Gospel of John: Night meeting with Nicodemus

 Night meeting with Nicodemus

Text: chapter 3

Outline: First of all, it is a good time to state that chapter three is a part of a larger unit – chapters 2 to 4 – seven parts, again.

A. 2:1-12, Jesus at Cana of Galilee

  B. 2:13-25, Jesus at Jerusalem

    C. 3:1-21, Nicodemus (man, night meeting)

      D. 3:22-36, St. John glorifies Jesus

    C'. 4:1-42, Woman of Samaria

  B'. 4:43-45, Jesus goes to Jerusalem

A'. 4:46-54, Jesus comes to Cana in Galilee

Chapter three itself can be outlined as following:

A. 3:1-2, Nicodemus: You are the teacher from God

  B. 3:3-8, Born of the Water and the Spirit

    C. 3:9-15, Bearing witness on whoever believes has eternal life

    C'. 3:16-21, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.

  B'. 3:22-24, The disciples of Jesus and St. John baptize people (in different places).

A'. 3:25-30, John the Baptizer: He must increase, and I must decrease.

D – Conclusion, 3:31-36, repetition of the main themes: born from above, witness, Father loves the Son, eternal life.

Comments: Meeting of Jesus and Nicodemus gives a foundation for many dogmatic decision made by the Church – understanding of the Holy Baptism, the ministry of the Spirit and the Son. There are also a few misunderstandings – why night, etc. I'll try to address the main ones.

Let's start with the time of the meeting. There are propositions that Nicodemus came to Jesus by night because he was afraid. He was afraid for his position as a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1) or he was afraid for his life, like disciples after the crucifixion of Jesus (cp. John 20:19). I don't agree with this interpretation. The reason being – John has no problem to say that disciples were afraid, the parents of the blind man feared the Jews (John 9:22) etc. But he doesn't say anything like this about Nicodemus. So, why did he come by night? I think he came by night because he and Jesus were busy doing the ministry – in their own respected areas. The only possible time for them to meet was when every one else went to sleep.

The language of Jesus. The phrase “born from above” vs “born again” is a reason for misunderstanding. The Greek word “anothen” has two meanings – again and from above. Nicodemus obviously understands it as being born again – literally, from his mother – can a man second time come to his mother's womb? (John 3:4). Then Jesus explained to him the true meaning of the beginning of the spiritual life – being born from the water and the Spirit (John 3:5). This one of the foundational text for baptismal theology in the Book of Concord (AC II:2).

Wilderness imagery. Unlike other Gospels the Gospel of John does not have a wilderness story. At the same time there no lack of wilderness imagery – here is one of the examples. Jesus reminds Nicodemus of the Bronze serpent that Moses used to heal the wounds of the people of Israel (Numbers 21:4-9). Building on this example, Jesus foretells that He – the Son of Man – will be lifted up (John 3:14). What is He talking about? Crucifixion or Ascension? The way to solve it is to allow the Scriptures interpret the Scriptures – later, Jesus again will talk about Him being “lifted up” (John 12:32). There John will clearly point out that it was a reference to His death (John 12:33). That's why we use crucifixes in the Church – the Crucified Savior draws people to Himself.

The golden verse. Who doesn't know John 3:16? The extend of God's love in Jesus has no boundaries. Love for the [whole] world led Father to send His only begotten Son to be the source of eternal life. Yet, there are churches who misunderstand even this verse. The Presbyterian and Reformed churches believe that the World means a collection of the elect – only those who would receive Jesus by faith, for them and only for them Jesus died on the cross. We reject this notion – the world did not accepted Jesus (cp. 1:10). He died to bridge the gap between the rebellious world and the Creator (2 Corinthians 5:19). Some people would accept and have a life of faith, and some people would keep on fighting to the end (no pun intended...).

Ministry of John. The second title for John the Baptizer is John the Forerunner. He began the ministry prior to Jesus – to prepare the way (cp. Like 3:1-6). Also, his martyrdom would point to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. In between he would minister to people, but his ministry was unique in a sense that he would always point to Jesus. It can be summarized in the phrase from this chapter - “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Given vs reception. We already touched a little bit on the topic of election. There is another extreme – teaching of free will of reception. One of the most obvious implication of that is “we don't teach our children, they need to receive Jesus on their own.” But St. John the Baptizer explained it very plain – a person can not receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven (John 3:27). We teach our children, because it is given to them – since they are born in the family of the believers. The world without the knowledge of Christ is under the wrath of God (John 3:36). We don't want our children to be under the wrath, but to believe and to be obedient to the Son.                            

Romans: Love One Another

Love one another

Text: Romans 13:8-14

Structure:

A. 13:8-10, don’t commit adultery 

  B. 13:11a, it is the hour

    C. 13:11b, our salvation is nearer than we first believed

  B’. 13:12-13a, the day is at hand; description of the day

A’. 13:13b-14, no orgies and drunkenness

Commentary:

St. Paul begins with an exhortation to love one another. He leaves no room for modern misgivings of psychoanalysis. Even Eric Berne’s ideas of transactional analysis are brought to an ultimate paradigm: regardless of a role one plays (parent, adult, or child), love is the approach a Christian wants to use in any circumstances. He supports his point by referring to the foundation core of Torah: even the Second tablet of 10 Commandments is based on love (Leviticus 19:18). IN our current culture, though, “love” is a difficult term to interpret – not every sexual or emotional desire IS love. Every time we see love we need to think about God’s expression of love on the Cross paying for the SINS of the world. Also, love should not become a tool/means to “climb a stairway to heaven.” We don’t earn God’s grace by loving our neighbor, we love our neighbor because we were loves by God, forgiven, and given grace.    

Jesus uses “the hour” metaphor in the Gospel of John (John 2:4; 4:21,23; 5:25,28 etc.). It is this decisive moment! Then beginning with chapter 12 He says that the hour has come (12:23,27,13:1 etc.) – for the history of the world came to the Passion Week. Using same paradigm the apostle applies “the hour” as a reference point in one’s life when it is time to “awake from sleep.” (13:11). He speaks in a similar term in his Letter to Ephesians (5:14). One of the possible reasons is the fact that God has a limit on His patience – at some point He leave sinners to their own sins (see, Romans 1:18-32, note how St. Paul uses “God gave them up” twice, v. 24 and 26).      

The central point for this block is the statement that Salvation is nearer. It can be understood in three ways (not self-exclusive). (1) It is nearer (easier to access) for the Gentiles; (2) it is at closest proximity and is available because Messiah has come; (3) regardless of the fact that the date for the return Christ is unknown, we are closer to it. First, prior to the Nativity Gentiles could be in relationship with God on two levels: fully convert and become Jewish (losing their Gentile identity) or being a God-fearer but this meant inability to participate at the Passover Table (which was foundational for the liturgical life under the Old Testament regulations). Now, as Paul argued above (chapter 4 – discussion of righteousness by faith exemplified in Abraham), faith gives an access to God for everyone: both Jew and Gentile alike.

Second, before Jesus came into this world, the people of God had to wait for the fulfillment of the promises. Since Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies and promises of OT Scripture, those who live after the first Christmas, can have an instant complete forgiveness and reconciliation with God (2 Cor. 5:19).

Third, even though there many arguments about the Second Coming of Christ and some groups want to base their theology of their precise prediction, we understand and confess that it will happen (sooner or later). Therefore, historically, we are closer/nearer to this moment day after day.           

Day vs. night – two aspects: moral and typological. On one hand, he brings moral examples of “night-type” behavior (see a parallel in Colossians 3:5-9). It’s an important to learn this “visual” for our conduct. On the other hand, we can read it typological: before the SUN of righteousness came into the world, it was “night” time of God’s creation (Malachi 4:1-2). At the initial creation God sets the model: there was evening, there was morning (see Genesis 1:5 etc.). Therefore, life under the institutions of the Old Covenant was a nightshift. A parade example of this we can see in John 3, visit of Nicodemus. Now, with Jesus we have the Day, or [at least] a Dawn, with the Day reaching the full strength at His Second Coming.   

LENT: EXODUS 11

Lenten devotions: Exodus 11 

(please read the chapter before reading this devotion).

This is the first out of three chapters when we get into the first Passover narrative. There is an announcement of one more plague in chapter 11 (see the previous devotion when we discussed the number of plagues). Then chapter 12 tells us of the execution of the Passover, and chapter 13 concludes the story by consecration of the Firstborn. So, let’s dive into the text.

By this time Moses had great respect in the eyes of everyone but pharaoh – his pride blinded him, his understanding became dull, and the heart got really hardened. Plague after plague the LORD showed His might and His mercy – for after awhile YHWH would also pull back and restrain Himself. There is a reason why we proclaim that “His mercy endures forever” (see Psalm 136). Even here we should notice that God first gives a final chance to the pharaoh, sending His servant Moses to announce His plans.

He is not a thief, who sets an ambush and attacks in the dark. He warned, He appealed and called back to repentance… All the words of Moses fell on deaf ears. This is very sad when people are pushing back, rejecting the will of the LORD, and then complaining about their circumstance.

ACTS: Paul's visit to Troas

Paul’s visit to Troas

The Passage: Acts 20:3-14

Structure:

a. 20:3-6, Journey of Paul

 b. 20:7-8, he kept speaking until midnight

  c. 20:9, when he was picked up – he was dead

  c’. 20:10, don’t be alarmed – there life/soul in him

 b’. 20:11-12, long conversation until daybreak

a’. 20:13-14, Journey of Paul

Historical and geographical context:

Within the few verses we see a long travel of St. Paul, surrounded by many companions from different congregations: Berea, Thessalonica, Debre and other Asian territories. The last two places raise an interesting question: did they come from the Asia to meet him at Macedonia, or did they accompany him during the whole Third Missionary journey?     

In this lesson we also see new places mentioned – the ones that were not on the mission trajectory before (v. 13-14), lit. Assos and Miletus.

There is something in the realm of chronology that we need to pay attention to: the bulk of the story develops within about 40 days. Starting chronological point is the feast of Unleavened Bread (Acts 20:6), while St. Paul hopes to conclude his travels BEFORE the celebration of Pentecost (Acts. 20:16). Well-known period 50 days long, meaning that he had to leave Troas within first 40 days.