Hope Raised

We talked last week about how God is the source of this idea called hope.    Specifically the hope that in the future all that is wrong with our world and people will be fixed.  We also talked about how important the target of your hope is and how important the basis or foundation of your hope is.

In the weeks ahead we are going to talk about how the Resurrection of Jesus gives us hope in our relationships, job, hard times and good times, successes and failures, and throughout all aspects of our life.

However, on this day we are going to look at how the Resurrection gives us hope that we have the Truth.  This can be a very fragile thing at times.  It was just like this when Jesus came on the scen in the first century.  There was very little hope that Truth had been obtained, both in the Roman world and in Israel.  Truth is something many of us desire, however, at times we find ourselves doubting we can ever truly obtain it--and if we did we couldn't truly be sure.  Through the Bible God tells us that he himself is the embodiment of Truth and that he wants us to have Truth, to have him.  This is where the Resurrection is so important.  It is one of those events wherein God gives us something concrete on which to build a foundation of Hope.  The Resurrection of Jesus gives us the hope of having obtained Truth.  Let's look at 1 Corinthians 15 in the Bible.

The Resurrection gives us Hope of the Truth

Jesus made some great claims before he was crucified and it stands to reason that people today would have some questions and even bear some cynicism towards those claims.  Jesus claimed that he was the Son of God and that he had come down from heaven.  He claimed that he was the Truth from God.  He claimed that those who believed him would have eternal life and be resurrected at the end of the age.  There is so much deception in the world today and there was in the days of the followers of Jesus.  In this passage Paul deals with some questions and cynical rejections of the concept of a day in which people are Resurrected.  Paul says in verse 3 that he is giving to them exactly what was given first to him.  As I said earlier, God wants us to have Truth.  Truth is not something that we arrive at purlely through reason.  But reason can help us to analyze that which we receive.  God himself is the source of Truth.  There are other sources out there that purport to have truth, but these sources always pervert truth to their own ends.  So let's look at some common accusations or objections to the claims of Jesus and his disciples.

Jesus Never existed? The first objection is a basic denial that Jesus existed and the resurrection happened.  Of course we live in a day that loves to "correct" the historical record.  However, if you love truth, you don't just change history to make yourself feel better.  You have to have some sense of humility that you weren't there.  It is safe to say this, there is enough evidence for a rational person to recognize that Jesus did exist and that he was executed.  To believe else is to stretch reality.  I will mention first that the New Testament itself is a witness or evidence that Jesus existed and was executed.  However, since its claims are what we are questioning then let's move elsewhere.  There are historical records that were written by non-Christians, which give evidence that Jesus existed.  Josephus was a Jewish nonChristian historian who wrote while the apostle John was still alive.  He gave testimony that Jesus existed, was executed, and that his disciples claimed he had been resurrected.  A Roman, nonchristian historian named Tacitus wrote within 80 years of the cross.  He mentions Christ who was crucified in Jerusalem under Pontius Pilate.  He also mentions many followers who existed in his day of this Christ.  We also have the verification of archaeology.  The Bible gives places, events and people that continually are verified by archaeological finds.  Many "objections" of the past that accused the Bible of false information have been proven unfounded by new archaeological finds.  So it is difficult to explain these things without creating a highly unlikely web of conspiracy.

Miracles, Death, Resurrection All a Lie?  Another objection or accusation is that the miracles were made up, the body was stolen, and the resurrection is a lie.  I put these together simply because they do not deny Jesus existed, however, they do question the Bible's presentation of the facts.  If we wanted to change the historical record of what the Sumerian culture did, there would not be any Sumerians around to object to our changes.  There might be some students of history that would object, but they would be objecting on the principle of Truth.  Historians are supposed to hold Truth as a foundational principle.  But as we become more and more cynical about Truth, then we become more and more likely to accept wholesale historical revision as long as it makes us feel better.  Historical revisionism could happen if the history in question is in the far past.  But it is simply impossible at the same historical period when most of the eye witnesses are still alive.  Let me give you an example.  If I were to state that it is historical fact that during the Bush presidency he had declared martial law and taken dictatorial control over the country.  In fact he had suspended the election of 2008.  He almost got away with it, however, a young senator from Illinois named Barack Obama had led a contingent of Black Panther brigades up to the white house and had wrested control of the country away from Bush and had restored the USA back to a democracy.  Though many people may wish this had been true, it would be impossible for me to establish a "hero worship" cult around Barack Obama's supposed exploits within decades of the real events that took place.  Any one who followed such poppycock would be clinically insane (out of touch of reality). 

Within 2 months of Jesus death, burial, and "mysterious" disappearance, Peter was standing up in Jerusalem stating that Jesus had done miracles among them and the religious leaders had put him to death.  Peter also claims that Jesus had been resurrected and that he and the other disciples had witnessed this.  3,000 people believed from the crowd that assembled that day.  And, month by month, year by year, more people continued to believe that Jesus had been resurrected.  No one refuted the claims to miracles, nor the claims to death and burial.  The only dispute had to do with whether or not Jesus really was resurrected from the dead.   The only counter explanations for the "missing body" are that he wasn't really dead (swoon theory) or that his disciples stole the body and lied about his resurrection.  Let's deal with these claims.

To claim that the Romans were not successful in putting Jesus to death does seem to stretch reality.  The Romans had developed crucifixion into a torturous, killing mechanism.  The death of Jesus was never in question during the first century.  It is only today when the Roman soldiers cannot defend themselves that such accusations can surface.  Add to that the public action of being stabbed through the side into the heart seems to put this theory of "near death" in the arena of more than highly unlikely.  So the real issue is the idea that the body was stolen.  This brings up several problems.

How were the fishermen that followed Jesus able to steal the body of Jesus while a contingent of guards were at the mouth of the tomb?  It had a huge stone rolled over the mouth of it.  How were they able to move it without waking these slumbering guards?  These guards were under penalty of death if they "fell asleep."  Next we have the problem that hundreds of people claim to have seen Jesus and spoken with him after his death.  He had the wounds, but was able to appear and disappear within a group.  He appeared to individuals, small groups, large groups and not just once but many times over the course of 40 days, indoors and outdoors.  Paul explains some of this in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8.  Over 500 people saw him at once?  At what point do you give up the idea that Jesus would have to visit everyone in Israel at the time if you are going to believe?

Lastly, it is hard to explain why the apostles would be willing to die torturous deaths for something they knew was a lie.  One of the problems with torture is that eventually people will say anything in order to get the torture to quit.  Basically you can make the average person confess to being a twinkie if you inflict enough pain over a long enough period.  Thus if the Resurrection were true we would expect for there to be some individuals who would "recant" in the face of torture merely to stop the pain.  But who would be willing to be tortured and killed for something you knew was a lie?  It stretches belief.  The only logical conclusion is that these guys really did believe that they had interacted with a resurrected Jesus and they really did think they had seen him ascend into the sky and go out of sight through the clouds.  Now what are you going to do with that??

Resurrection Impossible?  The last accusation or objection I will deal with is the idea that a resurrection is impossible.  Bear in mind that we are not talking about a CPR situation, that is more like a "resuscitation." Let me just approach it this way.  If it were to be reported today that scientists have figured out how to freeze a person for as long as they want and then can bring them "back to life," some people might be sceptical.  But we would be sceptical that it is true, not that it is possible.  Most people have come to realize that through the scientific method, mankind is capable of doing "miraculous" things.  In a similar way if it were to be reported that through analysis of the human genome scientists have figured out how to fix a person's DNA so that they would never get sick.  Also, they have learned how to make the gene responsible for aging (maturing) to "switch" off once a person reaches their prime.  Many people would be sceptical, but they would be sceptical that it is true, not that it is possible.  It is somewhat hypocritical that we would believe that all manner of "improbable" things are possible when it comes to men doing it.  But we just cannot believe that the creator of all things, including life, is capable of bringing a person back to life?  Whether or not the resurrection was actual, it seems silly to persist with an argument that it is impossible.

Given the evidence that they had at the time, many followers of Jesus came to believe that Jesus had been resurrected.  Also, given the evidence of witnesses and what they had seen about Jesus, many others came to believe.

The resurrection itself became the proof to those who witnessed his life and teaching that Jesus had not been lying.  He really was the Son of God who had come down from heaven.  He really was paying the price for our sin through his death, burial, and resurrection.  Those who believed upon him really would be forgiven and saved from the punishment of their sins and be resurrected at the last day.  He really is coming back one day to rule upon the earth.  This really is what the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament were pointing to all along.  These people believed because of the evidence that they saw and heard, the fuller understanding of the Bible they received, and the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus himself emphasized that to believe on him was more than a mental event.  It really was accompanied by the presence and work of the Spirit of God himself.

Without the Resurrection our Hope is Worthless

In Verses 12-19, Paul points out that all of Christianity stands or falls upon the Resurrection.  This is why every year around this time of year there is a new attempt to disprove the Resurrection.  Last year a documentary purporting to have found the Tomb of Jesus and possible proof that he was not resurrected came out.  What is interesting is that most of the stuff in the documentary was discovered 20 years ago and had been dealt with by scholars.  It was not the "silver bullet" that it was made out to be.  Why would they do this?  Because they know that many people do not actually view the evidence.  Many people make decision for very emotional reasons.  Be careful of this.  The Resurrection is important because it is the proof that God had accepted the claims and statements of Jesus.  It is one thing for Jesus to say he can forgive sins by dying for us.  But how would we know that he is right?  The resurrection itself becomes the proof (vs. 17) that our sins are forgiven.

Here is the kicker.  For those who think disproving the Resurrection would solve the world's problems reread verse 17.  Notice that if the Resurrection is false then we have a bigger problem:  Our sin has not been dealt with.  Regardless of what you think about Jesus, if he was not resurrected then there is no answer for what is called "sin" in the heart of all people.  Religions in general tell you what you need to do in order to obtain freedom from the negative junk of this life.  But Christianity tells you that you simply need to believe in what God has done.  This is a big difference. One focuses on what men (myself) can do.  Christianity focuses on what God can do and has done.  If Christ was not resurrected than being a Christian is the dumbest thing in the world (vs. 19).  Jesus taught us to lay our lives down so that others might live.  This is a dumb thing to do if there is no life to come.  If there is no "after-life" then trying to live like Jesus is stupid. 

Paul closes his arguments with the Corinthians in verses 56-58.  The resurrection is what ensures us victory over death and the Law.  Why has God done it in this strange way?

False Hopes must Die For True Hope to Rise

In our humanity, we put our hopes on the wrong targets for all the wrong reasons.  God loves us too much to let us continue to hope in that which can never happen.  Our leaders will never figure out how to create a world in which we have Eutopia.  This False Hope will lead to the greatest tyranny this world has ever known.  At the cross the "messiah" of Israel and all the Hope that had been placed on him was executed on a cross.  The hopes died at the same time.  But when Jesus appeared in his resurrected form, he began to "retarget" their hopes and a new understanding arose upon a foundation that was no longer built upon a certain race, or a certain people.  It was a hope that was built upon God himself and cannot be shaken even when the people of Israel were kicked out of Jerusalem and scattered to the four corners of the world.

God sent Jesus to take your punishment upon himself.  God is not telling you to be a more perfect you.  He is telling you to die to your false hopes and to embrace the true hope that he is giving you.  What things in your life are you living for that are merely "wishful thinking?"   What flimsy reasons are you banking on to make it happen?  Think about this.  When your hopes are dashed might it be the grace of God to show you that your hopes are misplaced?  Could it be the love of God that tries to get your attention so that you might embrace a True Hope?  The resurrection of Jesus is God's way of trying to get your attention.  Has he succeeded?  Are you without Hope, today?  Good, now you are able to receive a real hope that God has for you:  A hope of freedom from your sins and failures, a hope of life everlasting, a hope that sees beyond the things of this world, a hope that can bring us through the worst that life has to offer.  Put your faith in Jesus today and ask him to forgive you of your sins and he will make you a part of his family.

Hope Raised audio

Hope Stirred

Next week is Easter, or better yet, Resurrection Sunday.  So today we are going to pick up the story of what happened to Jesus one week before his death and resurrection.  It is generally referred to as the "Triumphal Entry."  If you could boil the excitement of Jerusalem on that day down to one word it would probably be HOPE.  Over the next month we will look at this issue of hope.

Hope is a strange thing.  It is sometimes very reasonable and many people share it.  And, then again, it can go beyond reason and few may hold to it.  In the dictionary hope is often defined as, "the feeling that what is desired can be obtained."  As you dig deeper you see that hope is more than a feeling.  In fact Hope can refer to the emotion as already described, the target of our desire, and the foundation or reasons for our believing it will be obtained.  So Hope has a Target, a Foundation, and an Emotion.

The reasons for having hope can be as varied as there are people on the earth.  Perhaps we gain some perspective and see that the circumstances aren't as bad as we first thought.  Or maybe we see someone or something that is going to assist us.  Perhaps we hope simply because the alternative is too scary to contemplate.

Whatever the reasons for our hopes, it is important to understand that God wants us to have hope.  He doesn't want us to be a bunch of Eyores, convinced that a hurricane is coming.  But, He wants us to hope for the right things (target) and for the right reasons (foundation).  To feel hopeful when you have the wrong target and foundation is foolish.

Today we are going to see how Hope was God's idea in the beginning.  Hope was his gift to mankind, the gift that he stirred up, all the way back in Eden.  But let's start at the triumphal entry in Luke 19:37-44.

The People Were Hopeful that the Perfect King Had Come

The passage says that Jesus was on the Mount of Olives, which is across a valley from Jerusalem to the east.  As he descended down the valley towards Jerusalem, the whole multitude of disciples began to rejoice and praise God for all the things Jesus had done.  They loudly proclaim a scripture found in Psalm 118:26.  The teachers of Israel had recognized this Psalm to be talking about a coming leader who would save Israel.  The terms Messiah, Christ, Anointed, and Son of David are synonymns and refer to this awaited savior.  When they loudly proclaimed this verse they were clearly declaring their belief that Jesus was the fulfillment of this long awaited hope.  How long awaited?

Let's just take a bit of time to trace back where this hope for a Perfect King came from.  It starts in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve had sinned.  In Genesis 3 God is giving out punishments for the rebellion.  Yet, in the middle of this, He gives some hope to mankind.  In Genesis 3:15 God tells the parties involved that eventually a Seed from Eve would crush the head of the Serpent.  God recognized that Satan had taken advantage of Adam and Eve's innocence.  Thus he gives hope to mankind, but no such thing to the Serpent.  The hope that a son would be born who would rise up to crush Satan's head even though he would be injured in so doing.  This is the beginning of hope.  This forward looking idea enabled them to not be paralyzed or to kill themselves, but to trudge forward under the curse, knowing that one day they would be freed.

This attitude of hope was picked up by Adam's descendants, but not always for the good.  In Genesis 11 we see a group of people led by a "great Hunter" named Nimrod.  God had commanded mankind to spread out and fill the earth.  But, Nimrod had a different plan.  He would make a great name for himself and the people who would band together with him.  He had the hope that not only could he reject God's plan, but also that he could succeed in elevating his own glory to the heavens.  In their eyes God's plan to scatter had diminished their hope for greatness.  So they created a different plan that didn't involve God.  Notice their target and foundation of hope were in the wrong things.

Hope was also encouraged by the prophets throughout the Old Testament.  In Deuteronomy 18, Moses spoke about a coming Prophet who would be like him (to do a new thing in Israel).  He told them that it would be imperative for them to listen to him.  So Israel waited for the Seed of the Woman and the Prophet.  David spoke about God's Anointed One who would be from David's lineage.  This Anointed King would save Israel and live forever.  Thus Israel awaited the Anointed Son of David. All 17 books of the Old Testament prophets offer hope in the midst of judgment and hopelessness.  No matter how much they excoriate the nation of Israel for its sins, they always come around to say, "but."  But, God will raise up his Anointed and save us by his own right hand.  Not because of our great righteousness, but for his own name's sake.

Thus when Jesus showed up that day, Israel had been waiting for the Perfect Righteous King for nearly 1,500 years.  And all mankind had waited for the Seed of the Woman who would crush the serpent's head for something around 4,000 years.

The Leaders Rejected Jesus as the Fulfillment of this Hope.

In verse 39 of the Luke 19 passage, we see that some of the Pharisees called to Jesus from the crowd.  They were telling Jesus that he needed to rebuke these followers of his.  They knew exactly what was being done and they had already rejected Jesus as a possible contender for being the Messiah.  In a sense, they are putting him on the spot.  They want him agree with them and publically deny that he is this awaited Messiah.  Jesus responds by saying that even if the people quit saying that he was the messiah then the rocks would cry out.  The Bible employs many metaphors in which inanimate objects do personal things.  Trees clap their hands and the heavens rejoice.  So I don't believe that Jesus is saying the rocks would literally start speaking.  However, they would start moving somehow and their movement would be testimony to the truth about Jesus.  Think about how there was a great earthquake that tore the temple curtain in two at his death.

Clearly Jesus is saying that the people should not be rebuked.  What they are saying is true of him.  If they didn't say it then God would make it clear one way or another.  Jesus very clearly declared himself to be the King of Israel who would come forth in righteousness and save them from their enemies.

The Hope of Israel is Deferred.

 After this encounter, as Jesus continues towards Jerusalem, He began to weep over the city of Jerusalem and his people.  He knew that though many were declaring his praises and messiahship today, within a week the leaders would raise up a cry to crucify him.  And?  The masses would join them.  When God the Father finally brought forth the Seed of the Woman, we rejected him.  The very thing that was our hope, wasn't hopeful enough for us.  So we killed him. Yes I say we because Israel colluded with the greatest Gentile power of that time.  It wouldn't matter if it had been America and Iraq, we would have done the exact same thing.  Why?  Because, just like Nimrod, our flesh cannot stand to be diminished and must have its glory.  Jesus was a savior who did not fill Israel with pride before the nations of the world.  He says in verse 42 that this was "their day."

Can you imagine if you had planned for a wedding and when it came for the wedding day, you slept in.  Then you get a call from a friend asking where you are.  Of all days to be rebellious and stiff-hearted this was the worst.  They could have had "Peace."  But because they would reject it, God was going to "hide" it from their eyes.  Then great trouble from the nation of Rome would come against them because they didn't understand the timing of when God would visit them.  The pain and suffering that their decision led to was the result of rejecting the righteous Jesus.  But, Israel's rejection of Jesus opened the door for the gospel to go to the Gentile nations.

Friend, let me just say to you today that now is the day of salvation.  Now is the time that God wants to come into your life and stir up hope.  Not just any hope.  Not just any target and any foundation.  But to stir up your hope in him.  Do you have hope in the future of this world?  Ask yourself what that hope may be based upon.  Is it on mankind's abilities and technology?  Is it upon some future enlightened leader that we can create through superior education?  Is it through the collective human reasoning as we overcome cultural barriers?

Hope is a good thing if it is centered upon that which God has said he will bring us to and is based upon trust in Him.  We must hope for that which is good.  But we must also trust in God doing it not ourselves.  This message may seem contrary to sound reasoning, but if history has taught us anything it is this: men will always find a way to ruin a good thing.  Let those who have ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to his people. 

Hope Stirred

Fishnet Theatre Presents:

We had a great time with Fishnet Theatre on Sunday morning.  They started at 7:00 am and had our stage and sanctuary transformed into a veritable theater well before the 10:00 am start time.  The play centered on a couple from the 1930's, Johnny and Annie Imes.  Johnny is a well known private investigator, but in this story Annie takes the lead.  What is the case?  To find solid evidence for God, faith, and a Creator.

They did a fantastic job of portraying characters that had you laughing, but also had you learning about different questions people ask and how they can be answered.  The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 3:15-16,

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."

It is easy to get intimidated by tough questions and to respond more out of fear and defensiveness rather than out of love.  It is not a failure to lack an immediate answer.  It is however a failure if we don't investigate for ourselves in order to give an answer to the questions that others are asking.

The play did a wonderful job of displaying the real-life problem that even when we lovingly answer people's questions they still have to make a decision.  Some will believe and be saved and some will not.  This is a hard fact of life: our own free will.  When you take time to truly meditate on the concept of free-will, what the Bible has to say about it, and what our experience shows us, you find many questions.  Don't fears, habits and engrained mental pathways often act as prisons to our will?  Do people sometimes want to do something but find that they can't?  Or even stranger do they sometimes wish that they wanted something, but deep down they don't?  The balance to the issue of free choice is the Love and the Spirit of God.  God in his grace helps us to break beyond what we "can't" do and even the junk that our hearts get set on at times.  His Spirit and the love of his people work to break down the walls and false idols of our hearts.  Many people throughout history have gone from not being willing to surrender to Jesus, to wanting to serve him.  This is a mystery that cannot be fully explain though it can be fully lived.

Have you surrendered your life to Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?  Another way of saying this is, Have you surrendered your life to Jesus as your personal Leader and Rescuer?  Maybe you have questions that need answering?  Here are "Annie's Notes" from the play.  Fishnet Theatre did a good job of making sure everyone left with a copy of the valuable information they presented throughout the play.

Thank you to the Cast and all the workers behind the scenes that came together to serve our group on Sunday and may the Lord continue to bless this ministry with new scripts and ideas of how to present the gospel, until He comes.  And, may all believers in Jesus take seriously the duty we have to fight for the hearts and minds of those who do not know Jesus with the greatest weapon of all: Love.

How Did Jesus Share "Jesus" With Others?

We have been looking at one of our purposes as Christians and that is to share Jesus passionately with those who do not know him.  It is very easy to look around and try to find tools that can help us do this effectively.  However, I believe it is better to first ask the question, "How did Jesus passionately share himself with those who did not know him?"  Once we have answered that question then we can better discern whether certain "tools" can really help us or not.

Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the "radiance of God's Glory," and the "exact representation" of God.  So whatever he did, he did it exactly as God would have done it because he was one with the Father and was God.  We can have no better example to look at.  Some approaches to evangelism that have been employed over the years, whether by cults or legitimate Christian groups, are not "christlike."  If we do not understand the heart of Christ then our own pride can blind us to this.  We can get caught up in the mere pragmatism and numbers of sharing and lose the heart of it all.  Now this is one problem.  The other problem would be those who say that they don't have the "gift" of sharing the gospel with others.  Really?  Then you should really stop and ask yourself am I following Jesus or am I co-opting Jesus message for my purposes?  Jesus shared the gospel with others.  He instructed his disciples to do so.  They instructed all believers to do so.  So...we are left without reason to overlook this purpose in our life.

Now last week we focused on the need for us to truly be connected to Jesus in faith.  We must truly have been spiritually birthed into God's family.  The Holy Spirit must truly be dwelling within our body-temples.  Then and only then can we attempt to follow Jesus in his message and style.  So let's get to it.  How did Jesus share "Jesus" with others?  Join me in the Gospel of John chapter three.

Jesus was Available / Accessible

Nicodemus is one of the highest religious leaders in Israel at this time.  His group, the Pharisees, have rejected Jesus.  However, some of the individuals were not completely convinced.  It is in this context that Nicodemus visits Jesus late at night so that he won't be seen.

The first point that I will focus on is the obvious availability of Jesus.  He apparently didn't have "office hours" during which people were to make appointments.  When Nicodemus knocks on the door he is allowed to enter and the Lord spends time with him answering his questions.  Now to make this clearer, picture yourself sitting at home after a busy day, with your feet kicked up, trying to relax when a person from a group that has publically rejected you is at the door.  Are you inclined to invite them in and stay up talking about what they want to talk about?  We see this principle at another time when the disciples tried to do the "Secret Service" thing.  They were blocking little children from coming to see Jesus.  Clearly they thought Jesus had more important things to do.  However, Jesus corrected them and said to let them come to him.  Jesus was a man that made himself available to people without berating them for being too pretentious.  What might this say to us about God the Father?  Perhaps the problem is not that we come to God too often, but that we rarely turn to him.  God has never turned away a sincere heart that sought him and neither should we.

Another issue is that we tend to "cocoon" our lives.  That is we develop these insulated areas of our life wherein we wall ourselves off from outside interaction.  We start in our homes that are like our little castles and then we drive to our workplace.  Then we drive home, maybe out to an entertainment place, back home and start over again.  We quickly develop routines that give us less and less real interaction with neighbors, co-workers, or new people.  This walls us off from what God might want to do for those who are lost and for those who have the Truth.

Leave room in your schedule so that you are not driven to be blind to these kinds of interaction.  Too busy.  Too rushed.  Too-"I can't help you.

Jesus was not mean-spirited

The next thing we can take note of is that Jesus had every right to be a bit offended here.  The pharisees have basically called Jesus a false teacher and accused him of having a demon.  They had worked publically to try and make him look bad and they have conspired behind the scenes to get him killed.  So when one of them shows up, it would be easy for Jesus to act in anger.  On top of that they guy wants a "secret" meeting.  In other words, Jesus will you teach me in secret, while by day I pretend to agree with my other friends?  It is interesting to note that of all the things Jesus could have said, he didn't challenge Nicodemus on this.  Instead he lets him in and talks with him.

Here we see that Jesus was not mean-spirited.  They had been mean to him, but he would not pay back wrong for wrong.  He wasn't looking for reasons to push away the heart that came to him with questions.  Instead he deals with Nicodemus where he was and this is where Nicodemus was: a religious man who was lost, fearful and full of questions.  Jesus gave him answers that would point him in the right direction.  However, Jesus also left it up to Nicodemus what he would do with those answers.  There is no high pressure sales from Jesus to get Nicodemus to become his disciples and say a sinners prayer.  There is no dictation of public actions Nicodemus should do to prove he is sincere.  Jesus simply puts the ball back into his court.  Now don't get me wrong.  It is essential, if we are to truly be "saved," to have some real changes in our life.  However, we must be careful of pressuring people to do the (Insert list here) things that we think they should do.  Jesus shared the truth with him and left the rest up to the Holy Spirit's work in his life.  In fact, this is at the heart of Jesus' message to Nicodemus:  You have to be spiritually born to have a place in God's kingdom.

The Message of Jesus was Clear

Now to set up this next point, we need to understand what was meant by "God's kingdom."  Israel knew that they belong to God, but, because of sin, they were not "God's Kingdom."  Moses and the Prophets all pointed to a coming "Anointed One," who would be king of Israel and usher in the era of God's True Kingdom.  This leader would demonstrate the perfect righteousness and wisdom of God in his rule.  All of Israel waited in hope for this leader and a place in the kingdom that he would make.  Some even taught that there would be a resurrection of all those who had died.  These resurrected people would get to participate in this kingdom of God.  However, those who had been wicked would not be allowed to enter into that kingdom.  People like Nicodemus who were the religious leaders were viewed as guaranteed a place in the kingdom.  He would have felt that he already had a "ticket" into this kingdom.  So when Jesus warns him: unless one is born again he will not see the kingdom of God, Nicodemus is perplexed.  He knew that he didn't know what Jesus was talking about.  Yet, he thought he had a "ticket."  Can you imagine purchasing Tickets to the NCAA National Championship Game and then when you get there you find out there was something wrong with your tickets.  To miss the game after believing you were going to watch it live would be a tremendous let down.  How much more something like this.  Israel had waited for God's Kingdom for 1500 years.  Nicodemus is being told that there are some requirements that he doesn't even understand.  In verses 3 thorugh 8 Jesus makes it plain that being "born again" is a way of saying that we need to be born spiritually.  John had already laid out this teaching in chapter one verses 12 and 13.

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (NKJV)

Jesus had a very clear message for Nicodemus.  You cannot be born into the kingdom of God because of DNA or biology.  No one will get into the kingdom merely by being of a certain race.  This is what is meant by flesh gives birth to flesh (vs. 6).  Being Israeli would only secure you a place in the earthly, imperfect kingdom of Israel that God certainly had set up.  But it would not secure you a place in the coming Kingdom of God.  No work of our flesh or our parents can secure us a place.  It must a work that is done by the will of God and by his spirit.  Spiritual birth is a mystery.  We can't control it by having people recite certain prayers, or say certain statements of faith.  We can only speak the Truth and observe the Spirit work in others lives.  Jesus knew that if Nicodemus was to truly have a place in God's kingdom, he must first spiritually become a child of God.  This is his message to Nicodemus.  In fact in verses 13 through 21 Jesus takes some of the mystery off of how one is spiritually born.  He states emphatically in verses 16-18 that those who would put their faith in Jesus as this "Anointed One" from God, would be "saved" and not "condemned."

Thus, here is the teaching in a nutshell.  God has sent Jesus to be his Messiah that would set up his Kingdom on earth.  Those who believe this will only do so by the help of the Holy Spirit.  To believe in Jesus is to be spiritually birthed into God's family and to have a place in the coming Kingdom.  It is still a mystery how the Spirit touches hearts and how they respond.  But it is not a mystery what must be done.

The Purpose of Jesus was Clear

Just as his message was clear, so Jesus had a clear purpose.  In verses 17 and 18 Jesus states that he did not come to condemn people like Nicodemus.  Now the word "condemn" is a bit of a loaded word.  It has come to mean anybody who thinks that there is a definitely right and wrong.  Jesus clearly taught what was right and what was wrong.  But he did not do so for the purpose of trying to condemn people.  You see the problem is that we were already condemned.  God doesn't need people to go out and condemn others.  Rather it is because they are already condemned that Jesus came to try and save them.  His purpose was a rescue mission.  His purpose was to provide a way of escaping a coming judgment in which Nicodemus and others were surely to be condemned.  They were condemned by the Law of Moses that they said they loved.  They were condemned by their actions that were not in accordance to that law.  Lastly they were condemned by their own words, thoughts, and heart.

Do you realize that people today are in the same boat?  They are living their lives under the doom of a certain judgment in which they will be condemned.  Do we seek to save them or condemn them further?  Do we seek to grab them out of the fire or do we seek to rub their nose in it?  What is our purpose?  It is not to despise those who live a life in rejection of God and his ways.  Our's is a mission of compassion.  We are to be going out after the lost sheep.  They many times will bite our hand and continue to run on, but we know that they are going to be destroyed if they do not come into God's pen of safety.  May we have a clear purpose that it is our business to save people and that we can only do so by giving them the truth about life and leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Understood He would be Rejected by Most

At the end of this discussion, Jesus points out that he knew not all would receive him.  In fact the testimony of Scripture is that most men will not embrace Jesus.  In verse 19, Jesus says that "Men loved darkness rather than the light."  Now he is speaking in general here.  There were individuals that came to Jesus, the light, and received him.  But the majority rejected him, hated him, and crucified him.  This is who we are as men.  Mankind as a whole rejects God.  Many have given themselves over to evil and hate that which exposes them.  We need to get a hold of this truth in our hearts.  If you share Jesus with very many people then you will find that most will throw it back into your face.  It will not be a rosey road.  But it will have its rosey moments.

Now those who reject Jesus in this day and age often do so with a grand Culpea Harengus.  I will save you the time googling what that means.  It is simply Latin for a red-herring.  The modern red-herring is that of intellectualism.  It poses as the perfect "reason" for rejecting the Truth of who Jesus is.  I call this a red-herring because it is not their intellect that keeps them from embracing the Truth.  Throughout history many brilliant men have believed in Jesus.  But I would not say that the majority of brilliant men have done so.  Intellect is not the barricade to faith.  Rather the barricade to faith is whether or not I love evil.  Those who love evil will not come to the Truth.  If they do then it is a ruse to destroy the Truth and will eventually be exposed.

But, those who come to the light demonstrate that they have loved Truth.  This does not mean they are perfect.  The Scriptures reflect that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.  However, in them in a desire to have Truth and God.  They try to do what is right.  Often their flesh gets in the way, but they seek to make things right and look to God for help.  They do not enjoy correction when it comes, but they do receive it, like David of old.  2 Thessalonians 2:10 tells us that those who perish "refused to love the truth."  God is trying everyday to give people truth through his followers and by his Spirit.  This is what he is doing right now and we should be cooperating with him.

I challenge all of us to not look for excuses but to ask God to change our hearts that we might be freers of men and givers of life.

Sharing Jesus with Others audio