The pharisees knew who he was
2 December, 2009, 8:03 am
John 3:1-8 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
This guy named Nicodemus came to see Jesus one night. It was after Jesus had told all the business folks to clear away from the temple. He admitted something pretty significant. It’s so short and quick that it would be easy to miss. He acknowledged thatthe pharisees knew that this man came from God.
Wow. If you know the story you might be realizing how significant that was. This group of people were the biggest adversaries Jesus had! Near the very beginning one of their own admitted that they knew Jesus had come from God.
There are a lot of things in this passage that we could speak about and perhaps we will, but right now I want to focus on that one simple question.
What do you do with Jesus when you know he is from God?
You can either take him at his word and serve him as the king who came to redeem you. Or you can put him on a cross, mock him, and abuse him. That’s what these same pharisees would eventually do. They did it because he challenged them.
You can do all this in an effort to make yourself feel better about your own life. Because if he really came to fix you, that means you are a screw up.
Jesus is chalenging you to admit that you are a screw up.
Are you really a screw up? Can Jesus be the answer? Or would you rather say he is wrong, even when you know he is right?
