Thoughts: From previous blog

I began thinking about the last blog (thinking can be dangerous). I wrote about Nicodemus the Pharisee. Pharisees are the “Pious ones.” They teach the law. They gather disciples. They argue doctrine so they can correctly interpret the word of God. They are presidents of the Synagogues. And they are on town councils where they make sure the law of the land is in accordance with scripture.

We as Baptists can be very similar sometimes. We teach, gather disciples, argue doctrine (one such argument is between Calvinism and Freewill Baptists), we work to help our government implement laws according to scripture. We sit in our churches, we talk to our friends about the Bible and as iron sharpens iron we develop within ourselves the correct understanding of scripture.

Jesus said of the Pharisees, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” (Luke 11:46)

The Bible says: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."(Matthew 9:35-38)

Jesus said to His disciples and to us: “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." (John 20:21-23)

Often as we go, we tell people (as the Pharisees likewise did!) “Pray this prayer,” or “believe this doctrine.” These things can be done in the flesh. We can fake words without involving the heart. Jesus desires that we change from the inside, not the outside. (Ezekiel 18:31; 36:24-32; see also Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hosea 6:6; 1 Sam 15:22; Psalm 40:5-10)

Jesus said, “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 flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-7)

As Jesus said to Nicodemus and He tells those of us enveloped in church culture, “You must be born again.” You see, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. … God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17) We are to go into the world, not to condemn the world, but to share the life changing message of Jesus.

Jesus said of the Pharisees, “You hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.” (Mt 23:15) He tells us, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:46-48)

Paul wrote: “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:16-21)

And he went on to say, “We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love.” (2 Cor. 6:3-6)

Let us do the same.

Nicodemus the Pharisee

Pharisees are known as the “Pious ones.” Often we put Pharisees down because we see criticism of this sect in the words of Jesus...Mt 23:26; Luke 18:10, however in doing so, we do not see the full picture of who the Pharisees were.

The Hebrew word which is at the root of the title Pharisee (פָּרַשׁ) means to make distinct, clarify, distinguish or separate. The Pharisees were interested in clarifying what the word of God meant so they could understand and follow it better. Josephus said of the Pharisees “The Pharisees are those who are esteemed most skillful in the exact explication of their laws,” (Josephus Wars 2.8.14; Antiquities 18.1.3)

There were many classes of Pharisees. Some of the Pharisees were ultra orthodox (Luke 11:38). Some were more moderate. During one period there were opposing pairs of Pharisees (zugot) who discussed everything (see chart on page 70 of book Spring: Connecting with God). An example of this are the famous arguments between Hillel and Shammai.

Nicodemus was a commendable Pharisee. Nicodemus appears three times in the Gospel of John. In chapter 3 he visits Jesus one night to discuss his teachings. In John 7:45-51 Nicodemus is mentioned when he states the law concerning the arrest of Jesus during the Feast of Passover. Nicodemus also assists Joseph of Arimathea in preparing the body of Jesus for burial. (John 19:39–42)

Nicodemus was a Pharisee who came to Jesus seeking truth at night. Many speculate why at night. Was he trying to hide? Or this could be a symbol Nicodemus was coming out of the evil world, and into the light of Jesus (John 9:4; 11:10; 13:30; 21:3). Or maybe he worked, and he was on his way home or came when Jesus was available.

Nicodemus was impressed by the works of Jesus. Jesus had changed water into wine (his first sign), and performed many other signs. Josephus says of Jesus: "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ." (Antiquities 18.3.3)

Jesus shared a truth with Nicodemus: “You must be born again.” This is a truth that Nicodemus should have seen. Abram was born again (his name was changed to Abraham). Isaac was born again (on Mount Moriah). Jacob was born again (his name was changed to Israel). Moses was born again at the burning bush. Ezekiel talked of the new birth (18:31; 36:24-32; see also Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Nicodemus wanted to know how a man could be born again. Could he enter again into his mother’s womb? (This would be as impossible as the nation of Israel going back to Egypt to dwell in the flesh). Jesus said, no, one must be born of the Spirit (wind), meaning we must be born of God. We don’t know how this birth comes about because it is not physical, it is by faith.

Jesus taught Nicodemus a lesson from Exodus 4:1-6. God told Moses to throw down his shepherd’s crook. It became a snake. God said, “Pick it up.” Moses thought “snakes bite!” And then because of faith … he picked it up. He trusted God.

If Nicodemus was to become God’s man, he must have faith he must lift up the name of Jesus, he must believe God’s one and only Son. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” (John 3:18)

Jesus said, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:19-21)

To be a Pharisee, serious about our faith can be a good thing or a bad thing. We always need to measure: are we over serious or under serious; are we theoreticians (about our faith) or do we believe on the Name of Jesus … and act on our belief. ... See the next blog (also written Sept. 20)