spirit means a rebirth by means of spiritual seed equally in 1 John 3:9.
[109]Nēs, "standard, ensign, signal, sign," then "standard," as pole. (BDB 652, 2). This "standard-bearing pole," is literally the word for "sign" both in the Masoretic text and in the Septuagint (Brown, John i:133).
[110]Some scholars see a change of speakers at poetry 13 or verse 16 because the last "y'all" is in poesy 12 and there is shift to the third person in verses thirteen and following. But this is not unusual in John'due south Gospel and there is no indication that Jesus has stopped speaking. Brown rejects this theory of a change in speakers. He says: "All Jesus' words come up to us through the channels of the evangelist's understanding and rethinking, but the Gospel presents Jesus as speaking and not the evangelist" (Chocolate-brown, John 1:149).
[111]Agapaō, BDAG 5, 1bα.
[112]"So" is the adverb houtō, " here a marker of a relative loftier caste, "so." Before a verb, it intensifies the verb, "then intensely," here and in ane John 4:11, "Beloved friends, since God and then loved us, we as well ought to love 1 another" (BDAG 742, 3).
[113]Kosmos, BDAG 562, 6b.
[114]I know that 5-point Calvinism limits Christ's atonement to the elect only, only John 3:16 doesn't support such an interpretation.
[115]Strict Calvinists affirm a doctrine called the "Limited Atonement" (the 50 in TULIP), which says that Jesus died for only the elect. I observe this doctrine both contrary to the spirit of the verses cited here, and somewhat unnecessary. Of course, Jesus died that the elect might exist saved! But his heart is the conservancy of "all men," of "whosoever believes," of "the globe." As St. Peter put information technology, "He is patient with you, non wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (two Peter three:9).
[116]Vincent, Word Studies, in loc.
[117]Monogenēs, BDAG 658, 2.
[118]Chocolate-brown, John 1:thirteen. He says, "Monogenēs describes a quality of Jesus, his uniqueness, non what is called in Trinitarian theology his 'procession.'"
[119]"That" is hōste, which introduces a dependent clause of the actual result, "so that" (BDAG 110, 2aα). "The result clause is in the indicative.... The classical use of this construction is for the purpose of stressing the reality of the result: 'that he really gave the just Son'" (Brownish, John 1:134).
[120]Hina is a marker to denote purpose, aim, or goal, "in order that, that," in the final sense (BDAG 475, one).
[121]Apollymi, BDAG 110, 1bα.
[122]Psalms ix:five-vi; 37:twenty; 68:2; 73:27; 83:17; Isaiah 41:xi.
[123]John 3:16; ten:28; 17:12; Romans 2:12; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 8:11; 15:eighteen; two Corinthians ii:fifteen; 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:10.
[124]Apollymi is frequently translated "lost" in the New Testament. This word is at the core of Jesus' teaching on his mission to "the lost sheep of the house of State of israel" (Matthew 10:vi; xv:24), as well as Jesus' Parables of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:x-14; Luke 15:3-vii), the Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10), the Lost Son (Luke fifteen:11-32).
[125]Albrecht Oepke, apollumi, ktl., TDNT 1:394-397.
[126]Hadēs does appear in Revelation 1:18; vi:8; 20:13-xiv, where you lot also find the concept of "the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:xiv).
[127]Hadēs, BDAG nineteen.
[128]Hither, in the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom, children had been burned to decease as sacrifices to the faux god Molech (2 Chronicles 28:three). "The fire" was identified early with the Valley of Hinnom. Information technology was likewise a identify where the prophets Jeremiah pronounced terrible curses of God'southward judgment and slaughter of the wicked (Jeremiah seven:31-32; xix:ane-half dozen). Isaiah saw the judgment of the wicked in terms of burning: "And they volition exit and look upon the expressionless bodies of those who rebelled confronting me; their worm will non die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind" (Isaiah 66:24). Past the second century B.C., the Valley of Hinnom had come up to be equated with the hell of the last judgment (Joachim Jeremias, gehenna, TDNT 1:657-658). There is some evidence that the Valley of Hinnom was the refuse dump of Jerusalem. The Prophet Jeremiah identifies the location of the Valley of Hinnom as "near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate" (Jeremiah 19:2), that is, the identify where cleaved pots were discarded. New Testament scholar Joachim Jeremias observes, "It was still in mod times the identify for rubbish, carrion, and all kinds of decline" (Jerusalem, p. 17). Jeremias also cites an ancient Jewish document that identifies the Dung Gate as leading to the Valley of Hinnom (Jerusalem, p. 310). Information technology is logical, then, that it was a place where garbage burned continually. Both David John Wieand ("Hinnom, Valley of," ISBE 2:717, citing Lightfoot) and Leon Morris (Matthew (Eerdmans, 1992), p. 115) see this every bit a possibility.
[129]Gehenna, BDAG 190-191.
[130]Zōē, BDAG 430, 2bβ.
[131]Bios, BDAG 176.
[132]Aiōnios, BDAG 33, 3.
[133]"Sent" (apostellō) is parallel to "gave" in verse 16. Both are in the Aorist tense. Apostellō means, "to dispatch someone for the achievement of some objective, send abroad/out" (BDAG 120, 1b).
[134]Prassō, "do, accomplish" (BDAG 860, 1a). It carries the idea of "to practise" in the present tense.
[135]Elenchō, "to scrutinize or examine carefully, bring to light, betrayal, set forth" (BDAG 315, 1).
[136]Phaneroō, "reveal, expose publicly," here, "become public cognition, be disclosed, go known" (BDAG 1048, 2aβ).
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Source: http://www.jesuswalk.com/john/06_born_again.htm
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