Sermon Tone Analysis

\\ There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

The man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no on can do these signs that You do unless God is with Him.” \\ Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” \\ 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?”

\\ Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.

Sop is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

\\ Nicodemus answered and aid to Him, “How can these things be?” \\ Jesus answered and said to him, “are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these thing?

Most assuredly I say to you, We speak what we know and testify what we have see, and you do not receive Our witness.

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

\\ I heard a story this week about three men that died and were standing at the gates of heaven.

They were asked what they had done to deserve being allowed into heaven.

The first one said that he was a police officer and had spent his life helping enforce the law and keeping crime down.

Peter looked at him, nodded and said, “OK, go on in.” \\ The second man said that he was very wealthy, but had given a lot of his money to help good causes.

Again, Peter shook his head and gave the go ahead.

\\ The third man said that he had been a director of an HMO organization.

He said he had saved millions of dollars in health care costs for insurance companies and clients and had cut down on waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system.

\\ Peter looked at him and said, “OK you can go in, but you can only stay for three days.”

\\ We laugh at jokes about people showing up at the “pearly gates” abound.

Behind most of these jokes, though, is the assumption that we must do something to get in to heaven.

It is almost shocking to some people to hear that they can’t do anything to merit entrance into heaven.

Most people don’t think with grace.

\\ Nicodemus was one of those people who had a hard time comprehending the idea of free grace salvation.

We are introduced to Nicodemus in John chapter three and he shows up again in chapter seven and chapter nineteen.

We know several things about Nicodemus.

First, we know his name was a Greek name that meant, “victor over the people.”

This does not mean that he was a Greek.

He was most certainly a Jew.

But his name demonstrates how much Greek culture had influenced Greek life.

Possibly his parents were hellenized Jews who took a Greek name for their son.

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The second thing we know about Nicodemus is that he was a Pharisee.

Of course, most of what we know about the Pharisees we know by reading the New Testament.

And if one has read what the gospel’s record about the Pharisees they probably have a pretty negative picture in their mind.

\\ It is interesting that one doesn’t find any record of the Pharisees in the Old Testament.

Somewhere between Malachi and Matthew, a period of about four hundred years, the Pharisees came into being.

Historians tend to believe that the sect of the Pharisees developed during the period of the Maccabean wars.

Greek culture was sweeping the world and had infected the Jewish people along with everyone else.

\\ But among the Jews there were certain people who abhorred the idolatrous customs of the Greeks.

That abhorrence was coupled with resistance against the fierce religious persecution brought on by Antichocus Epiphanes.

Those who stood the line against compromising with Hellenistic culture and refused to abandon the faith were called “Hasidim” or saints.

It is believed that these Hasidim were the forerunners to the Pharisees of Jesus day.

\\ So with that in mind, one should realize that not all Pharisees were evil men.

They were born out of a desire to be faithful to God.

There were among them men of great courage and conviction, sincere and noble men who were willing to give their lives for their faith.

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The Pharisees had a lot of things right.

They believed strongly in the sovereignty of God.

They taught that men were responsible for their moral choices.

Pharisees were the conservatives of their day, teaching that man’s soul is immortal and the resurrection of the dead.

They believed in the existence of the angels and that there would be a day of reward and punishment in the future.

With these things most of us here today would not argue.

\\ Nicodemus was not only a Pharisee; he was one of the most important leaders of his day.

He held a prominent position.

He is called a “leader of the Jews.”

From what we read about Nicodemus in John chapter seven we can conclude with some confidence that Nicodemus was also a member of the Sanhedrin, a Jewish legal court.

It is also important to note that Jesus refers to him as “the teacher of Israel.”

The definite article is used.

He is not called just “a teacher,” but “the teacher.”

The meaning seems to be that Nicodemus was probably the most popular religious teacher of Judaism

at that time.

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The picture that begins to develop in our minds, then, is one of a devoutly religious, deeply sincere, highly respected religious leader.

This was a man who was well educated in the Old Testament law, the rabbinical teaching and the customs of his people.

He was a very moral man.

Nicodemus is a man to be admired for the way he conducted his life.

It is this man that came to Jesus at night.

\\ His approach to Jesus begins with a statement of the opinion of Him that had already developed in his mind.

It is a mistake to disconnect chapter three from what had just happened in chapter two.

The first verse of chapter one could be translated, “But there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus.”

If that is accurate then it is drawing a contrast between Nicodemus and the other people referred to in the last two verses of chapter two.

Those people had a superficial faith in Christ, but their commitment was shallow and would not last.

Therefore, Jesus refused to commit himself to them.

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Nicodemus, on the other hand, though not saved at this point, was a sincere seeker.

He truly desired to know the truth about Jesus.

He was not satisfied with a mere surface understanding of Christ and His mission.

Nicodemus, as we will see, had deeper longings of the soul.

He wanted more than just spiritual entertainment from Christ.

\\ What has sparked this spiritual seeking on the part of Nicodemus is what he calls the “signs” that Jesus did.

In John’s gospel “signs” means more than just miracles.

Signs are miracles with a secondary purpose.

What specifically the signs were we are not told.

But in John’s gospel all of the miracles are shown to have had a specific spiritual teaching behind them.

The miracles were intended to point to Christ as the Messiah.

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We also know from John two that Jesus had cleansed the temple and called it “my Father’s house.”

Nicodemus, being the man he was, must have either witnessed this event or heard all about it.

Interestingly enough there seems to be no animosity on the part of Nicodemus toward Jesus for this act.

Most of the other religious leaders resented him for turning things upside down.

Nicodemus, strangely enough, seems to, at a bare minimum, admire Jesus and at the most has had a beam of spiritual light penetrate his soul.

\\ So what we see in these first two verses is that Nicodemus is a very religious and moral person and he is very sincere about his faith and he really does want to know the truth about Jesus.

This is what brings me to our subject today.

The truth we find through the life of Nicodemus could not be more relevant for church folks like us.

The truth we learn through Nicodemus is that it is not enough just to be religious; you have to be redeemed.

\\ There are two kinds of religious people.

The Pharisees were made up of two kinds of religious people.

Among religious people you have those who are sincere seekers and you have those who are self-righteous snobs.

There are some religious people who are humble and devout and you have some that are arrogant and hypocritical.

It has always been this way.

It is like that today.

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In studying for this message I began to ask myself what the difference was between Nicodemus and the Pharisees that Jesus so roundly condemned.