What Jesus Did

[Jesus said to Nicodemus,] "No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven."

—John 3:13 NLT

Key Thought
What is something that only you can do? Now think for a moment; is it really something only you can do? No one else in the world can do it? No one else but you has ever done it? There are things that only Jesus could do. Only Jesus was part of heaven and came to earth as a human. Jesus is the only person who is one with the Father...

 

[Jesus said to Nicodemus,] "The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit."
"How are these things possible?" Nicodemus asked.
Jesus replied, "You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things? I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won't believe our testimony. But if you don't believe me when I tell you...

 

[Jesus said to Nicodemus,] "Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don't be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again.'"

—John 3:6-7 NLT

Key Thought
Not religious practice. Not religious accomplishment. Not religious titles. Not religious pedigree. Not the faith of parents. Not the recognition of community. There is no human means that can accomplish our new birth, our God-birth, our birth from above, our spiritual...

 

"What do you mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus.
"How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?"
Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.

—John 3:4-5 NLT

Key Thought
Jesus has tried to move Nicodemus from a philosophical discussion to a personal one. "Unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God," Jesus told him (John 3:3). Nicodemus tries to pull the discussion back to a...

 

Jesus replied [to Nicodemus], "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God."

—John 3:3 NLT

Key Thought
Jesus basically tells Nicodemus, a religious ruler and a righteous man, that he must start over. Not only that, he tells him he must have a fresh start that only God can bring about. He must be reborn. That is no longer a theological discussion, but a personal one: "... unless YOU are born again, ..." But more than just being born...

 

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. "Rabbi," he said, "we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you."

—John 3:1-2 NLT

Key Thought
Some people give Nicodemus a hard time for coming to Jesus at night. However, John doesn't. In fact, if we listen carefully to this story, Nicodemus does exactly what Jesus says people "who do what is...

 

Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.

—John 2:23-25 NLT

Key Thought
We often yearn for the acceptance of the crowd. We want others to notice us as significant. Many of us want our moment of fame. Jesus didn't operate in that fashion. He knew that those who...

 

After [Jesus] was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said ["Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up"], and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said.

—John 2:22 NLT

Key Thought
We often feel that our faith would be greatly bolstered if we could have seen Jesus personally. However, John and other New Testament witnesses remind us that many of the truths about Jesus are hard to accept, understand, perceive, discern, and...

 

But the Jewish leaders demanded, "What are you doing? If God gave you authority to [clear the Temple of the money changers and animals], show us a miraculous sign to prove it."
"All right," Jesus replied. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
"What!" they exclaimed. "It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?"
But when Jesus said "this temple," he meant his own body.

—John 2:18-21 NLT

Key Thought
My, oh my...

 

Then [after Jesus cleared the Temple of the money changers and animals] his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: "Passion for God's house will consume me."

—John 2:17 NLT

Key Thought
What is your passion? Is your passion for God's house, the temple where he lives today, his people (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)? If we follow the mock trial of Jesus, the false basis of his execution was rooted in his clearing the Temple and the following events; he was accused of...