Book: John

Jesus Offers Living Water
In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins examining the account of Jesus and the Samaritan town of Sychar in John 4:1-42. John presents the account of Jesus and Samaritan Sychar so that you will not miss out in dead religion but join humble outsiders in finding eternal life in Jesus. In John 4:1-14, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well and offers her living water.

1. Jesus Offers Living Water (vv. 1-14)
1a. Jesus Arrives Weary at Jacob’s Well (vv. 1-6)
1b. Jesus Breaks Barriers Requesting a Drink (vv. 7-9)
1c. Jesus Has Better Water than Jacob (vv. 10-14)

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Summary

The gift of God is freely available to all who believe: Jesus offers living water that becomes an internal spring, satisfying the soul forever. Through the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well in John 4:1-14, we are reminded that every earthly source of satisfaction — relationships, accomplishments, material pleasures — will leave us thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water Jesus gives will never thirst, because that water is the experience of knowing the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit.

Key Lessons:
1. Jesus intentionally breaks social and cultural barriers to bring the gospel to those considered unworthy — no one is beyond his reach or beneath his concern.
2. Every earthly source of satisfaction is a broken cistern that will leave us thirsty again; only Jesus provides water that truly and permanently satisfies.
3. The living water Jesus offers is not merely a gift external to us — it becomes an internal spring, the indwelling Holy Spirit, leaping up to eternal life.
4. Dead religion that affirms true ideas about God but never experiences God personally is not the abundant life Jesus offers.
Application: We are called to stop drawing from the broken cisterns of sin, pride, and worldly pleasures and instead drink deeply from the living water that Jesus freely offers. This means believing in Jesus for real, receiving his Spirit, and pursuing genuine knowledge of God rather than settling for mere religious formality.

Discussion Questions:
1. What “broken cisterns” in your life are you tempted to draw from instead of finding your satisfaction in Christ?
2. How does Jesus’ willingness to cross social barriers with the Samaritan woman challenge the way we relate to people who are different from us?
3. What is the difference between dead religion that affirms true ideas about God and the living, abundant experience of knowing God that Jesus describes?
Scripture Focus: John 4:1-14 — Jesus offers the Samaritan woman living water that becomes a spring within, leaping up to eternal life. Jeremiah 2:13 — God is the Fountain of Living Waters, and forsaking him for broken cisterns is folly. Isaiah 55:1-2 — God invites the thirsty to come without cost. John 7:37-39 — Jesus identifies the living water as the Holy Spirit. John 17:3 — Eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ.

Outline
Introduction

Let’s go before the Lord in prayer. We now look to hear from him through his word.

Oh Lord God, you are the Fountain of Living Water. That’s the beautiful truth we’re going to talk more about today. God, I pray that you’ll help us to see this in such a clear and fresh way.

Lord, I pray that you would show yourself to us. Show Jesus to us, show him in all his beauty, show him to be so satisfying. Oh God, I pray that we indeed would move away from the things that are not profitable, that are sinful, that are just broken cisterns.

And God, we would see: oh, there is such refreshment, there is such satisfying water in you forever. Lord, open my mouth to declare this truth from your wonderful word, and open our hearts to listen and apply it. In Jesus’ name, amen.

The Value of Good Water

Some of you may know that my wife Emma and I got to go on a study trip to Israel last year. A wonderful privilege, a great opportunity. We went in May, which is the beginning of the dry season there, but it’s just before the really hot months of June to August.

But that doesn’t mean there weren’t any hot days for us there in May. Indeed there were. One hot day was when we went to the ruins of Gezer on the western side of the territory of Benjamin.

It was late in the day. We had done a short hike up to the site and had toured and listened to our professor teach for about thirty minutes. When a few in our number started to feel sick, we found that hills in Israel often got a nice extra breeze from the coast, so it would feel a little bit cooler.

There was no breeze on the hill of Gezer that day. The combination of the beating sun, the slightly humid air, and temperatures above one hundred degrees—we didn’t realize that until later—was proving too much for our group. Some were not feeling well.

Thankfully, we were able to find some respite in an ancient cistern amid the ruins of Gezer. A cistern is a water collection space, and there were some stairs that went into it. It was shaded and cool.

But you couldn’t go down too deep into the cistern because of the noise of all the bats and the stench of the bat guano. We only went a certain way. But after resting there for about a half hour, we were able to get back into our air-conditioned bus, which had arrived, and we headed back to the hotel.

By God’s grace, everyone in our group turned out fine. Surviving Gezer became one of the things that we joked about and even celebrated. We ribbed our professor a little bit about it.

Nevertheless, the experience at Gezer did make us all take more seriously the instruction our professor would give us every time we were about to get off the bus in Israel and look around for an extended period. He would tell us: you must make sure to take some kind of filled water container with you, and you must drink from it preemptively before you start to feel overheated.

And if you don’t have a water container or you run out, there are cool bottles available for your purchase at the front of the bus for a shekel or two.

See, we came to appreciate just how critical water is for our health, even for our lives. Though we were willing to settle for subpar water if we couldn’t find anything else, we sought out the best water we could find: water that was cool, clean, and pleasant tasting.

“We came to appreciate just how critical water is for our health, even for our lives.”

Really, the experience of desiring good water in Israel became a way for us to connect to the Bible. Because even more than we did, the peoples of the Old Testament and the New Testament knew the importance of good water, the value of good water.

And they didn’t have air conditioning, refrigeration, bottled water, or modern plumbing. Yet they needed water to live, especially in a land that is frequently hot and dry.

God as the Fountain of Living Water

It’s no wonder that the ancient peoples prize good sources of water like wells and springs. And it’s also no wonder that water, even springs and fountains, become metaphors in the Bible for that which gives life, joy, and refreshment.

“Water, even springs and fountains, become metaphors in the Bible for that which gives life, joy, and refreshment.”

God himself is likened to a fountain of good water in contrast to false or polluted sources of water. You heard one example of this concept in the passage we read earlier in the service: Jeremiah 17:1-13.

But let me give you two more passages, both spoken in the Bible by God himself through his prophets, using this metaphor. You don’t have to turn there, just listen.

Jeremiah 2:13.

“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the Fountain of Living Waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Jeremiah 2:13: “They have forsaken me, the Fountain of Living Waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Isaiah 55:1-2 additionally says: “Oh, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance.”

In the Gospel of John, we’re going to see this water metaphor appear again. This time it emphasizes something true about Jesus in contrast to all apparent sources of thirst-quenching in the world.

Jesus gives living water that becomes within the drinker of it a spring springing up to eternal life. Now, what does that mean? To whom did Jesus declare this? And how should it affect us today?

That’s why I want to explore with you together this morning. Please open your Bibles to John 4.

Reading: John 4:1-26

John 4:1-26. We’re going to read verses 1 to 26. The title for today’s message is “Jesus Offers Living Water.”

Pew Bible page 1061 if you are using the Bibles that we provide here.

The next section of John goes beyond what we’re going to read just now. The next section goes from verses 1 to 42 in chapter 4. But that’s a lot to read.

For the sake of time, we’re just going to read verses 1 to 26 and examine verses 1 to 14 in the sermon today. You’ll get some important context going up to verse 26. But we’re going to focus on 1-14 today.

Here’s John 4:1-26.

“Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John—although Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were—he left Judea and went away again into Galilee.

And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. And Jacob’s well was there.

So Jesus, being wearied from his journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink,’ for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

Therefore, the Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, being a Jew, asked me for a drink, since I am a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.’

Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, “Give me a drink,” you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’

She said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do you get that living water?

You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you? Who gave us this well and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle.’

Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst.

But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.’

The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.’

Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband and come here.’

The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’

Jesus said to her, ‘You have correctly said, “I have no husband,” for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.’

The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.’

Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For such people, the Father seeks to be his worshipers.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’

The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming. He was called Christ. When that one comes, he will declare all things to us.’

Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.’”

The section we read is beautiful and famous. All the way down to verse 42 is wonderful.

Parallels with Nicodemus

But something you may have noticed, even in our reading up to verse 26, is that this passage features both repetition and contrast in a number of details we’ve already seen in the Gospel of John, especially the conversation with Nicodemus in John 3.

For both Nicodemus and this Samaritan woman, we see a conversation in which Jesus graciously reveals God’s salvation to just one person. This is an individual conversation.

“Jesus graciously reveals God’s salvation to just one person. This is an individual conversation.”

In both conversations, Jesus’ explanation of this glorious salvation is at first misunderstood. Yet the persons to whom Jesus has these two conversations couldn’t be more different.

One is Nicodemus, the highly respectable man, a Jewish Pharisee, religious teacher. The other is a social outcast, an uneducated Samaritan woman.

Furthermore, the difference of outcome in these two conversations is quite striking. Nicodemus and the Jews of Jerusalem do not move beyond their tepid belief in Jesus.

But not only does the Samaritan woman end up believing, but she becomes an instrument leading many Samaritans in her town to also confess that Jesus, the Jew, is the Savior of the world.

Now, this parallelism and contrast is not accidental. This is purposeful from the author to make a point.

Main Idea of John 4:1-42

Here’s how I would put together the main idea for this next section in John 4:1-42: John presents the account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Sychar so that you will not miss out in dead religion, but join humble outsiders in finding eternal life in Jesus.

John presents the account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Sychar so that you will not miss out in dead religion, but join humble outsiders in finding eternal life in Jesus.

“Do not miss out in dead religion, but join humble outsiders in finding eternal life in Jesus.”

Now, in exploring verses 1 to 42, I’m going to take us through in three parts—one each week. In each of those parts, I’ll give you subheadings as we go along.

Today is the first part. The title I gave you is “Jesus Offers Living Water.” It’s verses 1 to 14.

Jesus Arrives Weary at Jacob’s Well

But what’s our first subheading for this section? Well, that’s 1A: “Jesus Arrives Weary at Jacob’s Well.”

Jesus arrives weary at Jacob’s Well. Now let’s look at this, and we’ll move through these 14 verses starting with verses one to three.

“Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John—although Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were—he left Judea and went away again into Galilee.”

Why Jesus Left Judea

All right, this next section of the Gospel begins with an announced change of scenery. Jesus is moving from wherever he was in Judea, going up north towards Galilee.

We get the reason for the move right in verse one. The Lord—that is, Jesus—he knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus’ disciple-making and baptizing ministry was starting to supersede John the Baptist’s.

“This next section of the Gospel begins with an announced change of scenery.”

We heard all about that development in the previous passage, John 3:22-36, which is why verse 1 begins with “therefore.”

But why would the Pharisees hearing about Jesus’ expanding ministry cause Jesus to move? We can’t say for sure, but likely Jesus wanted to remove himself from new hostile scrutiny of the Pharisees and also prevent those Pharisees and other Jews from having any more reason to dismiss the ministry of John the Baptist.

Why Jesus Didn’t Baptize Personally

So Jesus makes a move. Note that we learn as an aside in verse 2 that Jesus himself was not the one baptizing, but he was having his disciples do it.

Now, why is that? Well, we don’t know. Perhaps doing so simply freed up Jesus to preach, or perhaps this was part of training his disciples.

Most likely, though, Jesus did this to forestall any kind of prideful misunderstanding later among his disciples about what it would mean to be baptized by Jesus’ own hands.

Can you imagine some of the disciples feeling pretty special about themselves? “I was baptized by Jesus himself.” The same issue seems to be something that Paul wanted to forestall in his own ministry.

We hear him telling the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1:14-17 that he was glad that he baptized so few of their people personally, so that no one would boast about it and it would become a source of division in the church.

What’s important, Paul emphasizes, and in a way Jesus does too, is not who baptized you, but the fact that you were baptized. And even more important than that is the gospel that you believe, which is then symbolized in your baptism.

“What’s important is not who baptized you, but the fact that you were baptized — and even more, the gospel you believe.”

So they put the emphasis on preaching, and baptism had secondary importance. Jesus leaves Judea and heads toward Galilee.

Passing Through Samaria

But how is he going to get there? Well, let’s look at verses 4 to 6.

“Now he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. And Jacob’s well was there.

So Jesus, being wearied from his journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.”

Notice the phrase “had to” in verse 4. This is the New American Standard’s translation of a Greek word that we’ve seen a few times in this gospel already. This is “dei”—d-e-i—meaning “must,” “have to,” or “it is necessary.”

In what sense was it necessary for Jesus to pass through Samaria to get to Galilee? Well, no doubt part of the answer is simply practical. The shortest route to get from Judah into Galilee was to go north through Samaria.

“In what sense was it necessary for Jesus to pass through Samaria? The shortest route to Galilee was north through Samaria.”

Samaria was the name of the capital city—what eventually became the capital city in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the divided kingdom period in the Old Testament. That city’s name came to refer to the surrounding region of the city and even the whole northern kingdom.

By the time we get to Jesus’ day with the Romans in control, the Roman province of Judea’s northern section was called Samaria. That’s the region.

Samaria was also the place in which Samaritans lived, and they did not have a good relationship with the Jews, as we will discuss shortly.

So going through Samaria was the shortest route to Galilee. But might Jews have avoided Samaria if they could and find some other way into Galilee?

Relations with the Samaritans aren’t good. Well, there was another main route to Galilee in the east, but it was much more arduous. You had to go down into the Jordan River Valley, cross the Jordan, and then go up on the other side.

Then you traveled north for a bunch of ways, and then you had to do the same thing—crossing back over the Jordan. This is not like some tiny little valley. It’s rather arduous to go by foot down and up a valley twice.

Not to mention, when you are going north, you’re going to pass through the region of Decapolis, which was a heavily Gentile region. And how do Jews feel about Gentiles? Gentiles are icky too.

So it’s kind of pick your poison. You can go through Samaria and have to deal with the Samaritans, or you go through the eastern side of the Jordan and have to deal with the Gentiles.

Well, might as well just take the shortest route. The ancient Jewish Roman historian Josephus says it was customary for Jews, if they wanted to go from Judea to Galilee or back again, to just go through Samaria. They didn’t like it, but that’s what they had to do.

The Divine Necessity of the Route

Jesus, wanting to save time and energy, also had to pass through Samaria. But is that the only reason?

Well, just as it was necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up like Moses’s bronze serpent, just as it was necessary for Jesus to increase and for John the Baptist to decrease, so it was necessary for Jesus to go this way to Galilee because God the Father willed that his Son would have a profound conversation with a certain Samaritan woman on the way.

That conversation is recorded for us, so that we too might behold Jesus’ glory and believe in him.

“God the Father willed that his Son would have a profound conversation with a certain Samaritan woman on the way.”

The Setting at Sychar and Jacob’s Well

Now, in verse 5, we read about the specific place that Jesus and his disciples stop in Samaria: a place called Sychar. This apparently was an unimportant town. It’s not mentioned anywhere else in the Old Testament or New Testament.

The details given in the passage show us that Sychar was near ancient Shechem. Shechem was a really important town in the Old Testament, and a lot of important events happened there.

But it had diminishing importance by New Testament times. It may not have even existed, or it could have been replaced by Sychar.

Probably Sychar sits at the modern site of Askar today. There’s a little town called Askar—sounds very similar in name—and it would have been in the same place that Sychar probably was.

Askar is a little town just on the edge of Mount Ebal, on the route between Jerusalem and Galilee.

Now, Sychar would have indeed, as we read in verse 5, been near the plot of land that Jacob bought for himself in Shechem, which you can read about in Genesis 33:18-19. It also would have been connected to the plot that Jacob gave to his son Joseph in Genesis 48:22.

And it would have been close to the feature that’s mentioned in verse 6: Jacob’s Well.

Now, interestingly, the Old Testament does not mention anything about a well belonging to Jacob in or near Shechem. However, since Jacob did live in Shechem, he very likely did dig a well there because, like I said in the beginning, you need water in these days.

Now, Shechem already had a number of springs around it. So why did Jacob dig a new well? Those springs were probably already taken. Different tribes or persons were saying, “No, this is our water. You have to go get your own.”

So Jacob dug his own well. And Jacob’s Well still exists today as a long tradition through the medieval period and even up to modern times. It’s just half a mile from modern Askar.

It currently sits in the crypt of a Greek Orthodox church, and it still produces good water because Jacob’s Well is fed by a natural spring.

Really, the word for “well” in verse 6 is more commonly translated “spring,” though in verse 11, we do see the word for a dug-out well. So what we’re seeing—this water feature, Jacob’s spring—was really a dug-out well fed by a spring.

And it definitely would have provided good water and been a valuable resource in the ancient world.

“Jacob’s Well is fed by a natural spring. It still produces good water and would have been a valuable resource.”

So Jesus and his disciples arrive at Sychar. But Jesus doesn’t initially enter the town. Instead, he sits at the well—Jacob’s Well—outside of the town.

Now, why is that? Well, because Jesus is tired. He’s wearied from the journey that they’ve taken thus far. After all, we’re told it’s the sixth hour, which is around noon.

So the day must be getting hot. Like any true human—and Jesus is a true human—Jesus is tired from walking under the sun. So he sits down to rest at this well.

Jesus arrives weary at Jacob’s Well, and the stage is now set for a glorious gospel encounter.

Jesus Breaks Barriers Requesting a Drink

We arrive at our second heading now for this first part, and this covers verses 7 and 9.

1B: “Jesus Breaks Barriers Requesting a Drink.”

Jesus breaks barriers requesting a drink. Look at the first part of verse 7.

“There came a woman of Samaria to draw water.”

A Woman Who Comes Alone

I’ll just stop there for a second because if we are ancient persons, this information given at the beginning of verse 7 should cause our antenna to go up. Not the fact that a Samaritan woman comes to draw water, but the fact of how she does so.

She comes alone, which is not usually what women at that time did. Drawing water was considered women’s work back then. If you’re a woman tasked with this work, you might as well make it a little bit more enjoyable and do it with your female friends and relatives.

All go get water at the same time so you can talk along the way and on the way back. But this woman hasn’t done that. She doesn’t come with any of her friends. She comes alone.

“She comes alone, which is not usually what women at that time did.”

Also, she comes at the sixth hour of the day, which is unusual. Drawing and carrying water is hard work, so most women did it when the day wasn’t so hot—either at the beginning of the day or at the end of the day.

But this woman comes in the middle of the day, amid the day’s heat.

Finally, we’ll read later that this woman is from Sychar, which, if Sychar indeed is where modern Askar is today, is a half mile from Jacob’s Well. You can track that distance, but there were closer springs and other closer sources of water.

This woman didn’t have to come all the way to Jacob’s Well. So why does she? Does she just prefer the taste of this particular water, or is there some other reason? Maybe a reason that she would want to avoid anybody that she knows, anybody who lives in her town and where they normally go for water?

The Shock of Jesus’ Request

Well, certainly the situation in verse 7 is starting off strange, and then it gets even stranger. Let’s look at the rest of verse 7, going all the way to verse 9.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink,’ for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

Therefore, the Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, being a Jew, asked me for a drink, since I am a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.’”

In verse 7, Jesus makes a request of this Samaritan woman: that she would use her water pot that she’s brought to give him a drink from Jacob’s spring.

From one angle, this request makes perfect sense. Jesus is tired. It’s hot. He’s thirsty. Verse 8 tells us that Jesus’ disciples have all left him to go into Sychar to buy food.

That means there’s no disciple around to assist the rabbi, and he doesn’t have a water pot himself. So Jesus asked this woman who just happened to arrive: “Hey, would you give me a drink?” Makes sense from one angle.

From another angle, this does not make sense. This request is shocking, as the woman herself points out in verse 9.

She doesn’t say yes or no to his request for water, but instead: “How? How do you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, being a Samaritan woman?”

“This request is shocking. She asks: ‘How do you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, being a Samaritan woman?’”

The end of verse 9 gives the explanation for any of John’s unfamiliar readers: “For Jews do not have dealings with Samaritans.”

The History of Jewish-Samaritan Hostility

If you’ve read the New Testament gospels before, you know that Jews and Samaritans do not like each other. Have you ever asked yourself why? The answer is a centuries-long history of rejection, hatred, and injury.

In 722 BC, the Northern Kingdom of Israel, centered in Samaria, fell to the Assyrian Empire. A serious policy for dealing with conquered peoples was to resettle them outside of their homeland so these people would be less likely to rebel.

When the kingdom of Samaria fell, most of the ten and a half Israelite tribes living in that kingdom were resettled elsewhere in the Assyrian Empire. But not all of them were resettled.

Some of the ten and a half tribes were left behind. Then Assyria brought in other conquered peoples and settled them in the area of Israel’s previous northern kingdom, Samaria.

When different peoples live side by side for an extended period of time, these left-behind Hebrews began to intermarry with the new arrivals, who were pagan Gentile peoples.

This intermarriage not only muddied the bloodline of the ethnic inheritors of Canaan, but it also introduced heinous syncretism into Samaritan religion. The new people of Samaria sought to serve Israel’s God, Yahweh, alongside the pagan gods of the intermarrying Gentiles.

“Intermarriage introduced heinous syncretism — Samaria sought to serve Yahweh alongside the pagan gods of the Gentiles.”

The Hebrews of Judah, the southern kingdom, began to see the people of Samaria—Samaritans—as fundamentally impure.

Consequently, in 538 BC, when the people of Judah returned to Judea from exile in Babylon and wanted to rebuild God’s temple in Jerusalem, some Samaritan nobles showed up and said, “Hey, we’d love to assist in the construction because we serve the same God as you do.”

But the Jews knew that Samaritan worship was corrupt, and they rejected the offer. They said, “You have no part with us.”

You can understand the Samaritans were not very happy about that. The insulted Samaritans then harassed the Jews throughout the temple reconstruction process.

Even in post-exile times, relations between the Jews and Samaritans got off to a very bad start. But it only got worse in the inter-testamental period—the time between the writing of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

By the time of Alexander the Great, Samaritans had given up polytheism and returned to worshiping only Yahweh, the God of Israel. But Samaritans rejected most of the Hebrew Bible, believing only in their slightly altered version of the Five Books of Moses, the Torah.

They believed this alone was God’s true and authoritative word. Consequently, Samaritans rejected the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, which is supported by the rest of the Hebrew Bible, not necessarily the first five books.

They came to believe that God’s true chosen site for sacrifice and worship was on Mount Gerizim, near Shechem. This was because those two sites seemed to have such prominence in the Torah.

Abraham builds an altar on Mount Gerizim. The blessings that Israel recites once they come into the land are spoken from Mount Gerizim. So they said, “This must be where God wanted us to worship him.”

Sometime between 400 and 300 BC, the Samaritans even built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim. You better believe that annoyed the Jews, who were zealous for God and zealous for the temple in Jerusalem.

Fast forward to about 140 BC. The Jews in Judea, under the Hasmonean dynasty—the descendants of the successful Maccabee rebels—had broken away from Greek rule and established a new independent Jewish kingdom centered in Jerusalem.

Though at first it was just Jerusalem and the surrounding area, this new Jewish kingdom gradually expanded. It conquered the surrounding regions, including the rest of Judah, Galilee, and Samaria.

That conquest of Samaria involved the killing and enslaving of many Samaritans. And as if that weren’t enough, the Jewish kingdom’s religious policy toward conquered peoples was forcible conversion.

The Jews tried to force the conquered Samaritans to adopt Jewish religion and customs. The message was clear: you’re going to worship our way or else.

The Samaritans resisted. The Jews, under the Jewish king at that time, destroyed Shechem and destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim. This was around 111 BC.

But that still didn’t bring about a breakthrough in conversions. The unhappy Samaritans kept right on worshiping on their mountain, even without their temple.

The bad blood between the Jews and Samaritans was well established and continued right into the Roman period, where Jesus appears.

Not every Jew hated Samaritans, and not every Samaritan hated Jews. But generally, these people were hostile to one another and suspicious of one another.

The Jews saw Samaritans as hopelessly corrupt, and the Samaritans saw Jews as oppressive evildoers.

With all this background, you can understand the Samaritan woman’s shock at Jesus’ request. He asked a Samaritan woman for a drink, even a drink from her water jar.

The Jews don’t have dealings with Samaritans. Actually, that word translated “have dealings with” in verse 9 is literally “use together with.” Jews do not use together with Samaritans.

It could have the sense of “use the same utensils as” or “share the same food dishes.” There’s good reason to take that translation because, after all, we see in verse 8 that Jesus’ Jewish disciples went into the Samaritan town of Sychar to buy food.

They’re having dealings with Samaritans there. But to share the same utensils, the same plates, the same water jar? Jews just don’t do that. That’s a good way to become unclean.

Add the fact that this is not simply a Samaritan that Jesus is asking for water, but a Samaritan woman. A popular idea among Jews at the time was that Samaritan women are perpetually unclean—menstruals from the cradle, as one rabbi later put it.

No wonder this woman is shocked at what Jesus says. She knows what Jews characteristically think of someone like her.

Jesus’ Heart for the Outcast

She asks him: he asks her to drink from her water jar. Jesus is not like other Jews, is he? It’s not like other rabbis. He thinks differently.

And isn’t this beautiful? Does this not show the wonderful heart of our Savior and God? He’s not afraid to break taboos and cultural barriers for the sake of God’s kingdom.

He is happy—he wanted the Father and affirmed the dignity of every single person made in God’s image. Far from shying away from people considered unclean and irredeemable, Jesus went towards such people in love to make them truly clean from the heart.

“Far from shying away from people considered unclean, Jesus went towards such people in love to make them truly clean.”

Is Jesus not worthy of adoration? Is Jesus not worthy of imitation?

Jesus breaks barriers requesting a drink. But he doesn’t stop there.

Like a skilled evangelist and a compassionate soul winner, Jesus quickly moves from talking about physical refreshment to something more significant.

Jesus Has Better Water Than Jacob

We come to our last heading for part one, in verses 10 to 14.

1C: “Jesus Has Better Water Than Jacob.”

Jesus has better water than Jacob. Look at verse 10.

The Gift of God and Living Water

“Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, “Give me a drink,” he would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’”

The situation just gets more and more surprising, doesn’t it? First, Jesus, the Jew, asks a Samaritan woman for a drink. But now he offers her a drink and assures her that if she only realized who she was, she would have asked him, and he would have gladly given it to her.

Now, what is the gift of God Jesus mentions here? Most likely, Jesus is referring to the gift of salvation, eternal life, available by grace through all who believe in him.

Don’t we as Christians sometimes feel, as Jesus says here, with the people around us? “If only you knew. If only you knew about the gift of God that was freely available to you.”

“If only you knew about the gift of God that was freely available to you.”

Now, take a look at the key term at the end of the verse: “living water.” Living water is a term with which ancient people would have been familiar because living water is what they called running water or flowing water—like water from a spring or a river.

Living water, you see, is the opposite of what they call dead water, what we would call stagnant water—like water from a cistern or pond.

If you had a guess: which is better, living water or dead water? Living water, because living water is constantly flowing. It doesn’t get the dirt, the bugs, the other pollutants building up in the water.

Cistern water, that dead water, it might be all right if you have nothing else. Spring water, living water, that’s where you can find real life and refreshment.

So Jesus is essentially telling the Samaritan woman: “I’ve asked you for living water from this well, this spring. But I tell you, if you knew who I am and what I’ve got, you would have asked me for living water, and I would have given it to you.”

The Woman’s Misunderstanding

Give this response only confuses the Samaritan woman. But notice how she replies in verse 11.

“She said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do you get that living water?’”

You see what she’s thinking? Like Nicodemus in John 3 and the Jews in John 2, she misunderstands the figurative nature of Jesus’ words and thinks he means to give her literal living water.

“Like Nicodemus in John 3, she misunderstands the figurative nature of Jesus’ words.”

At first, she points out he can’t mean that he would give her water from Jacob’s Well since Jesus clearly has nothing to draw with and the well is deep. It’s actually over one hundred feet deep and probably was even deeper in ancient times.

So she concludes that Jesus is offering living water from another source—maybe a different well or spring. Thus, she asks: “Where then do you have this living water? Where do you get the living water?”

That she doubts Jesus has what he claims comes out in what she says next in verse 12.

“You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you? Who gave us the well and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle.”

This is the question that expects a negative reply: “You’re not greater? No.”

Jacob, as one of the patriarchs represented in the Torah, was revered by the Samaritans. They accepted the first five books of Moses, so they loved Jacob.

Jacob indeed was pretty great. As she points out, he found this great spot for a well right on a spring, dug the well, and then used the well to provide for himself, his sons, and his animals. That’s a lot of living water from one source. Good job, Jacob.

So she poses the question to Jesus: “If you’re not going to use water from this well, do you have a better well that you’ve dug out that can provide more and even better water? I doubt it.”

Now, the exact tone in her question is unknown. She’s saying this with curiosity, sarcasm, playfulness. It’s not enough evidence to say for certain, but we can say that she has some doubt in her question.

Water That Satisfies Forever

She expects that Jesus is not greater than Jacob and does not have better water. Imagine her surprise at Jesus’ reply in verses 13 to 14.

Affirming the opposite, Jesus answered and said to her: “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst. But the water that I will give him will become in him a well springing up to eternal life.”

John 4:14: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst, but it will become in him a well springing up to eternal life.”

Jesus first points out that, as good as the spring of Jacob’s Well is, all its drinkers will thirst again. Everyone who drinks of this living water from this well will be thirsty again. No exceptions.

And by the way, the same is true for any of you today who are looking to drink from sin or the vapid treasures of the world. Everyone who drinks of the water of prideful accomplishment will thirst again.

Everyone who drinks of the water of romantic relationships will thirst again. Everyone who drinks of the water of material pleasures will thirst again. You will be thirsty, thirsty, thirsty until you die.

Whatever that particular treasure or source you’re going to is, you’re going to keep having to lug your water jar, so to speak, all the way to your chosen source of satisfaction in life. All the while, the hot sun is beating down on you, and you’re never truly satisfied. And you won’t be saved.

But there’s another water source that you could go to instead. And Jesus says it’s available to all.

“Whoever,” Jesus says, “doesn’t matter who you are, doesn’t matter what your background is, what you’ve done. Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst.”

And I love the way the Greek expresses: “He will never thirst.” More literally, the text says: “He will not not thirst forever.”

You see the double negative in Greek? It’s not like the double negative in English. In English, if you use a double negative, those two negatives cancel each other out. So if you say, “I am not not tired,” well, that means you’re tired because you’re not not tired.

But in Greek, the double negative doesn’t work that way. It’s used for extra emphasis, extra certainty. In other words, Jesus says: “There is absolutely no way that anyone who drinks from his water will ever be caught thirsty or unsatisfied again. Never, not for all eternity.”

Why not? Is the drinker satisfied with just one gulp forever? Well, look again at how Jesus explains in the last part of verse 14.

“But the water that I will give him will become in him a well”—or better, a spring, because it’s the same word used back in verse 6—”it will become a spring of water springing up to eternal life.”

Do you see how this works? It’s not that the person coming to Jesus suddenly never has a desire to drink again. Rather, he has a new source to drink from that’s always there to satisfy him.

And this source is not external. It’s internal. It springs or leaps up with incredible liveliness inside of him to quench his thirst again and again and again.

Jacob’s Well has got nothing on this kind of living water.

What Is the Living Water?

The big question now is: what is this living water? What is this living water that Jesus offers? This water that continually satisfies a person forever and results in eternal life?

We don’t see a specific explanation in the immediate context, but the rest of the chapter and the rest of the Gospel are going to make the answer clear.

What is Jesus’ life-giving water? It’s God. It’s God, or more specifically, it is the experience of knowing the Father by the Son through the Holy Spirit.

Did not the Old Testament proclaim that God himself is the Fountain of Living Water? He doesn’t just give living water. He is the living water.

“God himself is the Fountain of Living Water. He doesn’t just give living water. He is the living water.”

Jesus will say in John 7:37-39: “If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”

Then verse 39 explains: “But this he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believe in him were to receive, for the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Jesus will also say in John 17:3. I hope you’re memorizing this verse by now, by how many times I’ve said it to you. John 17:3: “This is eternal life. What is it? That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

Application: Drink from the Fountain

Now, brethren, how I wish that each one of you would grab tightly to this truth this morning.

I say to you, along with the psalmist: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

I say to you, along with Jesus himself, this morning: “If you only knew the gift of God, and here it is, who asks you for a drink, you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.”

Brethren, do you have the Fountain of Living Water springing up inside of you all the way to eternal life? Or are you too busy drawing from the broken cisterns of the world and of sin?

You won’t stop drawing from the wells of pride and anger and unforgiveness and fear and laziness and greed. You won’t stop panting after the fleeting satisfaction of alcohol, drugs, sex, video games, movies, television.

You won’t stop being dismayed when the cisterns of marriage, children, work, school—they just don’t give you the satisfaction that you’re looking for.

Brethren, Jesus has definitively answered the question that was raised by the Samaritan woman—that doubting question. He is far greater than Jacob, and the water that he gives—in himself—is so much better and makes it so that you are never caught thirsty again, forever.

Even in the days of drought, even in the days of heat, even in the days of extreme pain and trial, Jeremiah 17 says: if you have God, if you have the Fountain of Life and Living Water, you will be like a well-watered tree because you’re not disconnected from the source. It’s always there. It’s always there for your refreshment, for your joy, for your life.

Brethren, we sing all the time that Jesus is better than life because he is our life. But do you believe that? Do you really believe that? Are you experiencing that?

“We sing all the time that Jesus is better than life because he is our life. But do you believe that?”

Do not settle for a dead religion where you affirm all the true ideas about God, but you never know God himself. You never experience God and never experience the abundant life of walking with him and just getting to know him.

Do you want abundant life? It’s there. It’s available to you. Jesus offers it to you today.

Believe in Jesus for real. Receive his spirit. Get to know him. Become one of the humble outsiders. Give up everything for his sake, and you will find the living water that both satisfies and saves forever.

That is a promise. That is guaranteed from God’s Bible today.

Jesus freely offers living water. Have you taken it? Every other cistern is broken and in reality it holds no water. But Jesus has the living water in the truest sense, and that water never fails.

Wonderful, wonderful truth. But the Samaritan woman doesn’t get it, not yet.

Look at verse 15. You can see that she’s still thinking on the earthly level. Well, next time we’ll see how Jesus redirects the conversation, gets her to understand who he really is, what he’s really offering, and what worship of God is really all about.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray.

Jesus, how wonderful you are. How satisfying you are. Lord, we think of Psalm 16.

What David was teaching us: that you are your people’s portion. You don’t just give things to your people, and that’s their portion. You are your people’s portion. You are the joyful inheritance. You are the lines that have fallen into pleasant places.

It is at your right hand that there are pleasures forever. You are the source of life and joy.

And God, we believe that. We’re so excited that you, like that Samaritan woman, had an encounter with us where you revealed yourself to us and we believed, and we began to experience that spring of the spirit inside of us.

But God, it is so easy to drift away, to somehow not drink from the spring that we have, and start to look at the other springs of the world and say, “Hey, that’s pretty good. Yeah, I’m going to try and find my satisfaction over there. Yeah, this is what’s going to secure me.”

And then becoming so surprised—becoming so surprised—when those springs turn out to be dry, when the water turns out to be stagnant, and when we find ourselves still thirsty.

Oh Lord, I don’t know everything that the people in our congregation are going through today, but I know this: I know that your word is true, and that if you say that those who believe in you have the kind of living water that satisfies in any circumstance, I know that it’s true for each person here this morning.

So God, I pray that they would see that. I pray that they would know that. By faith, they would take hold of your promise. They would drink your living water, and they would be satisfied.

Not just satisfying now, not just experience eternal life now, but that they would know that their eternal life is secure forever. We experience in part now, but the true satisfaction, the full satisfaction, is to come.

We will always have life because we have the living water of God.

Thank you, God. If there’s anyone here who’s never experienced this, who’s never known you, God, I pray that you would open their eyes today. You’d have an encounter with you just like we did, just like the Samaritan woman did.

They would repent and believe, and they’d find their all in you. Lord Jesus, glorify yourself. God, you are worthy of it. In the name of Jesus, amen.
July 30, 2023
Jesus Is Above All
In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia finishes examining John 3:22-36, the final testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus in the Gospel of John. John the apostle presents the final testimony of John the Baptist so that you will devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and not mere earthly messengers. The presentation of the testimony in John 3:22-36 unfolds in three parts, and Pastor Dave reviews the first two parts and then covers the last in John 3:31-36 in this sermon.

Complaint: Jesus Is Superseding John the Baptist!
Clarification 1: Jesus Is the Main Point, Not His Messengers
Clarification 2: Jesus Is Supreme Above All Earthly Teachers

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

John 3:22-36 teaches that Jesus Christ is supreme above all earthly teachers and messengers. The qualitative, essential difference between Jesus and even the greatest Christian teacher is infinite — Jesus alone comes from heaven, speaks the very words of God, and possesses the Spirit without measure. We are reminded that no earthly teacher, no matter how faithful, deserves our ultimate devotion.

Key Lessons:
1. Jesus’ heavenly origin and divine essence make Him categorically different from every earthly teacher — He is not merely the best teacher but the supreme one from above.
2. Receiving or rejecting Jesus’ testimony is equivalent to certifying that God is true or calling God a liar, because Jesus speaks the very words of the Father.
3. The Father gave Jesus the Spirit without measure and placed all things into His hand, meaning only Jesus possesses what we truly need for eternal life.
4. True belief in Jesus always results in devoted obedience and a changed life — stopping short of full devotion to Christ, even while following a great teacher, leaves a person under God’s wrath.
Application: We are called to examine whether our devotion has settled on any earthly teacher rather than going all the way to Jesus Christ. We should be grateful for faithful teachers and learn from them, but test everything against Scripture, engage in community as faithful interpreters, and ensure our ultimate loyalty belongs to Christ alone.

Discussion Questions:
1. In what ways might we unknowingly give a favorite Christian teacher or leader the kind of devotion that belongs only to Jesus?
2. How does understanding that Jesus speaks the very words of God change the way we approach His teachings in the Gospels compared to other biblical or Christian writings?
3. What practical steps can we take as a church community to ensure we are pointing one another to Christ rather than building devotion around human leaders?
Scripture Focus: John 3:22-36 — John the Baptist’s final testimony declaring Jesus’ supremacy over all earthly messengers; also referencing John 1:11-12, John 1:33-34, John 3:9-13, and 1 John 5:10.

Outline
Introduction

Well, let’s pray. God, we come to hear from you now. This is not some ritual that we just go through. This is not some story we tell ourselves to give us some sort of bond. This is, as Greg was just saying, the real, the deeper reality past the things that we see with our eyes.

We are not hearing mere words from an ancient book. We come to hear the voice of God, the voice of our Lord. God, I pray that you would remove all distractions from us, all concerns with things that are not that important, and that our attention would be arrested by what you have to say to us.

I pray, God, that you would help me to speak this word and exalt Jesus Christ this morning. Amen.

I’m actually not still struggling with a cold. It’s just that song kind of got me a little bit. But let me start off today with another question. I gave you a question last week and I’m giving you another one this week.

The Greatest Christian Teacher?

I like starting with a question. It gets your mind thinking. Here’s the question for today: outside of the New Testament, whom would you say is the greatest Christian teacher? Outside of the New Testament, whom would you say is the greatest Christian teacher?

Is it perhaps Augustine of Hippo, a 4th century North African bishop whose tireless efforts to preach the gospel, explain theology, and combat heresy significantly protected and shaped the Christian church for more than a thousand years? Many later church reformers looked back to Augustine and his works for instruction and encouragement. Truly, many of Augustine’s writings are still considered Christian classics today.

Or how about John Calvin, a 16th century French reformer who preached four or five times a week and pastored faithfully amid persecution in Switzerland? He trained up reformers to send out as missionaries to other countries and wrote his famous Systematic Theology, the Institutes of the Christian Religion, which many today still consider to be a masterful articulation of reformed theology. He also has a whole biblical doctrine nicknamed after him in Calvinism.

Or maybe Charles Spurgeon, a 19th century British pastor often called the Prince of Preachers. Despite not being seminary trained, he became a pastor at age 19 and was the most popular preacher in England at only age 22.

“Outside of the New Testament, whom would you say is the greatest Christian teacher?”

He preached thousands of sermons to thousands of people at a time. In addition to running a pastor’s college and publishing many written materials, he also held the line against doctrinal compromise among his fellow Baptists in England, and he was persecuted for it.

Or what about John MacArthur, an American present day pastor in Los Angeles, to whom many in this church, including myself, are personally indebted? He also preaches to thousands each Sunday in person and around the world. He started a seminary and published many written materials, including his famous Study Bible.

He has frequently stood against gospel compromise in the wider church and has modeled and popularized expository preaching among evangelicals around the world.

Is it one of those men? Or maybe for you it’s someone else? Whom do you consider to be the greatest Christian teacher outside of the New Testament?

Is Any Teacher Worthy of Utmost Devotion?

Well, for heaven, whoever you think is the greatest, here’s my follow-up question to you: Is that teacher deserving of your utmost devotion? Should you take everything that teacher says as the very voice of God? Take every one of his interpretations of the Bible, adopt all his opinions and applications, imitate all his actions?

Should you start or join a new denomination that has that great teacher as the head? Or if that teacher is now dead, at least has his teaching and philosophy of ministry as the defining rule?

Should you cancel any other teacher who disagrees with the teacher you consider to be the greatest? Should you listen to that great teacher exclusively because you don’t need anybody else?

Should you venerate even the very objects associated with that teacher? Should you attend the memorial service at his grave site every year? And should you name your church or seminary after him to honor his legacy?

Well, perhaps some of that or all of that sounds ridiculous to you. And if so, that’s good. Because what is the answer to all of these questions? The answer is no.

“Not even the greatest Christian teacher deserves that kind of devotion. That person is not Jesus Christ.”

Not even the greatest Christian teacher, whether in the past or today, deserves that kind of devotion or your utmost loyalty. And why not? Because that person, no matter how great, is not Jesus Christ.

Faithful Messengers Point to Christ

He is not supreme like the savior is supreme. Only Jesus is worthy of your complete loyalty. And yes, there is a place for honoring Jesus’ faithful messengers, those who have served him and his church well.

The Bible does command that you submit yourselves to the pastor elders of your church. But if Christ’s messengers are truly faithful, they will insist that you not overly devote yourselves to them.

They don’t want a denomination in their name. They don’t want you to treat them like a pope or a cult leader. They don’t want you heaping praises and honors on them.

They want those things to go to Jesus Christ. After all, could they not say the very same as we read from God’s servants in the scriptures? “What do I have that I did not receive? Why do you boast in me? I am just a weak little clay pot, an earthen vessel, carrying around the magnificent treasure of Christ. Why exalt the pots?”

A faithful teacher’s attitude really is the one we saw even from John the Baptist last week: “He, Jesus Christ, must increase, but I must decrease. Let me fade into the background. Don’t look at me. Look at him.”

“He, Jesus Christ, must increase, but I must decrease. Don’t look at me. Look at him.”

As we continue in the Gospel of John today, we’re going to see further why we must guard ourselves from the temptation to overly devote ourselves to and improperly exalt Christ’s earthly messengers. Not only is such devotion inappropriate to the position and role of Jesus’ messengers, but the qualitative, the essential difference between Jesus and his earthly messengers is infinite.

Jesus is above all, and only devotion to him, not to messengers, brings eternal life. Please take your Bibles and open to John 3:22-36.

Reading the Passage: John 3:22-36

The title of today’s sermon is “Jesus is Above All.” Jesus is above all. This is on Bible page 1061. This is the passage we were in last week. We’re focusing just on verses 31 to 36 today, but we’ll read the whole passage again for context.

John 3:22-36: “After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he was spending time with them and baptizing. John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salem because there was much water there, and people were coming and were being baptized. For John had not yet been thrown into prison.

Therefore, there was a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification, and they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing, and all are coming to him.’

John answered, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.

He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What he has seen and heard of that he testifies, and no one receives his testimony.

He who has received his testimony has set his seal to this that God is true. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. For he gives the spirit without measure. The Father loves the son and has given all things into his hand.

John 3:36: “He who believes in the son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

He who believes in the son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.’”

Purpose of John the Baptist’s Final Testimony

Here again, we have the final testimony from John the Baptist about Jesus in this gospel. I explained last time why John the Apostle, our author, includes this last testimony from John the Baptist. This testimony shows that John the Baptist’s witness declaring Jesus to be the Christ and the Son of God did not change after Jesus began his ministry.

When Jesus began to unveil shocking heavenly mysteries, John the Baptist directly corroborates what Jesus says, all his claims, and he stands united with Jesus in testimony. This passage shows us that choosing not to devote yourself to Jesus but instead to settle for devotion to John the Baptist or Moses or another one of God’s messengers, even Jesus’ messengers, is a deadly mistake.

Only sincere repentance and faith in Jesus himself, born out in a life of fruitful obedience, will save. Finally, this testimony gives us another example of what it means to be a faithful disciple of Jesus and even a faithful minister on his behalf. It is always to seek and direct others to find life in Jesus, not in yourself, not in any earthly messenger.

“Only sincere repentance and faith in Jesus himself, born out in a life of fruitful obedience, will save.”

I previously summarized these three purposes with the following main idea statement for our passage in John 3:22-36: “John the Apostle presents this final testimony of John the Baptist so that you will devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and not mere earthly messengers.”

Review: The Complaint and First Clarification

This main idea is presented in three sections of narrative, and we looked at the first two sections together last time. We saw first, in verses 22 to 26, the complaint: Jesus is now superseding John the Baptist. This was the complaint.

Jesus is now superseding John the Baptist. After that first momentous Passover feast in Jerusalem, it turns out Jesus began baptizing and preaching in Judea, their very region in which John the Baptist was also baptizing and preaching. Although people were still coming to John, more and more people were going to Jesus.

When John’s disciples realized this, they complained about it to their Rabbi, their teacher, their master. They said, “John, the one about whom you testified, well, he’s stealing your thunder and your disciples. Everybody’s going to Jesus now instead of you. That’s not right.”

John’s disciples loved their teacher. They were grateful for their teacher. They were zealous for what they saw was his due rights and honor. But we saw next John’s first reply to his disciples in verses 27 to 30.

Clarification one: Jesus is the main point, not his messengers. Far from being miffed, disappointed, discouraged that Jesus was getting more and more of the attention, John the Baptist was overjoyed.

He told his disciples that all was playing out according to God’s plan, according to what God knew best, to give to each person, including John the Baptist and including Jesus. John reminded his disciples that he had always denied being the Christ or anyone worthy of great devotion.

John clarified his relationship to Jesus as like a best man to a bridegroom. The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The best man is only there to help them get married. But when they do, when the bride is brought successfully by the best man to the wedding feast to be received by the bridegroom, that’s what brings the best man his joy.

John says basically to his disciples, “You hear the voice of a usurper taking away what’s rightfully mine, but I hear the voice of the bridegroom, my dear friend, receiving what’s rightfully his, the bride. My mission is thus accomplished. My joy is now full. It’s time for him to increase and for me to decrease.

“The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The best man is only there to help them get married.”

I’m not here to steal the bride from myself. I’m here to rejoice in the bridegroom and see others do so. Don’t be zealous for my honors if I have been wronged. Jesus was always the main point.”

Surely such a word by itself is already a poignant reply to John’s disciples and their complaint. But John has another clarification to make to help his disciples and us, by God’s spirit, understand where our devotion should ultimately lie.

We see this second reply in verses 31 to 36.

Who Is Speaking in Verses 31-36?

But before I get into that, I need to mention again whether these verses that we’re about to look at are still John the Baptist’s speech or dialogue. When we looked at John 3:16-21, some Bible interpreters see that passage differently. Some Bible interpreters believe that verses 31 and 36 do not represent the words of John the Baptist. These are actually additional thoughts provided by the author, John the Apostle, about what John the Baptist just said.

For example, if you’re following along in the ESV or the NIV Bible translation, you’ll notice that verses 31 and 36 are not in quotation marks. This means that the translators believe John the Baptist’s words ended in verse 30, and the rest is the author.

The reason for this conclusion is mostly based on the fact that verses 31 to 36 sound like John 3:16-21, and both of those sections sound like the gospel’s prologue in John 1:1-18. The prologue was the author’s own thoughts. It was John the Apostle speaking.

Some interpreters say, “Well, these passages must be the author as well: John 3:16-21, and then even more relevantly for us today, John 3:31-36. This is John the Apostle, not John the Baptist.”

The other reason for this conclusion is that some find it difficult to believe that John the Baptist really would have known and said what is presented in John 3:31-36. But I’ve already told you that while I understand this position and respect the careful Bible interpreters who do take that position, I don’t agree. I don’t think it’s the best way to approach this passage.

There are no clear grammatical or syntactical markers in verses 30 or 31 indicating an end of dialogue. I’m just trying to imagine the original audience being able to pick up on, “Oh, this is not John the Baptist anymore. This is John the Apostle.” How would they have known?

Speculation about what people in the Bible could have said or known is subjective and ultimately unreliable. Maybe John the Baptist knew and was able to speak about more than we think. The simpler explanation for the similarity between John 3:31-36 and John 3:16-21 and the prologue is that John the Baptist, Jesus, and John the Apostle had united testimony. They all agreed with one another because they are all speaking about the one truth. That makes sense, right? That makes sense.

“John the Baptist, Jesus, and John the Apostle had united testimony because they are all speaking about the one truth.”

But again, even if you take verses 31 to 36 as the words of John the Apostle and not John the Baptist, you still have to admit that these are God-breathed, this is the inspired word of the Holy Spirit, this is Jesus’ Spirit speaking to us. One way or another, this is the authoritative word we need to examine.

As for me, I will be following what we see in the New American Standard 95 translation. I’m going to treat John 3:31-36 as the words of John the Baptist, part of his final testimony in this gospel.

Clarification Two: Jesus Is Supreme Above All Earthly Teachers

And let’s take a closer look at this second reply, this final part in John the Baptist’s speech to his disciples. Here we see the second clarification: Jesus is supreme above all earthly teachers.

Let’s see how this is developed starting with verse 31 and the first part of verse 32.

“He who comes from above is above all. He was of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all what he has seen and heard of that he testifies.”

Do you notice how these statements flow easily and logically from what is stated in verse 30? “He must increase but I must decrease.”

Jesus’ Heavenly Origin vs. Earthly Teachers

John says, but not only because Jesus and I are on different levels when it comes to role, but also because Jesus and I are on different levels when it comes to essential being and fullness of revelation. “He who comes from above is above all,” John says. That is to say, the one who has an origin above, a heavenly origin, is naturally supreme, superior over those who do not have that origin.

He, Jesus, is above all, not simply spatially over the earth, but positionally over all the earth’s people. Furthermore, his essence is not of this world. He is a heavenly being come down.

“The one who has a heavenly origin is naturally supreme over those who do not have that origin.”

Jesus is supreme, and the only man worthy of total devotion. Contrast John the Baptist’s: “He was of the earth is from the earth.”

Now that statement might sound like a tautology, a needless repetition, but it’s not. It completes the comparison that’s begun in the first part of the verse. In contrast to Jesus, John the Baptist, and really every other teacher, Christian or not, comes from the earth.

John doesn’t come from heaven, nor has John ascended there and come back. John is both literally and figuratively below Jesus in origin. Moreover, based on that origin, John is also below Jesus in essence.

Earthly Messengers Are Fundamentally Limited

John is not only from the earth but of the earth. John is earthy, made from soil, bound to terrestrial existence, limited in his understanding and capacity because he is an earth dweller. And this fundamental earthiness affects what John can communicate as a spiritual teacher.

Notice verse 31 says that the one of the earth and from the earth was also the one who speaks of the earth. That is, his communication, generally speaking, is limited to basic earthly realities.

Now this is not to say that John could not or did not declare anything that was more heavenly. No, he did do that, and he will do that even in this passage. But this does emphasize that John was fundamentally limited. Yes, even John was fundamentally limited in what he was able to know and reveal from God.

“John was fundamentally limited in what he was able to know and reveal from God.”

John had not been to heaven. He was of weak earthly essence. So his message on behalf of God, even when executed faithfully, could only go so far.

Jesus Declares Heavenly Revelation Firsthand

But what about Jesus? Notice it says next, “He who comes from heaven is above all.” There’s some repetition with variation again, emphasizing Jesus’ supreme origin and essence.

And what did that lead to? First part of verse 32: “What he has seen and heard of that he testifies.”

Jesus, like John, has a message to communicate, revelation to unveil. But what kind of revelation is it? Fundamentally not earthly but heavenly. And how is it that Jesus has heavenly revelation? Because that’s from where he came, and also where he saw and heard that revelation firsthand.

Unlike John the Baptist, who must have his heavenly revelation given to him in pieces according to John’s earthly capacity, Jesus, as God, has known all heavenly revelation from the beginning, from eternity. And the word that Jesus declares, the word of the Father, which we’ll hear more about in just a second, is not a word passed on to Jesus by telephone over some garbled connection.

No, the Eternal Word who dwells in the bosom of the Father received this revelation in the very presence of God. When Jesus saw and heard are the very mysteries declared from God’s throne, and that is the revelation that Jesus now has to declare on the earth to the people of the earth.

“The Eternal Word received this revelation in the very presence of God — the very mysteries declared from God’s throne.”

Now can we see then already how there’s no contest between Jesus and earthly teachers like John? Jesus comes from heaven as the heavenly one to unveil profound heavenly mysteries. John and every teacher since, including me, comes from the earth, is earthy, can barely scratch the surface of heavenly realities because he is so earthbound in his communication.

There’s such a chasm of difference between Jesus and every other teacher. Jesus is truly above all earthly messengers, and he’s the only one worthy of your full devotion.

No One Receives His Testimony

Considering the clear difference between Jesus and messengers like John, we might think that everyone would be eager to receive Jesus’ superior revelation and devote themselves to him. But we quickly read this statement in the second part of verse 32: “And no one receives this testimony.”

What is this? People, generally speaking, do not want the supreme teacher. They will not accept the revelation of heavenly mysteries.

But at this point in this gospel, we shouldn’t be surprised by this truth. Why not? Because we’ve heard this before. In fact, early in the chapter, Jesus declared the same in his conversation with Nicodemus.

Look back there at John 3:9-13. This is Jesus talking to Nicodemus: “Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the son of man.’”

Do you notice how Jesus’ words in that passage parallel almost everything that we just heard from John the Baptist in verses 31 to 32?

Jesus was preaching the basics of salvation—earthly things—to the teacher of Israel, and Nicodemus wouldn’t accept it. He could not believe Jesus’ words. He’s a representative of the Jewish people as a whole.

Jesus was only declaring what he had seen and heard, what he had been entrusted with by the Father. And Jesus had even grander spiritual realities, heavenly things, to reveal than these.

How is it that Jesus could speak this way? Because Jesus, unlike everyone else, is descended from heaven. One of the heavenly mysteries that we see Jesus reveal in John 3:19-21 is why the people of earth do not accept the testimony of the heavenly one.

What’s the reason? Because they love the darkness and hate the light. People love sin, and thus don’t want to hear or believe the message of God’s Messiah, even though he’s supreme, even though his message is supreme.

“People love sin, and thus don’t want to hear or believe the message of God’s Messiah, even though his message is supreme.”

Jesus and John the Baptist’s United Yet Distinct Witness

Side note: Do you notice how John 3:11 says, “We speak of what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony,” whereas John 3:32 says, “What he has seen and heard of that he testifies, and no one receives his testimony”?

Those statements are very parallel, except for one obvious difference: we have a shift from “we” to “he.” Why? What’s going on here?

I mentioned previously—it’s a bit of a puzzle in verse 11 as to what the “we” refers to. It’s difficult to interpret, but I believe Jesus in verse 11 was including John the Baptist as a fellow witness of the truth, ultimately rejected by the people of Israel.

Thus Jesus says, “We speak and you do not accept our testimony.” After all, back in John 1:34, this is when John the Baptist was giving earlier testimony. John the Baptist says, “I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God, for this is the chosen one of God.”

So Jesus and John are declaring what they’ve seen and heard, a revelation ultimately rejected by the people of Israel. However, when repeating the idea of rejected testimony from God, John the Baptist apparently doesn’t want to put himself into the same category as Jesus because he knows that his own witness was so limited compared to Jesus’ witness.

Therefore, John the Baptist only mentions his testimony rather than “our” testimony. This difference of approach between Jesus and John fits the pattern we see throughout the gospels. If you just look at the synoptics or pay attention to what we see here in this gospel, John the Baptist is always downplaying his own importance.

People ask him if he’s the Christ. “I’m definitely not.” Are you Elijah? “No.” He won’t even claim to be Elijah. “I’m just a voice. I’m just a voice in the wilderness crying out, ‘Make straight the way of God.’”

It’s interesting that Jesus does the opposite. He goes out of his way to point out John’s importance. Jesus declares that John is Elijah who was to come. He even declares John to be the greatest man born of a woman. That is to say, he was the greatest prophet and teacher up to that time.

But if even this great teacher, this foremost prophet, John the Baptist, the Forerunner of Christ, if even he sees himself as far below Jesus, not even worthy to be called a witness alongside Jesus, what are the implications for us?

Certainly, we should adopt that same humble attitude as a disciple of Jesus. Certainly, we should appreciate the united, consistent witness of Jesus and John the Baptist. But we must also certainly be careful not to come short of devotion to Jesus by merely devoting ourselves to John, some other Jewish or Christian teacher.

“If even the foremost prophet sees himself as far below Jesus, what are the implications for us?”

Plenty of Jews at that time were willing to follow John but not Jesus. But in doing so, they fundamentally failed to understand John’s mission. John always meant to point people, his followers, to the one who is truly above all, who is so far above who John himself was.

Receiving Jesus’ Testimony Certifies God Is True

Indeed, as John’s reply continues, he not only emphasizes Jesus’ supremacy over himself but also the profound implications of going all the way to Jesus or merely settling for an earthly messenger. Look at verse 33 now.

“He who has received his testimony has set his seal to this that God is true.”

Now at first glance, verse 33 might sound like it contradicts what we just read in verse 32: “No one receives this testimony.” But those who do receive his testimony, they get this thing. What is it? Don’t those contradict each other?

Well, no. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of pairing in this gospel. If you might remember, John 1:11-12. We heard this: He, speaking of Jesus, the son, “He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him. His people didn’t receive him. But verse 12: ‘As many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name.’”

It’s the same idea here in verse 33. John 3:32-33: Generally speaking, no one receives Jesus’ heavenly testimony. People love darkness. They hate the light. However, there are some born of the spirit, some among the Jews, some among the Gentiles, later there are some born of the spirit who do believe. They do receive Jesus’ testimony, and they thus fulfill verse 33.

They set their seal to the fact that God is true. Now perhaps you’re wondering, “Wait a second, what does that mean?”

Well, to set your seal to something is a figurative way of saying that you certify or affirm something. Today, sometimes you’ll see a symbol on packaged food, maybe a star with a K in it, that indicates certified kosher, meaning that a rabbinic agency has inspected the ingredients of the food, the production facility where the food was made, and the actual making of the food, and has affirmed that there are no non-kosher traces of food in this food, nothing non-kosher inside this food.

Thus Jews and others observing ceremonial food laws can eat the food with confidence. They’re not becoming unclean. The rabbis have set their seal to the food that it is kosher. They’ve certified it.

“Receiving Jesus’ heavenly testimony is to certify something about God, namely that he is true.”

Similarly, receiving Jesus’ heavenly testimony is to set your seal or to certify something about God, namely that he is true or that he is truthful. But how does that follow? Don’t worry, we get the explanation in the first part of verse 34.

Jesus Speaks the Words of God

Verse 34: “For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God.”

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about verse 34, but the first part of this verse presents a profound concept that we will see again and again in this gospel. Jesus is going to keep on repeating this idea that Jesus does not speak his own words but only speaks the words given him by the Father.

In the New Testament, especially in this gospel, the title “God” is often used to refer to God the Father specifically, especially if you have “God” in contrast to “the son” or something like that. “God” means the Father. That’s the way it should be taken here.

Verse 34 says that the Father sends the son from heaven into the world and gives the son the words to speak, words that are the Father’s own words. Or to say that another way, everything that Jesus declares on earth is really just a testimony given Jesus to declare by God the Father himself in heaven.

Jesus speaks the words of God. Therefore, if you do not receive Jesus’ testimony, if you do not accept Jesus’ words, what really are you saying about God who gave Jesus those words? That God is a liar and his word is untrustworthy and unworthy to be believed.

Sometimes we forget or fail to appreciate how high the stakes are when it comes to a person’s response to Jesus. Many among the Jews, perhaps even among John the Baptist’s disciples, thought that they could affirm God as good Jews while rejecting Jesus or at least leaving Jesus an open question: “I’ll devote myself to God, maybe even John the Baptist, but not Jesus. His words are iffy.”

God reveals that God and Jesus are one, and so is their word. Thus, if you accept the testimony of Jesus and devote yourself accordingly, you certify that God is true as you ought. But if you reject the testimony of Jesus, just treat him like another teacher, devote yourself to someone else, well, you affirm God to be a liar. And do you think he will escape the judgment that comes with that kind of settled blasphemy?

“If you reject the testimony of Jesus, you affirm God to be a liar.”

First John 5:10 affirms this same truth, same author, different book. 1 John 5:10: “The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his son.”

The Spirit Given Without Measure

And it’s not as if Jesus’ testimony is unclear and people can’t really know for certain that it is from God, that it is the words of God. For the last part of verse 34 adds, “For he gives the spirit without measure,” or more literally, “He does not give the Spirit by measure.”

Now a key question for this verse is: Who is the “he” giving the spirit? Is this Jesus giving the spirit to his people without measure, or is this the Father giving the spirit to his son without measure?

The answer must be the latter: the Father giving the spirit to the son without measure. For the context here is all about what makes Jesus supreme over all earthly messengers, all earthly teachers. Not to mention Ephesians 4:7 specifically says that Christ gave spiritual gifts to his people by measure according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

The very reason that Jesus is able to give the Holy Spirit to his people is because Jesus himself possesses the spirit in a limitless capacity. Recall what John the Baptist said in John 1:33: “I did not recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’”

Unlike others in Old Testament history who had the Spirit come upon them for a time, God’s own Spirit came upon the son in a permanent and unlimited fashion.

So what are the implications of this? What are the implications of Jesus receiving the spirit without measure from the Father?

Well, first, it means that Christ’s words and works unquestionably represent the testimony of God. All people—there’s no excuse here. All people can be justly held accountable for their response to Jesus’ ministry because it was so Spirit-filled, it was Spirit-flooded. You can’t tell me that’s not the word of God. It’s too obvious because of the spirit that is just overflowing from him.

All those chosen by God, moreover, will recognize God’s spirit in Jesus and will repent and believe. But there’s another implication we see: second, how much higher Jesus is than John the Baptist or any other teacher.

John the Baptist was filled with the spirit from his mother’s womb. He was also granted further revelations by God’s spirit. No Christian teacher today can justly claim those things for himself.

Yet even John confesses that Jesus is so high above John. Jesus was given the spirit without measure. I don’t have that. You don’t have that. Jesus is the only one who has that.

“Jesus was given the Spirit without measure. I don’t have that. You don’t have that. Jesus is the only one who has that.”

Therefore, you cannot settle for devotion to John. You must go all the way to Jesus because he’s above all.

The Father Loves the Son and Gave Him All Things

Actually, this unmeasured gift of the spirit from the Father to the son is unsurprising when we see the kind of relationship that the Father and son have, which is what we see in verse 35. Look at verse 35 now.

“The Father loves the son and has given all things into his hand.”

Talk about a difference between Jesus and his messengers. God loves his creation. God loves the people of Israel. But God has a special, boundless love for his son, for the eternally only begotten son.

In that love, the Father gave all things into his son’s hand. Now what’s included in the “all things” here? I see nothing in the context that should cause us to understand a limitation to that expression. “All things” means all things—everything that the Father has, he has given to the son.

All riches, all glory, all life, all power, all judgment, all authority, all those specially marked out and chosen in Jesus before the foundation of the world—they’ve already been given to the son. God has given all things into the hand, into the possession of the son.

“All riches, all glory, all life, all power, all judgment, all authority — God has given all things into the hand of the Son.”

Now Greg was talking about this earlier. If you’re in Christ, you have also received God’s infinite love and everlasting dominion. Amazingly, what’s true for you is that all things, by God’s grace, belong to you as well.

But how? Not independently, not because you earned it or worked for it, but because you were connected to Jesus Christ. You receive all things through him who has already been given all things. You belong to Jesus, and he belongs to God, and God placed all things in Jesus’ hand.

Certainly, verse 35 marks off Jesus’ supremacy pretty uniquely, wouldn’t you say? And this is John the Baptist’s point, showing his disciples: “You may think that I’m really someone. You never saw a teacher like me. I’m the greatest. And I’m telling you the one that you should pay attention to is the one that the Father loved from eternity and the one to whom the Father has given all things, even the spirit without limit.

I can’t do much for you, honestly. I can’t do much for you. But imagine what the one who possesses all things can do for you.”

And the same can be said by any faithful Christian teacher: “Don’t have what you need. The greatest teacher you can think of doesn’t have what you need. But Jesus does because all things have been given into his hand.”

Jesus is supreme above all earthly teachers. Therefore, you must devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone.

Indeed, the fact that Jesus is so supreme and beloved in the eyes of the Father makes settling merely for a great teacher, even a great Christian teacher, instead of the son such a monumental error—a crime really. For notice the last part of John the Baptist’s testimony, verse 36.

Belief in the Son Brings Eternal Life

“He who believes in the son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Now this last verse sounds similar again to what we’ve already heard from Jesus, John 3:16, John 3:18. This once again shows us that John and Jesus have united testimony. They agree on that shocking, wonderful revelation: that simple belief, genuine belief in God’s son, brings a person eternal life.

That’s the truth declared both by the Messiah and by Messiah’s Forerunner. There was no mistake in that. It wasn’t lost in translation. That’s the truth. That’s good news.

“Simple, genuine belief in God’s Son brings eternal life — declared both by the Messiah and by Messiah’s Forerunner.”

But as we’ve seen, the context for this repetition of that idea in John 3:36 is the complaint of John the Baptist’s disciples about Jesus. What is significant about John declaring this to his disciples?

Well, John the Baptist is showing the most crucial difference between earthly messengers and Jesus: belief in Jesus will save. Belief in earthly messengers will not.

You can be the most devoted partisan of your particular religious teacher, whether it’s Moses or John the Baptist or a Christian teacher today. But if you stop short of the son, if you miss the son, you miss all of eternal life. You will not receive the everlasting life of Christ’s kingdom age.

Now I’ve been using the word “devotion” throughout these sermons instead of the word “belief” that we see at the beginning of verse 36. You might be wondering why. Well, there is a reason, and that reason is in the second half of verse 36.

The Wrath of God Abides on the Disobedient

Says, “He who does not obey the son will not see life, not experience life at all, either now or in eternity, but instead the wrath, the holy and angry judgment of God, abides or remains on that person.”

Do you notice that the word translated “abides” in verse 36 is in the present tense? This is not a future reality for those who refuse to believe. In the end, this is a present reality for those who refuse to believe and obey right now.

Again, Jesus said the same, right? “He who does not believe is judged already. The wrath of God already stands over it, already remains on those who have not come all the way to the son.”

It remains like a ginormous, growing storm cloud. That cloud rumbles the sky. Increasingly, the sky darkens above that person. And sometimes there is rain that comes down, but these are just the beginning of God’s anger.

One day, in God’s sovereign timing, that storm cloud will burst. The torrent will be released, and whoever is standing under it will be infinitely and eternally overwhelmed. All this is for the one who does not obey the beloved son, a chosen one of God.

“One day that storm cloud will burst, and whoever is standing under it will be infinitely and eternally overwhelmed.”

True Belief Produces Real Obedience

Now perhaps someone will say, “I thought salvation was by faith and not by works of obedience, right?” You are. Praise the Lord for that.

However, all true belief in Jesus results in real fruit. It results in a changed life. It results in new and lasting obedience, not staying where you are in your sin but actually turning from it. It’s not perfection, but it is a fundamentally new direction.

After Jesus, you cannot believe in Jesus without becoming devoted to him. And I say, “Yeah, yeah, Jesus, Son of God, Lord, yep, but I’m still going to do my thing, or I’m just going to follow what this teacher says”? Nope.

“All true belief in Jesus results in real fruit — a changed life, new and lasting obedience, a fundamentally new direction.”

You must be devoted to Jesus if you really believe in him, and he cannot be devoted to him if all your devotion has already been given to some mere earthly teacher, one of his messengers.

This is John’s sobering clarification, and it’s also a joyful exhortation, an invitation to his disciples. “My friends, you are zealous for me. The one who should be zealous for is Jesus. He is God’s son, as I testified, and he has the power to give you life if you believe in him. I cannot do that for you.

In fact, if you never go beyond me, you will remain under God’s wrath. Therefore, listen to this word and recognize that Jesus is supreme above all earthly teachers.”

Application: Do Not Stop Short of Christ

Now that same word is important for John the Apostle’s gospel audience. Remember, he’s preaching to Hellenized Jews and God-fearers, Gentile God-fearers. They couldn’t stop with Moses. They couldn’t stop with John the Baptist.

But this truth is also important for us today, brethren. We need to recognize that it is possible—it is possible—to devote ourselves to a great Christian teacher and still miss Jesus Christ. It’s possible to obey, to line yourself up under a great Christian teacher and find yourself disobedient to Jesus.

I preached two weeks ago, and it’s worth re-emphasizing, that many religious people—yes, even the most faithful adherents to certain Christian teachers—they don’t know Jesus Christ. They have deceived themselves because they were not willing to go all the way to Jesus. They didn’t love him. They loved the teacher who was sent from him.

We cannot afford to make that kind of mistake ourselves. God’s spirit desires better for us. And I believe that’s why he’s given that message to us today.

So let us be resolved. Let us be resolved to only believe in and give our ultimate devotion to the one who deserves it: to Jesus Christ. I’ll just be grateful for our earthly teachers and learn from them, but still to test what they say against what is truly authoritative: the word of Jesus.

“Let us give our ultimate devotion to the one who deserves it — to Jesus Christ — and test what teachers say by the word of Jesus.”

Let us be like the noble Bereans who test the word of the Apostles according to Acts 17:11, and they were called noble for this. Let us treat no man as a pope, nor let us attempt to become popes ourselves. I’m not supposed to have any other popes out there, so I’ll be my own pope? No.

But rather, let us study the Bible together as a community of faithful interpreters. It’s possible that you could be blind to something, but if you’re with a group of people who love and study God’s word seriously and are living it out, it will be hard for you to get off course or remain off course.

Let us not become a pope or treat any man as pope, but engage in the community of faithful interpreters who are eager to understand and put into practice the Bible’s original intent, the spirit, the Lord’s original intent.

And finally, as those called to serve one another, let us adopt the same mindset of John the Baptist: never believing or acting as if we are what people need. Yes, come to me for counseling because I’ve got all the answers for you. Come and hear my preaching because I uniquely have the answers for you? No, that is not our mindset.

We are determined to see every person finding where real life and help and joy is, and that is in Jesus Christ. We want to—we are determined—we are not satisfied until we see every person that we have the opportunity to minister to brought all the way to Jesus, to believe in him and be sanctified in him and be satisfied in him.

That’s what Jesus deserves. That’s what we were meant for. And that’s where we, like John the Baptist, will find our ultimate joy. Can you agree to that? Can you say amen to that?

Closing Prayer

Lord, so many things are going through my mind right now. These things that we’ve just heard from your word are true. Jesus, you came to the earth, but you were so different from other people. Yes, you were completely a man like us. You were 100 percent human, and yet your origin was not of this earth. Your essence was not earthly.

You are the eternal God, and you came with the very testimony and words of God. They bring freedom to those who believe, but bring judgment to those who will not believe. How dare we certify God to be a liar by rejecting your word?

Whatever else we may do, however religiously we may act, however much we may go to the synagogue or be in church or listen to teaching, if we don’t become devoted to you, Jesus, our heart is still testifying that God is a liar.

Jesus, you really do deserve all of us. You deserve all the honor. You deserve obedience. God, I pray that no one in this church, no one listening to the message today, would stop short. I know John the Baptist didn’t want that. John the Apostle didn’t want that. And Lord God, I know that you don’t want that.

You desire, even as you said to your own disciples, that your people would come, be where you are, so that they may behold your glory. How silly of us, how short-sighted of us, to settle for the glory of a mere earthly messenger.

“Say, behold this teacher. How wonderful he is,” when even the greatest earthly teacher, earthly messenger, is nothing compared to the supreme one from heaven. Lord, we are grateful for our teachers. We are grateful for those who do generally faithfully preach us the word of God, teach us, minister to us the word.

But they aren’t the savior. They aren’t Christ. And they’re always pointing us to Christ. So God, I pray that we would not be more zealous for a Christian teacher than we are for you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
July 23, 2023
He Must Increase, But I Must Decrease
In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins examining John 3:22-36, the final testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus in the Gospel of John. John the apostle presents the final testimony of John the Baptist so that you will devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and not mere earthly messengers. The presentation of the testimony in John 3:22-36 unfolds in three parts, and Pastor Dave covers the first two parts in John 3:22-30 in this sermon.

Complaint: Jesus Is Superseding John the Baptist!
Clarification 1: Jesus Is the Main Point, Not His Messengers

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

This passage from John 3:22-30 teaches us that Jesus Christ alone is worthy of ultimate devotion, not earthly messengers or leaders. Through the final testimony of John the Baptist, we are reminded that every good thing we receive comes from God’s sovereign hand, and that true discipleship means pointing others to Jesus rather than building our own kingdoms.

Key Lessons:
1. No person on earth—no family member, leader, or teacher—deserves devotion without reservation, because only Jesus can bring ultimate satisfaction, security, and salvation.
2. John the Baptist models the attitude every believer should have: rejoicing when Jesus receives the attention and honor, even at the cost of our own prominence.
3. God-ordained suffering is a means by which Christ is exalted and we are made truly strong and joyful, as illustrated by Paul’s thorn in the flesh.
4. True ministry—whether evangelism, counseling, or teaching—must always aim to bring people to Jesus, not to ourselves, our churches, or moral codes.
Application: We are called to examine where we have placed ultimate devotion on earthly people or our own comfort, and to repent by adopting John the Baptist’s motto: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” This means embracing suffering, sacrificing comfort, and ensuring every act of service points others to Christ alone.

Discussion Questions:
1. In what areas of life have you placed too much devotion on a person, group, or comfort rather than on Jesus Christ?
2. How does the wedding analogy of the bridegroom and best man reshape how you view your role in ministry and evangelism?
3. What would it practically look like this week for you to embrace the motto “He must increase, but I must decrease” in your daily decisions and relationships?
Scripture Focus: John 3:22-30 records John the Baptist’s humble response to his disciples’ complaint, teaching that Jesus is the bridegroom worthy of full devotion. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 is also referenced, showing how God uses suffering to exalt Christ through our weakness.

Outline
Introduction

Great God, you are the holy God. There is no God like you, and there is no one like Jesus Christ. God, as we move into this next passage, I pray that we would appreciate just how special, how on another plane Jesus is compared to every other person. And that we would not give to another person what belongs to Jesus. That we would not be zealous, overly zealous, for a person with a zeal that only belongs to him.

And God, I also pray that the attitude that we will see exemplified today by your servant John the Baptist would become our own. That we would be able to say with sincerity the same thing that he does. And God, that our lives be all about you. How many people explain this now? And I pray that you would speak to us through me, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Question of Devotion

Well, as I often like to do, let me start off the message today with a question. To whom are you fundamentally devoted in your life? Which person or persons inspire your loyalty? For whom will you zealously stand up to defend and support?

Probably one natural answer is your family. You are devoted to your spouse or your parents or your siblings or your kids. You love them. You want to see them succeed. You want to see them honored. You will defend them against those who work to their harm or dishonor. That makes sense.

But are there others to whom you are also devoted? Maybe you are devoted to a particular sports team or a music artist or YouTube personality. Maybe you’re devoted to a particular politician, political party, or celebrity. Maybe you’re devoted to your own ethnic group or your fellow hobbyists in a particular hobby, or your country.

“To whom are you fundamentally devoted in your life? Which person inspires your loyalty?”

It’s possible that you may even be devoted to certain Christians. Maybe you’re devoted—hopefully you’re devoted—to the brothers and sisters of this church and also your shepherds here. Maybe you were devoted to the person who led you to Christ. We have a special love and loyalty to that person.

It may also be that you are devoted to other Christian teachers or writers or ministry organizations that you’ve come to know and trust and appreciate. There’s nothing wrong with a certain measure of devotion, of loyalty, even of zeal, for any of these. But there must be a limit, right? There is a line you must not cross when it comes to devotion for any person or group on earth.

Signs of Too Much Devotion

It is easy to cross that line, and we often do. One sign of too much devotion is when you are no longer content if your favored person or group does not succeed in the way you want. My team lost the championship game. I’m gonna be depressed for a month. My child didn’t get into a top college. Life is over. My dreams are shattered. My candidate didn’t win the election. I’m moving to another country. No hope here.

Another sign of too much devotion is when you jealously resent or bitterly criticize those who do succeed when your favorite person or group does not. My husband’s co-worker didn’t deserve that promotion. She must have cheated to get it. That new pastor is popular, sure, but I think he’s just trying to show off in his sermons. Everybody loves the new artist. That’s only because they don’t know what real music is.

“One sign of too much devotion is when you jealously resent those who succeed when your favorite does not.”

Still another sign of too much devotion is when you automatically assume your favorite person or group can do no wrong, and so you are not willing to consider any criticism or accusation against them. My child got in trouble at school. I’m sure it was the teacher’s fault. Someone’s accusing America of doing something wrong? Just a patriotic—unpatriotic trader. A pastor disagrees with what my favorite pastor said? Surely that other pastor is compromised.

Only Jesus Deserves Full Devotion

Now, again, devotion’s not bad. Loyalty is not bad. Zeal for those you love is not bad. But no one on earth—not even your church elders here—deserves devotion without reservation. And why not? Because every person or group on earth is made up of sinners or imperfect, and who will fail. And because no matter how devoted you are to a person or persons, they will never bring you ultimate satisfaction or security or salvation.

“No one on earth deserves devotion without reservation, because every person is imperfect and will fail.”

And because Jesus Christ, the one sent from heaven, is the only one truly worthy of full devotion. Our next passage in the Gospel of John will show us that the persons we Christians might otherwise most want to praise, support, and obey should be the very ones insisting that they not receive ultimate honor or ultimate loyalty.

Rather, the attitude of the best among us should be the same as we see from John the Baptist: always putting the focus on Jesus and testifying sincerely, “He must increase, that I must decrease.”

And that’s the title of the sermon today. If you would please take your Bibles and turn to John 3:22.

We’re going to read from John 3:22 all the way down to verse 36. This is page 1061 in your pew Bible. Let’s read our passage.

“After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea. And there he was spending time with them and baptizing. John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And people were coming and were being baptized. For John had not yet been thrown into prison. Therefore, there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification. And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing, and all are coming to him.’

“John answered, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses. I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.

“He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies. And no one receives his testimony. He who has received his testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. For he gives the Spirit without measure.

“The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life. But he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

The Purpose of John the Baptist’s Final Testimony

This passage represents an important point of transition in the Gospel of John. Remember the purpose of this gospel, why it was written? John the Apostle writes this to persuade Hellenistic Jews—that is, Greek-speaking, Greek-cultured Jews—and Gentile God-fearers that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, so that they will believe in him and receive eternal life.

Remember the way that the Apostle John is going about this purpose in his book? John records certain signs—that is, certain miraculous works that Jesus did—along with certain words that explain Jesus’ works and explain Jesus as the son and the ultimate revelation of God.

Most of these explaining words that the Apostle includes come from Jesus himself. But John also sees fit to include the words, the witness of another man. And that’s John the Baptist.

John the Baptist, remember, is the greatest of Old Testament prophets. Jesus said before him, or up to that point in history, no one was greater than John. He was even recognized by Israel generally, throughout Israel, as a prophet, as a true man of God.

He was presented to us at the beginning of John’s gospel as a kind of star witness about Jesus. This great man keeps pointing to Jesus. Surely we must heed his testimony. We saw that in John 1:19-34.

“This great man keeps pointing to Jesus. Surely we must heed his testimony.”

John the Baptist testifies about Jesus. He fulfilled his primary calling of pointing out the messiah’s arrival and directing all the people to follow Jesus, and not the baptizer.

But before John the Baptist leaves the scene, our author wants us to hear from him one more time. This is the last that we will hear from John the Baptist in this book. The rest of the book focuses on Jesus.

Three Critical Purposes of This Testimony

This final testimony from John the Baptist is important, and it accomplishes three critical purposes. First, it shows us that John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus did not change after Jesus began his ministry. It’s not like John affirmed Jesus as the Christ in the beginning, but then Jesus went rogue, went in some direction that John the Baptist never forsook, never foresaw, and poor John never had a chance to take back his testimony. No, that’s not the case.

As we’ll see, after Jesus’s miracle and preaching ministry began, John continued to affirm Jesus and even corroborated Jesus’ most shocking statements, like the ones we saw in John 3:1-21. You’re going to see there’s a lot of parallelism between the beginning of chapter three and what we’re now seeing at the end of chapter three.

Second, this testimony—this final testimony—shows us once again that people stopping short of full faith in Jesus by settling for belief, belief in or adherence to a religious teacher like John the Baptist, that is completely unacceptable. Jesus knew revelation is so much greater than anything that came before. He himself is so much greater than anyone who came before.

That coming short of Jesus, not only is missing out on the glory of God, but it is a soul-damning move.

“Coming short of Jesus is not only missing out on the glory of God, but it is a soul-damning move.”

And then third, this testimony provides us another picture of what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus, even a true herald and minister on Jesus’ behalf today, which is what we all are as Christians to some degree or another. John the Baptist is going to show us what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

We must not be worried about our own success, our own comfort, our own honor. Rather, we must follow John’s example of insisting on Jesus being lifted up, even at our own expense. This is the only way to true joy, and really it’s the reason for which we were made.

Main Idea and Sermon Structure

Now, we can roll up these three purposes into one main idea statement for this passage. In John 3:22-36, John the Apostle presents the final testimony of John the Baptist so that you will devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and not mere earthly messengers.

I say that again. John the Apostle presents this final testimony of John the Baptist so that you will devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and not mere earthly messengers, not yourself, not someone else.

“Devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and not mere earthly messengers.”

Now, our narrative divides into three main parts. The first part shows the origin of a complaint about Jesus given to John the Baptist. The second and third parts represent John the Baptist’s clarifying answers to that complaint.

We’re just going to look at the first two parts in the narrative today. We’ll come back and look at the third next week. So we’re just going down to verse 30 today.

The Complaint: Jesus Is Superseding John

The first part of the narrative comprises verses 22 to 26, and it sets the backdrop for John the Baptist’s final word about Jesus. The heading to summarize this first part is the following: “Complaints: Jesus is now superseding John the Baptist.” That’s the complaint that Jesus is now superseding John the Baptist. Let’s see how this unfolds, starting in verse 22.

“After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea. And there he was spending time with them and baptizing.”

Notice the beginning phrase, “after these things.” This is a reference to what just came before, what we’ve been studying in John 2 all the way to John 3. And that was, if you remember, Jesus going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. And while there, dramatically cleansing the temple, confronting the corrupted worship.

He also did many sign miracles in the city. People were believing in him. And then Jesus had a profound conversation with that old rabbi, Nicodemus. All this is what just took place.

“After those things, Jesus went into the countryside of Judea, spending time with his disciples and baptizing.”

Verse 22 is saying, “After those things, sometime after that, we get the following events taking place.”

Jesus and John Both Baptizing

Now, notice also in verse 22 the phrase “the land of Judea.” This is best understood as referring to the countryside or the rural parts of Judea. Because after all, Jesus has already been in Judea. He’s in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is part of Judea. But now he leaves the city and he goes to Judea. That is, he goes into the country. He probably goes east towards the Jordan River. Why that direction? Well, because the end of the verse tells us that Jesus begins baptizing in the area.

And now that’s interesting. John’s gospel is the only one that mentions that Jesus baptized followers. John 4:2 is quickly going to clarify that it wasn’t Jesus himself baptizing. He was overseeing while his disciples baptized. But we never heard about a baptism ministry of Jesus in the other gospels. John tells us about it here.

John’s gospel is additionally the only one that mentions a prolonged time of ministry in the area of Judea at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. If you compare this to the other gospels, you’ll see that they only really pick up the narrative of Jesus’ ministry after Jesus transitions back up north into Galilee.

In this gospel, then, our author uniquely reveals that for a time Jesus had a ministry just like John the Baptist’s, calling on people to repent due to the approaching kingdom of God. And then, upon repentance, being baptized as a symbol of the purification of heart that God has accomplished. This baptism of repentance—this isn’t Christian baptism, by the way. This is kind of like a step towards that, something that John was doing, and that Jesus ends up doing too.

“For a time Jesus had a ministry just like John the Baptist’s, calling on people to repent due to the approaching kingdom.”

Verse 22 tells us all this, but the plot thickens in verse 23. Look there now.

“John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there is much water there. And people were coming and were being baptized.”

We learn here that John the Baptist is also continuing to preach and baptize. Now, we’re told more specifically where John is operating. It’s in Aenon near Salim. But unfortunately, we don’t really know where those places are today. We don’t know for sure. Most likely, they were somewhere near the cities of ancient Shechem and Beth Shean, which are a little bit north of Jerusalem in the region of Samaria. It still would have been considered the Roman province of Judea. And these two sites do indeed have much water near them, a number of natural springs near them.

And you’re going to need much water if you’re John the Baptist, because he’s baptizing lots of people, according to the end of verse 23. People apparently are still coming to John the Baptist to be baptized. They’re continually coming. They’re continually being baptized, even after Jesus has been revealed.

So where is John in relationship to Jesus? John is baptizing. Jesus is baptizing. Where are they in relation to one another? Hard to say. It depends on where exactly Jesus sets up. The two could be close to one another. They’re both in the province of Judea. But maybe John is a little bit north of Judea, or a little bit north of Jesus. What is clear is that they’re not in the exact same area. It’s not like they’re side by side. There’s some distance between them.

Now, we get one more statement of background in verse 24, which is an explainer of verse 23.

John’s Imprisonment Foreshadowed

Verse 24: “For John had not yet been thrown into prison.”

On the surface, this verse provides a simple clarification of the timing of the conversation we’re about to read. This takes place between John’s revelation of Jesus as the Lamb of God, the chosen one of God, to Israel, and John’s later imprisonment.

Again, this period is not mentioned in the other gospels. John uniquely presents it. So he clarifies the timing for his readers.

“This takes place between John’s revelation of Jesus as the Lamb of God and John’s later imprisonment.”

But there’s something else here. Verse 24 is the only statement in this gospel that alludes to John the Baptist’s ultimate fate, where he’s imprisoned and then executed by Herod Antipas. The other three gospels report how and why these events unfold. But not this gospel.

Why John’s Death Is Barely Mentioned

One question we might ask is, why? Why don’t we get a longer explanation of John’s end? Surely one answer is that our author expects his audience is already familiar with what happened to John the Baptist, either because they read about it in the other three gospels already, which have been circulating, or because John the Baptist was so famous a person among the Jews that even those who didn’t read the other gospels already knew his life story. So truly, that is part of the answer.

But I think another part of the answer is that our author is showing us, in narrative form, what John the Baptist is about to declare himself. And that is that John the Baptist shouldn’t be people’s focus. Jesus should be the focus. The baptizer will be pleased to have people’s attention only so far as it connects people to Jesus. Beyond that, John doesn’t need attention. John doesn’t want attention.

Even his unjust death at the hands of a lustful, people-pleasing ruler named Herod is actually not that important to mention. John the Baptist would rather fade into obscurity, quietly exiting stage left. All eyes are on Jesus. I think our gospel author wants to emphasize the same truth. And so that’s why we only get this terse explanation about John’s fate in verse 24.

“John the Baptist would rather fade into obscurity, quietly exiting stage left. All eyes on Jesus.”

Well, with these opening verses, we’ve now learned what John and Jesus are doing. And that’s important for understanding the disputes and the complaints which are about to emerge in the next two verses. Now, look at verse 25.

The Dispute About Purification

Now therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification.

Notice the word “discussion” in verse 25. This Greek word can indicate a simple discussion, but more often was used to describe a controversial discussion, even a dispute or a debate. Such would seem to be the sense here. We’ve got a dispute brewing between John’s disciples and a certain Jew about purification.

Now, who’s this Jew? We don’t know. He’s clearly not a disciple of John. It could be a new Jewish believer in Jesus. But our author usually reserves the term “Jew” for those who oppose Jesus.

So more likely, this Jew is someone who follows neither Jesus nor John, but is prepared to debate with John, or at least with John’s disciples. So this is probably a scribe or a Pharisee.

We’re told the subject of the debate is purification or cleansing—the same word was used back in John 2:6 when describing the purpose of the water pots at the wedding of Cana. They were for purification, that ceremonial custom of Jews purifying themselves before meals. Same word here: purification.

But what exactly is it that this Jew wants to debate about purification with John’s disciples? Again, we don’t know.

Certainly, the Jews in general were concerned about ceremonial purification. And certainly, John and Jesus are concerned about purification of hearts, symbolized in the unique rite that they instituted or practiced, this baptism of repentance.

The only other clues to the nature of this debate are what comes before and after: an observation about apparent competition between the baptism of Jesus and the baptism of John.

“John and Jesus are concerned about purification of hearts, symbolized in the baptism of repentance.”

So perhaps this Jew was questioning the need for John’s baptism ministry in light of what Jews were already doing and in light of what Jesus was beginning to do. I mean, what’s your master doing? There’s no need for him here. He’s obsolete. Maybe.

Regardless of the exact nature of the debate, the outcome is the important part, which is what we see in verse 26.

The Disciples’ Complaint to John

“And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who is with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing, and all are coming to him.’”

Oh, we’ve got a complaint about Jesus’ new baptizing ministry from John’s disciples. And notice how they framed the complaint to their master John. “Rabbi,” they say, which is the title of respect for a religious teacher. Nicodemus called Jesus a rabbi back at the beginning of the chapter. The disciples then identify Jesus, but not by name, but simply according to the events that took place in John 1.

“He who is with you beyond the Jordan”—even the one you baptized—”that same one whom you have testified about him being the chosen Lamb of God. Behold, look mentally, come and see for yourself this surprising, this even shocking development. This one is baptizing. And not only that, but all are coming to him.”

Now, that last phrase is intriguing, because verse 23 has already told us that people were coming to John to be baptized. They were continually coming to John. So clearly, not everyone was going to Jesus. But certainly, you can hear the alarm in John’s disciples’ complaint. And perhaps even hear some indignation.

How is it right? How is it fair that the very one to whom you have testified, or for whom you have testified for such a long time, is now stepping on your turf? Baptism was your thing. And now he’s trying to take it over. And worse, the people are going along with it. More and more people are coming to Jesus instead of you, Master Rabbi. Something is wrong with this picture.

“Baptism was your thing, and now he’s trying to take it over—and worse, the people are going along with it.”

We can also see that John’s disciples were indeed devoted to him. They really loved him. They respected him. They were grieved, worried, even angry that Jesus should eclipse the ministry of their great teacher. They were zealous on his behalf.

Something was wrong indeed. But it wasn’t the situation that was wrong. It was how John’s disciples were viewing it.

Clarification: Jesus Is the Main Point

John the Baptist needs to clarify. He needs to set the record straight for his overzealous disciples, which is what he begins to do next. John’s reply to his disciples provides two main clarifications to them—clarifications that are important for us too—so that we also will devote ourselves only to Jesus and not mere earthly messengers.

The first clarification we begin to see in verses 27 to 30.

Glorification one: Jesus is the main point, not his messengers. Jesus is the main point, not his messengers. Look at verse 27.

“John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.’”

Here’s where John begins in his reply to his disciples by pointing out that everything that they see is proceeding exactly as God ordained it. Neither John nor his disciples should have any reason to complain. Verse 27 is an axiom, a general statement of truth. It applies to all situations.

No one succeeds. No one becomes popular unless God grants such. God gives such as an undeserved gift. God has his reasons for what he does. But our role is simply to embrace God’s plan humbly and thankfully.

“No one succeeds, no one becomes popular unless God grants such. Our role is to embrace God’s plan humbly.”

John mentions this axiom because he’s implicitly applying it to himself. Based on the complaint his disciples have just brought him, my friends, I didn’t earn my role as a forerunner, nor have I deserved my disciples, my popularity, or my success. These were gifts ordained by God. But what was given me was ultimately designed by God to be given to someone else: Jesus.

Jesus is succeeding in his new baptism and preaching ministry because God ordained it. So will you argue with the good sovereignty of God? Does he not know how to give out his gifts rightly?

I Am Not the Christ

John continues in verse 28 by reminding his disciples of some other words that they had already heard from John before.

Verse 28: “You yourselves are my witnesses. Then I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of him.’”

We should remember these words too, because we saw them in John 1:19-28. John was just as emphatic then as he is here that he is not the promised Messiah, nor anyone truly deserving esteem.

“You yourselves are my witnesses,” John says. That’s an emphatic statement. You of all people should know and remember that I categorically denied being the Christ. I myself am not the Christ. I don’t have any pretensions toward that role.

So why are you being zealous for me as if I were the Christ? Why are you so committed to my honor? I told you what I said: that I merely have been sent ahead of him as a forerunner. I came first, not because I’m greater or more important, but because I had a role to fulfill on his behalf.

So why are you treating me the way that he should be treated? It’s always been about him.

“Why are you being zealous for me as if I were the Christ? It’s always been about him.”

The Wedding Analogy

And verse 29, John gives a certain analogy to help his disciples better understand the relationship between John and Jesus. In particular, this analogy will help them understand how John himself feels about this relationship. Look at verse 29.

“He who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.”

What’s the analogy that John provides? It’s a wedding. Back in those days, it was customary in Judean weddings—Galilee weddings are apparently a little different—it was customary in Judean weddings that the friend of the groom, the equivalent of our best man today, would be in charge of arranging and overseeing the wedding festivities.

The groom was ultimately responsible for the wedding, for preparing his home for the bride and preparing the wedding feast. But the groom relied on his best man to function something like a wedding coordinator to make sure that the events of the wedding were prepared and went smoothly. In fact, it was the best man who was specifically responsible for making sure that the bride was prepared for the groom when the groom came to retrieve her and bring her to his home to be his new wife.

In this wedding analogy, Jesus is the bridegroom. John is just the best man. John says, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” The bride is not meant for the best man, but for the bridegroom, for the husband to be.

By analogy, the people of Israel aren’t ultimately meant for me. They’re meant for Jesus. What business would I have trying to keep them for myself? I’m simply preparing them for him.

“The people of Israel aren’t ultimately meant for me. They’re meant for Jesus. I’m simply preparing them for him.”

The Joy of the Best Man

And John’s not sad at all about this. He’s not resigned. For he goes on to say, “The friend of the bridegroom, the one who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.” What makes a best man happy at a wedding? Not stealing the bride. Rather, being there to serve and honor his friend in whatever way he can.

Actually, the happiest moment for a Judean best man back in those days would have been seeing the couple finally come together. And then hearing the bridegroom speak and preside over the wedding feast that has been perfectly prepared.

Why would that make him so happy? Because that means that best man did his job successfully. Now the bride and groom can rejoice in one another as they were always meant to do. Now the bridegroom can have the spotlight on him as the honored host of this wedding feast.

If the best man truly is the best man, the true friend of the bridegroom who loves his friend, then the happiest he can be is to see his friend receive and enjoy the bride. And John says, “That’s me. I’m happy at seeing the bride, the people who have been coming to me, the people I’ve been preparing for God, going to Jesus, going to the bridegroom, for whom they were meant.”

This is why John says at the end of verse 29, “So this joy of mine has been made full.” And what a contrast, right? John’s disciples are steamed about Jesus stealing away John’s ministry. But John is feeling just the opposite.

What you see happening, what you hear happening, that’s making me happy. I hear the bridegroom’s voice. The wedding celebration is beginning. My joy is full now because I see that my mission is accomplished and God’s people are going where they belong: to the Messiah, to the son of God, to God himself.

“My joy is full because I see that my mission is accomplished and God’s people are going where they belong.”

It’s interesting if we just compare how this analogy, this metaphor of a wedding being used with God and his people, is used throughout the Bible. The Old Testament several times describes Israel as the bride of God. You see this in the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea.

But unfortunately, most of the time that metaphor is used, it is used to emphasize how adulterous Israel has been toward her heavenly husband and how Israel therefore will be judged for it.

So when you heard that metaphor in the past, or when you saw that analogy being employed, it was a grievous thing. It was a sorrowful thing to think about Israel as the unfaithful bride of God.

But John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets, he gets to witness the opposite. He gets to see the bride coming to God in true repentance and faith. What a joyous sight for him and for all those who truly love God.

He Must Increase, I Must Decrease

Yet such was not going to happen without John suffering some loss. The very goal he longed for, the very thing that would make his joy complete, is going to end up diminishing his own importance, really making him obsolete. But John does not avoid this reality. He embraces it.

Notice how John ends his first answer of clarification to his disciples in verse 30.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

It’s a pretty famous statement, right? It sums up John’s attitude and really, what should be the attitude of every true Christian in regard to Jesus and the self.

To translate the original Greek more literally, this will sound more clunky in English. The verse would read, “It is necessary to make that one greater, but it is necessary to make me less.”

Why is it necessary? Why must Jesus increase or be made greater? And why must John and you and me decrease and be made less? Because Jesus is the bridegroom and we aren’t. Because Jesus is the Christ and we are not.

Jesus is the main point. We are just messengers. All life, goodness, and joy are wrapped up in him, not us.

If we’ve come to see that our goal must not be to present ourselves to people as if we could give them those things, but to bring people to Jesus so they can find it all in him, this is God’s design. It is a glorious design, and it has been set from eternity past.

It must happen, and it will happen. The only question for us is: Are we on board with God’s program?

Are we like John the Baptist, as this exemplary true disciple of Jesus? Are we about magnifying the glory of Jesus? Or are we about magnifying the glory of our favorite people, even our family members, our societal leaders, our favorite Christian teachers?

To say that another way, are we more interested in Jesus’ honor and success than the honor and success of earthly persons, including ourselves?

Another question worth asking, especially in light of the analogy that John the Baptist employs: Have we become like traitorous friends of the bridegroom, intent on stealing the bride for ourselves, for our own twisted pleasure, for our own pride, for our own glory?

Or are we faithful friends of the bridegroom, determined and zealous to deliver the bride in purity, rightfully to Jesus, and then happily fade into the background?

Application: Humility and Self-Forgetfulness

I think there are a lot of good applications we can make from this passage, and especially verse 30.

Certainly, you see that the attitude of humility, of self-forgetfulness, should be ours as believers. John exemplifies it. But it was first and even greater in Jesus himself. We see this in Philippians 2 and other places. Being incarnated and coming to save sinners, Jesus was not thinking of himself. He was thinking of the Father and of us. See the same kind of humility in John the Baptist, and it ought to be in us as well.

“In coming to save sinners, Jesus was not thinking of himself. He was thinking of the Father and of us.”

We indeed, like Jesus, should consider others more important than ourselves. We should not be worried about our own rights, our own honor, our own plans and designs. We should be concerned about the Lord’s honor, the Lord’s plans, the Lord’s purposes.

I think another way that this can be specifically applied is to think about our evangelism, or really any type of service that we’ve been called to before Jesus. What’s one of the main reasons that we don’t end up doing it? We don’t end up speaking to others about the Lord. We don’t end up serving in the church. We don’t end up sacrificing ourselves for him.

It’s going to cost us. And we’d rather not endure that cost. We might lose friendships. We might lose a job. We might lose comfort. But what we’re really saying is, “I must increase. I’ve got a kingdom. I’ve got plans that need to be seen through. Jesus is kind of getting in the way of it. So I’m gonna let him decrease.”

That’s the opposite of the attitude of a true disciple. And if we find ourselves thinking that way, it’s time for us to repent. We’re not here for our own comfort. We’re not here for our own kingdom. We’re here for his.

Actually, we’re believing a lie when we think, “If I can just get my own desires fulfilled, if I can stay comfortable, if I can keep people happy with me, then I’ll be happy.” No. Whatever happiness you feel is going to be shallow and fleeting.

True joy comes from being a faithful best man, bringing the bridegroom to Jesus. You’ve been sacrificing yourself for him. I’ll give you two more specific applications in the way we do our ministry.

Application: Ministry Must Point to Jesus

Certainly, we should choose to minister because of these things that we’ve seen. But in the way that we minister, we must remember first and foremost that the goal, the main point, is Jesus.

When you’re trying to win people in evangelism, you’re not winning them to yourselves, to your church, to a moral code. When you’re counseling somebody and trying to use the Bible to counsel them, you’re not trying to win them to you as a counselor or to a set of wise principles from the Bible.

When you’re teaching in church, you’re not trying to win people as your own disciples. You’re trying to win people to Jesus. Get them to see Jesus. Get them to go to Jesus. Get them to rely on Jesus, not you.

Virtually in him, they will find the strength, the life, and joy that they need. It’s only when we lead people in this way as his ministers that we will find joy.

You haven’t really done your job until that person comes to Jesus. Be like John the Baptist who insists, “Don’t stop with me. Go all the way to Jesus. I’m just here to point you on the way, and then you can forget about me.”

“You haven’t really done your job until that person comes to Jesus. Be like John the Baptist: go all the way to Jesus.”

Application: Embracing God-Ordained Suffering

Foreign. And now I’ll give you one other application. John the Baptist saw as a law of ministry: it’s only when he himself was diminished or made low that Christ would be made great and lifted high.

So something else we need to realize is that if we truly see Jesus as the main point, we must embrace the goodness of God-ordained suffering in our lives.

This is something that Greg was talking to us about last week. Pain itself is not good. That’s just a sign of the brokenness of this world that needs redemption.

But what painful circumstances produce is good. It’s being sovereignly arranged by God. It’s going to do a number of good things. But one of the most important is it’s going to exalt Christ and diminish the self.

“If we truly see Jesus as the main point, we must embrace the goodness of God-ordained suffering in our lives.”

Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh

I think one great example of this, and another part of the scriptures, is one I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. That’s 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

You don’t have to turn there. You can just listen as I read it. This is that passage where Paul talks about the thorn in the flesh. We don’t know what the thorn in the flesh was. Paul never describes it in detail, but it was some kind of great pain in his life.

Listen to the way Paul says this pain came about and what it produced. This is something Paul talks about right after revealing, in a kind of funny way, that he was granted visions of heaven, visions of paradise. And then he says this right after.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10: “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself. Concerning this, I implored the Lord three times, that it might leave me. And he has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’

Most gladly therefore I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Do you hear? God’s apostle Paul was given this thorn in the flesh, some persistent, painful, tormenting circumstance, not because Paul had done anything wrong, but just to keep him from exalting himself. He had been given so many blessings as a minister of God. It was a great possibility that he might try to exalt himself.

So God says, “I’m going to protect you from that.” This was a specific provision from God to make Paul less. When Paul pleaded three times for God to remove the thorn, God told Paul he would not. Rather, he assured Paul that God’s grace would be sufficient for him, and that Paul would display the power of Christ in Paul’s weakness.

Now that’s a sobering and wonderful truth. The very goal that we as Christians want most, if we actually have come to know him, is to make much of Christ before the world. We have to understand that it will come about very often by God plunging us into suffering.

You want to make Christ known? You want his name to be lifted high? God says, “Here’s the perfect way to do it: suffer righteously for my sake.” As John the Baptist says, “He must increase. He’s worthy of this. This is what God has always planned. But you must decrease.”

We must confess that we are too much filled with our own desires, our own worldly goals, our own short-sighted plans, our own self-reliance to really show people the glory of Christ like we are. So God, in his mysterious and kind faithfulness, is determined to afflict us that in our weakness we may be made strong and in our sorrow we may be made joyful in Christ.

“You want to make Christ known? God says, ‘Here’s the perfect way: suffer righteously for my sake.’”

Suffering Produces Joy in Christ

The world won’t know what to do with that. Just as Greg urged us last week, and as Peter urged us from the passage in which Greg was preaching, let us by faith count it all joy when we see and experience multi-colored trials, when we run into personal loss, because that is how the bride is going to reach the bridegroom.

That is how we’re going to bring God’s chosen from among the world into his kingdom. And that is also how our joy will be made full.

That’s the temptation, right? When we experience suffering, we say, “God, he doesn’t want me to be happy. He doesn’t want me to enjoy what is good. He’s just bringing suffering, suffering, suffering.” But the Bible reveals that the truth is different.

God is more committed to your joy than you are. But he doesn’t want you to settle for something shallow or sinful. He says, “I want your joy to be made full. I want it to be the very joy of Christ.”

“God is more committed to your joy than you are. He doesn’t want you to settle for something shallow or sinful.”

And we can embrace that by faith. We can take as our motto, “He must increase, that I must decrease. God, however you want this to play out in my life and the way that I serve and in my suffering, I want this to be true because you’re worthy of it.”

I know my role is that your motto is that our motto as a church because the Lord is showing us today it ought to be. And by faith it can be.

Well, we’ve seen today John’s first reply of clarification to his disciples’ complaint about Jesus superseding John. And that clarification is: Jesus is the main point, not his messengers.

But what’s John’s second reply of clarification? We’ll look at that next time.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray. God, it is so easy for us to lose sight of the truth, especially when you bless us with various comforts in this world. You have given us so many good things. You’ve given us families. You’ve given us food to enjoy. You’ve given us enjoyable weather. You’ve given us places to live. You’ve given us relative safety in the country and communities in which we live. You’ve given us beds to sleep in at night. You’ve given us friends. You’ve given us this church. You’ve given us opportunities to work and to serve you.

But God, like Israel, sometimes when we receive the blessings, we begin to cling to those instead of you. We want to retain the popularity that you’ve seen fit to grant us. We want to retain for ourselves the disciples that you’ve brought into our lives. We want to claim the treasures of the world and not give them up for you. But in doing so, Lord, we not only dishonor you and betray our claim to be your disciples, but we work against our own joy.

For life does not consist in these things. Life consists, as we will see later in your gospel, the Gospel of John. Life is knowing God and knowing Jesus Christ. So God, coming now again this morning to see this truth afresh, we ask, in line with the holy example of John the Baptist, that you would increase and we would decrease. Lord, sanctify our hearts so that we do not make life about ourselves, that we do not devote ourselves to any person other than the person of Jesus. He alone is worthy. And that is your design.

Will you protect us from the evil one, from the allure of sin and treasures of the world? May we make use of the passing things of the world that are not evil. May we make use of them as those who do not make use of them, who hold them as those who do not hold them. That is, we hold them lightly, ready to give them up, ready to use them to see Jesus lifted high.

Lord, forgive us for where we have not done this, where we have made it about ourselves. But we are confident of your forgiveness. We are confident that we are always saved and safe in Jesus Christ. But we want to live in the way that he’s called us. We are aware that those who say they believe in Jesus but do not obey the son, they will not see life. The wrath of God abides on them. We are confident, Lord, that we are not such because of the work you’ve done in our hearts.

So God, I pray for myself, for my brothers and sisters here, that a true humility of mind would be in all of us, seeing others more important than ourselves and saying Jesus as the main point. Let there be something that we see and do with joy because that’s the way you always meant it.

In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
July 16, 2023
For God So Loved the World
In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia finishes examining John 3:1-21, which is Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus as recorded by the apostle John. In this passage, John reveals four astonishing truths that should cause you to give up your own ideas about salvation and instead believe in Jesus. In verses 16-2, John reveals the final two of these astonishing truths.

1. Only the Spirit-Begotten Enter God’s Kingdom (vv. 1-8)
2. The Heavenly One Authoritatively Reveals God’s Salvation (vv. 9-15)
3. God Lovingly Gave His Son to Save Sinners (vv. 16-17)
4. Only Lovers of Evil Reject God’s Special Savior (vv. 18-21)

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

John 3:16, the most famous verse in all the Bible, gains its full power only when understood in its original context—a stunning conversation between Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus. We are reminded that God’s salvation is not earned through religious performance but received through belief in God’s only begotten Son. Just as a masterpiece of art is best appreciated in its original setting, John 3:16 was originally spoken to shatter proud, self-made religious ideas and to reveal the astonishing, undeserved love of God for a rebellious world.

Key Lessons:
1. God’s love for the world is astonishing precisely because the world is hostile to Him—He loved not a worthy people but a corrupted, rebellious human race.
2. The Father gave His most precious possession—His only begotten Son—not to judge the world but to save sinners through faith alone, not works.
3. Those who refuse to believe in Jesus are not merely making an intellectual mistake; they are exposing a deep love for evil and darkness over the light of Christ.
4. True believers confess that everything in their salvation—including their faith itself—has been the work of God, not their own achievement.
Application: We are called to abandon every proud, self-reliant notion of earning salvation and instead go all in on trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord. If anything is holding us back—cherished religious ideas, worldly goals, or stubborn pride—we must repent and turn to Christ while there is still time.

Discussion Questions:
1. How does understanding the original context of John 3:16 (Jesus confronting Nicodemus’s religious assumptions) change the way you read and apply this verse?
2. Jesus says the only reason people reject Him is because they love darkness rather than light. How should this truth shape the way we understand and pray for unbelievers, including those who seem moral and religious?
3. In what areas of your life might you still be relying on your own religious performance rather than resting fully in what God has done through His Son?
Scripture Focus: John 3:1-21 — Jesus reveals to Nicodemus that salvation is by God’s sovereign grace through belief in His only begotten Son, not by human works or religious pedigree. Genesis 22 is referenced to illustrate the magnitude of God giving His beloved Son.

Outline
Introduction

Let’s pray. Lord Jesus, we ask you to open your word to us today. Speak to us. We want to see more of you. We need to see more of you.

We need to have our thinking corrected from what we naturally think to what is reality. You, as the Heavenly one, have clarified that authoritatively for us. We have the testimony of it in your word.

Thank you for this Divine word. Help me to be able to speak it. But Lord, help us to listen to it and to be transformed as we ought, because we believe it. Jesus’ name, amen.

Well, to start off this morning, I thought I would talk to you about babies. I’m just kidding. I’ll give you a break from baby analogies this week.

The Original Context of a Masterpiece

I’ll talk to you about something else. Let me talk to you about visual art. There are certain works of art that have become famous throughout the world due to their great beauty, creativity, or message.

You can think of Michelangelo’s David, Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, Pablo Picasso’s Guernica. Today, such masterpieces usually have a special space prepared for them in a museum for display, or they’re featured prominently in books of art. Certainly, they are available to view on the internet.

But as much as we might enjoy a famous work of art by looking at it today, we appreciate a piece much more deeply if we consider its original purpose and setting. Most artists in history have not created their works with museums, books, and the internet in mind. Instead, they created their pieces with a specific local need in mind, or a specific local message to communicate.

“We appreciate a piece much more deeply if we consider its original purpose and setting.”

Take, for instance, one of the most famous paintings: Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. Despite its somewhat unrealistic portrayal of everyone sitting on one side of a table for dinner, this Renaissance painting is universally praised for its masterful use of space and perspective, as well as its realistic portrayal of movement and human emotion.

This painting depicts the very moment after Jesus announces to his disciples at the Passover meal before his death: “One of you will betray me.” You can see the various disciples in the painting responding to this shocking revelation.

This painting truly is a work of great skill and imagination. But why did Leonardo paint it? Was he just following an artistic whim?

Leonardo created this work around 1495 to 1498 at the request of his patron, Ludovico, the Duke of Milan. Duke Sforza was looking to renovate a certain Milanese church and its attached convent buildings.

He ended up asking Leonardo to paint a large depiction of the Last Supper to adorn one wall of the church convent’s refectory, or dining hall. Apparently, this choice was somewhat trendy for the time. Many monasteries featured depictions of the Last Supper somewhere in the dining hall.

Leonardo complied with the request of his patron. After a few years, he completed his version of The Last Supper, which still sits today in the refectory of the Santa Maria de la Grazia Church in Milan.

Standing in the church today is another painting: the original painting that Duke Sforza commissioned for the refectory’s opposite wall. It was done by another artist and depicts Jesus’ crucifixion.

So you had one painting on one wall and one painting on the other wall. Imagine the original effect of taking your daily meals at the monastery between these two paintings.

On one wall, you had Leonardo’s The Last Supper. On the other, you had a painting of Jesus’ crucifixion. What were you supposed to think as you looked at the two of these?

What were you supposed to feel? Surely it wasn’t merely admiration for the painters or respect for the patron who paid for it.

As you ate, as if at the Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples, you also asked the same question that they do: “Is it I? Am I going to prove to be a faithful disciple of Jesus, or will I betray him like Judas did and figuratively crucify Jesus myself?”

Now you see what I mean. You don’t get the full effect of the painting or a piece of art until you consider its original context.

John 3:16: A Masterpiece in Context

Now, why am I telling you about art in the sermon? Because today we encounter the most famous verse in all the Bible: John 3:16.

John 3:16 is like a work of art. It presents, in just a few words, the glorious beauty of God’s gospel. If you just read John 3:16 all by itself, you have much on which to meditate and to praise God for.

But John 3:16, like all great works of art, had an original context. It had an original placement, original setting that was purposeful. It had an original reason for being said and written down.

If you don’t understand this original context, then not only might you misunderstand John 3:16, but you surely will not experience its originally intended effect. What was that effect?

“If you don’t understand this original context, you surely will not experience its originally intended effect.”

It’s what we’ve been talking about the last few weeks: that you would be moved, that you would be caused to give up your own proud, preconceived religious ideas about salvation, that you would instead humble yourself and believe in Jesus. That’s what I want to talk to you about and show you today.

Please open your Bibles to John 3, verses 1 to 21. The message today I’ve entitled: “For God So Loved the World: John 3:1-21.”

We’re back on Pew Bible page 1060. It’s our third time looking at this passage. We’re focusing on just verses 16 to 21 today.

But let’s see the context: John 3:1-21.

Reading the Passage: John 3:1-21

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’

Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, 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? You cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?’

Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now which is born of the flesh is flesh, and now which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, “You must be born again.”

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born in the spirit.’

Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’

Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things, you do not believe. How will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the son of man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up so that whoever believes will in him have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

He who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.

This is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and men love the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

But he who practices the truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Here we are again: this momentous conversation of Jesus, the Eternal Word made flesh, with the rabbi Nicodemus, taking place one night during that first Passover visit of Jesus to Jerusalem during his public ministry.

The old Pharisee comes to have a nice religious chat with this teacher, clearly sent from God. What Nicodemus gets in speaking with Jesus is an astonishing set of revelations—revelations that show that everything Nicodemus, the Jews, and really every religious person throughout every age naturally believe about God and his salvation is wrong.

Our author John, the Apostle, reports this conversation to his original audience of Hellenistic Jews and to us today so that we, like Nicodemus, might have our thinking radically corrected by the son who was sent from heaven.

Review: Four Astonishing Truths

Here’s the main idea of this whole section again in John 3:1-21: John reveals four astonishing truths that should cause you to give up your own ideas about salvation and instead believe in Jesus. We’ve seen two of these astonishing truths already.

“John reveals four astonishing truths that should cause you to give up your own ideas about salvation and believe in Jesus.”

Truth #1: Only the Spirit-Begotten Enter God’s Kingdom

And the first one appears in verses 1 to 8. This is review. Number one: only the spirit-begotten enter God’s kingdom.

Only the spirit-begotten enter God’s kingdom. Remember, before Nicodemus could even ask Jesus a question, the omniscient Son of God looks into his heart. He addresses the key question that is residing there.

And that is: how can one be sure of his entrance into the kingdom of God, into the everlasting kingdom of blessing of God’s Messiah, Jesus? Jesus says: ancestry, ritual, law-keeping—none of those bring a person into God’s kingdom of blessing.

A person must instead be born again, or better, begotten from above—cleansed, given new life by God’s holy spirit. That’s the requirement to receive God’s salvation.

Man’s thorough corruption due to sin means that man cannot work some way to enter into God’s kingdom, nor can he bring about a rebirth or transformation from being a natural man to being a spiritual man. God must do it, and he does do it mysteriously, according to his own choice, according to his own sovereign grace.

“A person must be begotten from above—cleansed, given new life by God’s Holy Spirit. That’s the requirement.”

He doesn’t do it for everyone. He does it for some, like the wind. No one can see or fully understand God’s secret work of begetting unto salvation.

But one can sometimes see the effect of it: a person transformed to love and follow after God. And that was the first astonishing truth.

Truth #2: The Heavenly One Reveals God’s Salvation

The second appears in verses 9 to 15. We also saw this last time. Number two: the Heavenly one authoritatively reveals God’s salvation.

It’s the Heavenly one who authoritatively reveals God’s salvation. Nicodemus, after hearing the first revelation, cannot understand or accept that salvation is by God’s grace and not by man’s works.

Such would seem to contradict the Old Testament Judaism and everything that the rabbis have taught—Nicodemus included. But Jesus clarifies that this is not some revolution. God has always worked this way, as is evident in the Old Testament itself.

The real reason, Jesus says, that Nicodemus and the Jews do not understand is not a lack of evidence, but unbelief. No amount of extra heavenly revelation can counter willful unbelief of what is made clear in God’s truth.

Man naturally wants to believe in a works-oriented, self-exalting way of salvation: “I can do enough good deeds. I can keep enough rules to get into God’s kingdom.” This is what man naturally wants to believe.

And he will twist even God’s revelation, even God’s true religion, to accomplish this end—which is just what the Jews did, and what many Christians still do today.

But Jesus has come as the only man descended from heaven. He has come both to authoritatively clarify God’s salvation and also to unveil heavenly mysteries that have never been fully understood by God’s people before.

“Jesus has come as the only man descended from heaven to authoritatively clarify God’s salvation.”

This is what Jesus actually begins to do with Nicodemus. God, through Jesus, graciously begins to reveal to Nicodemus and his disciples—who are also present in this conversation—starting with the amazing announcement that the son of man must be lifted up like Moses’ ancient bronze serpent of death, so that the son of man may give life to those who believe in him.

This announcement, as we covered last time, is a cryptic revelation of Jesus’ coming death on the cross for sinners. This very humiliation, this death, would actually result in Jesus being lifted up in glory before the whole universe.

Jesus’ shocking foretelling of this destiny of the Messiah—something the Jews could never even conceive of—provokes a basic question: why? Why would God do this for sinners, for those doomed to die, totally upending every expectation, every religious expectation of God’s way?

Well, in the next two verses of our passage, we get the answer: a third astonishing revelation. It would be just as shocking to Nicodemus and the Jews as everything else that we’ve looked at so far.

A Note on Authorship of Verses 16-21

We’re going to look at that. But quick side note before we do: there is some debate among Bible interpreters as to whether verses 16 to 21 here are indeed still the words of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Could they instead be added commentary from the author John, with Jesus finishing his words in verse 15?

This is actually the way the NIV takes this passage. You’ll notice that if you have that version, there are no quotation marks in the original Greek of the New Testament. The content and terms used in verses 16 to 21 are unusual for Jesus in this gospel—unusual that he would say those things.

John 3:16-21 actually sounds a bit like John 1:1-18, which was the prologue of this gospel written by the author John. Those were his thoughts. This sounds very similar to that, as does a little bit further on in this passage—John 3:31-36.

We read that earlier as part of our service. That sounds like not what’s typical of John the Baptist, but that sounds more like the narrator in John 1:1-18. So some interpreters believe that both John 3:16-21 and John 3:31-36 are in fact the author’s reflections. They’re not actually what Jesus says or what John the Baptist says.

I can understand that position. I can appreciate the arguments for it. However, I believe that position is weak for a few reasons.

One: it relies on the assumption that the Apostle John’s original audience could easily detect dialogue breaks—the end of a conversation—from only subtle shifts in language. That’s asking a lot from your audience.

Two: it contradicts the pattern of all other presented dialogue in this gospel, which have clear beginning and ending points before introducing any commentary from the author.

Three: this view ultimately rests on subjective speculation as to whether persons in the text could have or would have said certain things. Subjective speculation is generally bad for faithful Bible interpretation.

So I therefore take the view, which we actually see in The New American Standard ’95, that John 3:16-21 is still part of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. These are the words that Jesus himself spoke and that John witnessed as being a part of that conversation.

If you do take the other view—verses 16 to 21 being the Apostle John’s own thoughts—they are still the inspired, authoritative words of God written by the spirit of Christ. One way or another, these are Jesus’ words.

“One way or another, these are Jesus’ words—the inspired, authoritative words of God.”

Truth #3: God Lovingly Gave His Son to Save Sinners

With that clarified, what is the third astonishing revelation from Jesus that should cause you to give up your own preconceived ideas about salvation and instead humble you to believe in Jesus?

Number three: God lovingly gave his son to save sinners.

God lovingly gave his son to save sinners. Look at verse 16.

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Here it is: the verse we’ve all been waiting for—a glorious, unexpected unveiling of salvation truth. Let’s look more closely at this gem so that we make sure we understand it and appreciate it as we ought.

“For In This Way…”

Notice that Jesus begins in verse 16 by saying “for”—a transition word indicating that Jesus is about to supply a reason for what he just stated. Notice the next word: “so.”

This word is often understood in this verse as an intensive with a sense of “very” or “so much.” Jesus may want to hint at that meaning. But the more likely sense of “so” here is actually “in this way” or “in this manner.”

“The more likely sense of ‘so’ here is actually ‘in this way’ or ‘in this manner.’”

The literal opening of this verse in the Greek would be: “For in this way…” But “for in this way” what? There’s the next phrase: “God loved.”

“For in this way God loved.” The Greek verb translated “loved” is one you’ve probably heard of before. This is the Greek verb “agapao,” which is just the verb form of the noun “agape.”

Understanding Agape Love

Ever heard of agape love? Have you been in church very long? You probably have. Often, agape love is described as the noblest kind of love that there is in the language of New Testament Greek.

It’s way better than “philia” love—that’s another Greek word, usually seen as referring to the love of friends and family. We actually see that in our language and local geography: Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. That’s “philia” love. And “adelphos” means brother, so brotherly love.

So there’s “philia” love. But agape love is holy love, unconditional love, selfless love, a love of the will rather than of mere emotion, the holy love or the love of righteous action. This is the way agape love is usually explained or often explained.

And granted, when applied to God, agape love does have these qualities. But a more thorough study of this verb in the New Testament reveals that “agapao” and “fileto,” which is the verb form of that other kind of love, are basically used as synonyms in the New Testament.

Agape is way more common because it was more common in the Greek language at that time. But they’re more or less synonyms. And even in John’s gospel, we see those terms used interchangeably.

Moreover, “agapao” has enough flexibility to be used to describe both holy love and wicked love, as we’ll even see shortly in our passage. Why does it have such flexibility?

Because “agapao,” the verb itself, has a more basic definition than we often think or hear. Pulling this straight from my seminary lexicon: what does “agapao” mean? “To have a warm regard for and interest in another, to cherish, have affection for, love.”

“Agapao means ‘to have a warm regard for and interest in another, to cherish, have affection for, love.’”

So this is what Jesus is talking about in this next phrase. God loved. Jesus says God showed a warm regard for, he showed interest—kind interest—in something or someone. God cherished. God had affection for. God loved something or someone.

And as I think Mark mentioned in Sunday School, the men of Iron Man have been considering the attribute of the love of God. It is a powerful love. It is an infinite love. It is an eternal love. That’s a great love.

What is it like to experience the affection of God? How deep must his cherishing be? Whoever is the object of this love has gained an unfathomable, immobile blessing.

God Loved the World

Who is it? Well, look at the next word. “For in this way God loved the world.”

The world. This is where we start to see why this statement from Jesus is in fact an astonishing revelation. Did the Jews have any concept of the love of God previously from their Bible? They did.

The love of God is frequently spoken of in the Old Testament. But whom did the Jews come to think were the recipients of God’s love? Well, them—the Jews. They are the seed of Abraham and Israel. They are those who are in covenant to keep God’s law.

So God loves them. But the rest of the world? God tolerates them. But the nations? They’re slated for judgment. God’s real love is for Israel.

That’s not what Jesus says here. God loved the world—Jew and Gentile. And then there is something else. We’ve talked about this before, but the precise meaning of the word “world”—Greek “cosmos”—as John uses it tells us something significant.

Every time “cosmos” appears in this gospel, John is not referring to the universe or the planet or to the trees and rocks that dot the planet. Rather, John uses “cosmos” to refer to the dwelling place of mankind, even to mankind itself.

But what kind of place is man’s dwelling? Is it righteous and welcoming of God’s son? Is it neutral? No.

What we see throughout this gospel, when John and Jesus speak about the world, is that the world is dark. It is ignorant. It is full of evil. It does not recognize its creator. Instead, it is determined to persecute and even kill the messengers of God.

We see this even in John 1. In this gospel, the world is the corrupted abode of man. It’s presided over by Satan himself. By extension, the world refers to the whole corrupted human race, which is set in opposition to God.

Yet what does Jesus declare? “For in this way God loved the world.”

“For in this way God loved the world—there is no reason to love this world, yet God showed affection for it.”

Wait, what? There is no reason to love this world. This is a world of God-haters, rebels. Why would God show affection for this world, love the people of this world?

Jesus doesn’t explain here. Really, there is no explanation other than the character of God and his mysterious good pleasure. He just declares.

And yet the declaration is incomplete at this point. We still haven’t heard in what specific way God loved the world. But Jesus tells us, starting with the next phrase: “that he gave.”

“That he gave.” Perhaps it’s no surprise that a word like “gave” would follow the word “loved,” because those who truly love are moved to give. They are moved to give what is good to the objects of their love.

The greater the gift, the greater the love, right? Get something cheap for someone as a gift? You don’t love them that much. Give them something precious, something very costly to you? That’s a sign of your great love for that person.

He Gave His Only Begotten Son

So what was it that God chose to give out of his love to a lost, wicked world? Next phrase: “he gave his only begotten son.”

And here again is a phrase that we’ve seen already. We first saw it in John 1:14. It’s the Greek “monogenes,” traditionally translated as “only begotten,” but with the sense of “unique one and only.”

Jesus is God’s one and only son, the special son, beloved from all eternity and in fellowship with the father. God gave this son—his only begotten—to the world.

And perhaps upon hearing this, Nicodemus, Jesus’ disciples, John’s Jewish audience, maybe even you right now, you’re thinking of a certain story, a certain narrative in the Old Testament with similar language: Genesis 22.

God commends Abraham for almost sacrificing Isaac in obedience and faith to God by saying, “You have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

What did Abraham have that was more precious to offer God than Abraham’s special son and heir? The son for whom Abraham waited and prayed for so long? The son he loved? The son of promise?

In a similar way, did the heavenly father have anything more precious to give to mankind than his monogenous son? Such a gift—God was giving his very heart, his very self, to the sinful human race.

“Did the Father have anything more precious to give than His only Son? Such a gift was God giving His very heart.”

How great then must be the Father’s love? Probably that we sang that song, right? And do note: this gift is an act of love from the father, not merely the son.

Never be misled into thinking that the father has to be cajoled, that he has to have his arm twisted by the son to love sinners. “Okay, Jesus, I’ll do it for your sake.” No.

Jesus reveals here in verse 16 that it was the love of the father. It was the love of the heavenly father that gave the son to the world.

But for what purpose did the father give his son to the world? Perhaps to discourage the world with judgments until the world repents and returns to God? I’ll look at the rest of verse 16.

Whoever Believes Shall Not Perish

“That whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Here is more astonishment. God gave his son to a wicked world that deserves to die as the just penalty of their sin. He gave his son so that the people of the world would not die, the human race would not die.

The way God intended to accomplish this life-rescuing mission was not by sending the son to instruct the world in the way of law-keeping or the way of becoming Jews so that as Jews they can inherit eternal life.

Rather, “whoever”—and that is a broad term, that is a broad invitation that includes Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, men and women, young and old, notorious sinners and self-righteous Pharisees—”whoever simply believes in God’s only son, who looks in faith to Jesus as he’s lifted up, what shall that person experience?”

He will not perish. He will not die. But he will have eternal life.

“Whoever simply believes in God’s only Son will not perish but will have eternal life.”

Notice those two terms together. They show us that the dying there—that’s not just a merely physical dying, temporal, and that happens once. No, it’s eternal death that you are spared from. And you instead get eternal life.

We saw that term “eternal life” in John 3:15: “zoe” and “aionios”—literally “life of an age.” This is the everlasting life in the messiah’s kingdom age that will be experienced in full later. But what can still be experienced now for whoever believes in Jesus?

Putting It All Together

Let’s put this all together, connecting this back to John 3:14-15. Why is it that the son of man, Jesus, had to be lifted up on a cross of death for the people of the world to look at him?

Jesus says it’s because this was the way the father chose to show his love to a desperate and dying world: giving up his one and only son to live and die for sinners, that whoever believes in the son will escape the just penalty of death for sin but will instead inherit unending life in God’s kingdom.

Who could have ever thought of this? Who could ever even believe this if it were not for the fact that this truth is communicated directly by the one descending from heaven, the one who clearly is from God because of all the sign miracles that he’s doing?

No human, no religion could come up with something like this. Yet this is the reality.

“No human, no religion could come up with something like this. Yet this is the reality.”

I can just imagine how wide-eyed Nicodemus was listening to all of this. How could a holy God, how could a just God be so loving to undeserving sinners? How could his love extend to the level of delivering his own son, his beloved son, his cherished son, to die on a cross—the worst way that anyone at that time could think of dying, the most humiliating way?

How could God do all this and yet require nothing in return except belief and trust in that saving son? Believe in him, and you will not perish but have everlasting life.

God Sent the Son to Save, Not Judge

And just so there’s no misunderstanding, we get verse 17 to re-emphasize the shock of verse 16.

Verse 17: “For God did not send the son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

John 3:17: “For God did not send the son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

This verse represents a total overturning of Jewish expectations around the Messiah. The Jews anticipated, according to various Old Testament prophecies, that God’s Messiah was indeed coming to judge the world. They were looking forward to it, as I suppose any self-righteous persons are even doing today.

Yeah, I can’t wait until God comes and destroys all these sinners, all these compromisers and traders, burn them, God. There are many Jews who thought this way.

The problem is most Jews didn’t realize that, first of all, they themselves are part of the world that deserves to be judged. We’re going to be judged. Malachi talks about that.

Second of all, they didn’t realize that God’s love was going to send the Messiah as a savior to the world first, so the human race might be spared of judgment. This was a mystery. It was foretold in the Old Testament, but it was a mystery not fully understood by the Jews.

But now it is plainly revealed by the one descending from heaven.

Do you see again why I have been saying what the main idea of this passage is? You gotta let go of your preconceived notions about who God is and what God does. You got to let the one who descends from heaven tell you, correct you, believe his words, and therefore believe in him.

You gotta humble yourself to do that. But if you do that, he promises you eternal life.

Clarification: Not Universalism

By the way, quick clarification of the phrase “that the world might be saved through him.” This does not mean that God always sovereignly purposed to save every single person of the world through Jesus and thus that all people will eventually be saved, as in universalism, or that many are effectively thwarting God’s purpose by choosing not to receive Jesus, which is what Arminianism teaches.

Neither of these are true. As we can tell even from our passage, verses 1-8 have already shown us that kingdom entry comes down to sovereign grace begotten by the Holy Spirit. Whomever God chooses to beget will be begotten. That cannot be thwarted.

John 3:16 clarifies it’s only those who believe in Jesus who will escape perishing, who will escape their current path of death. It’s not universal salvation.

So what is meant by that phrase “that the world might be saved through him”? Namely, that God purposed to save the human race, the dwelling place of humanity in general, through Jesus Christ—not necessarily every member of the human race.

“God purposed to save the human race through Jesus Christ—not necessarily every member of the human race.”

God gave a gift to humanity in general out of his love. We know that there’s not a universal salvation involved, especially because of what comes afterwards.

This final astonishing revelation that we receive from Jesus—we just looked at the third. We’re about to look at the fourth. It has to do with what’s really going on behind the scenes for those who refuse to believe in Jesus, who stubbornly stick to their own religion and their own religious ideas.

Truth #4: Only Lovers of Evil Reject God’s Savior

Look at the fourth revelation: verses 18 to 21.

Number four: Only lovers of evil reject God’s special savior.

Start looking at this with just the beginning of verse 18.

“Only lovers of evil reject God’s special savior.”

Condemned Already

“He who believes in him—that’s Jesus, the son—is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already.”

And here we see some parallelism, typical of the Hebrew language, but also from examining this gospel and other scriptures, something that Jesus and John the Apostle love to use. You see parallelism of this type all throughout John’s gospel.

And the first part of verse 18, we see a repetition of the truth already stated in verses 16 to 17: that those who believe in Jesus will not see death, they are not judged. That is, they have not received a sentence of condemnation because they believe in Jesus.

But then notice the contrasting parallel: the one who does not believe not only will be condemned but stands condemned already. That’s an interesting distinction.

I heard a preacher comment on this helpfully, saying: many people who trust in their own self-made religions, trust in their own good works for salvation, they are hoping that the verdict from God at the end of their lives will be a good one. “Well, I don’t know if I’m there yet, but hopefully I’ll have enough good by the end of my life that God will say, ‘That’s enough. You can come in.’”

But what people who think such a way don’t realize is that the verdict has already been decided. And the verdict is guilty, condemned, deserving of hellfire forever.

“The verdict has already been decided. And the verdict is guilty, condemned, deserving of hellfire forever.”

Why is the verdict already in? Doesn’t that seem a little early? The rest of verse 18 tells us: “because he, such a one, he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.”

Rejecting God’s Priceless Gift

In John 3:16, Jesus reveals how incredible the love of God is for fallen humanity by a priceless gift that God gave. God offered humanity God’s only begotten son.

God could have done nothing more loving than to give his son. Therefore, for someone to refuse this priceless gift, this beloved, precious gift from God, and say, “I’m good. I don’t need Jesus,” or “No, I’ll take Jesus, and Jesus will help me work my way to salvation. I’ll work my way to heaven,” or “Yeah, I’ll take Jesus as my savior, but I’m still going to serve something else in my life. Jesus isn’t going to be my Lord”—any of these reactions—can there be any greater ingratitude or offense to a holy God than these?

“I don’t care about your gift, God. I don’t care how precious he is to you. It’s not that valuable to me.” This is throwing God’s infinite love back in his face.

“Refusing God’s priceless gift is throwing God’s infinite love back in His face.”

Here’s the precious, the one and only son of God, given to you, and you won’t believe in his name. You won’t trust in him and all that his name represents to become his true disciple.

Well, then God says, “You’ve revealed your true colors. I don’t have to wait to condemn you. And so, along with all the other just reasons I already have to judge you forever—your sin, your commitment to self rather than God, your worship of idols instead of me—to these you have added your arrogant and stubborn rejection of God’s especially sent savior. You are condemned already.”

And notice how this clarification of verse 18 is particularly relevant for Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Here is a pious old rabbi, a Jew, Pharisee, a ruler in Israel, who no doubt believes he loves God and to a certain extent keeps God’s law.

Yet he’s slow to believe in Jesus and to believe in what Jesus reveals about salvation. It’s still possible for someone like Nicodemus to make his way into God’s kingdom without Jesus. But look, whatever all the other things he’s got, what about the Jews as a whole?

How about other sincere, earnest religious persons? What about Muslims, Mormons, Catholics, Orthodox, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Buddhists? There are many religious people in the world who claim to love and follow God. They try to do what’s right. They try to avoid what’s wrong. They are looking forward to the world beyond this one.

Maybe you’ve met some of these people. They are polite, moral, and very sincere about their religion. Yet they don’t believe in the Jesus of the Bible and don’t believe what Jesus said about salvation.

Might God still accept these sincere religious persons despite their unbelief? Well, what does the heavenly one reveal in John 3:18?

The answer is an emphatic and unapologetic no. Why? Because these merely religious persons have not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.

And this is not God quibbling over some minor, petty detail. Because Jesus goes on to clarify the real reason why religious people, even pious-seeming Jews, choose not to believe in or follow Jesus.

Look at verses 19 and 20.

Men Loved the Darkness

“This is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds through evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”

This is the judgment, Jesus says at the beginning of verse 19. It’s the behind-the-scenes reality that has resulted in a sentence of common condemnation for those who don’t believe in Jesus.

Jesus refers to himself as the light—a symbol of life, truth, revelation, righteousness, salvation. The light Jesus has come into the dark world of man.

But why do the people of the world not come to the light? It’s because Jesus says they—whether religious or not—they love the darkness due to their own evil deeds. They love the darkness.

And by the way, guess what Greek word is used for “love” there? It’s “agapao.” It’s agape love. Jesus says people cherish, they have affection for, they love the darkness of sin rather than the light.

All people. And what a contrast then, right, between John 3:16 and John 3:19?

God’s great agape love caused him to send his beloved son, the light, into the world to save sinners. Man’s great agape love for evil causes them to reject this precious savior and the only light.

“God’s great agape love sent His Son into the world. Man’s great agape love for evil causes them to reject this precious Savior.”

More than that, verse 20 says that these Christ-rejecters, these Messiah-rejecters, these light-rejecters, they are doers of evil who hate the light. Far from loving him, they do the direct opposite of agape. They hate Jesus. They hate the sun sent from God.

And why? Why do they hate the light so much? Why do they not want to go near him? He’s everything that they need. Why do they hate him? End of verse 20.

“For fear that their evil deeds will be exposed.”

The Exposure That Pride Cannot Stand

You see, in the end, the pride that drives people into false, man-centered religions that cannot save is the same pride that drives them away from Jesus when they encounter him.

People naturally want to think of themselves as good, or at least good enough to get to heaven. They want other people to think of them that way.

But when Jesus, the light, comes along and he exposes these good people, these religious people, as actually evil doers, even those who love the darkness, people can’t stand the stinging exposure. Religious people especially.

And so they flee the light. They refuse him. They refuse to go near him.

So what this means, brethren, if someone doesn’t believe in the biblical Jesus, no matter how pious, no matter how moral that person seems on the outside, you can know it’s all a sham. That person loves evil on the inside.

“If someone doesn’t believe in the biblical Jesus, no matter how pious, you can know it’s all a sham.”

Say, “Oh, that’s quite a harsh judgment, don’t you think, Pastor Dave?” I’m not the one who says that. And you probably couldn’t discern that just from your observation on the outside.

But the one sent from heaven, who can tell you what’s going on behind the scenes, he has told you. He says that’s the only reason—the only reason somebody will choose not to believe in Jesus is because they love darkness.

In contrast, if someone really loves God on the inside, there’s only one response they’ll have to being exposed to the light of Christ. And that’s what Jesus finished the conversation with in verse 21.

He Who Practices the Truth Comes to the Light

Verse 21: “But he who practices the truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

“He who practices the truth”—that’s a Hebrew idiom for someone who truly loves and walks in what is right. In the original context, this would be a Jewish person with a true love for God but who’s never encountered Jesus before.

What does such a person do when he meets Jesus, when he hears the gospel of Jesus? Only one thing: he comes to Jesus. He comes to the light. He believes in Jesus and he follows Jesus.

That’s always what true lovers of the truth do. And why does he come to Jesus? So he can boast about how he discovered the truth or earned his own way into God’s kingdom by good works?

No. What does the text say? “So that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” That is to say, so that this new believer may confess, “I haven’t done anything to save myself. God did it all through his Spirit and his Son. And even the good works I do now are not to my credit. It’s all God who has worked in me.”

“I haven’t done anything to save myself. God did it all through His Spirit and His Son. It’s all God who has worked in me.”

Doesn’t this concept sound a little bit familiar? The conversation is ending right where it started: verses 1-8. Only the spirit-begotten enter God’s kingdom. God has to do everything.

That truly spirit-begotten, though, they will believe in Jesus. They will follow Jesus. Even that faith, even that belief, is a gift from God.

Coming to the end of verse 21, these are the astonishing truths Jesus graciously lays out before Nicodemus, turning upside down everything that old rabbi thought about God and God’s salvation in God’s kingdom.

Application: What About You?

But these words weren’t just for Nicodemus. They weren’t just for the Jews of John’s day, the Apostle John’s day. They are for us as well.

We also must give up our proud, preconceived notions about what God and his salvation is. We must instead believe the one sent from heaven and believe in him for salvation.

We must see number one: that only the spirit-begotten inherit God’s kingdom. Number two: that Jesus is the heavenly one who authoritatively reveals God’s salvation. Number three: that God lovingly gave his son to save sinners. And number four: that only lovers of evil reject God’s special savior.

Now, we don’t hear how Nicodemus responded to these further revelations from Jesus. Maybe he was simply stunned into silence. That’s why he doesn’t say anything.

But this isn’t the last time we’ve heard of him in this gospel. We see him two more times. First, he will appear again, showing sympathy toward Jesus and his message, even trying to defend Jesus.

But the last time we see him, it’s after Jesus has been lifted up on a cross, just as Jesus foretold. And Nicodemus, he steps out of the shadow of fear. He braves the persecution of his own people.

And he assists with the preparation of Jesus’ body for burial. I believe that’s a sign of Nicodemus coming to believe, coming into salvation. He didn’t get it at first, but eventually he crossed over all the way to not just saying, “You’re a teacher from God,” but “You are the son of God. You are the savior. I’m no longer trusting in my own religion. I’m believing in the monogenous son that God sent to save me.”

So what about you today? Do you consider yourself a religious person, true lover of God, Christian? Then you must believe in Jesus—truly believe, go all in on the savior—not so that then you may finish working your way into salvation, but so that in your reborn life, your transformed life of obedience, faithfulness to the savior, you can confess, just as Jesus says here in John 3:21, “Everything has been the work of God. God did it all.”

“You must believe in Jesus—truly believe, go all in on the Savior—not so that you may finish working your way into salvation.”

That is the only reason I can come to him in salvation. Is that you? Have you done that? Are you resting in that? Are you reveling in that?

Consider the great love of God that has provided such a salvation for you, part of this doomed human race that we all are without Jesus.

A Warning and an Invitation

If you’re not willing to do this, not willing to believe in Jesus, not willing to go all in on the savior—at least not yet—you still got your own cherished religious ideas you want to hold on to. You’ve still got other treasures in this world. You got goals for this life that you want to pursue. That kind of Jesus is getting in the way of that. That’s where you’re at.

And I must warn you, based on what Jesus tells us in the passage here today, that you have exposed your heart for what’s really going on inside. The only reason you’re not coming to Jesus now is because you love evil and you are a doer of it.

In addition to that, you stand condemned already by God. As we’ll hear later in the passage, the wrath of God already abides on you. It’s hanging over you. God is restraining it, but it could break forth on you in any moment.

That is not a state in which you want to remain, with the eternal anger of God hanging over you.

So what should you do? You should turn. You should repent. You should give up those things that are holding you back from the savior and go all in on him.

Turn while there is still time, because your life is short. And if you do not come to him now, you may not get another chance.

Humble yourself before the Lord. And what does he promise? He will exalt you.

“Humble yourself before the Lord. And what does He promise? He will exalt you.”

But for those who stand proudly against God, who say, “I already know what God is really all about. I can work for my own salvation,” he’s going to humble you, and it may be by casting you into hell forever.

I don’t want that for any of you. And I believe it is the Lord’s heart, even expressed in this passage, that that’s not what he wants for you either.

Turn and be saved, all the ends of the earth. That’s the Lord’s desire. Would you do that? Give up whatever’s holding you back in Christ and come follow him.

You will gain eternal life, and you will begin to know the love of God, which has no bottom.

Closing Prayer

It’s closing prayer. Heavenly Father, what can we do as the song says, what can we do but praise you? Such love, such undeserved love for sinners like us, for the doomed, corrupted, rebellious human race that we are part of.

Why would you show such love? How could you show such love? We didn’t want it. We were raising our fist to you. But then you still gave your son, gave your son to become one of us, to live a perfect life of righteousness, to die for us, so that whoever believes in him—it doesn’t matter where they come from, what they’ve done—whoever believes in him will not die eternally but will gain eternal life, the life of the kingdom age, experienced now, experienced in full forever.

God, how can such things be? How can such wonderful things be? And yet they are. They have to be, because your son declared them. Your Old Testament foretold it. But now we see it clearly revealed in the sun.

Lord, all praise to you. Oh, Lord God, magnify yourself, lift up yourself in our lives, not just by the words we say, but in how we live. God, because such a great salvation deserves it.

Lord, we can never repay you for it. We can never do anything to earn it. But we can give you thanks and praise. We can direct all the glory to you, because what you’ve done in us indeed has all been your work. Everything has been wrought in God.

Lord, we thank you for your salvation. Lord, we pray that you would continue your transforming work in us so we may walk worthy of it.

And if there’s any here, Lord, who have heard this message and have been resisting you, Lord, in stubborn pride, because they want to live their own way or they want to think their own thoughts, God, I pray that you’d break that pride this morning and they would listen to the voice of him who has descended from heaven, who speaks even now through the scriptures, and say, “No, this is the truth. Humble yourself and believe it, and you will be saved.”

God, glorify yourself in all the things you choose to do. In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen.

Let’s stay.
May 28, 2023
Believe the One Descended from Heaven
In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia continues examining John 3:1-21, which is Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus as recorded by the apostle John. In this passage, John reveals four astonishing truths that should cause you to give up your own ideas about salvation and instead believe in Jesus. In verses 9-15, John reveals the second of these astonishing truths.

1. Only the Spirit-Begotten Enter God’s Kingdom (vv. 1-8)
2. The Heavenly One Authoritatively Reveals God’s Salvation (vv. 9-15)

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

This passage from John 3:9-15 teaches us that Jesus, as the one who descended from heaven, is the sole authoritative revealer of God’s salvation plan. We are confronted with the reality that human corruption naturally bends religion toward self-exaltation, causing even the most learned religious leaders—like Nicodemus—to miss what God clearly revealed throughout the Old Testament: that salvation has always been by sovereign grace through faith, not by human works. We are called to humble ourselves before Christ’s unexpected revelation that the Son of Man must be lifted up on the cross—an act that is simultaneously his shame and his glory—so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life.

Key Lessons:
1. Salvation by God’s sovereign grace through faith is not a New Testament invention but is woven throughout the entire Old Testament, from Abraham to the New Covenant promises.
2. The primary obstacle to understanding God’s salvation is not a lack of information or evidence but willful unbelief rooted in human pride and self-exaltation.
3. Jesus alone has descended from heaven and therefore speaks with absolute authority about God’s salvation plan—his word must be trusted above all human ideas and feelings.
4. The crucifixion of Christ was not a shameful defeat but the necessary and glorious means by which God chose to save sinners and display his own glory.
Application: We are called to examine whether we have reshaped God’s revelation to fit our own preferences and feelings, and instead to humble ourselves and believe the full testimony of Jesus as recorded in Scripture—even the parts that challenge our assumptions about God and salvation.

Discussion Questions:
1. In what areas of your life might you be reinterpreting or ignoring Scripture because it conflicts with your feelings or cultural expectations?
2. How does the Old Testament evidence of salvation by grace (Abraham, Jacob, Deuteronomy 30:6) change or deepen your understanding of how God has always worked?
3. How does seeing the cross as both Christ’s humiliation and his glorification reshape the way you approach suffering and unexpected circumstances in your own life?
Scripture Focus: John 3:9-15, with extensive references to Genesis 12, 15, and 25; Exodus 33:19; Deuteronomy 29:4 and 30:6; Numbers 21:4-9; Isaiah 55; Jeremiah 31; and Ezekiel 36—all demonstrating that God’s salvation has always been by sovereign grace through faith.

Outline
Introduction

Right, okay, that’s great. Father in heaven, we come to hear and see more of Christ. Open our eyes to see his beauty. Transform our hearts to reflect his own. Make us more like him in the way we think, the way we speak, in the way that we act. And Lord, as this will be a theme today, let us trust your word over anything else—even our own feelings, even the wisdom of the world. You are to be believed above all. In Jesus’ name, amen.

I’d like to begin again this morning by talking to you about babies. Yes, this is the problem when your pastor has a new child. Benjamin does not realize that he has become a repository of sermon illustrations.

What Babies Know: The Problem of Inherited Sin

I’ve been thinking lately about what babies know and what babies are able to do from birth without being taught. There’s plenty that babies don’t know or can’t do without learning first. For instance, babies can’t talk. They don’t know words. They don’t even know what a word is.

They kind of know how to eat and sleep, but they’re not that good at it. They have to get better with assistance from their parents. They need to learn much about the world.

But there’s still some knowledge that babies apparently bring with them that they don’t need any teaching or training about. For instance, crying. Right from the womb, babies have an amazing ability to make known their hunger, pain, and discomfort by loud wailing. No one has to teach babies how to cry. Babies naturally cry very well.

“No one has to teach babies how to cry. Babies naturally cry very well.”

This is from God. This is a grace. In a fallen world, it is good that babies cry so they can alert their parents that baby needs tending. Baby needs care.

There’s something else that babies know without teaching, and that’s how to smile. How to smile when pleased or contented. We might think that this is a learned ability, only comes from babies observing their parents. And while it is true that smiling is something that babies don’t do right away, it’s knowledge and ability that manifests later.

Even blind babies will begin smiling after one or two months. So smiling, therefore, is not learned by observation. It’s something else that God put in babies. And this also is a grace. It helps babies communicate without using words and gives a little reward to a baby’s tired parents to see the baby smile.

If there’s something else that babies know very well without being taught, it is how to sin. Thankfully, this also is an ability that does not manifest itself right away. But you don’t have to teach a child how to lie. How to willfully disobey his parents. You don’t have to teach a child the idea that he is the center of the universe.

He comes with that knowledge. It comes bound up in the foolishness of his own heart. Such is the inheritance of corruption that humanity has received from its first parents, Adam and Eve, when they sinned.

Instead of being born with a desire, a drive to love and serve God wholeheartedly, every person—all of us—are born with a drive to serve ourselves and even to exalt ourselves to the very place of God. This is why we naturally love those who love us and who assist us in getting what we want. This is also why we naturally hate those who don’t love us or who get in the way of what we want.

“Every person is born with a drive to serve ourselves and even to exalt ourselves to the very place of God.”

How Sin Corrupts Religion

We are committed to ourselves. Indeed, our sinful nature causes us to twist and misuse all the good that we receive from God in this world. I can go through many examples, but one I want to highlight for you is actually religion itself—our relationship with God.

Because of sin, it has turned into something that is man-centered. Really, consider all the religions of the world. Every religion outside of biblical Christianity basically teaches that God is ultimately about you. He is there to serve you and give you what you want and to eventually bring you into his paradise.

Now, perhaps God and a particular religion does this automatically because he’s just so loving and humans are so precious to him. He’s going to save everyone. But usually, religions teach that God needs a little convincing. God or the gods—they are powerful. They are holy.

So before God can give you what you want, you have to give him something that he wants. You’ve got to keep his rules. You’ve got to go through some rituals. You gotta say some prayers. You have to do some other good works.

You see some variants of this in every world religion. Thus, all religions end up proclaiming the same basic truth: humans can earn God’s favor and even earn their own salvation.

“All religions end up proclaiming the same basic truth: humans can earn God’s favor and even earn their own salvation.”

Even the Bible, in man’s corrupted bent, is reinterpreted or simply ignored for the sake of affirming this man-made idea, this tradition, that you can work your way to God and to heaven. Consequently, many people—many religious people—yes, many even professing Christians—will think that they are serving God in their lives when really they’re only serving themselves.

God’s Response: Prophets and the Son

Now, this is evil. This is self-righteousness robbing God of the glory and the worship to which he is due. A holy God could have justly judged the whole world immediately for this. But this is not what he’s chosen to do.

In kindness, God has given man time to repent. He’s also sent messenger after messenger—his prophets in ancient times—to set the record straight and to call for people to repent, to turn, for all humanity to turn from its false religion, from its effort at self-exaltation, to turn back to God, exalt God to the place that he deserves, and have a true relationship with him.

But God did even more than that. God sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to reveal God’s truth in the fullest way so that there is no mistake about who God is or what God’s about. He sent his Son to reveal the truth in the fullest way and even to die for sinners.

“God sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to reveal God’s truth in the fullest way so that there is no mistake.”

God has previously in his prophets, but even now in his Son, given a message for all to hear so that they are not confused about what true religion is. He sent that message even to you, even to you here this morning.

The Central Question: Have You Listened?

But the question is: Have you listened to it? Are you listening to Jesus, the Son of God, as the one sent from heaven, the one descending from heaven to correct what is a natural corruption of your thinking? Have you therefore let go of your proud, self-made religious ideas to believe what he said?

Or do you still trust in your own corrupt religion? Do you still worship a god of your own mind that is not really the true God? You may call him God. He may call him Jesus. But he’s really an idol that you fashioned in your own image.

“Have you listened? Have you let go of your proud, self-made religious ideas to believe what he said?”

This really is the central question of our next text in the Gospel of John today. If you would please open to John 3:1-21.

The title of today’s message is also its main application: “Believe the one descended from heaven. Believe the one descended from heaven.”

Scripture Reading: John 3:1-21

John 3:1-21. You’ll find this on page 1060 if you’re using that Bible. We’re going to read the whole passage, though we’re focusing only on verses 9 to 15 today. I think it’s profitable for you to get the context, though. Let’s read all 21 verses: John 3:1-21.

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.’

Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? You cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly 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. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again.

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it’s going. So is everyone who is born of the spirit.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?

Truly, truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things, you do not believe. How will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the son of man.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send the son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.

This is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and men love the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Review: Only the Spirit-Begotten Enter God’s Kingdom

We’ve returned to this famous conversation between Jesus and the Rabbi Nicodemus. This took place, you’ll remember, during the first Passover visit Jesus took to Jerusalem during his public ministry. I remember what I said to you last time. We have some familiarity with these verses. Don’t let that cause you to miss the fact that what Jesus declares to this Rabbi, to Nicodemus, and what John declares to his audience of Hellenistic Jews by reporting this conversation—it would have been shocking in a way it still is.

And why is that? Because here the Son of God essentially declares that everything that the Jews and other religious people naturally believe about God and his way of salvation is wrong. As the Son sent from heaven, Jesus has arrived to correct the record, to authoritatively clarify God’s salvation. And he does so by revealing four astonishing truths to Nicodemus.

“The Son of God declares that everything religious people naturally believe about God’s way of salvation is wrong.”

We began to see this last time. Remember the main idea of this old conversation, this old passage? It’s the following: In John 3:1-21, Jesus reveals, and John our author reports, four astonishing truths that should cause you to give up your own ideas about salvation and instead believe in Jesus.

We saw the first astonishing truth that Jesus presents last time in verses 1-8. We summarize that with the heading: Number one, “Only the spirit-begotten enter God’s kingdom.”

Nicodemus, this pious Pharisee, this great Rabbi, this ruler of the Jews—he comes to Jesus by night, ready to talk with the teacher who’s clearly sent from God because of the miracles he’s doing. He’s ready to talk to this teacher about some religious matters. But Jesus, as always, is the one who knows all things and knows what is in man. He exposes the real issue of Nicodemus’s heart and declares right away to Nicodemus: “Unless you are born again or begotten from above, you cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Trusting in your Jewish lineage or your law-keeping will do you no good. The only ones who get into Messiah’s everlasting kingdom are the ones who are cleansed from their sinful corruption and are given new life by God’s spirit himself. Those are the only ones.

And just as there is nothing you could do to bring about your own physical life by conception, there’s nothing you can do to give yourself spiritual life by the Holy Spirit. It all comes down to the sovereign grace of God, his choice on whom he’s going to show favor, and his spirit blows mysteriously like the wind. You cannot fully understand it.

Now, with such a declaration, I think it’s safe to say that Nicodemus did not know what he was getting into. This was an astonishing word. How is he going to respond to it? Well, I kind of spoiled it last time, but the answer is: Nicodemus will not believe. Nicodemus will not believe what Jesus just said.

Nicodemus’s Unbelief

Which leads to a second revelation, a second astonishing truth in verses 9 to 15, which is our focus today. What’s the second astonishing truth that should cause you to give up your own religious ideas and instead believe in Jesus? Number two: “The heavenly one authoritatively reveals God’s salvation. The heavenly one authoritatively reveals God’s salvation.”

Let’s look at this more closely, starting in verse 9.

“Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’” What are these things to which Nicodemus is referring? Almost everything we just summarized. That salvation is not according to any fleshly work or ritual or inheritance, but it is only by the grace of God.

Nicodemus hears all that, and it doesn’t say, “Wow, God’s ways are greater than I had even imagined,” or “Praise God for showing such undeserved grace to sinners like me.” No, instead he says, “How can these things be?” This is a statement of incredulity, of not being able to understand or accept what Jesus has just declared.

“”How can these things be?” is a statement of incredulity—not being able to accept what Jesus declared.”

“What do you mean? It all comes down to God’s grace? That the entire Jewish religion as taught by the rabbis is wrong and useless and getting anyone to the kingdom? Jesus, I can’t deny your miracles, but what you said is—it’s radical. It is crazy. I can’t see how what you’ve declared could possibly be correct.

Entrance into God’s kingdom by keeping rules makes sense. What you said doesn’t make sense. How could God be as you have said? How could entrance into the kingdom be as you’ve said?”

The Teacher of Israel Should Have Known Better

Well, Nicodemus’s statement of disbelief doesn’t draw sympathy from Jesus. Instead of rebuke, look at verse 10.

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?’” The phrase “the teacher of Israel” is significant here. That definite article in front of “teacher”—the “the” in our English translation—indicates that Nicodemus is not just a religious teacher, but he is the teacher par excellence in Israel.

He’s better than all the others. He is the best or the most recognized Rabbi. He’s the teacher of Israel.

People in Israel had a religious question? They should go to somebody like Nicodemus. He’s at the top of the game. Yet even Nicodemus doesn’t understand, doesn’t accept what Jesus says about God’s salvation by grace. What does that suggest about the other teachers in Israel or even about the Jews as a whole?

Actually, Nicodemus’s position as a prominent teacher in Israel is the reason for Jesus’s implied rebuke. “Are you the teacher? Nicodemus, yeah, even you do not understand what I’m saying.” Do you see the implication of Jesus’s question? Nicodemus, you really ought to know better. You who study God’s scripture diligently. It really should not be hard for you to understand or accept at all.

“Nicodemus, you really ought to know better. You who study God’s scripture diligently.”

Indeed, is salvation by God’s sovereign grace apart from works? Is that consistent with the Old Testament? Is that revealed in the Old Testament? Well, it is. And it’s all over the place.

We may not think of this right away because we think of the Old Testament as law, law, law. There’s a good part of that. Let me just give you a sampling of other parts of the Old Testament. This is the same thing that the New Testament apostles say. I’m just giving you a sample of what they say, but you can read about this more in the New Testament.

Sovereign Grace Throughout the Old Testament

Salvation by God’s sovereign grace is evident in the Old Testament as well, even grace through faith. Consider Abraham. When in Genesis 12, God called Abram to leave where he was and go to Canaan, God proclaimed to Abram that God would bless him and make Abram’s seed a blessing to all families of the earth.

Had Abram yet done anything to deserve such a blessed promise from God? Nothing recorded in Genesis 12.

In fact, Joshua 24 suggests that before this calling from God, Abram and his father were idolaters. They were serving the gods beyond the river. So why would God choose Abram to reveal himself to him and to bless him and to bless his seed? It’s sovereign grace.

Or more famously, in Genesis 15, when a childless Abram again asks God about this promised seed, which he hasn’t seen yet, God affirms to Abram that his seed will be as uncountable as the stars. What does Genesis 15:6 say?

Genesis 15:6: “He believed in the Lord, and Yahweh reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

He believed, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. No work, no ritual. He wasn’t even circumcised at this point yet. How did God regard Abram’s faith as righteousness, as making Abram acceptable to God? It would later make a choice among Abraham’s seed.

In Genesis 25, Isaac, Abraham’s descendant, had twins: Jacob and Esau. Yet before they were born, God declared that the younger—that God had chosen the younger over the older. The younger one would receive the blessing of the Abrahamic promise.

What had this younger one, Jacob, done to deserve God’s favor in this way or even to deserve God’s salvation? He wasn’t the older one. He shouldn’t have inherited what belonged to the family in that way. What did he do to deserve it? Nothing. It’s God’s sovereign grace.

Going further in Old Testament revelation, when Moses asks to see a revelation of God’s glory after God forgave Israel for the golden calf rebellion, God tells Moses in Exodus 33:19:

Exodus 33:19: “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of the Lord—that is, Yahweh—before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”

Can God get any clearer about his sovereignty and his grace? God’s sovereign grace cannot be forced at all. It cannot ever be earned. It is favor granted without regard to merit. It’s on whomever he wills.

God’s Heart Changes Promised in the Torah

And then get this: Even at the end of the law given to Israel—the law that over time, by Jewish tradition, became their hope of getting into the kingdom—at the end of the book of Deuteronomy, we have two special pronouncements of God through Moses to the people of Israel.

After recounting all the miracles God did for the people in the wilderness, we hear this in Deuteronomy 29:4.

Deuteronomy 29:4: “Yet to this day Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.”

In other words, Moses tells Israel, “You won’t keep following God because you need a new heart, and God hasn’t given it to you yet. He must be the one to change your heart by his sovereign grace.”

What’s interesting? In the very next chapter, after foretelling the judgment which will come upon Israel one day because they will turn away from God, Moses also foretells a national repentance, even saying this in Deuteronomy 30:6.

Deuteronomy 30:6: “Moreover, Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul so that you may live.”

Did you hear that? God promises that he—one day will do the work that only he can do for the people of Israel. He will then make them acceptable to him. He will transform their hearts to love him and live.

What is that ancient promise if not a demonstration of sovereign grace?

Deuteronomy 30:6: “Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and soul.”

Grace Beyond the Torah

And this is just from the Torah. All that I’ve said to you is just from the first five books of the Bible. What about the rest of the Old Testament? What about everything that God did with David and promised to his descendants?

What about God’s promise to Elijah: “I will leave seven thousand in Israel who will not bow to Baal”? What about God’s invitation in Isaiah 55, that people can have life without cost if they will turn from their idols and seek the Lord and his abundant pardon? Nothing earned. It’s pardon. It’s grace.

What about the New Covenant promised in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36, in which God says that he will give Israel a new heart and will forgive the people their sins? All this and much more shows that God is and has always been a God of sovereign grace and acceptance with God.

Salvation, entrance into his kingdom—it has always been by grace through faith in God and in God’s promised provision for sin.

“Salvation and entrance into his kingdom has always been by grace through faith in God’s promised provision for sin.”

God has been entirely consistent in his Bible. Jesus was more than justified in rebuking Nicodemus for not understanding or accepting Jesus’s teaching at the beginning of John 3 of the need to be begotten from above.

This really wasn’t a new concept. It’s the way God has always been.

The Problem Is Not Lack of Information but Unbelief

But perhaps you’re wondering, “Well, if the truth has always been so clear in God’s Bible, how did Nicodemus miss it?” Well, Jesus is about to reveal the answer in the next two verses. Look at verse 11.

So back to John 3:11.

“Truly, truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.” Is that favorite phrase of Jesus again? “Truly, truly” or “Amen, amen”? I say to you. Jesus is going to say something else that is astonishing. He knows it’s going to sound radical, but it’s true and must be received as such, prepping Nicodemus for another astonishing revelation.

“Jesus is going to say something astonishing. He knows it’s going to sound radical, but it’s true and must be received.”

Who Are the ‘We’ and the ‘You All’?

But notice the pronouns of what Jesus says next in this verse. He says, “We speak, we know, we testify what we’ve seen. It’s our testimony.” And then he refers to a “you,” and you can’t say this in English, but in the Greek, that “you” has shifted to a plural, second person plural. So it’s “you all.”

Previously in this conversation, he was just talking about “you” singular—Nicodemus—and now he says, “You all. You all do not accept.” So Jesus is putting two groups against each other. There’s the “we,” and there’s the “you all.”

Well, who are these groups? The “you all” is the easier group to identify here. This must be the group that Nicodemus represents. Remember, back in verse 2, he actually had used a plural pronoun to describe himself: “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God.” Well, that must be the same group as the “you all.”

So with the “you all,” Jesus must be speaking of Nicodemus, his colleagues among the Pharisees in Sanhedrin, and really the Jews as a whole. “You all, you Jews, you Jewish leaders, and you Jewish nation.”

“With ‘you all,’ Jesus must be speaking of Nicodemus, his colleagues, and really the Jews as a whole.”

But who’s the “we”? Who’s the “we” with whom Jesus identifies, which is clearly a group that is giving generally unaccepted testimony? This is a harder question to answer. Some think that Jesus is merely speaking of himself but using “we” as a rhetorical device to parallel Nicodemus. “Oh, Nicodemus, you say that we know something? Well, we know something too.” He’s just talking about himself. That might be a little too clever, though, and we don’t see a parallel in Jesus’s other words to suggest that that’s what he’s doing here.

Others think that with “we,” Jesus is speaking of himself and his group of disciples—my disciples and I, we. But though the disciples would certainly give testimony of Jesus later, that would be rejected, their knowledge and testimony of Jesus at this point is pretty limited. Doesn’t quite fit with Jesus’s words.

Two other possibilities are that Jesus is grouping himself with either John the Baptist or with God the Father. After all, John the Baptist’s testimony is what opened this gospel, and Nicodemus had probably heard it at some point himself. Furthermore, the end of John 3, which comes right after this conversation, it will be John the Baptist’s testimony again.

And then when we get to John 5, when Jesus reasons with the Jews as to why they should believe in him, he points back to John’s testimony. “Remember what John said? That’s why you should believe.” So perhaps Jesus is saying “we” in reference to John the Baptist and himself.

Then again, also in John 5, we see that Jesus, as much as he says John’s testimony is valuable, he says there’s something much more valuable, and that’s the testimony of my Father. And he’s testifying by the works that he’s given to do. Jesus also mentions the scriptures as giving him testimony.

So who’s the “we” of John 3:11? It’s tricky. My view is that Jesus is referring to all who knowledgeably testify of Jesus, which would include John the Baptist, certainly include Jesus himself, would include the Father. I think by principle it would later include Jesus’s disciples—anybody who knowledgeably testifies if Jesus is going to be found to be true of the words of verse 11.

Notice again, though, what Jesus asserts about this group testifying. It says, “We speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen.” So we are sure about these things. We speak of them with authority. But “you all, you Jewish leaders, you Jewish people, you do not accept our testimony.”

Rejecting Testimony Then and Now

What’s Jesus basically saying? “Nicodemus, the problem with you and your group is not a lack of information. It’s not a lack of testimony about who I am or who God is or how God’s salvation works. It’s your unwillingness to accept the testimony that has been given.”

Doesn’t this sound a little bit like what we talked about with John 2, where the Jews asked for a sign? The Jews miss salvation by God’s sovereign grace not because they were simply ignorant of the Bible or unskilled at reading it. Rather, their proud hearts did not want to see or believe what was clearly written there.

Over time, the Jews began ignoring parts of the Bible or reinterpreting them or studying them only according to the rabbinical commentaries on that particular passage. Thus, they slowly recrafted the religion of God from what it actually is and was to something that better fit their own self-exalting, salvation-earning mindset.

“Their proud hearts did not want to see or believe what was clearly written there.”

And the same continues today, not just among the Jews, but among Christians too. How many so-called Christians have overruled what God put in the Bible by man-made tradition? How many even among Protestant evangelicals constantly rewrite what God put in his Bible to fit with their own feelings, what’s popular in the culture?

But let’s not just keep this out there. Let’s bring it in here. What about you listening today? Do you reject certain parts of the Bible because they don’t make sense to you or don’t fit with your concept of God or simply because you don’t want to believe them?

“Oh, my Jesus would never send anyone to hell for not believing in him. He’s too kind. Oh, God is a gentleman. He waits until someone chooses him before he elects them to salvation. Oh, God wouldn’t want me to remain in this unhappy marriage. He wants us to divorce.”

My friends, if you ignore and reinsert scriptures like this in your proud unbelief, then you are just as much in need of rebuke from Christ as Nicodemus is here. You must be aware because this is the kind of behavior that might cause you to totally miss God’s salvation because you’re not willing to humble your heart and listen to what he actually said and believe in a way that is saving.

Don’t kid yourself that if someone just satisfactorily explained to you the why, if somebody could make clear to you God’s mind and the whole rationale for what God does and what he declares in the Bible, that then you might be willing to take at face value what the Bible says. Don’t kid yourself because look at what Jesus says next to Nicodemus in verse 12.

Earthly Things and Heavenly Things

Verse 12.

“If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you the heavenly things?” Notice here Jesus puts his finger right on the problem. It’s unbelief. It’s not a lack of information. It’s not a lack of evidence that holds you back. It’s willful unbelief at what God said.

“It’s not a lack of information. It’s not a lack of evidence. It’s willful unbelief at what God said.”

What does this teach about earthly things versus heavenly things? Well, this is actually plainer than it might seem at first glance. Notice Jesus says, “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe.” That phrasing implies that Nicodemus and his group have clearly manifested unbelief, that Jesus must have already spoken of the earthly things.

What is it that Jesus has already spoken? What elicited a “how can this be” from Nicodemus? Well, verses 1-8. The sovereign, gracious activity of God’s spirit on earth in begetting sons and daughters to enter God’s kingdom.

Even though this involves the activity of the spirit from above, this is the spirit’s activity on earth—activity that can be verified in part by the people who live on the earth. Just as you can’t see the wind, but you can see its effects and hear it, so people can observe differences in those who have been transformed, begotten by the spirit. This is earthly.

What then are the heavenly things? Logic would suggest that the heavenly things must be opposite to the earthly things. The heavenly things refer to the activity of God primarily in heaven. It can involve the earth, but it’s activity that cannot really be detected, cannot be verified by those dwelling on the earth. It’s more secret.

So then Jesus is telling Nicodemus here: “If in stubbornness you will not believe the basics of God’s activity among mankind—activity for which you can see evidence on the earth—what chance have you had believing or appreciating anything that I tell you about God’s activity in heaven, even the secret unveiling of God’s glorious salvation plan?”

In a way, verse 12 is an answer to verse 9. Nicodemus wants more heavenly knowledge, more heavenly evidence. He wants to know more of what’s going on behind the scenes before he can maybe believe the basics of God’s work. But Jesus says the opposite is actually true. You won’t believe the basics. Learning more of what’s going on in secrets? Not going to do you any good. You won’t believe that either.

Now, you may ask: “If the earthly things are represented in verses 1-8, then are the heavenly things also represented somewhere in this conversation?” I believe they are. I believe verses 16-21 represents Jesus’s presentation of the heavenly things because these verses really are a behind-the-scenes look of what God is doing in his salvation plan.

But that may provoke another question: “Why would Jesus still speak of heavenly things in light of Nicodemus’s unbelief? You just said he’s not going to be able to believe it, so why would he go on to speak it?” It’s a good question. I don’t know.

Perhaps Jesus said these things for Nicodemus to recall later after God softened Nicodemus’s heart. Perhaps Jesus said them mainly for his disciples’ benefit because they were witnesses to this conversation. Certainly, it’s for our benefit today.

No One Has Descended from Heaven but the Son of Man

And one fact is clear: No one is better suited to reveal the heavenly things of God than Jesus. Look at what Jesus says in verse 13.

“No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, a son of man.”

Now, here is a profound, if somewhat puzzling, verse. Let’s start with the simplest part: the last phrase. This is the second time we’ve seen the title “son of man” in this gospel. It’s Jesus’s favorite title for himself in all the gospels.

It’s a title that obviously emphasizes Jesus’s humanity. He was born of humanity. He is the son of man.

But it’s also a title that connects with Jesus’s divinity, even his status as the exalted Messiah, because of what is said about one like the son of man in Daniel 7. Jesus takes this title for himself. Whatever Jesus is asserting in verse 13, he is applying to himself because he is the son of man.

But what is Jesus asserting? There are two puzzles in verse 13. First, didn’t Elijah in Old Testament times ascend into heaven in a fiery chariot? How can Jesus say that no one has ascended into heaven? We have at least one example.

Second, the way verse 13 is worded, it sounds like Jesus is saying that before he descended from heaven as the son of man, he first ascended into heaven. How can that be?

Without getting technical about the Greek grammar of this verse, the solution to both puzzles is understanding Jesus as speaking about humans coming from or coming back from heaven with revelation. In verse 12, Jesus just mentioned the idea of presenting heavenly revelation: “How will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

So the question that arises in the following verse is: “Is there any human who has ascended into heaven, saw heavenly revelation, and then come back down to reveal it to his fellow humans?”

True, Elijah ascended into heaven according to the Old Testament, but he didn’t come back with revelation. Yes, there are prophets who had visions of heavenly things, even of God’s throne room in heaven. But they didn’t actually travel to heaven. They didn’t reside in heaven.

We can confidently say with Jesus here: “No one has ascended into heaven.” That is, no one has ascended for the purpose of coming back with new heavenly revelation. But there is an exception to that rule. There is a human who has come from or come back from heaven, and that is Jesus, the son of man.

“There is a man—the only man—who has descended from heaven to reveal the mysteries of God.”

Here’s a man—in fact, the only man—who has descended from heaven to reveal the mysteries of God. He didn’t need to ascend first. He already resided there. He’s descended to declare the heavenly mysteries.

Trust the One Who Has Been to Heaven

What does that mean? What are the implications? Well, one thing that means is that what Jesus reveals from God in heaven can be trusted completely. After all, Jesus has been to heaven. He is testifying of what he’s seen and heard in the celestial councils of God. He speaks with authority about God’s salvation to mankind because he’s the one—he’s the only man who has descended to earth from heaven.

This also means that if there is ever a contradiction between what the Son of Man declares and what some other man declares, who should be believed? Well, just ask yourself this question: “Has the other person ascended and descended from heaven?” No. Well, then I think we know who has the credentials here.

There are a lot of people who have claimed to have visited heaven and come back with revelation across history, even in recent times. But Jesus actually did descend from heaven with revelation, and he had the words and the miraculous works to prove it.

So what should you do? Listen to the one descended from heaven. Don’t proudly assert your own religious ideas against the revelation of the Son of Man. If your thoughts and feelings ever contradict what is in the Son of Man’s word—Jesus’s word—well, just remember that he’s been to heaven and you haven’t.

“If your thoughts and feelings contradict the Son of Man’s word, just remember he’s been to heaven and you haven’t.”

And that’s a truth that should both humble you and also comfort you. It should humble you because you must admit you need the revelation of the Son of Man to understand rightly the things of God. You will not get there on your own. You come from a corrupted place due to your flesh. You need the Son of Man to set the record straight.

But it should also comfort you because when you do this, when you humble yourself and receive and believe the Lord’s word, what Jesus declares is so kind, so beautiful, so wonderful it’s almost hard to believe it’s true. It’s balm for your soul and it’s salvation.

The Bronze Serpent and the Lifted-Up Son of Man

The final verses of our text, verses 14 to 15, begin to transition us to this unveiling of God’s heavenly mysteries. In these verses, we see again why Jesus is perfectly suited to serve as God’s revelator, God’s explainer. Just like John once said. But we also see—or rather, we begin to see—just how unexpected the glorious plan of God’s salvation is.

Look at verses 14 and 15.

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up so that whoever believes in him have eternal life.” Jesus is alluding here in these two verses to an event of Old Testament history, and it’s the one that we read about in the account earlier in our service: Numbers 21:4-9. We won’t reread it now, just summarize.

In Numbers 21:4-9, the people of Israel set out to enter the promised land again after 40 years of wilderness wandering. Remember, they tried the first time. They wouldn’t go in, and God said, “I’m not letting you go in now. You got to go 40 years in the wilderness.” Well, that time it expired. That generation had died, replaced by a new generation, and they’re going to go back in.

However, God did not take them straight up into Canaan like he did the first time. He took them the long way, going southeast around the land of Edom. And the text says that the people became impatient because of the journey, and they then complained. They complained against God. They complained against Moses, who was God’s appointed leader.

Now, God hates to see the sin of complaining, especially after he’s done so much in kindness for his people. What does God do? He sends fiery serpents among the people. Fiery doesn’t mean that they were breathing fire or they were on fire. It could refer to the coloration of the serpents or to the burning sensation of the snake’s bites, likely due to venom.

Whatever fiery means exactly, these snakes were no joke because the text says that many people died after being bitten by these snakes.

The people of Israel quickly realize their sin, and they confess it to Moses, and they ask for Moses to intercede to God for them. Moses does so, and God responds with a saving solution. God tells Moses to fashion an image of a fiery serpent out of bronze and to put it up on a standard, lifted up above the whole camp of Israel.

So anyone who was bitten, no matter where they were in or around Israel’s camp, they could look at this bronze serpent, which was the very image of death, and they would miraculously live. That was the design, and that’s exactly what happened according to Numbers 21:9. Numbers 21:9 says: “It came about that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.”

Well, in John 3:14, Jesus applies a picture from that Old Testament event to himself. He says: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up.”

Okay, but what does that mean? Nicodemus and Jesus’s disciples probably didn’t understand Jesus’s meaning right away. But here is another cryptic foretelling of Jesus’s death on the cross. Rome always made sure to elevate the victims of crucifixion, put them up on the two pieces of wood, and put it nice and high so that as many people could see the victim as possible. And then get the message: “Don’t mess with Rome. We’re going to lift up this criminal nice and high.”

And Jesus was saying, “Like the bronze serpent, I, the son of man, will also be physically elevated to a position that everyone can see, and I will become the very symbol of death. But just as the lifting up of the serpent was purposeful, so is Jesus being lifted up on the cross.”

Because verse 15 adds: “So that whoever believes in him have eternal life.” This is really another parallel to the Numbers 21 event. When people looked to the bronze serpent after being bitten, really suffering the penalty of their own sin, they were looking to the serpent with a kind of faith, trusting that God would heal them by means of looking to this raised serpent, and that God would grant them physical life, which is what the text says God did.

“Whoever looks to the lifted-up Christ in faith will obtain not just physical life but eternal life.”

Jesus says the same will be true of him, but in a greater way. When Jesus is lifted up on the cross for his people’s sins, he declares that whoever looks to him in faith, whoever believes in Jesus, will obtain not just physical life but eternal life.

And that’s an interesting phrase. I think it’s the first time we see it in this gospel. The original Greek for eternal life is “zoe aionios,” literally “life of an age,” the age there in mind is the everlasting age of God’s Messiah’s kingdom. When you look to the lifted-up son of man, you will gain the everlasting life that comes from God’s blessed kingdom.

The Cross: Shame and Glory Together

What is this? What strange revelation this is! What will happen to the Christ, the son of man, the Son of God? And not just what will happen, but notice verse 14: “It must happen.” Literally, it is necessary. It is necessary that the son of man be lifted up this way.

No Jew ever expected this of their coming king. Which is why you must listen to the one descended from heaven above your own preconceived religious ideas. He just says, “You’ve got to be ready to readjust your thinking. This is the revelation of God from heaven.”

Why would God do this with his own son for sinners? Verse 16 and following will tell us more and kind of pull back further the curtain of God’s heavenly mysteries. But we already get an answer here in verses 14 to 15.

You see, “lifted up” as a term has another meaning, doesn’t it? To lift up can mean, on the one hand, to raise something or someone up physically. On the other hand, lifting or lifting up can mean to raise someone up figuratively—that is, to exalt, to glorify.

Both Jesus and our author, the disciple John, love to use words with poignant double meanings. I pointed out a number of them already in our study of this gospel. We definitely see another one of those here in these verses.

It is precisely in the son of man being lifted up in shame before the onlookers of his crucifixion that the son of man would be lifted up before all people in glory, all people of the earth. Thus, it was necessary. It was necessary for the son of man to be lifted up in this way because he is the Son of God, and he must be glorified.

It’s not just necessary to save sinners. It is necessary for the glorification of God. The son of man must be lifted up. You’re going to see this theme throughout this gospel. The cross is not some sort of shameful thing that we just want to get past as quickly as possible. No, Jesus is going to keep talking about it, and John’s going to keep talking about it as the way God was going to glorify himself through the Son.

“The cross is not some shameful thing to get past quickly. The cross is the Son’s glory.”

The cross is the son’s glory. Now, talk about unexpected revelation! The Jews could never conceive of a cursed Messiah. Their law says, “Cursed is any man who hangs upon a tree.” There’s no way God would ever let the Messiah be that.

But is that what God said, or is that what was man’s own idea? That was man’s idea. Jesus shows us that God’s ways are not man’s ways. The Lord’s salvation plan takes place in a very unexpected way.

Believe the One Descended from Heaven

But are you ready for that? Are you willing to believe that? And not just that, but all the other things about God’s revelation that might be unexpected? Are you willing to listen to the one descended from heaven and even to believe in him as the crucified yet glorified king of your life?

This is the central question. I hope that the answer is affirmative because if you simply hold fast your own religious ideas, you will die in your sins and you will miss God’s glory. But if you will believe, you will behold the spectacular glory of God’s Son—totally unexpected but totally greater than anything man could have come up with.

In addition to that, you will receive eternal life. Believe in Jesus. Believe in his revelation.

“If you will believe, you will behold the spectacular glory of God’s Son and receive eternal life.”

Closing Prayer

Well, at this point, we’ve seen two astonishing truths from Jesus in this passage. Next time, I’ll look at the last two. Closing prayer.

Great God in heaven, how true it is a thought has often entered my mind that no one could come up with the salvation that you have revealed. It goes against everything that man considers to be wise because we’re always, according to our bent of corruption, we’re always thinking about things that will exalt man and not God.

But if you truly are God, if it is truly your revelation, it’s going to be something we didn’t expect, going to be something that exalts you and not us. And that is exactly what we hear from your son, Jesus.

Lord, how glorious is this revelation! How glorious and good is your word! And how great is your salvation! We still can’t fully understand, God, how the Son of God should come to save sinners—save sinners like us.

Why should the one from heaven come down and be humiliated in such a way? And yet we take by faith what your word declares. It was necessary for the one descended to do this so that he could be lifted up.

It was always your perfect means of enjoying your glory and manifesting it to the whole universe. Oh, Lord God, thank you for your salvation. Be glorified indeed in the son, not just in God and what you have done, but when you continue to do in our lives.

Save those, Lord, who have heard this message and have not yet believed. And sanctify those, Lord, who do believe so that they may walk in accordance with the mighty revelation of this heavenly one.

Oh, God, I pray that you would cut down every self-exalted thought from our hearts, Lord, that resist your revelation and resist your way of living. Instead, God, may you humble us so that we can enjoy you and your glory just as you have meant from the beginning. In Jesus’ name, amen.
May 21, 2023
You Must Be Begotten from Above
In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins examining Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:1-21. Through this conversation, the apostle John reveals four astonishing truths that should cause you to give up your own ideas about salvation and instead believe in Jesus. Pastor Dave explains the first astonishing truth of John 3:1-8 as 1. Only the Spirit-Begotten Enter God’s Kingdom.

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

This passage teaches us that entrance into God’s kingdom is not earned by human effort, religious works, or lineage, but comes solely through the sovereign work of God’s Spirit. From John 3:1-8, we see Jesus confronting Nicodemus—one of Israel’s greatest religious leaders—with the astonishing truth that no amount of law-keeping, ritual, or moral effort can secure a place in God’s kingdom. Instead, every person must be “begotten from above” by the Holy Spirit, a work as mysterious and uncontrollable as the wind.

Key Lessons:
1. Spiritual new birth is not something any person can accomplish or contribute to—it is entirely the sovereign work of God’s Spirit, like conception rather than delivery.
2. Even the most accomplished, religious, and morally upright people (like Nicodemus) are utterly helpless to enter God’s kingdom without being cleansed and regenerated by God himself.
3. The Spirit’s work of regeneration is mysterious and sovereign—like the wind, it blows where it wishes, and no one can predict, control, or earn it.
4. Salvation is by sovereign grace alone, which means all boasting is excluded and all glory belongs to God.
Application: We are called to abandon all pride in our own religious efforts and self-made ideas about salvation. If we already believe in Christ, we should respond with worship and gratitude, recognizing that God alone accomplished our salvation. If we have not yet believed, we must humble ourselves, stop striving through dead works, and come to Christ in faith.

Discussion Questions:
1. Why is it significant that Jesus used the metaphor of birth (specifically conception) rather than some other image to describe what is needed for kingdom entrance?
2. How does the analogy of the wind in verses 7-8 help us understand and accept the mysterious sovereignty of God in salvation?
3. In what areas of your life are you still tempted to rely on your own efforts or moral performance rather than resting in God’s grace?
Scripture Focus: John 3:1-8 is the central text, teaching that one must be begotten from above by the Spirit to enter God’s kingdom. Supporting passages include Ezekiel 36:24-27 (God’s promise to cleanse and give a new heart), Ephesians 2:8-9 (salvation by grace through faith), Romans 3 (none righteous), Titus 3:5 (washing of regeneration), and 1 Peter 1:23 (born again of imperishable seed).

Outline
Introduction

Foreign, thank you musicians and thank you sound booth team for all that you do every Sunday. Let’s pray.

Oh great God, may Sovereign Grace be the great theme of today. May we see the beauty of it, the wonder of it. Let our hearts not become proud, Lord, and insist upon our own way. For you conceive a god according to our own thinking? No. God made me listen to what you yourself have revealed, even now from your word. I just wonder at your salvation, that even we might be saved through Jesus Christ. Open my mouth. Help me be able to explain this well. In Jesus’ name, amen.

The Wonder of Physical Birth

Well, it is Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers here. Appropriately, we are looking at a passage today that involves childbirth. My wife and my little baby Benjamin just turned two months old last Friday.

I’ve been thinking about those last days in March in which we were waiting for our little bundle to arrive. I was greatly anticipating his birth. Based on how much he had already grown by the end of February, I thought for sure he wouldn’t last past the first week of March. Maybe he’d be born on March 4th. I mean, the date is practically a command: March 4th, my boy. I thought that would have been nice.

But as I may have even said to some of you at that time, it turns out that the baby had other plans. It wasn’t until March 12th that baby Ben was ready, and he was finally born. But then again, is that the correct language to describe what happened? Is a baby’s birth dependent upon the baby being ready, even his cooperating with his mother to be born? Does a baby have something to contribute to make his own birth possible?

Though we might want to answer no, research from the UT Southwest Medical Center in 2015 suggested the answer is actually yes. Babies help themselves be born. How so?

Not only must a baby eventually move himself into the correct position to be born—which he does on his own once he’s looking for a more comfortable space and Mama’s womb is getting too crowded—he has to move into position. Additionally, a baby ready to be born apparently releases a combination of hormones, chemical messengers basically, and they go to the mother’s brain and basically announce: “Attention, baby is ready.” The mother’s body therefore responds and begins taking action to give birth.

“Only God could design something so marvelous. This is no random function of evolution.”

When a baby’s lungs are fully developed inside the womb—and these are crucial for surviving outside the womb—those lungs release two special proteins into the mother’s womb, which stimulate production of chemicals called surfactants. The mother then supplies these chemicals to the baby so that with surfactants, the baby’s lungs can do their job properly once the baby gets out into the open air of the world.

So really, Mom and baby work together to start up the body systems that result in childbirth. Who knew?

But why does this matter? Certainly the complex cooperation between mother and baby in pregnancy and childbirth is part of the wonder of God’s creation. Only God could design something so marvelous. This is no random function of evolution.

From Physical Birth to Spiritual Birth

More importantly for our purposes today, the Bible uses new birth as a metaphor for salvation. And if all this is true—that a baby contributes something to his own physical birth—then could it be that a person contributes something, however small, to his own spiritual birth? Has science now shown that there is a theological problem with the truth that we’ve come to accept from the Bible?

You could answer that biblical metaphors aren’t to be taken too far; that there’s no knowledge of such medical intricacies back when the Bible was originally presented to its audiences; or that a baby’s contributions to birth are not conscious—he doesn’t will them, so he can’t take any credit. We shouldn’t get the wrong application from that metaphor.

But the real solution here is that when the Bible talks about the new birth of salvation, it’s not really speaking about the point when a child exits his mother and pregnancy ends. Instead, it’s talking about something more fundamental. It’s talking about conception—being conceived, the child first coming into existence inside his mother and pregnancy begins.

Truly, can any child cause himself to come into being or contribute something—anything—to his own conception? Of course not. The baby doesn’t even exist yet. He cannot add or do anything.

“Can any child cause himself to come into being or contribute anything to his own conception? Of course not.”

And the Bible says so: “It is with all those who will receive God’s salvation and enter into his kingdom.” In our next text in the Gospel of John, we’re going to see the Lord Jesus explain this truth to an old rabbi, and in just a few sentences, by doing so, cut apart all self-made religion and all proud efforts to work one’s own salvation.

Please open your Bibles to John 3:1-21. The title of this sermon is “You Must Be Begotten from Above.” John 3:1-21 is on page 1060 if you’re using the Pew Bible.

Scripture Reading: John 3:1-21

We’re going to read this entire section, but only focus on verses one to eight today. John 3:1-21.

“We’re going to read this entire section, but only focus on verses one to eight today.”

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly 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. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is everyone who is born of the spirit.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.

If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the son of man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

He who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.

This is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and men love the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.

Overview of the Passage

Well, what we’ve just read is the conversation between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus. This is one of the most famous passages in the Gospel of John, full of very many famous statements and profound words, but also shocking words. We might be used to some of what is spoken here by now because we’ve heard it so often in Christian teaching. But if we really understand what Jesus says here, especially in the context of that time and to whom he’s speaking, we would realize that he is declaring earth-shattering truth.

This would truly rock Nicodemus’s world and rock the world of the original audience of this gospel—Hellenistic Jews. When we look more closely at what Jesus says in these 21 verses—including Nicodemus, but mostly Jesus’s words—we see that everything that we naturally come to believe about God and about salvation is wrong. What we come up with, what we assume, what we intuit, it’s wrong.

We must radically adjust our thinking about God and about his salvation according to what is revealed in his son. This is why John includes these words for us in this gospel. We, just like the Hellenistic Jews of John’s day, must have our own cherished religious ideas demolished if we are ever to humble ourselves, believe in Jesus, and receive eternal life.

“We must have our own cherished religious ideas demolished if we are ever to humble ourselves and believe in Jesus.”

The passage divides thematically and grammatically into four parts, and we’re just going to look at the first today. I’ll give you the main idea of the entire conversation in presenting Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:1-21.

John, our author—John the Apostle—reveals four astonishing truths that should cause you to give up your own ideas about salvation and instead believe in Jesus. John reveals four astonishing truths that should cause you to give up your own ideas about salvation and instead believe in Jesus.

The first astonishing truth—that’s the only one we’re going to look at today—appears in verses 1 to 8. Only the spirit-begotten enter God’s kingdom. Only the spirit-begotten will enter God’s kingdom.

We’ll look at this together, starting with verse 1 and the first part of verse 2.

Nicodemus Comes to Jesus

Now there’s a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night.

To fully appreciate these verses and the rest of the passage, we need to take a moment to remind ourselves of the preceding context. We call it chapter 2. Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a special cleansing Passover visit. A lot happened there. We talked about that.

Chapter 2 concluded with verses 23 to 25, with this observation: during this week-long Passover feast, many Jews believed in the name of Jesus because they saw the signs—that is, the sign miracles—that Jesus was doing. However, we’re also told that Jesus did not entrust himself to these believers. And why is that? Because Jesus knew all men and knew what was in man.

For these Passover feast believers, Jesus knew that their faith was not genuine or complete. They believed in something, but it was not full belief.

Well, chapter three begins with Jesus still at the Passover feast. And just so happens that a man comes to visit Jesus. Notice how “man” is repeated twice in the first two verses, emphasizing for us that what was just said about man and men in the last verses of chapter two still applies. It applies even here with this new conversation. Jesus knows what is in this man, what is in his heart, and whether this man truly believes in Jesus or not.

Now we’re told that this man is of the Pharisees. You’ve heard of them, right? The Pharisees are one of the major religious groups in Israel at that time, famous for zealously following the external aspects of God’s law, looking good on the outside while they neglected the internal aspects. They were full of dead man’s bones on the inside and all uncleanness.

“Jesus knows what is in this man, what is in his heart, and whether this man truly believes.”

The Pharisees also were famous for adding many man-made rules and traditions to what God actually gave in the Bible.

Well, we have this man from the Pharisees coming to Jesus. And we also get his name: Nicodemus. Now Nicodemus is a Greek name, even though this man is a Jew. Nicodemus means something like “victory of the people.” So while Jewish, this man clearly has some Hellenistic or Greek influence in his family, which is probably relevant for John’s audience.

We also learned that Nicodemus is a ruler of the Jews. That means he is so accomplished, so well-respected, that he was given a place in the Jews’ ruling council of 71 elders, known as the Sanhedrin—the body with political and religious authority in Israel alongside the Romans.

This shows that besides probably being an older man—because to be accomplished and to be an elder, you’re generally older—this description reveals that Nicodemus would have been considered one of the greatest men in Israel at the time.

And what does this great man, this ruler, this Pharisee, this rabbi do during the Passover feast? Well, he takes some time to come visit Jesus. And he does so by night.

Why Nicodemus Came by Night

Now that’s an intriguing detail. Why does John mention Nicodemus came to visit by night? Is it because Nicodemus wants to talk with Jesus, but he’s afraid of what the Jews and his fellow Pharisees might think? Is it the fear of man that causes Nicodemus to come by night? Possibly.

Fear of men hindering true belief and identification with Jesus is a theme in this gospel. We’ll see it again. However, we’re still early in Jesus’ public ministry. Most of the Jews, even the Pharisees, are not quite sure what to make of Jesus yet. So Nicodemus probably wouldn’t have caused a scandal by coming to speak with Jesus. He didn’t really need to fear public scrutiny at this point.

More likely, the reason that Nicodemus comes by night is that he wants, as much as possible, to have a private, extended, and uninterrupted conversation with Jesus about something that’s on his heart.

Now I say “private,” but considering that Jesus is in Jerusalem with his disciples, they’re probably there witnessing this conversation, which is why John writes that. A night visit would have been practical for Nicodemus’ goal of speaking with Jesus.

However, given the metaphorical importance of light and darkness in John’s gospel, there is a hint of something else. There’s probably an intended hint of something more—a symbolic significance of Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night. Because Jesus, as you even heard in the reading, is going to reveal himself as the light.

How intriguing that the teacher of Israel comes to Jesus in the dark. Certainly, Nicodemus will soon prove himself to be as much in need of light as anyone else.

“How intriguing that the teacher of Israel comes to Jesus in the dark.”

But let’s now see how Nicodemus opens the conversation with Jesus. Verse 2, the rest of verse 2.

Nicodemus’s Opening Words

He said to him—that’s Nicodemus said to him—”Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher.”

Well, how about that for a greeting, right? That’s pretty different. Is that even revealing faith in Jesus?

Nicodemus opens by addressing Jesus as rabbi, a title of respect for a religious teacher. Now Jesus was never formally trained as a rabbi. Jesus was not a Pharisee. So for Nicodemus, who is a Pharisee and even a ruler of the Jews, to address Jesus this way is quite remarkable.

Further, Nicodemus says, “We know”—not “I know”—”we know,” meaning Nicodemus is speaking as a representative for a group. What group? Well, no doubt some of his fellow Pharisees, maybe even some of his Sanhedrin colleagues, and even representing the Jews as a whole. Remember, the leaders are basically representatives of the Jews.

It doesn’t say “we think,” “we suspect.” He says “we know”—something that Nicodemus and his group have come to understand and believe with certainty. And what is it that they now know? That you, Jesus, have come from God as a teacher.

Now that’s an important realization, right? Nicodemus and the Jews know that Jesus comes from God. And there’s the—Nicodemus says—as a teacher. You come from God as a teacher. Just the teacher. Compare John 1:49, something we’ve already looked at.

John 1:49: “Nathanael answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the king of Israel.’” Teachers a little weaker, don’t you think? But hey, teacher’s not wrong. And it’s good progress for someone who’s the ruler of the Jews, right?

And what brought Nicodemus and his company to this important conclusion about Jesus? Rest of verse 2.

For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

Nicodemus and the Jews—at least some of them—they’re getting it. They are understanding what the sign miracles mean, what they were always intended to do: to show that Jesus is from God. Only someone sent from God and with God’s power and God’s approval could do these miracles.

“They are understanding what the sign miracles mean: to show that Jesus is from God.”

So Nicodemus understands. The people with them understand. We need to pay attention to this sent one from God and hear what he has to say.

So this introduction certainly is a promising start for Nicodemus. Is this saving faith at work? Well, let’s not forget John 2:23. Many Jews similarly believed in Jesus because of the signs that Jesus was doing at the feast. But Jesus did not entrust himself to them because he knew there was something lacking in their faith.

How will Nicodemus turn out? Well, the conversation quickly takes a surprising turn in verse 3.

Let’s look at that.

Jesus Answers the Unasked Question

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Oh, that was fast! Nicodemus didn’t even have time to ask a question, and Jesus is already answering it. How did Jesus do that?

Well, it’s because while Nicodemus is going through his introductory niceties, Jesus—as John 2 tells us—already sees the heart. Jesus already knows all about Nicodemus. What is one thing in particular that Jesus knows? That despite being a Pharisee, despite being a zealous keeper of the law, despite being a ruler of the Jews, and despite—according to verse 10—being a famous religious teacher in Israel, Nicodemus in his heart is concerned that he still might not make it into the kingdom of God.

“Jesus already sees the heart. Jesus already knows all about Nicodemus.”

He wants to find out from this sent teacher of God—someone who’s clearly sent from God—whether Nicodemus really has it right or not. “Am I getting into the kingdom? Have I been teaching what’s right about the kingdom? I’m not really sure. I could use your reassurance.”

And isn’t this the way in almost every religious system in the world? Even with the holiest people in those religious systems, people are doing their best to do good, to avoid evil, to go through all the rituals. But they never know if it’s enough. They hope that God will accept them in the end, let them into his paradise, but they cannot know for sure.

Nicodemus is no different. He hopes that Jesus has the answers that can bring peace to his heart. But the old rabbi is not prepared for what Jesus is about to say.

Jesus tries to help him. Now notice how he begins: “Truly, truly I say to you.”

That’s a trademark phrase from Jesus. “Amen, amen, lego soy”—or rather, “amane” in the Greek pronunciation—”our main, our main, lego soy.” Jesus likes to use this phrase when he’s about to declare something that is astonishing, hard to believe, but nonetheless must be believed because it’s true and it’s important.

He’s prepping Nicodemus for the first incredible truth to be revealed in this conversation. And what’s that truth? “Unless one is born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Now the key phrase in this verse is “born again.” And I’m going to say a lot about it. It’s going to take some explaining.

Understanding ‘Born’ vs. ‘Begotten’

The Greek word for “be born” is from the verb, the root of which we still see in English words like “genetics” or “genealogy.” Most basically it means “to become the parent of.” In the passive voice, as it is used here in this verse, the verb could be translated either as “be begotten” or “be born.”

How do we know which translation to use? It depends on the context and particularly what is the gender of the parent in mind. If it’s a father, then we should use “be begotten.” But if it’s a mother, we should use “be born.”

This is why, for instance, when ganacho is used in the genealogy of male parents in Matthew 1—going all the way to Jesus—ganacho has the sense of “begat,” translated in the New American Standard ’95 as “was the father of.” But in John 16:21, as an opposite example, when Jesus speaks of a woman giving birth and labor, ganacho has the sense of “bear” or “give birth to.”

We have to make this distinction in English. It was just one term in the Greek.

The question now is: how should ganacho be translated here in John 3:3?

We might say “be born” since just one verse later, Nicodemus will talk about being born from a mother’s womb. That’s female, and he’s using ganacho. So to be consistent, we’re right next to that. Maybe we should use “be born.” That is a major reason why all the major Bible translations go with “be born” in this passage.

However, it may be that Nicodemus has misconstrued Jesus’ meaning. After all, as we become clearer later in this passage, the one becoming the parent that Jesus has in mind is not female but male. It’s God. It’s God himself by the spirit.

In fact, there are other passages in this gospel and in the letters of John and in the letters of other New Testament writers that emphasize the one who gives birth to believers is God, and he is male.

“The one who gives birth to believers is God, and he is male.”

John 1:13 speaks of those who are saved who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God.

Or the passage we read earlier, First John 3:9: “No one who was born of God practices sin because his seed abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.”

Or First Peter 1:23: “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is through the living and enduring word of God.”

What’s the point? “Be born” is an acceptable and accurate translation here in verse 3 and elsewhere in the New Testament. In fact, in English at this point of Bible translation, we don’t really use the word “begot” or “begat.” So Bible translators usually just go with “be born.”

But let’s not miss what really is being communicated here. It’s deeper than “be born.” “Be begotten” is actually better. We’re emphasizing male parentage when we’re talking about being born of God, and that even goes back to conception.

That’s why I titled my sermon the way I have. That’s why I’m speaking here about being begotten.

Understanding ‘Again’ vs. ‘From Above’

Now, what about the next word? Let’s talk about the word translated “again.”

The word for “again” in Greek is “anothen.” And oddly enough, “anothen” can mean either “again” or “from above,” which is why you may have a little note in your Bibles next to the word “again” at the bottom of the page. It says “or from above.”

Anything can be translated either way. How do you know which sense is meant in a given passage so that you use the right translation? Well, the answer is context.

It is significant that in the next verse, Nicodemus will talk about entering his mother’s womb to be born a second time. So that suggests that “again” is the sense of Jesus’s statement right before. You look at Jesus. He’s looking at Nicodemus. He talks about “again.” So surely Jesus was using the sense of “again.”

This is why all major Bible translations go with “again” as the translation here in John 3:3 and in other parts of the passage: “be born again.” Or if you accept what I said before: “be begotten again.”

However, Nicodemus may misunderstand Jesus because “anothen” can be taken two ways. Jesus notably does not mention the idea of “again” anywhere else in this passage. Rather, Jesus talks about birth by the spirit and his abode is above. That would be birth from above.

Furthermore, every time that John uses the word “anothen” in this gospel—every other time, I should say—it has the sense of “from above.” Even just a little bit further down in the passage, John 3:31.

John 3:31: John the Baptist says, “He who comes from above—anothen—is above all.”

So while “again” is an acceptable translation for John 3:3, and our author John may have appreciated the double meaning of a word like “anothen”—he has one meaning in mind, but he accepts that “again” is something else his readers might be thinking about—the better translation here is “from above.”

“Every time John uses ‘anothen’ elsewhere in this gospel, it has the sense of ‘from above.’”

It’s not wrong, but better is “from above.”

You Must Be Begotten from Above

Putting the key phrase together in John 3:3, the best rendering is: “You must be begotten from above.”

There could be a hint of the idea of “again” there, but the main point is “you must be begotten from above.”

Theologically speaking, what Jesus communicates does not change too much whether you understand it as “be born again” or “be begotten from above.” The main idea here—and don’t miss this—is that of new life or regeneration that comes through, whichever translation you use. But I think this phrase is worth clarifying because “be begotten from above” even more clearly emphasizes what is needed to avoid the second half of what Jesus says.

“The main idea is new life or regeneration that comes from above—be begotten from above.”

And what is that? Again: “Unless one is begotten from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

What is meant by the phrase “the kingdom of God”? This is a term that appears very much in the New Testament, either in this form or in a similar one: “Kingdom of Heaven,” “my father’s kingdom.” I’ll just say this for now.

The kingdom of God represents the great eschatological hope of all those who fear God. The Old Testament foretold of the coming kingdom for Israel, over which God’s Messiah and even God himself would rule. The arrival of this kingdom would bring judgment on all wicked nations in the world. It would also bring the rescue and vindication of God’s chosen people.

This kingdom would be a kingdom of prosperity and righteousness. It would be centered in Jerusalem, but it would extend across the entire world and dominion over all people of the world. In this kingdom, the curse on the earth would be reversed. There would be peace and joy. There wouldn’t be war. Even the animals that used to harm one another would—and even harm humans—would be docile.

In short, the kingdom of God represents the promise of heaven being brought to earth and God dwelling with and reigning with his people forever. This was the kingdom hope of the Jews, even in Jesus’ day. And this hope was not wrong. God still is going to establish this kingdom one day.

We Christians sometimes call this kingdom the millennial kingdom or the eternal states. Remember, heaven is not the final destination of believers. It’s the new heavens and the new earth.

But where the Jews got off course in their expectation is about who enters this kingdom and when it will arrive. They thought the kingdom was going to be established right away when the Messiah first appeared. And they also thought—as many Jews still do today—that entrance into God’s kingdom is secured if one is born a Jew and one vigorously keeps the Jewish law, Mosaic law.

But what does the teacher—clearly sent from God—say? Are those the right expectations about getting into the kingdom?

Jesus says instead: “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is begotten from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Without new life, without new birth from heaven, you cannot ever see or experience God’s kingdom.

Nicodemus Struggles to Understand

Now, do you understand what Jesus is saying? Nicodemus doesn’t, which is why he gives his reply in verse 4.

Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? You cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”

Now here, I think Nicodemus is not simply being dense. He’s not scoffingly writing off what Jesus just said as ridiculous. Rather, Nicodemus just cannot quite compute what Jesus just presented. He’s asking for clarification.

He’s like, “Jesus, I need you to explain that metaphor a little bit more because I don’t see how this works. Surely an old man like myself could not be begotten, anothen, born again. Surely no one can accomplish this new birth you speak of by going back into his mother’s womb. So what do you mean?”

“Nicodemus cannot quite compute what Jesus presented. He’s asking for clarification.”

Notice the Nicodemus reply. Nicodemus is still thinking about what a person can do on his own. “Cannot enter his mother’s womb. He cannot force himself to be born, can he?” He’s asking for clarification.

Jesus provides it. Jesus begins providing clarification starting in verse 5.

Born of Water and the Spirit

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Do you notice how verse 5 is basically a restatement of verse 3 with different but parallel words? You see the same structure. You see repetition of many of the words. This time, though, instead of saying “begotten from above,” we have “born of” or “begotten of water in the spirit.”

Now, based on the parallelism, that phrase must have the same essential meaning as what Jesus just said: “be begotten from above” equals “being begotten of water in the spirit.”

What does it mean to be begotten of water in the spirit? Well, the spirit part may seem less strange to us, especially with what Jesus is about to go on to explain. The spirit—the Holy Spirit—is God. So when Jesus says that you must be begotten of the spirit, he’s saying that the Holy Spirit must beget a person, must give a person new life, for that person to enter into God’s promised kingdom.

“The Holy Spirit must beget a person, must give a person new life, for that person to enter God’s kingdom.”

And as I said before, the spirit—God—dwells above. That’s his notable dwelling place. So it’s not too hard to see how “begotten of spirit” and “begotten from above” are parallel. That’s where the spirit resides.

What Does ‘Water’ Mean?

But what about the water? What role does water play in regeneration and entrance into God’s kingdom? This is a tricky question.

Some think that the water is a reference to the fluids related to human physical birth. Jesus would be saying, “You must be born physically and also born spiritually to enter God’s kingdom.” The problem is water is never used this way in any other biblical passage or in literature outside the Bible up to the point of John’s writing.

Additionally, requiring physical birth to get into the kingdom is not much of a requirement because every human qualifies. So that can’t be Jesus’s meaning.

Some others think that water is a reference to baptism. Jesus would be saying, “You must both be physically baptized and spiritually begotten in order to enter God’s kingdom.” The problem here is there is nothing in the rest of Jesus’s words to Nicodemus that has to do with water or baptism.

Furthermore, baptism as a Christian rite did not even exist at this point of conversation. The church doesn’t exist yet. Jesus will reprove Nicodemus in verse 10 for not already knowing what Jesus is talking about. That seems hardly fair if Jesus is talking about baptism. There’s no way Nicodemus could know about Christian baptism.

Much more significantly, this whole passage stresses that heavenly begetting is the sole kingdom entrance requirement. That is contradicted if an external human work like baptism is also necessary. That’s something that you can do. But if the spirit has to do everything, that doesn’t fit together.

“This whole passage stresses that heavenly begetting is the sole kingdom entrance requirement.”

So being begotten of water cannot refer either to physical birth or physical baptism. So what does it refer to?

Water as Cleansing from Sin

Here’s the answer: water represents something else that only God’s spirit can do for a person. And that’s cleansed from sin. Cleansed from sin.

This is actually part of what the Christian rite of baptism represents: being cleansed and made new in God. The baptismal water doesn’t have any special mystical qualities to it that it somehow mystically takes away your sin. It’s just a picture. It’s a picture of what God does with believers. Just a symbol.

The Apostle Paul writes in Titus 3:5: “He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness but according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”

That sounds exactly like what Jesus is talking about, isn’t it? For entrance into the kingdom of God, you must be washed and given new life, which are both accomplished by God’s spirit.

This is not simply a New Testament concept, but an Old Testament concept as well. Listen to what God promises to do for Israel one day in Ezekiel 36:24-27.

Ezekiel 36:24-27: “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances.”

Ezekiel 36:25-26: “I will sprinkle clean water on you… I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.”

Do you notice there that in Ezekiel we have the same two elements described together as in John 3? We have water. We have spirit. And what was God promising with this water? A giant bath for the Jews? No. But a cleansing of their hearts, being made new on the inside. And that is what Jesus is saying in John 3:5.

And an exact parallel to John 3:3. Nicodemus, you want to know how to get into God’s blessed kingdom? You want to make sure you’re going there? I tell you, it must all be accomplished by God for you. You cannot work your way in, no matter how hard you try, because you are utterly sinful.

Doesn’t matter how religiously you dress yourself up on the outside. No matter how many works you do, they are dead works because your heart is corrupted. You—yes, even you, Nicodemus—must be cleansed and made new. Your heart must be washed by God. You must be begotten by God himself. Otherwise, you can never enter God’s kingdom.

Like Produces Like: Flesh and Spirit

Jesus further clarifies his answer to Nicodemus in verse 6 with a simple analogy. Look at John 3:6.

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

What’s this all about? This is just a reminder of a simple rule: in begetting, in producing offspring, like produces like. A dog doesn’t beget a cat, and a human doesn’t beget a cow. Why not? Because you can only give birth to what you yourself are. You can only reproduce what you already are. There is no evolving from one type of creature to another, despite popular scientific notions today.

What does this have to do with the kingdom? According to Jesus, only the spirit-begotten can enter God’s kingdom. Which means, in a sense, God requires a new race of humanity for his holy kingdom. He needs a new kind of human that is spiritual—not that is incorporal, that doesn’t have a physical body, but that is born of spirit with a nature after God’s own.

True children of God and his holy kingdom are the only ones who could be allowed in. But the problem is that is not the kind of race that we are. The human race is a race of mere flesh. Our spirits are dead. This is what we’ve inherited from our first parents, Adam and Eve.

We will never get into the kingdom of God on our own because when it comes to new birth, the only kind of birth we can accomplish is of more flesh. There is no evolving by hard work or willpower or rituals from flesh to spirit. We can’t change our own nature. Only a being that is spiritual can beget spirit.

Which means God must choose to beget you, or you are never getting into his kingdom.

“Only a being that is spiritual can beget spirit. God must choose to beget you, or you are never getting into his kingdom.”

Does that surprise you? That’s what Jesus just said. Does kingdom entry all come down to God’s choice of whom he will beget?

The Spirit Is Like the Wind

Well, Jesus is going to provide one more analogy, which should hopefully help you be less surprised. Look at verses 7 and 8.

Do not be amazed that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So was everyone who is born of the spirit.

And there’s something here in Greek that you cannot easily detect in English. It’s a little play on words. You see, the word for “spirit” in Greek is “pneuma”—p-n-e-u-m-a. Pneuma. We have theology. There’s a branch called pneumatology, which is the theology of the Holy Spirit. That’s because pneuma is the Greek word for spirit.

But pneuma is also the Greek word for wind or breath, which is why we see the root in certain English words that have to do with air, like “pneumatic” or “pneumonia.” Same root.

And the reason this word is the same is because the Greeks saw the spirit of a person and the breath of a person as related. When a person died, when his spirit left him, he was no longer breathing. So breath and spirit, they just saw it as the same. Same word.

Well, Jesus builds on this meaning overlap to show how spirit—pneuma—is just like wind—pneuma. “Don’t be surprised at how the spirit works. It works just like the wind. I mean, they’re both pneuma.”

Experientially speaking, no one can see the wind or understand what it’s doing. The wind is always moving. It seems like it’s always changing. It’s like it has a mind of its own. One minute it’s blowing, and then it stops, and then it starts blowing again, and then it changes direction. You can’t control the wind. You cannot fully know the wind.

That is the pneuma. But you can sometimes hear it. You can sometimes see its effects.

Jesus says the same is true of spirit—pneuma—of the Holy pneuma, especially when he begets a person. You cannot tell who will be born of the spirit or when or how or why. After all, the spirit blows where it wishes.

Sometimes you can see the spirit working, or you can see its transforming effects in a person. But in the end, the spirit and its begetting work in people remains a mystery.

“The spirit blows where it wishes. The spirit and its begetting work in people remains a mystery.”

Salvation by Sovereign Grace Alone

So then, at the end of the first part of this conversation, where has Jesus brought Nicodemus and us? Namely, to the astonishing revelation that entrance into God’s kingdom is not determined by lineage, by baptism, by good works, by law-keeping, by religious activities, by prayers, by giving, or anything else connected to the flesh.

Rather, entry simply comes down to the mysterious choice of God and the blowing of his spirit.

Now, if you’ve never heard that before, you are probably thinking one thought right now. And that is: “That’s not fair. Come on, Pastor Dave. You’re saying that there’s nothing—even the most religious people can do to save themselves—that deliverance from destruction, that entry into the kingdom, it simply comes down to God’s choice? God’s not even giving people a chance? What kind of God does that? Not my God.”

Well, if that’s what you’re thinking, I gotta say, friend: I didn’t come up with this. This isn’t my thought. This isn’t my theory. This is the word. This is the revelation of the heaven-sent one. This is the declaration of the Lord Jesus, the son of God. You can either humble yourself and accept this word, or you can vainly trust in your own made-up ideas.

And really, the only reason you might resist this truth is because you have too high of a view of man and too low of a view of God.

After all, what does all this discussion about the need of cleansing and spiritual begetting presuppose? That man is hopeless without it. Man is spiritually dead, and his heart is utterly corrupted.

Romans 3 says: “There is none righteous, no, not one. No one does good. No one seeks for God.” Not even the people who seem to be doing that, who seem so good and moral and polite and religious on the outside—no, they are just as corrupt as anyone else.

Therefore, fairness would be a holy God leaving everyone in that corrupt state to be judged by his anger forever. But amazingly, that is not what God chose to do. He chose mercifully to intervene with some, to show them unmerited favor, by doing what they could never and never would want to do for themselves: cleanse them, give them a new heart, and give them a new life to believe and follow him.

In other words, here in the beginning of John 3, Jesus is revealing one of the great themes of the scriptures: that salvation is by sovereign grace alone. It is only God’s undeserved favor towards sinners that brings them into the kingdom.

“Salvation is by sovereign grace alone. It is only God’s undeserved favor towards sinners that brings them into the kingdom.”

Which means that if you believe in Jesus Christ this morning and you are heading into the kingdom, how did that happen? The gracious pneuma of God blew on you and begot you unto salvation. You didn’t do anything. He did it all. He gets the credit. You don’t.

This is why the scriptures say: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves. It is the gift of God so that no one will boast,” as Ephesians 2:8-9.

Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves. It is the gift of God.”

Why did God do that? Why did God do that for you and not do that for someone else? No one knows but God. He’s like the wind. It blows where it wishes. He has a reason, but it’s in his mind. It’s nothing that you deserved or earned. You didn’t do anything to receive this gift from God. You could never work for it. But you received it anyways.

You were given a place in that kingdom that will never end, in joy and life and blessing with the Lord forever.

So what should you do? How should you respond? Well, you should love the Lord who did that for you and live for him. You should lift up his name before all for the grace he has shown you.

A Call to Humble Faith

Now, that’s if you believe in Jesus. But if you’re hearing this message today and you don’t yet belong to Christ, you just become a fatalist: “Let go and let God. Maybe he’ll send a little salvation boat your way and bring you into the kingdom.”

Well, here’s the strange truth: the Bible simultaneously proclaims that no one will come to God unless God chooses that person. But also that you must come to God and believe in Jesus today. This does not contradict one another. They go alongside one another.

You have a responsibility. Perhaps the spirit is blowing on you. Now you must humble yourself and take the promise of John 3:16.

See the love of God for sinners. And do the only thing that someone in whom God is working must do: look upon the one in faith who can save you. One was sent to die for your sins so that you will not die, you will not perish forever, but you will have eternal life instead.

Every person naturally and pridefully wants to believe that he can do something to earn his salvation. That is why all the religions of the world—even the fake versions of Christianity—are works-based. There’s some ritual. There’s some amount of works that you can do to bring you into the kingdom. But that is not true.

Jesus has revealed that is not true. Moreover, if salvation only comes by spirit-begetting, why strive after that which does you no good? Why will you pile up dead work after dead works, supposing that it might bring you into the kingdom? Jesus has just told you it won’t.

So stop trying to work for your salvation and come and believe in Jesus. Turn from your sins. Turn from your empty works. Turn from your whole self. Let go of your proud ideas, your self-made ideas about religion and salvation. Let God instruct you and come believe in Jesus.

“Stop trying to work for your salvation and come and believe in Jesus. Turn from your sins and your empty works.”

Well, next time we’ll see that Nicodemus has a hard time accepting what Jesus just said. But that just leads to an explanation of a second astonishing truth, which is what we’ll go over next time.

Closing Prayer

Let’s close in prayer.

Holy God, it is, as the song says, “It’s your grace from beginning to the end.” To your grace we can never comprehend why you drew the ones who ran from you. What can we do but offer you praise?

Lord, when we think about how hopeless, how lost we are without your spirit coming down to give us life, we think about what might have been our road and our ultimate fate. But how you chose in love not to do that with us, not to let us go our own way, but to bring us to yourself, we marvel. We marvel, Lord.

Why shouldn’t hell be our destiny? It’s what we’ve earned. It’s what we worked for. But that’s not what you chose to do. Truly, you are the unexpected God. No one can fathom what you have done. We’re so glad that you’ve revealed it.

Lord, help us to humble ourselves, believe it, believe in Jesus, and give you the praise.

Lord, if there are some who resent this message and want to say, “No, that’s not the god I want to believe in,” God, I pray that you would pierce them, help them to see that their own ideas will never save them. They need to listen to that which is trustworthy, and that’s only what you declare in your word.

God, you are determined to humble the pride of man, and salvation clearly does that. Oh, Lord, let us not resist you and find ourselves broken, but bow before you, come to you, and find that you welcome us in.

Thank you for Jesus Christ. Thank you for the beginning work of the spirit. Thank you for the cleansing work of this spirit. Do that even more, God, in our days so that we may see it and give you glory.

In Jesus’ name, amen.
May 14, 2023
Jesus Confronts Corrupted Worship, Part 2
In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia finishes examining John 2:12-25. John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit to Jerusalem on Passover so that you will not present God with corrupted worship but instead believe in Jesus. After a brief review, Pastor Dave explains specifically how verses 18-25 show why you must come to Jesus with full, genuine faith.

1. Jesus Demonstrates Zeal for God’s House (vv. 12-17)
2. Jesus Offers Only a Cryptic Sign (vv. 18-22)
3. Jesus Knows and Rejects False Believers (vv. 23-25)

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

This passage from John 2:12-25 confronts us with the sobering reality that Jesus sees through every form of corrupted worship. We are reminded that the same Jesus who cleansed the temple with holy zeal also knows every human heart—and will not entrust himself to those whose faith is incomplete or insincere. The passage reveals three instances of corrupted worship: marketplace religion in God’s house, demanding signs while refusing to truly believe, and a superficial faith that Jesus sees through and rejects.

Key Lessons:
1. No amount of miraculous signs will convince a heart that is fundamentally committed to self rather than God—the problem is not insufficient evidence but suppressed truth.
2. Jesus offered the cryptic sign of his death and resurrection precisely because the Jews’ demand for signs exposed their unbelief rather than genuine seeking.
3. It is possible to sincerely say “I believe in Jesus” and yet have a faith that Jesus himself does not accept—the human heart is capable of profound self-deception.
4. Genuine faith means giving up everything to follow Jesus without conditions, not fitting him into a life already devoted to other treasures.
Application: We are called to examine our lives for specific spiritual red flags: trusting something other than Jesus for salvation, habitual unrepentant sin, lack of desire to know God, devotion to idols competing with Christ, and spiritual isolation from fellow believers. Where these are found, we must repent and pursue wholehearted, unconditional devotion to Jesus.

Discussion Questions:
1. In what ways might we adopt a “what have you done for me lately” attitude toward God, and how does the cross answer that mindset once and for all?
2. What are the specific spiritual red flags mentioned in this sermon, and which one most challenges you personally right now?
3. How can we distinguish between healthy self-examination and the kind of terrified introspection the Bible does not intend for believers?
Scripture Focus: John 2:12-25 reveals Jesus’ authority over the temple, his prophetic sign of his death and resurrection, and his omniscient knowledge of human hearts. Psalm 69:9 foretells the Messiah’s consuming zeal and subsequent suffering. Jeremiah 17:9-10 exposes the deceitfulness of the human heart. Romans 5:8 demonstrates God’s proven love at the cross.

Outline
Introduction

Well, it’s good to be back looking at the word of God with you. Many thanks to Pastor Bobby for taking the extra load over the last month or so as Emma and I try to figure out how to take care of our lovely boy. Thank you so much for your prayers.

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer before we hear from him. Speak, O Lord, we come to you to receive the food of your holy word. Plan to deepen us, shape and fashion us into your likeness. Amen.

How Do We Know If Someone Is Telling the Truth?

Preparation for the message today, I’ve been thinking about a certain basic question for life: How do we know when someone is telling the truth? Or to frame the question negatively: How do we know when someone is lying to you?

In some cases, a lie is quite easy to spot. You’ve probably seen a viral video clip of a toddler who’s been caught in some mischief—maybe putting marker all over the walls or going to town with Mommy’s makeup. When confronted by the parent as to who could have made such a mess, the little tyke with marker stains still in his hands or lipstick all over her face says, “I don’t know. Not me.” That’s such an obvious lie. It can be offered seriously, and it’s funny if a little sad.

But while sometimes the truth is obvious, many times in life it’s hard to tell if someone is lying. Some people think that they are good at spotting liars, and they therefore look for telltale signs in the way a person speaks and acts to betray his falsehood.

They might ask themselves: Is he avoiding my gaze? Is he getting fidgety? Is he using more speech fillers like “um” and things like that? Is he blinking a lot? Well, he must be lying.

However, the conclusion over years of scientific investigation is that there is basically no reliable outward tell that someone is lying. A person can act nervously even when they’re telling the truth, and a person who is lying can still remain outwardly quite composed.

In fact, a scientific review conducted in 2006 of more than 200 different experimental studies in which participants were supposed to decide simply based on how a test person was speaking or acting whether that test person was lying or telling the truth found that the participants in all these studies, which consisted of student volunteers and trained law enforcement, could only directly discern truth-telling from lying 54 percent of the time. That’s only slightly better than randomly guessing.

“There is basically no reliable outward tell that someone is lying.”

In other words, there is no easy way to know if a person is lying or telling the truth. Instead, we humans must rely on more effort-filled avenues of truth verification. We have to look for witnesses. We have to look for evidence to back up what a person is telling us. Or we must listen to what that person says over time to see if what he says remains consistent or involves contradictions.

Even these methods are not foolproof, but they’re the best of God. It’s the best we can do in our sin-cursed, vaporous world.

Jesus Sees What We Cannot

Yet there is one person for whom knowing the true from the false is completely easy. It takes no effort at all. He doesn’t need any help. Even before someone speaks, he knows the genuine ones from the frauds, the deceivers, and even the self-deceived from the truly faithful.

He knows this because his eyes do not see as ours do, resting on the outward appearance. His eyes cut to the heart. They look upon what’s inside. They stare at your inner person. Is there a human with such a penetrating grace? There is, and he’s the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, the word made flesh.

“His eyes do not see as ours do, resting on the outward appearance. His eyes cut to the heart.”

We’ve been studying through the Gospel of John, and even in the first two chapters, we’ve seen this kind of knowledge, this penetrating look from Jesus, even in the hearts of his first disciples. You remember when he’s calling them in the first chapters? He’s able to tell: “This is Nathanael. Light in whom there’s no deceit. I tell you your name is Peter. You are rock.” You can look right into the heart.

But as we go on in the Gospel of John, as we turn now to the account of John 2, we’re going to see Jesus’ gaze expose the hearts of would-be disciples, persons who pretend to or even think that they really do love God and seek his truth, but they don’t really. That’s what we’re going to see today.

Our need is this: we want to appreciate our need, even here at Calvary, to be genuine disciples of Jesus, followers who truly believe in him and do not offer him false, corrupted worship.

Scripture Reading: John 2:12-25

Open your Bibles to John 2:12-25.

This message is entitled “Jesus Confronts Corrupted Worship, Part Two: John 2:12-25.” This is true Bible, page 1060, if you’re using that.

A little over a month ago, we were looking at the first part of this passage. Let’s reread the whole section. We’ll review what we’ve seen, and then we’ll examine the latter two parts of the passage together.

John 2:12-25: “After this, he—that’s Jesus—went down to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days. The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And he found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

And he made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. And to those who are selling the doves, he said, ‘Take these things away. Stop making my Father’s house a place of business.’

His disciples remember that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’

The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?’

Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’

The Jews then said, ‘It took 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’

But he was speaking of the temple of his body.

So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name observing his signs which he was doing. But Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men, and because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man.”

Here we are again, looking at Jesus’ first cleansing Passover visit to Jerusalem. Remember, Jesus will have another cleansing visit on Passover in Jerusalem, and that happens right before his crucifixion. But this one’s the first one, and it takes place at the beginning of his three-and-a-half-year public ministry, around A.D. 27.

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

Now our author John the Apostle doesn’t record this visit simply because it was an interesting occurrence. No, he has purposely reported this event because it fits in the purpose, the main goal of this entire book. And we’ve looked at this before.

John 20:31: John tells us why he wrote this book. “These have been written—the record of these specific signs and what Jesus said—these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”

John 20:31: “These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.”

This is chiefly an evangelistic gospel, so that people will believe in Jesus.

The Danger of Less Than Saving Faith

Now, as wonderful as that goal is, as wonderful as the prospect is of believing in Jesus to receive eternal life, there is a danger. There is a deadly danger into which would-be disciples of Jesus can fall. And that danger is that they will believe in Jesus with something less than saving faith.

They will believe, but it’s not full belief. Maybe it’s just intellectual. Maybe it’s just emotional. Or maybe it’s part of the person but not all of the person. Whatever it is, in some way the believer doesn’t go all in on Jesus. It doesn’t give up all to follow him to the end. You hold something back.

Maybe it’s for the sake of sin. Maybe it’s for the sake of his own safety. Or maybe it’s just so he can serve some worldly treasure. A person wants to fit Jesus in his life along with something else.

So rather than presenting Jesus with the full, the pure, the sincere worship that Jesus is due as God, as the Son of God, this believer presents God with corrupted worship.

This believer therefore thinks, “Because he believes, because he’s heard the message and he believes, all is right with him and God, and therefore he is bound for glory.” But the sad reality is all is not right with him and God. All is very wrong with him and God. He is not bound for glory. He’s bound for eternal darkness and fire.

“Rather than presenting Jesus with pure, sincere worship, this believer presents God with corrupted worship.”

Our writer John the Apostle does not want his original audience to enter into that destiny, to share that fate. Remember, he’s writing to Hellenistic Jews. These are people who say they love God. They are God-worshipers. But he recognizes that there’s a belief that they can have that falls short, and the spirit of God does not desire such a dark fate for any of you this morning who are listening to this.

Thus we have this passage to warn us. And the main idea is, as we saw last time, I’ll repeat it: John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit to Jerusalem on Passover so that you will not present God with corrupted worship, but instead believe in Jesus, really believe in Jesus in a full way.

Our passage presents three poignant instances of Jesus confronting corrupted worship, and we saw the first one together last time in verses 12 to 17.

Review: Jesus Demonstrates Zeal for God’s House

This is just review. Number one: Jesus demonstrates zeal for God’s house.

Jesus encountered at this Passover feast what he no doubt had seen many times before in Jerusalem. He saw animal sellers and money changers turning the outer court of God’s temple—which was supposed to be a place of worship for all the nations—into a marketplace.

Having begun his public ministry, Jesus no longer held back his zeal for God. He took action. He made a whip, and he angrily drove out all the merchants and their animals, scattered the coins of the money changers, and warned them that they dare no longer desecrate his Father’s house.

This zealous cleansing of the temple testified not only of Jesus’ identity as the true Christ, but it also made clear that God is a God who will not tolerate corrupted worship in his people, not then and not now.

“God is a God who will not tolerate corrupted worship in his people, not then and not now.”

While nobody tried to stop Jesus’ act of righteous anger, some thought Jesus had some explaining to do. Thus we see in verses 18-22 a second instance of Jesus confronting corrupted worship. That’s what I want to look at together with you today, along with the third instance. But we’ll start with the second.

Jesus Offers Only a Cryptic Sign

Number two: Jesus offers only a cryptic sign.

Jesus offers only a cryptic sign. For this, we’ll start with just verse 18.

It says, “The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?’”

The Jews Demand a Sign

So right on the heels of Jesus’ dramatic cleansing of the temple, a certain question emerges. And notice who’s asking it: the Jews. And there’s that term again.

Most likely, the particular Jews that are raising this question to Jesus are the ones associated with the temple, the ones considering what Jesus just did—they have the most reason for concern. So this would be the temple officials, the priests, the religious leaders, probably the Pharisees and Sadducees. But as is often the case in this gospel, notice John tells us it’s the Pharisees and Sadducees or the priests. He just says “the Jews.” It doesn’t specifically identify which Jews.

And this is probably because John wants us to see that this question from the Jewish leaders is the same question that the Jews as a whole would be asking Jesus again and again. It really properly represents the people’s response to Jesus.

And what’s the question? “What sign do you show us?”

Now remember how John uses the term “sign” in this gospel. We’re not talking about any old symbol or communication, but a sign—a miracle. Every time you see the word “sign” here, or almost every time—I think it’s actually every time—it’s a sign miracle, a miraculous work that testifies to who Jesus is and from where he comes.

So when the Jews asked Jesus for a sign, they’re really asking him to perform a revelatory miracle. What do they want this particular sign miracle to show or to prove? Well, they say, “What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?”

“Every time you see the word ‘sign’ here, it’s a sign miracle, a miraculous work that testifies to who Jesus is.”

So do you see? They want a miracle from Jesus to prove that he has the authority to do what he just did. And what did he just do? He cleansed the temple in a dramatic way, all by himself, without asking permission of anybody.

Now it’s worth noting they don’t ask Jesus if what he did was right or if what he did was necessary. They merely ask if he can prove by a miracle that he had the authority to do what he did.

And why would they care so much about whether Jesus had the authority? Well, this is not simply the religious leaders getting a little uppity with Jesus, thinking he’s encroaching on their turf. It’s more than that.

It’s, as I said to you last time, the Jews, especially the Jewish leaders, realize that this sudden appearing and single-handed cleansing of the temple—that’s the kind of move that only one person would do or attempt to do. And that is the Messiah, Israel’s long-awaited Christ, the special deliverer, the coming king of Israel.

Many Jews have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Messiah. Remember, there’s a lot of Messianic expectation at this time. And so they think, based on what just happened, Jesus might be him. Or at least Jesus might be pretending to be the Messiah.

So as the Jews of Jerusalem did with John the Baptist—remember, they sent a delegation to him to ask him, “Are you the Christ? Or do you claim to be the Christ? Or somebody associated with the Christ?”—they wanted to see what he was claiming and what his credentials were. Well, now they’re doing the same thing with Jesus. They’re questioning Jesus and asking for his credentials.

“Do you claim to be the Messiah? If so, what do you have that proves it? Jesus, after this whole cleansing, you are acting like someone claiming to be the Christ. We expect that when the Messiah comes, he will have the power of God clearly, and he will do great miracles like Moses did on behalf of his people. So let’s see it. What kind of sign miracle will you do to prove that you’re the Messiah and have the authority to cleanse the temple and even rule as king of the Jews?”

This is what they’re after.

Now, you might think this is a golden opportunity for Jesus in his Messianic mission. Jesus, they’re asking you to clarify who you are so that they can follow and believe in you. That’s great. So why don’t you do as they ask? Why not do the biggest sign that you can think of? Prove you are the Christ.

Jesus’ Puzzling Response

Well, look at how Jesus responds. Verse 19.

“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’”

What? What kind of response is that to them? That’d be like answering “What is two plus two?” with “Banana.” How does that answer follow?

John 2:19: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

We can imagine the Jews trying to make sense of Jesus’ words. “Okay, we just asked him for a grand miraculous sign to prove he’s the Messiah, and first he says you all destroy this temple. I don’t know why we would destroy the holy dwelling place of God, but okay. And then he says, ‘In three days I will raise it up.’ So the miraculous sign that Jesus is offering is to rebuild in three days the destroyed temple sanctuary?”

“What? First of all, it’s crazy to think that we pious Jews would destroy God’s temple. And second, it’s crazy to think that he could rebuild that temple in just three days. What kind of answer is this?”

And we know that this is how the Jews are thinking because of the response they would give to Jesus in John 2:20.

Look there. “The Jews then said, ‘It took 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’”

The 46 Years of Temple Construction

Now, you may ask, “What’s this business about 46 years?” Well, that’s a reference to the work that Herod the Great conducted on behalf of the temple back in 20 or 19 BC.

King Herod wanted to curry favor with the Jews, and he also wanted to indulge his desire for building. He loved to build all over Israel. So he embarked on a temple renovation project. He expanded, he built up, he beautified the temple of God. Or he started to.

Now, the temple had already been built. Remember, it was rebuilt under Zerubbabel after the Jews came back from exile. But now Herod is expanding and beautifying it and the grounds around it. He began this grand construction project back in 19 BC, but he died before he could finish it. But the work went on.

In fact, 46 years later, workers were still renovating parts of the temple. I mean, this is God’s house. You can’t just do a shoddy job or leave it unfinished, right? This is for his glory. So they kept going.

The Jews are thinking to themselves, “Who’s this character who says he can raise up a complete, glorious, beautified temple in just three days when we haven’t finished beautifying God’s temple in 46 years?” And by the way, the Jews would not finish their work on the temple before it was destroyed again in 70 AD.

“This is God’s house. You can’t just do a shoddy job or leave it unfinished. This is for his glory.”

You can see, as the Jews respond to Jesus, that they are incredulous. They do not believe what he just said. “Oh, Jesus, we asked you for a grand sign, but raising up the temple in just three days? That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”

But why would we need to rebuild the temple anyways? Your response makes no sense.

The Temple of His Body

Verse 21 reveals that there is a crucial detail that Jesus left out regarding his offered sign, a detail that completely clarifies his answer to the Jews. And let’s see it. Verse 21: “But he was speaking of the temple of his body.”

Oh, that changes everything, doesn’t it?

When Jesus talks about the Jews destroying the temple and raising it up in three days, Jesus is not talking about the physical building. He’s talking about his own physical body.

So the sign that Jesus is offering is not some speedy temple reconstruction, but what? His resurrection. After all, what is Jesus in himself? John 1 tells us he’s the word made flesh. He’s the eternal God dwelling with or tabernacling among men.

Thus, his body is the temple of God. It’s the dwelling place of God, and it’s a dwelling place even greater than the temple building.

“His body is the temple of God—a dwelling place even greater than the temple building.”

Yeah, what does Jesus foretell? His body, the very temple of God, will be destroyed. And who’s going to do it? The Jews, the very people who claim to love God and to love God’s house. They will destroy the greater temple of God.

But what will Jesus do? He will raise it up in three days. That is, by his own powers, the Son of God, he will take up the life he sets down again. Or he will take up again the life he set down and rise again from death.

“You want a grand sign to prove that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God? Well, here is your sign. God’s prophets had raised people from the dead before, a few times in the Old Testament. But no one ever raised himself. That is a Messiah-type move. That is a God-type move. Only God, only the God of life, has the power over death like that.”

So this will be a great sign. It will definitely prove who Jesus is. But this great foretelling is a great foretelling of both Jesus’ death by the Jews and his resurrection three days later. It’s given three and a half years before it happens, and it’s not clarified. Jesus doesn’t clarify it for the Jews, and he doesn’t even clarify it for his disciples, not here at least.

Rather, look at verse 22.

The Disciples Remember and Believe

“So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.”

Notice that it’s only when Jesus actually fulfills this cryptic word about his death and resurrection that his disciples remember and believe. Finally, it clicks. It all makes sense. When they actually see the risen Lord.

And by the way, we see this with Jesus’s other foretellings of his death and resurrection. It’s pretty plain, but they don’t get it. They can’t understand it. It’s only when he arises from the dead that they say, “Oh, that’s what he was talking about.”

“It’s only when he arises from the dead that they say, ‘Oh, that’s what he was talking about.’”

Even on that first Passover trip to Jerusalem, now we see it. Now we understand. Now we believe.

Which Scripture Did They Believe?

It says in verse 22 that when Jesus was raised, the disciples believed the scripture. Now that’s an interesting expression. Because usually when John in his gospel talks about “the scripture” singular, he’s talking about a particular passage, not the scriptures as a whole, but a particular passage.

But which one is John referring to here? We don’t see one specifically identified for us or quoted. It’s a difficult question to answer.

It could be that, though this is not the way John usually does it, John is referring to all of scripture here—all of the Old Testament, what it generally says about Jesus and his coming, his death, and his resurrection.

Or it could be that John is referring to a particular text without mentioning where it comes from. There’s at least one other time in the Gospel of John where he might be doing the same thing.

Perhaps John is referring to Psalm 16:10-11, where we’re told that the greater David would not be abandoned to the grave or see corruption, but that he would know God’s path of life. That is a foretelling of the resurrection of Messiah.

Or maybe John is referring to Isaiah 53:10-12, which talks about how the suffering servant—who is Jesus—will die on behalf of his people. Yet somehow it says he will prolong his days and he will see the offspring that comes from his sacrifice. How can that be? It’s because of the resurrection. There’s another foretelling of death and resurrection in that passage.

But there is another possibility, and this is the way I lean actually. John has mentioned an Old Testament text already in this passage. If we go back to verse 17, our author notes how the disciples thought of Psalm 69:9 when they saw Jesus’ zeal in cleansing the temple, and even quotes it for us: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

At that moment, they realize how Jesus was acting in consistency with that song. “Oh, David was zealous. This one who’s come after David is zealous. Yeah, that’s appropriate for the Messiah, zealous for God’s house.”

But they didn’t realize at that moment just how prophetic that statement and really that whole Psalm was about Jesus.

For this Psalm not only foretold that the coming seed of David would be zealous for God’s house, but that this greater David would be consumed because of that zeal.

Now don’t think of “consumed” as just, “Oh man, he was just really full of zeal.” No, the context of that statement is suffering. The very next line says, “The reproaches of those who fell on you fell on me.”

So when Jesus was consumed, or Jesus will be consumed by this zeal, that means he will be eaten up, he will be devoured. There will be nothing left of him because of his zeal. He would suffer the reproaches meant for God, even to the point of death.

Indeed, at his crucifixion, the mockers would feed him with gall and give him vinegar to drink, which is just what Psalm 69:21 says. This Psalm is foretelling Jesus’ death because of his zeal for God.

But that’s not how it would end. After all, the whole Psalm is a prayer for deliverance from death and for vindication from God against enemies. In Psalm 69:15, the psalmist specifically pleads with God to deliver him from the pit—what is the metaphor for death and the place of death?

The Psalm ends with the psalmist affirming that God has heard his prayer. So then, Psalm 69 is the foretelling both of the death and resurrection of the Messiah. It’s true in a certain way about David, but it was true about his seed in an even greater way.

“Psalm 69 is the foretelling both of the death and resurrection of the Messiah.”

No doubt this was one of the scriptures that became clarified for the apostles after Jesus’ death and resurrection. They said, “Oh, now I understand. The Holy Spirit made it clear to them. They say, ‘This was talking about Jesus. God had always determined for this to be, and he brought it to pass.’ And they believed.”

I think there’s a good chance that this is the text that John has in mind in John 2:22.

It’s hard to be dogmatic with that point. Regardless, the verified fact of Jesus’ actual death and his actual bodily resurrection eventually causes the disciples to believe in Jesus because of the foretelling scripture and because of the words that Jesus himself has said three and a half years before it happened. He says, “Even by these cryptic words, what’s going to happen? This didn’t happen by chance. It’s not some strange but happy accident. This is the work of God coming to pass in the one who is the word made flesh.”

This is more testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you have life in his name. Disciples realize that. We need to realize that.

Why Did Jesus Respond This Way?

But let’s now take a step back and consider this whole exchange in verses 18 to 22.

Doesn’t it strike you as odd? First, why did the Jews ask for a new sign? Wasn’t the cleansing of the temple a kind of sign in itself of Jesus’ identity? Maybe it wasn’t miraculous, but there may have been something miraculous that worked there, and that was pretty significant.

And doesn’t verse 23 go on to tell us that Jesus was doing signs? That is, he was performing miracles, multiple miraculous works during the week of the Passover feast—doing healings, exorcisms, casting out demons. Wasn’t Jesus then already giving the Jews the signs they were looking for? Why were they asking for another one?

Second, why does Jesus respond to the Jews the way that he does? Why not point them to the miracles that he’s done elsewhere? Why not point them to the miracle at Cana or the other miracles he’s doing in Jerusalem to verify his authority, to prove his messiahship? And why not offer them some new spectacular miraculous sign right then and there?

If they’re asking for him, why not give it to him? Make the temple lift off the ground and hover in the air or something. Wouldn’t that just settle the issue?

Sure, the coming resurrection is a pretty amazing sign, but even that—why not explain it to them? Why leave the Jews confused about it? They think you’re talking about the building. In fact, we see from the other gospels that three years later at his crucifixion, or right before it, many of the Jews will accuse Jesus based on this statement right here, that he threatens to destroy the temple and then rebuild a new one in three days. They will use that to mock and accuse him because Jesus doesn’t clarify his words.

“Wasn’t the cleansing of the temple a kind of sign in itself? Wasn’t Jesus already giving the Jews the signs they were looking for?”

What he says will be continually misunderstood, misremembered, and even purposely twisted against Jesus. Why let them do that?

The Root Problem: Unbelief

Well, the answer to all these questions is the same. It’s because of unbelief.

Though it may look like the Jews are interested in finding out whether Jesus is the Messiah so that they may believe in and follow him, Jesus knows their hearts. He sees what’s going on within. He knows that no matter what new sign he does, the Jews as a whole will not believe.

And why not? Two reasons, at least.

The first is because it will never be enough. Every time he does a sign, they will say, “That was great. What a mighty work of God. But what else you got?” Like the ancient Hebrews in the wilderness who kept turning away from God no matter how many miraculous deliverances he provided for them, so the Jews of Jesus’ day have adopted the same attitude. Basically, a “what have you done for me lately” approach with God and with the Son of God.

“Sure, Jesus, I’ll believe in you as the Messiah as long as you keep cranking out those miracles. But when they stop, or when they stop impressing me, well then I’m going to stop following. Because hey, a true Messiah just keeps on doing miracles for his people.”

And this really flows into a second main reason why the Jews, or rather why Jesus knows that signs will not lead to true faith in the Jews as a whole. Because the Jews are ultimately not looking for what the signs point to, but just the signs themselves.

“The Jews are ultimately not looking for what the signs point to, but just the signs themselves.”

“Hey, Jesus, are you ready to provide us with miraculous food? How about total health and wealth going forward? How about a mighty miraculous deliverance from the Romans? After all, if you’re really the Messiah, you’ll do these things for us, won’t you?”

This is what we see is going on with the Jews from other parts of the Gospels.

See, the Jews aren’t ultimately interested in God himself, and they’re certainly not interested in repentance. They don’t think they need forgiveness, deliverance from sin, salvation. What they think they need is a comfortable life to serve their own desires and idols.

They pretend to love God. They may think they really do love God. But really, they love themselves.

So as long as God, as long as Jesus serves their agenda, oh, they’re on board with him. But when he stops, or when he does or says something they don’t like, well then he’s dead to them. Literally.

Jesus isn’t going to play this game. In fact, never in his ministry, when somebody asked Jesus for a sign to prove who he is or to show his authority, he never agrees to that demand. He never produces a sign on demand.

And to those who ask, basically his response is this: “You want signs? I’ve already provided enough. If you don’t think it’s enough, it’s because you are wicked and spiritually adulterous. Nothing is going to satisfy you. Therefore, for you, I will offer one other sign. But I will only offer this cryptic one that exposes who you really are. You don’t want the truth, so I won’t bother explaining it to you. But others will know eventually.”

“You who say you love God and his temple, I tell you, you will kill me. You will destroy God’s greater temple. But I will raise it from the dead. I will raise my own body from the dead three days later. And in that day, it will be obvious to those with spiritual sight who I am and who you are. I am the Christ and the Son of God. But you, you are sons and daughters of the devil.”

Application: Do You Respond Like the Jews?

Before we go on, we should pause a moment and reflect on what Jesus’ ancient words mean for us today. This is the living and active word of God. It’s timeless and it does speak to us in the way that we need.

You should ask yourself: Do you respond to Jesus in a way similar to the way the Jews do here?

Have you been hesitant to become a Christian, to follow Jesus, to go all in on Jesus, because you’re not sure he’s provided enough evidence yet for you to trust him? You’re not sure that there is a God, that he is the God of the Bible, and not sure that Jesus is God or that he is the Christ.

After all, you have questions. You think God has some explaining to do about how things have transpired in your life. Really, you’d like to believe, but God just hasn’t provided enough signs to you yet.

Maybe if he spoke to you in a vision, or maybe if he suddenly healed you from a disease, or maybe if he delivered you from the problems of your life, well then you’d believe.

If that’s the way you’re thinking, you’ve got to banish that kind of thinking from your mind. Because like the Jews, you’re only kidding yourself.

The Bible says that you already know that God exists and that he’s the God of the Bible. God has made himself obvious to you through his work in creation, his work in your conscience, and in the good providence he’s exercised on your behalf in life. You don’t really need more evidence. You need to stop suppressing the evidence that God has already given you.

“You don’t really need more evidence. You need to stop suppressing the evidence God has already given you.”

And you don’t ultimately need God to deliver you from your problems. You need God to deliver you from sin, from death, from the wrath that hangs over you from God, which can only happen through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God Has Already Proven His Love

Or maybe you do already believe, but your relationship with God is not as it should be. It’s really shriveled over the years. You don’t feel close to Jesus anymore. Once you were excited to read the Bible, pray, evangelize, fellowship with the church. Not now.

After all, your life has taken some turns you didn’t expect. You love God, but you’re not sure he loves you. After all, why otherwise would he let these difficult things happen to you?

If you’re like, “God has let you down. He’s betrayed you. Really, think God’s got to make it up to you before you can trust him again.” Is that how you feel?

I urge you, you got to turn from that ungodly kind of thinking. Because God doesn’t need to prove his love to you. He’s already proven it. How? In the most obvious way he can: in sending Jesus, his son, to die for you on the cross. There’s no greater way he can demonstrate his love.

That’s exactly what the scripture says: “God demonstrates his own love in this: that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8: “God demonstrates his own love in this: that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

And he promises in his word he’s never going to leave or forsake you. He clarifies that he uses even the painful trials he brings into your life for your good. They are evidences of his love, not his lack of love.

You don’t need new evidence of God’s love for you in your life. You need to believe what he’s already said and what he’s already done for you.

Got to get rid of this flesh-driven “what have you done for me lately” attitude with God. “Yeah, I remember, God, you did some nice things for me in the past. But that’s different from now. I don’t like what’s going on now. I don’t think you love me now.”

Get rid of that ungodly thinking. That’s just pride. That’s a refusal to trust God. Take on a biblical mind again. Let God tell you what he has done, is doing, and will do, and live by faith.

I know sometimes it looks like, it feels like God doesn’t love you. What does the scripture say? “You have a more sure word.” We have the more sure word, which you would do well to pay attention to as a lamp in a dark place. Your experiences are going to be all over the place. But what you can trust without reservation? What God says in his word.

Look at the Psalms. We were just singing about some of the things that they say. Christians have trials. But let the trials drive you to God, not away from God. That’s what he’s meant for them to do. Hold on by faith to God. Wait for his deliverance. Do not slip into corrupted worship that says, “I don’t see a God, so therefore I’m not going to trust.” That is corrupted worship, and it only makes you miserable, and it certainly dishonors God and invites his discipline.

“Let the trials drive you to God, not away from God. That’s what he’s meant for them to do.”

Jesus Knows and Rejects False Believers

Well, we’ve seen a second instance of Jesus confronting corrupted worship in our passage. But there’s one more. Let’s look at the last in verses 23 to 25.

This is number three: Jesus knows and rejects false believers.

Jesus knows and rejects false believers. Verse 23.

Many Believed, But Jesus Did Not Entrust Himself

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feasts, many believed in his name observing his signs which he was doing.

Well, here we get a summary of Jesus’ activity during this first Passover feast. At first glance, it sounds very positive. Look, many are seeing the miracles of Jesus, and they’re believing in his name. Wonderful! That’s just like what John’s gospel was intended to do, as a whole, right?

John writes about these signs. John tells us about what Jesus did so that we will believe in the name of Jesus. Look, it’s already happening in Jerusalem. Jews are believing in Jesus as Messiah. Glory Hallelujah!

But then there’s verse 24 and 25.

“But Jesus on his part is not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man.”

It’s an interesting facet to the original Greek here. A word for “believe” in verse 23 is “pisteuō,” from “pistis,” meaning faith or faithful. The word for “entrusting” in verse 24 is actually the same word. It’s also “pisteuō,” but it has to be translated differently in English because there’s a reflexive attached to it. It says “entrusting himself.” The “himself” part means it has to be translated differently.

But we could preserve the repetition in language with an alternate translation something like this: “Many trusted in his name, but Jesus was not entrusting himself to them.”

“Many trusted in his name, but Jesus was not entrusting himself to them.”

That’s poignant, isn’t it? Why not? They’re believing in you, Jesus. Why aren’t you accepting that?

The rest of the two verses gives the answer, emphatically saying the same thing three different ways.

Jesus knew all men. He didn’t just look at the outside. He didn’t just listen to words. He didn’t just pay attention to body language to see if these believers were sincere. He didn’t even need witnesses. He didn’t need someone to give testimony on behalf of someone else and say, “Oh, Jesus, Jim is a great guy. You really should accept him.”

No, Jesus always sees the heart. He knows every person inside and out. And for the masses who were supposedly believing in him at this first Passover, he himself knew what was in them.

The Deceitful Human Heart

And what is naturally in all people? We’re going to see it more in John 3: a love for the darkness and a hatred for the light, a love for sin and a hatred of righteousness, a love for self and a hatred of God.

Jeremiah 17:9 says famously that the human heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick. That means it is possible for us—yes, even us, we humans—to continue to love ourselves, exalt ourselves, even while we try to convince others, we try to convince ourselves, we’d even try to convince God that we love him. We can try to do both at the same time.

Jeremiah 17:9: “The human heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick.”

We might even be willing to believe in Jesus, become a Christian. But Jeremiah 17:10 says, “I, the Lord—that is, I, Yahweh—search the heart. I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.”

Jesus knew that the faith, the belief of those believing in him at Passover was suspect. There was something wrong with it, something incomplete about it. It was not reliable. These people thought they were giving themselves to Jesus, and they were just kidding themselves.

He knew their hearts, and so he didn’t give himself to them. He didn’t open himself to them. He didn’t accept and welcome them.

What was true then is still true now. Jesus is God. God does not change. He’s just as holy and right and good now as he was at this first Passover feast.

Which means Jesus still knows and rejects false believers.

The Terror of Thinking You Are Saved When You Are Not

It is possible for you, even some of you here this morning, to say—and you mean it—”I believe in Jesus.” I still have Jesus say, “I don’t believe in your belief.”

On the last day, the day of judgment, Jesus has already told us that there will be some who will experience the utter anguish of thinking they will be led into the kingdom of God, but only to hear rejection from Jesus.

They will say to him, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do so much religious activity for your sake?” And he will say, “I don’t know you. Get out of here. You who love and practice sin.”

Could God say that for any of you here? I’d like to believe that won’t be the case. But I don’t know you. Only Jesus can see into your heart.

I know what the scriptures say: “Wide is the road that leads to destruction, and narrow is the way that leads to life. You find it.”

Don’t think that this is a problem just out there. “Oh yeah, all those Christian quotes, all those false versions of Christianity. Yeah, Jesus is talking about them.”

Now Jesus is talking about us. He’s talking about us. He’s talking about even this local assembly. And maybe some here who are kidding themselves that they really believe in Jesus are actually offering him corrupted, false worship.

Is that you?

I cannot think of any more wretched state than to think you are saved when you are not. You can fool others. You can even fool yourself. You can assuage your own conscience. But you can’t fool God. You can’t fool with the Lord Jesus Christ.

“I cannot think of any more wretched state than to think you are saved when you are not.”

So what should you do?

Give Up Everything and Believe

What I said at the beginning, and what God and by his Spirit, by the spirit of Jesus, is saying to us in this passage: no longer present God with corrupted worship, but believe in Jesus.

It’s time to stop holding back with the Son of God. Give up everything to him. Every sin. Every attempt to gain merit with God on your own. Every out-of-bounds desire. Every idol. Every earthly treasure that distracts you.

Jesus wants all of you. Give all. Give up everything you otherwise might hold on to, and take the Son of God instead. Take his perfect life of righteousness. Take his sacrificial death. Take his transforming resurrection power that causes you to live a new life of holiness. And ultimately, take eternal life. He offers that to you freely. But you have to give up everything else.

“Jesus wants all of you. Give up everything you might hold on to, and take the Son of God instead.”

No longer live for yourself or for anything in this world. Live for Jesus alone, no matter what cost might come with that.

A lot of these would-be disciples follow Jesus for a while, and then they fall away. Why? Because the teaching is not too hard, or because there’s some unexpected suffering that came along they didn’t like. How the Jews said, “Oh, you believe in Jesus? We’re kicking you out of the synagogue.” And they’re like, “Okay, I’ll believe in Jesus, but I’ll be really quiet about it because I don’t want to upset anybody.”

Those are the kind of people that Jesus didn’t entrust himself to. He says, “You’re ashamed of me. I will be ashamed of you whenever I come,” meaning you’re not going to have a part with me.

Live for Jesus. Live for Jesus alone. Don’t hold on to sin. Don’t hold on to a worldly treasure while you attempt to worship God at the same time. He’s not going to accept that.

Be willing to suffer righteously, no matter what he brings into your life. He’s going to use it for good. He’s going to use it for his glory. But to be a disciple of Jesus means that you will suffer. If you’re not prepared for that, if you’re not willing to do that, then you might have a faith that does not save.

Don’t come to God with conditions. Don’t say, “God, I’ll follow you as long as you don’t do this, as long as you don’t require this, as long as you don’t touch this thing in my life. I’ll follow you.”

Come to God without conditions. Let him set the conditions. Believe in Jesus. What will you find? Eternal life. That’s what John is saying. “Believe in the name of Jesus truly, and you have eternal life in his name. You have forgiveness. You have peace with God.”

That can be yours. But you must truly believe.

Examining Yourself: Spiritual Red Flags

Now one more word before we close. It is good—the Bible says it is good for us to examine ourselves as to whether we are in the faith. We see that in 2 Corinthians 10.

However, do not misunderstand. The Bible does not teach that we Christians are to walk in terrified introspection, being like, “I think I’m saved, but I have no idea. I could be wrong.”

No, the Bible’s very practical about this. If you have something in your life that is a red flag, a spiritual red flag, you need to address that because that should give you doubt as to whether you really belong to Jesus.

Don’t just be like, “I have no idea. I don’t see anything, but maybe I’m wrong.”

No, be honest with yourself. Be honest with what God says in the description and say, “Oh, God says that if I’m walking this way, that’s not how a Christian walks. That’s something I need to address because maybe I’m presenting God with corrupted worship.”

It’s very practical. Ask yourself questions like these:

Red Flag: Trusting Something Other Than Jesus

Do I believe the biblical gospel, or am I trusting in something other than Jesus to save me, to make me right with God? If it’s the latter, that’s a red flag.

“Do I believe the biblical gospel, or am I trusting in something other than Jesus to make me right with God?”

Red Flag: Habitual Sin Without Repentance

Am I walking in growing holiness with Jesus? I’m not perfect. I still sin, but I repent. I turn from it. I’m putting these things to death.

Or is your life marked by habitual and heinous sin, and you just keep falling back into it? But you’re not really interested in going all out to overcome it. You’re not looking for help from other people in the church. Just keep on sinning. “Oh, did it again. Well, I’m a sinner. God forgives me.”

That’s a red flag. That’s the spiritual red flag that you need to pay attention to because this verse—John tells us, the same writer who writes John, this gospel—those who belong to God, they don’t walk in sin. They do not practice sin.

What characterizes them? If something’s dominating your life, sin like that? You might be presenting God with corrupted worship.

“Those who belong to God do not practice sin. If sin is dominating your life, you might be presenting God with corrupted worship.”

Red Flag: No Desire to Know God

Do you have a desire to know God more and to become more like him? Or is it the thing that you never really can get around to? “Oh, I’m too busy. Oh, I don’t have time for church. Don’t have time for the Bible. Don’t have time to serve. I got all these other things going on in my life.”

If it’s the latter, that’s a red flag. Jesus said, “Seek me first. All these other things will be added unto you. Why are you so worried about all that stuff? I’ll take care of it. Yes, be a good steward, but seek me first.”

Matthew 6:33: “Seek me first. All these other things will be added unto you.”

Like a newborn, desire the pure milk of the word. If you don’t desire it, if you don’t care to know Jesus more, what’s got your attention instead?

Red Flag: Devoted to Something More Than Jesus

It’s another question. Ask yourself: Are you devoted to something else in your life more than Jesus?

We raise this a lot in Sunday school and different sermons. But what captures your time and attention the most? What do you love to talk about? What do you love to think about? Where do you spend your money? These can tell you what you really value most in your heart.

Is it Jesus? Or if it’s competing with Jesus, that’s a red flag.

God does not accept syncretism. You cannot serve God and money, he says. You cannot serve God and an idol at the same time. If something else is taking your mind, heart, and affection instead of God, that is an idol that you need to repent of because otherwise you could be presenting God with corrupted worship.

“God does not accept syncretism. You cannot serve God and an idol at the same time.”

Red Flag: Spiritual Isolation from Believers

Let me give you one more: Are you living an open life before the brethren you fellowship with them? And not just “hi, see you on Sunday,” but you are getting to know other people, and they are getting to know you. They get to know your struggles. They’re learning how to pray for you. They’re learning how to encourage you, instruct you, correct you.

Or you just keep yourself away from believers because they’re not going to understand me. They’re judgmental. I don’t really want to be around them. That’s too much work.

That is a red flag.

I quote this verse a lot, but there’s a verse in Proverbs that says, “He who separates himself seeks his own desire and quarrels against all sound judgment.”

The reason you’re not allowing yourself to be around people could be because you have an idolatrous desire that you want to serve. You don’t really want other people to know about. Even if that’s not the case, it is such spiritual foolishness to be a Lone Ranger Christian.

If you’re not really going to be around other believers, if you’re not really going to let them speak into your life, you can easily fall into sin. That’s why Hebrews says, “We are to encourage one another day after day as long as it is called today. Why? So that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Hebrews 3:13: “Encourage one another day after day, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Hardening by the deceitfulness of sin is the type of thing that can damn you forever. And you say, “I’m fine. I don’t think I need to worry about that.” Then you are arguing against the wisdom of God. You think you’re smarter than God. You think you’re stronger than God.

No, listen to the word. If you find yourself spiritually isolated—either physically you’re literally not with the brethren, or functionally you’re with them but you’re not really with them—that’s a red flag.

Those are the types of things that if you see in your life should say, “Oh, maybe I’m offering God with corrupted worship. He’s not going to accept that. I need to get my life right.”

Assurance for Genuine Believers

But if the opposite of those things is true, I am not—the scriptures are not, Christ is not laying any other burden on you. You can rejoice in your salvation. You can rejoice in offering your sincere worship to God because that’s what God is seeking.

He’s going to tell us in John 4, when he speaks to the Samaritan woman, “It’s not at this mountain or that mountain that God is seeking worship, but God is seeking worshipers who will worship him in spirit and in truth.”

Do you believe the gospel? If you are devoted to Jesus as your number one, if you’re seeking to become more like him, if you’re walking with him in holiness—not perfection, but the direction of your life that is seeking after him—and if you are maintaining a life of living with the brethren, those are all good signs.

Those are the types of things that the spirit of God is going to put assurance in your heart to say, “I really belong to God. I don’t have to question. I don’t have to be paranoid. I know my Lord, and my Lord knows me. And where my shepherd goes, I will be with him. I will follow. He’ll keep me forever.”

“I know my Lord, and my Lord knows me. Where my shepherd goes, I will follow. He’ll keep me forever.”

That’s something that you can rejoice in.

But when you’ve got that obvious spiritual red flag in your life, don’t just carry on. That’s what the Jews did. That’s what resulted in Jesus cleansing the temple.

Let the word of God sober you today.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray.

Holy Lord, we hear a message like this. We consider a passage like this, and we are brought back to holy fear. Or at least we should be. You are not a God to be trifled with. You are not a God for which we can put up a front and then just pretend that everything’s okay.

No, a God with whom we have to do is a consuming fire. Even as we were learning and meditating on in Sunday school today, your holiness, your separateness—it is beautiful. But it also means that you will act in a certain way. You will not tolerate corrupted worship.

My Lord God, may we not test you like the Israelites did, the ones with whom you rejected forever. You laid them low in the wilderness and said, “I will never let them enter my rest.”

Oh God, what a fearful thing that would be for anybody here.

Lord, I pray, if there’s anyone here who has been presenting you with corrupted worship, walking in sin, walking in broken relationships, walking in selfishness and pride, even while they claim to be serving you—oh God, I pray that you’d convict them in such a mighty way this morning so they would turn and repent, find eternal life.

Because that’s the beautiful thing about you: your holiness, your justice is so fierce, and yet your love is so overwhelming for any who turn to you. You welcome them with open arms. The banquet of repentance is open. You’re putting the ring on their hand, the sandals on their feet, the robe around them, and you say, “Come in and enjoy my salvation inheritance. I give you it all. You don’t have to stand in the corner. You don’t have to do some penance. I give you it all. But you must turn. You must give up all those other things so that I can give you myself.”

Oh Lord, I pray, if there’s any who needs to come to the banquet of repentance today, that they would, and they would see how good it is, how good it is to know you, Lord Jesus, and to walk with you in holiness.

God, do a great work for your own namesake today. And Lord, all things our hearts, may it be that we would be found like the disciples whom you accepted and you said, “Here’s an Israelite in whom there is no deceit,” and not like the Jews that you rejected at Passover, saying, “I know what’s in them. I’m not entrusting myself to them.”

Oh Lord, be merciful to this body, to this gathering, and we will give you praise. Amen.
April 30, 2023
Jesus Confronts Corrupted Worship, Part 1
In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins examining John 2:12-25 and Jesus’ first visit to Jerusalem during Passover in his public ministry. The apostle John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit so that you will not present God with corrupted worship but instead believe in Jesus. In Part 1, Pastor Dave looks at John 2:12-17 and how Jesus demonstrates zeal for God’s house.

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

The cleansing of the temple in John 2:12-17 reveals that Jesus, as the true Messiah and Son of God, is zealous for pure worship of the Father and will not tolerate its corruption. We are reminded that while most human anger is sinful, God’s anger is holy—directed at sin, injustice, and corrupted worship. Jesus’ dramatic act of driving merchants from the temple was not a loss of temper but a righteous display of messianic authority, fulfilling Old Testament expectations.

Key Lessons:
1. Not all anger is sinful—God designed us to reflect holy anger over what truly dishonors Him, including corrupted worship and injustice.
2. Jesus’ cleansing of the temple proves His messiahship and deity, as He claimed the temple as “my Father’s house” and acted with divine authority.
3. God’s expectation of pure worship has not changed—Jesus is just as zealous for holiness in His church today as He was in the physical temple.
4. We have a corporate responsibility to help fellow believers deal with sin, not just tend to our own spiritual lives in isolation.
Application: We are called to examine our own lives for areas of corrupted worship—hidden sin, unresolved relational conflict, or worldliness brought into God’s presence. Rather than hiding these things, we must repent openly before God, seek help from fellow believers, and also lovingly confront brothers and sisters we see going astray. We must not use grace as a license for sin but pursue holiness with the same zeal Jesus displayed.

Discussion Questions:
1. Are there areas in your life where you are bringing “merchants into the temple”—tolerating sin while continuing to worship as if nothing is wrong?
2. How do you distinguish between sinful human anger and the kind of righteous, holy anger that God calls us to have over injustice and corrupted worship?
3. What holds you back from lovingly confronting a brother or sister about sin, and how can you overcome that reluctance in a way that reflects Jesus’ zeal for God’s house?
Scripture Focus: John 2:12-17 records Jesus’ first temple cleansing, demonstrating His messianic authority and zeal for pure worship. Psalm 69:9 is quoted by the disciples as fulfilled in Jesus’ actions. Psalm 7:11 reveals God’s daily indignation against sin. Malachi 3:1-3 and Zechariah 14:21 prophesy the Messiah purifying the temple.

Outline
Introduction

Thank you once again, musicians. Let’s pray.

God, as Moses prayed, we pray again now. As we look to your word, show us your glory. Show us even the beauty of your holiness, even in the zeal of your son. And show us the beauty of the Gospel and God saving us from the anger of God in Jesus’ name. Amen.

When Anger Is Wrong—and When It’s Right

As you can maybe tell from my prayer in preparation for the message this week, I have been thinking a little bit about anger. We all probably recognize times when we shouldn’t have gotten angry over something. It wasn’t worthy of our anger.

For example, we shouldn’t get angry when a piece of technology suddenly stops working. I’m sure you’ve experienced this. Maybe the printer jams right before you need to turn in your assignment, or your phone won’t connect to the internet right when you need to give that person at the counter your information. There’s a temptation to get angry when technology doesn’t work the way we want, even to believe that piece of tech is evil and it’s trying to spite us.

But in our sober moments, we realize these things are inanimate. They don’t have intelligence. They don’t will to hurt us. Actually, they often malfunction because we are not using them properly. It’s really our fault.

But even when that’s not the case, imperfections in technology and imperfections in this world should be expected. Anger over inconvenient technology is really just a manifestation of pride, of valuing your own way and desires too much, and of a lack of faith in God who is actually caring for you, even through the trials, and is teaching you through the trials of technology.

“Anger over inconvenient technology is really just a manifestation of pride, of valuing your own way and desires too much.”

Or another example—I think we all know this—but you shouldn’t get angry when you suffer inconveniences while driving. If you ever unexpectedly hit traffic and you’ve got somewhere important to be, or maybe that person you’re driving behind doesn’t know how to use turn signals, or that person pulls out onto the road at an extremely slow pace so that if you don’t brake hard you’re going to hit that person, there’s a temptation to get angry, even to rage against all those bad drivers.

But what we need to realize, what we really know, is that we aren’t perfect drivers ourselves. We’re causing inconveniences to other people on the road. Remember, you’re never stuck in traffic. You are the traffic. You’re contributing to the problem.

And as naive or reckless or sinful someone might be on the road, whatever others might do, you have done far worse to Jesus Christ, and he has forgiven you. He has been patient with you. So rather than getting angry with others, you are to be humble. You are to be forgiving, as you trust God and drive.

These are just two examples. We can multiply examples like these—situations where our passions get aroused, we become angrily zealous, really for ourselves or for things that are not worthy of such passion.

God’s Holy Anger

But have you ever recognized situations of the opposite problem? Where you should have become zealously angry over something, but you did not?

We are probably used to the idea that anger is always sinful. And that makes sense, because in the vast majority of cases, anger is sinful. The Bible says the anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God.

But we should realize at the same time that not all anger is sinful. Because really, who is the most angry person in the Bible? Who is said to be angry the most often? It’s God himself.

“Not all anger is sinful. Who is the most angry person in the Bible? It’s God himself.”

Psalm 7:11 says, “God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.” Indignation is another word for anger. God is a god of love. This is not contradicting that. But at the same time, God is a god of anger.

Psalm 7:11: “God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.”

And certainly, God is not sinful. He who is the light cannot have any darkness in him at all. So that means that God’s anger is holy. God gets angry over the right things, and he gets angry in the right way. His anger is holy.

In making us in his image, God designed us to reflect the kind of holy anger that he has—that anger even motivating us to take right action, to rectify or to fix that which is truly wrong.

What is it that makes God angry also ought to make us angry, even motivated to change it? Injustice, oppression, abuse, the mistreatment of those who are made in God’s image, even the killing of those persons—sin of any kind makes God angry, in order to move us as well.

Even the great evils of our day that are often in the headlines—abortion, immorality, greed—we are not to just shrug our shoulders at these things. We are to care. We’re to be even moved to respond, because that reflects the heart of God.

God’s Jealousy for True Worship

But more specifically, there is something that makes God angry that ought to arouse our zeal, related to our text today. And that is corrupted worship.

Many times in the Old Testament, God tells Israel that he is a jealous God. And not jealous in a petty or needy way, but jealous to receive the glory, receive the worship, receive the honor that he is due as the only true God, as the Creator.

“God is jealous to receive the glory, the worship, the honor that he is due as the only true God.”

God gets angry when people worship other gods instead of him and worship the things of the world. God gets angry when people attempt to worship him in a way that he did not command, that goes against his Bible. And God gets angry when people pretend to worship him when they are actually walking in sin.

What that means is that God even gets angry when you and I don’t get angry as we should. When there is ongoing sin, idolatry, or worldliness in our lives, and we’re not zealous to repent or change, we think to ourselves, “I’ve got this thing. It’s not right, but nobody else knows. God doesn’t seem to care. I’ll just keep worshiping God like everything’s fine.”

Really, this sin is no big deal. I’m not even sure it’s a sin. I don’t want to parade it in front of people, but there’s no need to get upset about this. If anything, it’s only slightly corrupted worship.

In our next passage in the Gospel of John, we will see afresh how God feels about corrupted worship. And this revelation will come by the speech and deeds of the Word made flesh, of the God-man Jesus.

We will not only see again that Jesus really is the Christ, but we’re also going to see that God—Jesus, as God—is zealous for true worship, true belief in him. And he will not accept anything less.

“Jesus, as God, is zealous for true worship, true belief in him. And he will not accept anything less.”

Setting the Scene: John 2:12-25

Please take your Bibles and open to John 2:12-25.

That’s page 1016 in the Pew Bible. The title of the message today is “Jesus Confronts Corrupted Worship, Part One”—a little different from the bulletin, but similar.

We’re really just going to focus on verses 12 to 17 today, because there’s a lot of background that I want to give to you. I don’t think we can get through the whole section, but I do want to read the whole section to give you the context.

John 2:12-25. Please follow along as I read the word of God.

“After this, he—that’s Jesus—went down to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days. The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And he found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

And he made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. And to those who are selling the doves, he said, ‘Take these things away. Stop making my father’s house a place of business.’

His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’

The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?’

Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’

The Jews then said, ‘It took 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’

But he was speaking of the temple of his body. So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he was doing. But Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men. And because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man.”

Two Temple Cleansings, Not One

In this passage, we see Jesus cleansing the temple in Jerusalem at Passover. If you are familiar with the other gospels, this text will remind you of accounts in Matthew 21, Mark 11, and Luke 19, where Jesus also cleanses the temple at Passover.

There are differences between those accounts and this one. The biggest difference is when they occur. Those other gospels—what are often called the synoptics—record Jesus cleansing the temple at the end of his three-and-a-half-year ministry, at the Passover before his crucifixion.

But here, John presents the cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

Why this difference? Many Bible scholars think that there must have been only one temple cleansing. So either John or the other gospel writers moved it—whenever it actually occurred—to a different spot in their gospel because it served a thematic purpose.

However, as reasonable as that might sound, in each of the accounts—both here and in the other gospels—there are time details around the explanation of Jesus cleansing the temple that are clear enough to show that these events have not been moved around. Rather, the only acceptable conclusion for someone who actually believes the Bible is that there were two cleansings of the temple.

“The only acceptable conclusion for someone who actually believes the Bible is that there were two cleansings of the temple.”

There was a temple cleansing at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and at the end. This partly explains the different reactions that Jesus receives. In the first temple cleansing, Jesus is not yet well known, and the Jewish leaders don’t quite know how to react to him.

But in the second temple cleansing, Jesus has already been heralded as Messiah. The Jewish leaders conclude that they must kill him.

It is therefore a sad testimony—though not altogether surprising, considering Israel’s history—that even two dramatic, full cleansings of Israel’s central worship site does not result in lasting change. He cleanses it at the beginning and has to do it at the end. When he does it at the end, it doesn’t result in change.

This shows why the nation of Israel was ripe for judgment, why God even destroyed the temple in a permanent way so that it has not been rebuilt even to this day. It’s also an indication of why something better than the old covenant needed to arrive, which is really what Jesus brings.

Main Idea: Jesus Demonstrates Zeal for God’s House

Now, our passage—verses 12 to 25—divides into three parts, each having something to do with Jesus confronting corrupted worship.

Here’s the main idea of the whole section in John 2:12-25: John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit to Jerusalem on Passover so that you will not present God with corrupted worship, but instead believe in Jesus. John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit to Jerusalem on Passover so that you will not present God with corrupted worship, but instead believe truly—believe in Jesus.

“John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit so that you will not present God with corrupted worship, but instead believe in Jesus.”

Now, as I said, today we’re just focusing on the first part of the passage. Here’s the heading for verses 12 to 17.

Number one: Jesus Demonstrates Zeal for God’s House.

Transition to Capernaum

And let’s start by looking at verse 12.

“After this, he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days.”

Now, this verse provides a transition between the previous account and the one that we’re about to look at. It starts with “after this”—that’s a reference to what we looked at previously, the beginning of Jesus’ signs, that is, his sign miracles, and that took place at the little town of Cana in Galilee.

Jesus turned water miraculously into good wine at a wedding. And that miracle, symbolizing what Jesus’ messiahship really represents in the calendar of God’s dealings with the world and sending his son—God saved the best grace for last, just like the good wine was saved for last.

Well, after that event, we read here that Jesus went down to Capernaum. Now, Capernaum was a bustling town on the northwestern coast of the Sea of Galilee. And it sat on a major trade route. This is very different from where Jesus was living before—Nazareth, kind of a backwater, nobody goes there.

Now, this is a happening place, at least in Galilee. It’s more cosmopolitan. This would be east of Cana. But it says he went down because Capernaum is by the sea. It’s lower in elevation. That’s why we have that description.

Capernaum will later become Jesus’ primary residence, his base of operations as he does his ministry in and around the Galilee area. It doesn’t look like he’s setting up shop there just yet. We read here that he’s just stopping there for a few days, in route to another city.

“Capernaum will later become Jesus’ primary residence, his base of operations as he does his ministry.”

Notice what comes with Jesus to Capernaum: we have his mother, his brothers, and his disciples. Now, this is the first time that Jesus’ brothers are mentioned. These would be Jesus’ half-brothers that Mary bore to Joseph after Jesus was born.

Joseph has very likely passed away by this point. But the brothers are still there. And Jesus also had some half-sisters, according to Matthew 13:56. So he does have some siblings.

Not much to say about these brothers right now, except that we are going to see them again in the Gospel of John. But anyways, they go down with him to Capernaum.

The Passover of the Jews

Now, why does the group only stay there a few days? Well, because there’s a big event that’s about to take place somewhere else that all those brothers and Jesus are going to want to go to. And we learn about that event in verse 13.

Verse 13: “The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

All right, so it’s the Passover—one of the three great yearly feasts in Israel—and to which, according to the law of Moses, all Jewish males 12 years and older were required to travel to Jerusalem so that they could celebrate the feasts there.

“All Jewish males 12 years and older were required to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts there.”

The Meaning and Origin of Passover

Now, you remember what the Passover commemorates? We’re going all the way back to the Book of Exodus for that. During the tenth and final plague that God unleashed on Egypt—in which God slew the firstborn of every family in Egypt—God passed over the Israelites. And why?

Well, he had commanded them: “You were going to kill a lamb, and you’re going to put its blood on the door frames of your houses. And when my angel sees that, he will not strike down your firstborn. The plague will pass over you.”

Israel did that. And it was also on that night that Israel had to eat a certain meal in haste, because once Pharaoh had seen the effect of this last plague, he immediately sent to Moses and he said, “Get out! All of you, get out of the land!”

The Israelites were previously enslaved and oppressed. They were finally set free on the night of this last plague. God wanted Israel to commemorate not only the passing over of judgment on them, but also their rescue from Egypt—this double deliverance.

“God wanted Israel to commemorate not only the passing over of judgment on them, but also their rescue from Egypt—this double deliverance.”

Israel was commanded on a certain date each year to celebrate a Passover meal—a meal that was commemorative, that was reflective of the original meal that they had to eat quickly. This would include a slain lamb and unleavened bread, because there was no time to have yeast work in the bread to make it rise.

Passover was really the first day of a seven-day feast—the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And Passover was one of the most important, if not the most important, feast for Israel.

Our author John is very keen to mention the Passover in his gospels. Three times he specifically refers to Jesus going up to Jerusalem for the Passover. There’s another reference where he just talks about a feast, which could have been a fourth Passover. Jesus’ three-and-a-half-year ministry could have been four or just three Passovers.

John wants us to be thinking about the Passover. And this first one, he definitely wants us to pay attention to, because something really significant happened when Jesus went up to Jerusalem for Passover.

Why ‘The Passover of the Jews’?

Now, notice specifically in verse 13, it says not just “the Passover,” but “the Passover of the Jews.” Why the next descriptor, “of the Jews”?

Well, some think that phrase is an indicator of John’s audience being Gentiles. They don’t really know about the Passover. They’re not familiar with this holiday. John has to explain, “Oh, this is the Passover of the Jews.”

But I’ve presented with you before, with evidence, that John’s primary audience are actually Jews—Hellenistic Jews, Greek-speaking, Greek-culture Jews who don’t live in Palestine. I don’t think that’s the reason for this.

More likely, the inclusion of this phrase is part of that overall purpose of John—to those Jews—to show that they really need to cross over from the old to the new. The Passover was part of the old system, now fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is our Passover Lamb.

“The Passover was part of the old system, now fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is our Passover Lamb.”

This Passover is not really a Christian holiday anymore. It’s of the Jews. And believing in Jesus means standing with your Messiah, which can result—probably will result—in the same kind of rejection in your life as a Jew as Jesus experienced himself.

The Jews rejected their Messiah. If you stand with Jesus, they’re going to reject you too. But don’t be afraid of that. John is indicating throughout his gospel: a true Jew, a true lover of God, he will cross over all the way to stand with Jesus. He will suffer the misunderstanding and rejection of his own kin if need be.

So there is a difference. The old way, even the holidays associated with it, is of the Jews. Jesus is the completion of that way.

I think that’s why that phrase is there. But regardless, verse 13 tells us that the Passover was near. Jesus, who must perfectly fulfill all righteousness, must totally keep the law as given to Israel. He makes his way to Jerusalem.

Every Jewish male has to go. Like a good Jew, Jesus shows up to Jerusalem for the feast.

Now, “going up to Jerusalem” is the proper phrasing, because even though it’s south of Galilee, it’s much higher in elevation. It’s the capital city. They always talked about going up to Jerusalem, regardless of where they’re coming from.

What Jesus Found in the Temple

Now, Jesus is going to encounter something in Jerusalem on this Passover which is really going to fire him up—but not in a happy way. And we see it in verse 14.

“And he found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.”

We’re going to need a fair amount of historical background to fully appreciate this verse. Let me try to provide that for you.

A necessary part of the Passover feast was going up to the temple to offer an unblemished male, year-old lamb or goat as a sacrifice. The meat of this slain animal was to form a key part of the Passover meal, in commemoration and in obedience to the law.

In addition to this prescribed sacrifice for Passover, Jewish pilgrims may have needed or wanted to present other animal sacrifices—perhaps bulls, perhaps birds like doves or pigeons. This is part of worshiping God, and they would do this at the temple.

However, by this point in history, the Jews have really spread out in terms of where they live. They’re not just all over Palestine, but they are also all over the Roman Empire and even beyond—Babylon and such.

If the Jew is seeking to be obedient to law, he still has to make his way all the way to Jerusalem. But bringing an acceptable animal all that way just wasn’t practical. It’s very expensive, and there’s no guarantee the animal would survive such a journey.

“Bringing an acceptable animal all that way just wasn’t practical. There’s no guarantee the animal would survive such a journey.”

A business develops—or a service, if you want to call it that—in which pilgrims could simply bring money with them to Jerusalem from wherever they were coming from. And they could just buy an acceptable animal once they got there.

The Temple Tax and Money Changers

And not only this: the Passover was one of the accepted times for Jews to pay the temple tax for Jewish males specifically.

Now, where does temple tax come from? Well, drawing on the census tax that God originally commanded Moses to conduct in Exodus 30:11-16—this is when God was separating the Levites and the line of Aaron from the rest of the tribes for priestly, tabernacle service. He originally commanded that there be a tax based on the census.

Well, it became customary in Israel after that time that, as part of doing what God commanded—supporting the priests, the Levites, and his house, the tabernacle, later temple—that every male 20 years old and older would pay a yearly money amount, specifically a half-shekel tax.

So every Jewish male 20 years old and older had to pay a half-shekel tax to support the temple and its ministry.

But there were two challenges to paying this tax. One: there are many different coinages in the world at this time, made of different materials, made of different levels of purity of that material. So whose shekel were you supposed to use?

And the other problem is: not every culture had a half-shekel coin. So how do you pay a half-shekel if there’s only whole-shekel coins?

Well, the latter problem was usually dealt with by the Jews by two Jews paying the tax together. They kind of go in together: “We’re going to pay the tax together by presenting one coin.” Which is why, by the way, in Matthew 17:27, when Peter magically catches a fish with a coin in its mouth, what does Jesus tell him? “Go take that coin and pay your tax and mine.” It’s the way the Jews did it. Two males, they paired up to pay the tax. And it just so happened to be a shekel—the coin amount that was needed for the tax.

Now, as for the first problem—whose shekel do you use?—the Jewish religious leaders eventually decided that they would only accept one coin type for the temple tax. And that is the Tyrian shekel, or the shekel that comes from the city of Tyre, that was minted from the city of Tyre.

Now, why they chose that coin is not abundantly clear, because after all, Tyre was a pagan city. And they even featured images of their gods on the coins. You think that would kind of wrinkle the Jews a little bit.

But likely the reason they went for that is that these Tyrian coins were especially pure in silver—94 percent or higher purity of silver. That’s good for using that money.

“These Tyrian coins were especially pure in silver—94 percent or higher purity.”

But settling that coin problem resulted in a new problem. And that is: well, we’ve got Jews living all over the world. They’ve got all kinds of coins. How do those Jews get their hands specifically on the required Tyrian shekel?

Well, this is where another business or service developed: that of money changing. During the feasts of Jerusalem—the different feasts, Passover and others—there would be those who, for a fee, would exchange whatever coins you had from wherever you’re coming from for the specifically required coin to pay the temple tax.

It’s kind of like the currency exchanges you see today when you’re traveling to another country. You say, “Oh, I need euros or I need yen or whatever kind of currency you need.” There were money changers back then who would do the same thing, so that you could pay the temple tax.

The Problem: Commerce in the Court of Worship

Now, is there anything wrong with having these businesses, with having these services—people to provide animals who are coming from far away, or people to help you exchange the coins that you can pay for the temple tax? Is there anything wrong with that in and of itself?

Not at all. In fact, that seems like a very necessary service. How on earth are these Jews going to be able to fulfill the law without these sellers and these money changers to help them do so? This was actually a great benefit.

Except that two problems emerged with these services. One is price gouging. As those offering these services pretty much have a monopoly on it, they’re able—if they want to—to take advantage of the people coming from far away. They have to get an animal for this Passover sacrifice. They have to exchange their money to pay the temple tax. So who’s to say you can’t rack up the price for that animal or for that money exchange?

The other problem is where these services end up being offered. According to the ancient Jewish Roman historian Josephus, originally, animal selling—these acceptable animals for offering—and money-changing services were not set up in Jerusalem itself. They were set up just outside of Jerusalem, specifically east, across the Kidron Valley, towards the Mount of Olives.

Many pilgrims will be coming over the Mount of Olives, down into the Kidron Valley, and then into Jerusalem as they came into the feast. So it’s kind of like, on the way into Jerusalem, there’s the people who can offer you the animals or the money-exchanging services if you need it. That’s where they originally set up.

But over time, these businesses got closer and closer to where they would be needed—to the temple itself. By the time of Jesus, by the time of this first Passover of his public ministry, where are these services? They are in the temple itself.

“By the time of Jesus, these services are in the temple itself.”

The Temple Complex and the Court of the Gentiles

When you read that phrase “in the temple,” you should understand it as “in the temple complex.” We’re not talking about in the Holy Place, in the Holy of Holies, or the actual building. This would be the whole area, the whole court area around that special building. It would all be referred to as the temple.

When it says “in the temple,” we’re probably talking about the outer court of the temple.

I understand that by Jesus’ time, the temple area has grown considerably since the time that Solomon originally constructed the temple on a portion of Mount Moriah. Mount Moriah is the eastern hill of the ancient city of Jerusalem.

Originally, that’s all it covered. But it was expanded into Hezekiah. It was destroyed and then rebuilt. And then when the Maccabees took over, they wanted to expand the area. And then when Herod the Great took over, he really wanted to expand the area.

So now the temple really covers almost the entirety of Mount Moriah. And if you visit Israel today, that Temple Mount area—that raised platform on which Herod constructed, or rather beautified, the reconstructed temple—it still exists. And it’s a huge area.

My professor who led us on the Israel trip told us one statistic: the temple complex area is the equivalent to 25 to 30 American football fields. So it’s large. And I’ve stood on the Temple Mount, and you can walk around it. It is quite large.

It was designed by Herod and others to not just feature the temple building itself, but have a whole bunch of auxiliary buildings and porticos and beautification pieces that are meant to point to the glory of God, to honor God by the majesty of these buildings, and also to serve practical functions to assist in the needs of the worshipers.

It was really supposed to be a worshipful expansion of this temple area. And you’ve got thousands of people coming in each feast to do these sacrifices. It’s helpful to have a big area.

Now, the outer court was also known as the Court of the Gentiles, because it was as far as non-Jews could go in getting close to God’s dwelling place or offering him worship. Which it’s a little rough, right? You would, as a Gentile, want to go as far as the Jews could go. But hey, you’ll take what you can get.

God has chosen the Jews as a special people. But you can still go to the outer court. You can still pray. You can still praise. You can still have an amazing experience of worshiping the Lord right at the place of his special dwelling.

“The outer court was as far as non-Jews could go in getting close to God’s dwelling place or offering him worship.”

That was the design of this outer court. And Herod and others have provided for that. That’s wonderful, right?

Well, verse 14 again tells us that in this outer court area—which should be the main worship site of the Gentiles, in fulfillment of Isaiah 56:7, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations”—this outer court is now filled with animals and animal sellers and money changers. And they are conducting their business, and perhaps even ripping off thousands of worshipers of God.

With tens of thousands of Jews in total coming to Jerusalem for this one feast, they’re all trying to get to the temple. They all need to get animals to offer a sacrifice and present worship to God. Just how crowded and maybe even chaotic did this court area become?

You can just imagine the sound of it. Rather than prayer and praise being heard throughout this temple complex, what you hear is bleating and mooing and shouting and haggling.

This is what Jesus sees. This is what Jesus hears when he comes up to the temple. You’ve got all these merchants. They’ve specifically rented out space from the chief priests for their little stalls. And they’re applying their trade of animals—selling these animals or offering these money-changing services to people right in the temple.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Now, Jesus surely has seen this before. He’s been going up to the Jerusalem feasts throughout his approximately 30 years of life. But it’s now, once Jesus’ public ministry has officially begun, that he’s going to do something. And we see what he does in verses 15 to 16.

“And he—as Jesus made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. And to those who were selling the doves, he said, ‘Take these things away. Stop making my father’s house a place of business.’”

This is amazing. This is very different than the popular conception of Jesus that we sometimes hear. Jesus is not meek and mild—he’s never upset anybody. That’s not the Jesus we see in scripture.

Notice verse 15 says that Jesus made a scourge of cords—that is, a whip of rope—and he starts driving out the merchandisers from the temple area. All the sellers, all the animals. That whip, no doubt, was primarily intended for the animals so that they can get a move on and get out of the area.

It’s not just about clearing the space of animals. Notice Jesus also flips over the tables of the money changers. He pours out their coins, which is going to make it kind of hard for them to recover those coins.

Interestingly, Jesus does not release the birds—doves or pigeons—so they just fly away. But he does directly address the sellers of those birds and says, “Take these things away. Get your birds out of here.”

And then Jesus gives the reason that’s driving all his action at the end of verse 16.

“Stop making my father’s house a place of business.”

“Stop making my father’s house a place of business.”

See, this is the main problem that is so galling to Jesus. It’s not that there are these businesses, or even that these businesses are charging high prices—though later on, when he cleanses the temple a second time, he will say that the Jews have made it a robber’s den, which probably does point to the price-gouging problem.

But the main problem here is the fact that these merchants have brought their businesses right into God’s chosen area of worship. And they’ve carried on like there’s no issue at all.

There’s a problem. What problem? Jesus has to confront them. He has to say to them: “Don’t—what is this place? Don’t—what complex are you sitting in as you are applying your trades? This is God’s house. This is the place he’s chosen to put his special presence. How dare you think so lowly of God’s holiness that you’re going to take his house and turn it into a market house?”

‘My Father’s House’—A Claim of Deity

Literally, “house of business” is the Greek. You notice the particular way that Jesus identifies this temple: not simply “God’s house,” but “my father’s house.”

That’s profound. Because that means Jesus is not representing himself just as a pious Jew concerned about the temple sanctity as a worship site. No, he is a son concerned about what belongs to his heavenly father.

“How dare you turn my father’s house into your business emporium?”

Now, no Jew, even in the Old Testament, ever addressed God in such a personal way. Sometimes Israelites or Jews might refer to God as “our father” when talking about God. But they would never address God as “our father.” And certainly not “my father.”

No Jew would talk about God as “my father” or speak to God as “my father.” Jesus does. Jesus calls God “my father” here.

His explanation for why those corrupting the temple area better get themselves and their goods out of the place—in other words, Jesus’ statement “my father’s house”—is a declaration of messiahship and even deity.

“Jesus’ statement ‘my father’s house’ is a declaration of messiahship and even deity.”

The Jews will remark about this eventually. He talks about, “I do whatever I see my father doing.” They will accuse him of blasphemy, because they know that is a claim of deity.

I think you can understand by this point that what we see Jesus doing is not some stone-faced, dispassionate display from the Son of God. This is Jesus clearly in passion. He is indignant. He is moved. He is raising his voice. He is disgusted. He is angry with this blatant disregard for his father’s honor, because he loves the father.

Jesus is passionate to set things right in the temple. This is righteous anger. This is holy anger on display in Jesus, our Lord.

Jesus’ disciples notice—which is why we read verse 17.

Verse 17 notes: “His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’”

This is intriguing. According to John, Jesus’ display of righteous anger and holy zeal on behalf of God caused the disciples—apparently right then and there—to remember a certain Old Testament song: Psalm 69.

We read this Psalm earlier in the service. I’m not going to go back and reread the whole thing now. But recall that Psalm 69 is a Psalm of David—a Psalm of King David—in which David laments to God about people persecuting him for his devotion to God and even his devotion to God’s house. He petitions God for personal deliverance. He also petitions God to bring judgment—angry judgment—on those persecutors.

In Psalm 69:9 specifically, it says: “For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who approach you have fallen on me.”

It makes sense why they would think of this Psalm, because it does specifically mention that phrase: “Zeal for God’s house.” David had that. Jesus has that too, as the disciples can see.

But is that the only connection? In this Psalm, Jesus just so happens to fulfill a particular phrase—just one phrase of the Psalm? Is that the only reason why the disciples think of it, and that John brings it up for us here in this passage?

I don’t think so. There’s definitely something more here. I believe the disciples are making a connection that many others who are watching Jesus are probably also making, or at least considering.

How Did Jesus Get Away with This?

Perhaps one of the questions that comes to your mind as you hear me talk about this passage, or as you think about these passages: How did Jesus get away with this?

Our brother Greg preached to this passage not too long ago. He raised this same question, and it’s a good question. How does one guy with a whip drive out scores of merchants from the temple grounds, along with their animals, while scattering the precious money of all the money changers?

Why didn’t anybody intervene to stop him? We don’t see any indication of that in the text. Why not?

Why didn’t any of the temple guards—there were guards around here. That was the chief function of the Levites at this time—why didn’t any of the temple guards intervene to stop what would have looked like a disruption of normal temple operations?

Why didn’t any of the Roman soldiers intervene? There was actually a fortress right next to, kind of attached to, the Temple Mount area—the Antonia Fortress. Roman legionaries could overlook the temple. They could keep a check on any sort of unrest that was brewing over there. Why didn’t any Roman soldiers start coming into the temple area once Jesus got going?

How Jesus got away with his zealous act is not an easy question to answer. But there are several possibilities.

One possibility is that Jesus was forceful but not disorderly in his removing the sellers from the temple. That is, he didn’t actually create chaos. The guards—whether Jewish or Roman—didn’t feel the need to intervene.

Perhaps the Jewish guards in particular, along with the merchants, felt conviction that somebody was finally doing what really should have been done long ago. They didn’t offer any real resistance. They knew that what they were doing was not right. Maybe that’s why.

Another possibility is that this is simply Jesus’ supernatural power at work. People didn’t intervene to stop Jesus because there was something about his zealous fury that stopped them in their tracks.

“There was something about his zealous fury that stopped them in their tracks.”

Even the Romans—we know Revelation describes Jesus as one whose eyes are a flame of fire. Perhaps those in the temple, when they saw Jesus doing what he was doing, glimpsed this kind of look from Jesus. They became afraid. “I don’t want to get in the way of that force.”

This would be consistent with what we see later on in the Book of John. In another instance, the Jewish leaders say, “What Jesus is preaching in the temple area—go arrest him.” They send the guards. But the guards come back without arresting Jesus. They’re asked, “Why didn’t you arrest him?” And they said, “Nobody talks like this man does.”

They recognize there’s something supernatural about him. They couldn’t stop him. When we get to Gethsemane, even when the mob is there with their weapons to arrest Jesus, John shows us that this whole group will draw back and fall to the ground when Jesus just says, “You’re looking for Jesus? I am he.” They just fall over at that declaration.

Again, that’s because of the supernatural power of Jesus. Maybe that’s what’s operating here.

A third possibility is that Jesus was not acting alone, but he actually gained popular support. If we just glance down to verse 23, we learn that Jesus was doing signs in Jerusalem—remember, “signs,” John uses that word to indicate sign miracles. He was doing miracles. These miracles were causing people even to believe in his name.

John doesn’t tell us when during the Passover Jesus was doing those miracles. Was he doing them before? Was he doing them after? Was he doing it during?

If before, then Jesus might have already accrued some supporters who were quite excited about this miracle worker. Perhaps they follow him into the temple. They are both cheering him on and assisting him as he clears out these sellers and their goods that don’t belong in the temple.

You can understand: if you’re a temple guard or you’re even a chief priest, and you see this popular surge to cleanse the temple, maybe you thought for yourself, “We don’t want to try and shut this down, because that might just provoke a riot. We’ll just let him get away with it.”

Maybe that is the reason why.

I think each of these is possible. I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. It could be multiple of these things operating at the same time.

The Messianic Expectation Behind the Cleansing

But I believe the main reason that nobody moved to stop Jesus—at least as far as we know—is because they saw in the zeal that Jesus displayed the expected behavior of the long-awaited Messiah.

After all, who else would have the courage and conviction to just step up to the temple and, without consulting the chief priest or anyone, just start cleansing out the merchants who shouldn’t be there? That’s the action of someone who has power, zeal, authority. That’s a Messiah-type move.

“Who else would have the courage and conviction to just step up to the temple and start cleansing out the merchants? That’s a Messiah-type move.”

Remember, Israel was in a high state of messianic expectation at this time. You’ve got people waiting for the Messiah, looking for the Messiah. That’s even how Jesus gained some of his first disciples.

The onlookers were probably thinking to themselves, “Could this one who’s cleansing the temple be the one that we’ve been waiting for?”

Add to it certain verses of the scriptures that point to this kind of expectation. Malachi 3:1-3 talks about the Lord’s messenger of the covenant suddenly coming into his temple and purifying it and its personnel, so that there might be pure worship offered to God. That kind of sounds like what this guy is doing.

And Zechariah 14:21 further associates the Lord’s eschatological coming—his long-awaited coming to Israel—as being what clears out the Canaanites, or what could be translated, “clears out the merchants” from the house of the Lord of hosts. Again, that sounds like what Jesus is doing.

Psalm 69 and Messianic Fulfillment

Even Psalm 69—the remembrance of Psalm 69—points to the Messiah’s ship, because Psalm 69 is written by David. It articulates the attitude of Israel’s Messiah King—his ancient Messiah King. And if the Messiah is the son of David, shouldn’t we expect that the Messiah would have the same attitude as David? And even more so?

If zeal for the house of God consumed David, certainly that will be evident in the Messiah who comes from David.

“If zeal for the house of God consumed David, certainly that will be evident in the Messiah who comes from David.”

The Jews are thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who is doing something just like what the prophets foretold? Could he be the Messiah? And if he is, I don’t want to be the one to try and stop him and be found to be opposing God himself.”

For this reason, and maybe others, I think nobody moves to stop Jesus from cleansing the temple. Instead, the disciples note how appropriately Jesus fulfills scripture—even the specific messianic expectation from Psalm 69.

The Jewish leaders prepare to ask Jesus for a further confirmation. In verse 18, they’re going to ask Jesus for a monumental sign, a dramatic miracle. “Can you prove to us that you really are the Messiah? Because you sure are acting like one?”

They won’t be prepared for Jesus’ response, which is what we’ll explore together next time. I think we need to pause in our progress through the passage so we can give enough time to each.

Application: What This Means for Us Today

For now, though, let’s appreciate what we’re seeing just from this first part of Jesus’ confrontation of corrupted worship.

What Jesus’ cleansing of the temple means for us today—we first need to understand that Jesus’ cleansing of the temple is indeed proof of his messiahship, just as the people were suspecting at that time.

God’s true Messiah would indeed not only be concerned about the corruption of worship in God’s house, but would act in zeal to rectify the situation. Which is exactly what Jesus does.

And the way he did it—in his righteous anger, not sinning, but zealously acting on God’s behalf, and even declaring that the temple was his Father’s own house—this testifies. This is testimony that Jesus is the true Christ.

“Believing in him—and him alone—you find eternal life. Don’t stop short. Go all the way to Jesus as his true disciple.”

And then believing in him—and him alone—you find eternal life. Don’t stop short. This is again telling his audience and us: don’t stop short with anyone or anything else. Go all the way to Jesus as his true disciple.

He is the Messiah. He is the Son of God.

Jesus’ Zeal Has Not Changed

We wouldn’t appreciate that first of all. But second, we need to see that Jesus’ passion for holy worship of the Father—even to the point of zealous anger—is still true today.

I mean, after all, do you think that this was really just a one-time thing for Jesus? He just had to let off some steam. He saw this thing, kind of made him upset. But he dealt with it. And he’s like, “Okay, I’m good. Don’t worry. Back to my calm self. I’m not so concerned about that anymore.”

Obviously not. Jesus is God. And God declares about himself that he does not change. His expectations of holiness, his zeal for his own glory—they do not change. Not in the Father, not in the Son, and not in the Holy Spirit.

“God declares about himself that he does not change. His expectations of holiness, his zeal for his own glory—they do not change.”

Jesus is just as much committed to purity and worship today as when he unleashed the whip in the temple.

And Revelation gives further support of this. The Book of Revelation—if you ever look at the first three chapters, specifically chapters two and three—Jesus sends seven messages, basically seven letters, to seven churches that existed in that time. So we’re talking late first century. He sends them a message.

In five of those messages, he confronts sin in the churches. And he warns that if the people who are doing those sins do not repent, that he is going to chasten them, even to the point of ending their lives. That’s sobering. That’s proof that Jesus is still zealous for pure worship today.

Examine Your Own Worship

Consider what that means for you personally. Ask yourselves, even this morning: Are you in some way doing the equivalent of the Jews in this passage? Letting the merchants, letting the money changers into the temple area where they do not belong? And even carrying out further sin by taking advantage of the worshipers?

Is there something like that going on in your life? Does God need to confront you about corrupted worship?

Are you aware of sin—something you want to hide from other people—but somehow you don’t feel like it’s a big deal if only God knows? And you just keep on proceeding. You bring it right into our church gathering. And just people ask, “What’s going on? How can they pray for you?” You never mention it. You don’t want to look bad. You don’t want to burden other people. You’ll just pretend everything’s fine and carry on in corrupted worship before God.

You have problems in your relationships. You have people who have things against you. You have a broken relationship with your spouse or your kids or another member of this church. But you just keep on going, keep on praying to God, keep on praising God like no big deal.

Do you remember what Jesus says in Matthew 5:23-24? If you remember your brother has something against you—even if you’re right at the altar to give your animal and worship to God—and remember, we’re probably talking about one of the feasts. You got to wait a long time. You travel all that way. You’ve gotten in the big line. There are thousands of other people who want to offer a sacrifice. You get out of line—maybe a long time before you get back in line. He says, “Leave your offering there. Go be reconciled with your brother.”

Or think of that other verse in the New Testament that says specifically, when it comes to husbands and their wives, that the husbands are to treat their wives in an understanding way, because otherwise their prayers will be hindered.

The Psalm that says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear.”

Do you think you can offer praise to God in this church? Do you think that you can pray to God in your own private space while you are regarding sin, while you are living a worldly life? And you think that God is okay with that?

Look at how God actually feels, as displayed in Jesus. What he would say to you about those things in your life. “Get these things out of here. Stop making my father’s house—stop trying to bring right into the presence of God that which is unclean.”

“Stop trying to bring right into the presence of God that which is unclean.”

Personally, we need to appreciate that God says, “I require pure worship. Don’t hide your sin from God. Don’t hide your sin from other people in the church. You’ll probably need them to gain the instruction and encouragement and accountability to overcome that sin. Don’t just hide from people, withdraw from people.”

God knows. God sees. So be open with him. And say, “God, I repent. God, all things.” I mean, that’s what he says in the end of this passage, right? Jesus knows what is in man. He doesn’t need somebody to testify about you to God. He already knows.

So be open with him. Confess your sin. Express your sorrow over it. And commit to turning from it, even by using the help of your brethren. That’s repentance.

Repent of your sin. And then you can be accepted in your worship to God.

Corporate Responsibility for Holiness

And that’s not just you personally. It’s true corporately as well.

Many interpreters of this passage see a parallel between Jesus’ zeal for the physical temple that existed at that time and Jesus’ zeal for the temple that is the church—the new dwelling place of God. I think that parallel is justified.

We see the same kind of excitation in other passages in the New Testament. Speaking to the Corinthians, Paul says, “Don’t you know that you are the temple of God? You, Corinthians. And that individually, your bodies are part of that temple. Therefore, don’t corrupt the temple of God. What do you think God will think of that?”

Individually, we have a responsibility. It should be our desire to live holy before the Lord and present pure worship before him.

But that also is a corporate responsibility. We are to be watching out for one another. If you see a brother or sister who’s struggling in sin—and maybe they ask you for help, maybe they don’t—you cannot pull a Cain and just say, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Or you can’t uphold what James talks about in chapter 2: you see a brother in need, you say, “Be warmed, be filled,” and then just move on and don’t actually help.

No, we are to display the same kind of zeal for God’s house that Jesus does here. We are to help that brother and sister, even if it costs us. It cost Jesus. We’ll talk about more about that when we come back to this passage. It consumed him. In a way, it’s going to consume you too. You might suffer in showing your zeal for the Lord. But God is pleased with that, and he will reward that.

“We are to display the same kind of zeal for God’s house that Jesus does here. We are to help that brother and sister, even if it costs us.”

Help your brother and sister. Don’t say, “Oh, I sure hope that somebody talks to him about that sin.” Maybe nobody else knows. Maybe God has arranged providentially so that you can address that brother privately or you can address that sister privately.

Say, “Hey, I’m concerned. See this thing. Am I really understanding the situation appropriately? Because I know that you testify you love Jesus. Jesus wouldn’t want you to walk this way. You’ve got to turn, brother. You’ve got to turn, sister. Can I help you do that?”

James encourages us at the end of his letter by saying, “No, that a person who sees one of his brothers going astray and brings him back—he covers a multitude of sins. He saves his soul from death.”

There might be people in this congregation who are carrying on a corrupted worship because they don’t really know God. By you reaching out to that person, you will save that person’s soul from death.

Don’t just wait around for somebody else to do it. Pray about it, and then do as Jesus commands. Love your brother. Love your sister enough to talk to them about their sin.

Deal with your own sin first. Don’t have the plank in your own eye when you’re trying to take a speck out of your brother’s eye. But help your brethren. Show zeal for God and for his house.

If you want to do that—not just individually, but corporately—today is a good day to be thinking about that, right? We’re looking at the Lord’s table. The Lord’s table is another avenue for us thinking about the purity of our worship, both individually and corporately.

But you shouldn’t have to wait until the Lord’s table to deal with that kind of thing. It should be every time you become aware of it, especially before you come to worship on any Sunday.

It’s a day to be thinking about it. Again, repenting and believing as God would actually have you to do.

Grace Does Not License Sin

Now, one last thing I want to address before we finish today. I’ve talked a lot about the anger of God, about impure worship. But perhaps some of you are thinking, “But I thought in Jesus I don’t have to worry about the anger of God anymore. I thought I’d been saved from God’s wrath—which is another word for anger—so that I only experience God’s love.”

Well, praise God that you have been saved from the eternal wrath of God if you are in Jesus Christ. Your corrupted worship has already been suffered by Jesus. The penalty of your corrupted worship has already been suffered by Jesus once and for all. You will not be punished. You will not be condemned, for the condemnation that Jesus has already suffered for you.

Praise the Lord for that, because I need that, and you need that.

But do not use the grace of the Lord as a license to sin. Because God loves you, he will still discipline you. You will arouse his fatherly displeasure when you continue in worldliness and unrepentant sin.

In a sense, that’s the anger of God now. It’s not going to destroy you, but paired with his love, it is going to result in your discipline.

Jesus says in Revelation 3:19, “He whom I love, I reprove and discipline. Therefore, be zealous and repent.”

Revelation 3:19: “He whom I love, I reprove and discipline. Therefore, be zealous and repent.”

That’s what we want to do—individually and as a congregation—because then where do we get to arrive? We get to arrive in that place of worship that God always meant for us to be: with joy, with a clean conscience, not trusting in our record, trusting in Christ, and yet having no hindrance, no barrier between us and God, beholding his beauty and enjoying his fellowship.

That’s what the Lord wants for you and for me.

May we remember the zeal of the Lord and respond with proper zeal in our own lives and in our church.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray.

God, you are holy. And your holiness is beautiful. If you were not holy, how could we worship you? If you were not just, if you were not good, if you were not brightness in all of your essence, how could we give you praise?

But we must recognize what that holiness means. Your word declares we are to be holy because you are holy. We cannot be holy in ourselves. There’s no way we could attain the record that is needed to be acceptable to you. But we have that in Jesus. And we praise you.

Yet, because we’ve received that salvation, we are to seek you in holiness. Your scriptures say, “Without holiness, no one will see the Lord.” Or that if we profess to have faith but we do not have works, we lie. Our faith is empty.

God, I pray: if there are any here who have been hiding from you their corrupted worship—which you already know about—that they would repent. They would repent truly and come to believe for real what they have previously professed: that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus is the Lord, Jesus is my Savior and my true treasure.

I will give up all for him, no matter what it costs me, because I want him. And I want eternal life.

For any who have never done that, I pray that they would repent and believe today.

And for those who have done that but have gone astray—Lord, who have been deceived by sin, who have been caught in the trespass and are not sure how to get out—Lord, I pray that they too would come to this place of fundamental repentance. And that they would get the help of their brethren.

Say, “Brother, sister, I need help. I don’t know how to get out of this sin. I don’t know how to stop this sin habit.”

God, you gave us the church for precisely that reason: it would help us not to be afraid to help one another in this, but to be bold for your sake, to be zealous for your sake. That is appropriate, based on the salvation that we have received.

Lord, as we go to your table now, I pray, Lord, that this would be a sober time, but truly joyful time, because you have saved us. You have made it so that we can come right into your Holy of Holies without hindrance. That is an astounding privilege.

May we enjoy worship with you as we seek you, obey you, love you. May we just enjoy you continually. May your joy be our strength, as the scripture says. And may we cling to you and don’t stray, don’t stray to idols.

In Jesus’ name, amen.
March 5, 2023
Jesus Turns Water into Good Wine
In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines John 2:1-11 and the account of Jesus’ first sign at the wedding in Cana. John the apostle presents Jesus’ first sign-miracle of turning water into good wine so that you will believe in Jesus and find eternal life.

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

This passage from John 2:1-11 teaches us that Jesus’ first sign miracle—turning water into good wine at a wedding in Cana—was chosen by God to reveal the glory of the Messiah and call people to saving faith. We are reminded that Jesus operates on the Father’s timetable, not ours, and that humble faith that submits to God’s will is the kind of faith God rewards.

Key Lessons:
1. Jesus’ sign miracles are not mere displays of power but revelations of his character—his creative authority, compassion, humility, and commitment to the Father’s will.
2. True faith means moving from trying to direct God to humbly submitting to whatever he chooses to do, as Mary exemplified when she told the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.”
3. God saved the best wine for last—the coming of Jesus fulfills and surpasses everything that came before in the Old Covenant, and clinging to the old instead of embracing Christ means missing the fullness of God’s grace.
4. Believing in Jesus means going all the way as a disciple—not hedging bets, not clinging to self-righteousness or religious ritual, but trusting fully in Christ alone for salvation.
Application: We are called to examine whether we have truly crossed over into full discipleship with Jesus. We must stop trying to get God on board with our plans and instead submit humbly to his will. We must not cling to old systems of self-righteousness or mere religious tradition but embrace the new and better reality found in Christ alone.

Discussion Questions:
1. In what areas of your life are you trying to direct God rather than humbly submitting to his will and timing?
2. How does the image of God saving the best wine for last shape your understanding of the relationship between the Old Testament and Christ’s fulfillment of it?
3. What does it look like practically to go “all the way” as a disciple of Jesus rather than merely professing faith while living for yourself?
Scripture Focus: John 2:1-11 records Jesus’ first sign miracle and its purpose. John 20:30-31 explains that John wrote selectively to produce saving faith. John 1:14-17 establishes that Jesus reveals God’s glory and brings grace that surpasses the old covenant. Isaiah 25 points to the eschatological banquet fulfilled in Christ.

Outline
Introduction

Well, let’s pray. Lord Jesus, we come now to hear from you. We don’t want to hear a man’s opinion. I don’t want to hear my opinion, and you want to hear what your word says. Because you have the words of eternal life. There is nowhere else to go.

We want those words. We want you to help me, God, to be able to explain your word in a way that is accurate and helpful. And pray, God, that you would help us to give attention to it and change us by it. Amen.

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

Moving on today in our next passage of the Gospel of John, and it is an important one. Recall the purpose of this gospel from John, the son of Zebedee, one of Jesus’ closest disciples. John writes primarily to Hellenistic Jews—that is, Jews who were Greek-speaking, Greek-cultured. They didn’t live in Palestine, but John writes to them so that, as he himself says in John 20:31, you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing, you may have life in his name.

But recall the way that John seeks to bring about this soul-saving conversion in his readers, his listeners. John 20:30-31 says, “Therefore, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. But these have been written so that you may believe.”

In other words, our author John is presenting us a selective record of Jesus’ life and ministry. John can’t say everything that could be said about what Jesus did, but John has purposely reported certain signs that Jesus performed to show that Jesus really is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing in him and in him alone, you have eternal life.

“John has purposely reported certain signs to show that Jesus really is the Christ, the Son of God.”

Sign Miracles Reveal the Messiah

Now, what are these signs? We’re not talking about literal boards with words on them, are we? No, certainly not. We were talking about sign miracles. We’re talking about works of power, supernatural acts of power that only the Son of God could do.

These miracles—especially selected miracles from our author John—not only prove that Jesus really is the Messiah, but they also reveal what Messiah is like, who he is, and what his mission is all about.

John says in John 1:14: “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the father, full of grace and truth.” So that means that these sign miracles of Jesus and the words that Jesus spoke alongside these sign miracles, these mighty works, they revealed to us the glory of God, even the glorious character of the Eternal Word.

“These sign miracles revealed to us the glory of God, even the glorious character of the Eternal Word.”

If you want to get to know who Jesus really is, if you want to experience eternal life with him, then according to John, you must pay attention to these signs and you must appreciate what they communicate about Jesus.

The First Sign: Water Into Wine

Now, today we’re looking at the beginning of Jesus’ signs, the first sign miracle recorded in this book, and probably the first miracle that Jesus did on the earth. If we think again about the Gospel of John kind of like a courtroom scene in which John is intent to prove Jesus’ identity to the people and counteract the lies and misunderstandings of Jewish opponents of Jesus, John begins the book by providing powerful eyewitness testimony.

He gives John the Baptist testimony in John 1:19-34, and then he presents the testimony of Jesus’ early disciples in John 1:35-51.

But now John presents before the people the evidence that corroborates the witness testimony. Here is exhibit A: that Jesus really is the Christ, and eternal life is found in him. What did the Triune God choose to be the inaugural sign miracle proof of Jesus as Messiah? Might be a little surprising.

God chose that Jesus would turn water into good wine at a not-so-important wedding in a tiny little town known as Cana in Galilee.

“Here is exhibit A: that Jesus really is the Christ, and eternal life is found in him.”

Why this particular sign, and what does it show us about Jesus? That’s what we’re going to investigate today. Please open your Bibles to John 2.

We’re looking at John 2, verses 1 to 11.

The title of the message today is straightforward: Jesus turns water into good wine. John 2, verses 1 to 11. This is page 1059 if you’re using the Pew Bible. Let’s read our text.

Reading the Text

On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.”

Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing 20 or 30 gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the head waiter.” So they took it to him.

When the head waiter tasted the water which had become wine and did not know where it came from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew, the head waiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

This beginning of his signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

John 2:11: “This beginning of his signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.”

This is one of the well-known accounts of the Bible. Even people who are not Christian have heard of Jesus turning water into wine. But even if the account is well-known, that doesn’t mean it’s well understood, especially in a life-transforming way.

Considering the explicit purpose of John’s gospel, which we already heard from John 20:30-31, and also what we see in verse 11 here, we can readily understand the main purpose of this passage in John 2:1-11. John presents Jesus’ first sign miracle of turning water into good wine so that you will believe and find in Jesus eternal life.

I’ll say that again: John presents Jesus’ first sign miracle of turning water into good wine so that you will believe in Jesus and find eternal life.

The narrative here unfolds in four main parts. The first one comprises verses 1 to 5. Let’s go through the passage starting with that first part.

The Sign Miracle Needed

Number one: the sign miracle needed.

Look again in verses one and two: “On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding.”

Notice that phrase “on the third day.” This chronologically ties our new passage to the ones that have come before. We’re still part of that first amazing week of Jesus beginning his public ministry in Israel.

Last time, on days three and four, we saw Jesus collect his first disciples. Here, when it says “on the third day,” that probably means we are now three days later from that, or what would be day seven, the end of the week. I don’t know what day of the week it began, but this would be day seven.

Why these time details? Certainly this is the eyewitness author John showing that he knows exactly when these things took place. It was all within the span of seven days.

But notice where Jesus and his disciples are now. They are in Cana of Galilee. We learned last time that Nathaniel, the last of the first five disciples to be collected, was actually from Cana. So it may be that Jesus had journeyed from beyond the Jordan, where he was with John the Baptist, into Galilee, specifically to Cana, and since Nathaniel happened to be there, Philip went to get him.

The Wedding Setting

But whether Jesus originally traveled to Cana or just shows up now, he’s in Cana now to attend one of the happiest social events of the ancient world, and that is a wedding. Remember, life in the ancient world was hard for most people. They spent their days mostly working and doing household chores. They had to. They didn’t have time to just kick back and banquet. But weddings were the exception.

Here’s the one time where even poor people felt like they could really party. Good food, good drink, good conversation, music, dancing—all part of these weddings. Weddings were truly special occasions. And for Jewish people in Jesus’ time, weddings were the culmination of someone involved in the marriage preparation process. There was often a year-long betrothal period before marriage, in which the bridegroom prepared a place to receive his bride and he readied everything for the wedding banquet that would take place there.

“Weddings were truly special occasions—the one time where even poor people felt like they could really celebrate.”

When he was ready, the bridegroom would process through the town, often in a kind of night parade, to collect his bride at her home and then bring her back to be his wife in the new home that he had prepared. Invited friends and family would then join the new couple for a wedding banquet celebration in the new home that would often last more than one day, sometimes as long as a week.

Jesus and His Mother Are Invited

You can see that weddings were really important, really joyous occasions for the Jews of Jesus’ day. And it just so happens that for this wedding, Jesus, his mother, and his disciples—probably meaning the first five disciples mentioned in the last chapter—they were all invited.

Now notice it says they were specifically invited. This is not Jesus and his disciples crashing a wedding that they weren’t really invited to and causing a problem with the amount of wine there. No, they were all invited. The bride and groom had specifically invited them all.

Now, why were they invited? Well, presumably it’s because Jesus and his mother and maybe his disciples too, they knew the bride and groom. They were friends or relatives. This is not too unexpected. After all, Cana, as far as we could tell, is not far from Nazareth—only about nine miles north. They’re both sleepy little towns in Galilee with no more than a few hundred people at best.

The townspeople in these two places, since they lived near one another, they probably would have interacted with each other relatively frequently. The craftsmen and merchants would go back and forth between Cana and Nazareth. Farmers and the pastoralists of each town, they would work alongside one another in the fields.

And inevitably, over time, families between the two towns would get married to one another. There would be intermarriage.

“Cana is not far from Nazareth—only about nine miles north. They’re both sleepy little towns in Galilee.”

Jesus and his mother Mary, they probably knew the bridal couple, and that’s why they were invited. And maybe the other disciples did too, or perhaps they were merely invited as a courtesy to Jesus since they had become his disciples.

As an aside, notice that Mary is not called Mary here, but just “the mother of Jesus.” Actually, this is the way that John refers to Mary in this gospel. He never calls her by name, only refers to her as “his mother” or “Jesus’ mother” or “the mother of Jesus.”

We will see this description again in John 19 when Mary is at the cross.

Why this version of identifying Mary? Why not identify her by name? Don’t know. Perhaps it’s so he simply won’t confuse the reader with two other important Marys in this gospel: Mary, the sister of Lazarus, and Mary Magdalene. Or maybe it’s kind of like why John doesn’t identify himself. He doesn’t want to draw attention to Mary, just prefers to refer to her as the mother of Jesus.

But anyway, she’s invited. Jesus is invited. His disciples are invited to this wonderful occasion, this little wedding going down for a family friend in Cana. It’s going to be a great time, right?

Well, verse 3.

The Wine Runs Out

“When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’”

A big problem is emerging at this wedding. They’ve just run out of wine. Why is that a problem?

Well, it’s not only a practical problem of what people are going to drink for the next few days at this banquet, but it’s also a huge social scandal for the bride and groom, particularly the groom. After all, the wedding is supposed to take place when the bridegroom has everything ready, including the wine for the wedding banquet. To run out of wine shows that the bridegroom was not ready and suggests either that he’s not really able to provide for his new bride or that he’s trying to be stingy with his guests.

“To run out of wine shows that the bridegroom was not ready and suggests he’s not able to provide for his bride.”

He could have provided wine, but he chose not to. In fact, according to the rabbis, if a Jewish bridegroom failed to provide adequately for a wedding banquet, the bride’s family members could sue him for fraud and extract monetary compensation. “You promised to provide something, and you didn’t. You’ve shamed the bride. Therefore, you’ve got to pay up.”

And it’s not as if the bridegroom at this point could just serve water instead. In those days, most people didn’t drink water regularly because most water wasn’t that clean, being affected by various kinds of bacteria that could cause stomach problems. Wine is much safer to drink because the natural fermentation process of grapes that produces alcohol has a kind of purifying effect on the liquid produced. Not to mention, people mostly enjoy the taste of wine much more than water.

Ancient wine was usually diluted with water so that the wine served—what the Bible calls wine—was actually only one-third or even one-tenth alcoholic wine versus water. The rest was just water. You could still get drunk on this stuff if you try hard enough, but it was way less alcoholic than the wine that is served today. Actually, the ancients referred to unmixed or undiluted wine with a different term. They called it “strong drink.” And actually, you see that term in other places in the Bible.

Now, why did the wine run out here? We don’t know. The text doesn’t tell us. It could be that this bridegroom was poor and he knew he needed to gather enough wine for the feast. He thought he had enough, maybe it wasn’t enough, but he tried to stretch it and it backfired. He took a risk, but now it’s backfired majorly, and he is on the edge of social and perhaps financial disaster. Not a great way to start wedded life.

Mary Approaches Jesus

Now, verse 3 tells us that Jesus’ mother notices what has happened and tells Jesus, “They have no wine.” Based on what follows, this is not Mary just telling Jesus to inform him of a tragic development. “They have no wine. What a shame.” No. This is because she hoped that Jesus would be able to do something to help save the situation.

Why is Mary taking it upon herself to intervene? Again, we don’t know. Maybe she has a family friend or a relative. She was appointed to help oversee the banquet in some fashion, so she feels responsible. Or maybe she’s just a concerned, compassionate guest, and she’s like, “Oh man, they’ve run out of wine. I know somebody who can help.” She turns to her son.

What precisely she expects from Jesus in approaching him is a little unclear also, as apparently Jesus has never performed a miracle up to this point. It’s not just like, “Oh, Jesus, you do miracles all the time. Do a miracle here.” It’s probably never happened before this, though there has been a change that’s taken place recently, right? As we even know from the previous chapter.

Jesus, I’m sure, has proved to be a reliable son over the years, even giving good counsel, courageously facing problems, and showing himself resourceful. Mary would have really needed that because Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father and Mary’s husband, apparently died early. He’s probably already dead, has been dead by this point for a number of years. So she’s learned to rely on her firstborn son. That would have been true even without a miracle.

But Mary is aware who Jesus really is. Mary is aware that Jesus has just started attracting his first disciples. He’s begun his public ministry. And if the Messianic mission has begun in earnest, that means the power of God, the power of the Son of God, is ready to be put on display, even in the accomplishment of miracles. So might Mary petition Jesus to put that Messianic power on display here and save a family friend from massive social scandal?

“If the Messianic mission has begun, the power of the Son of God is ready to be put on display.”

After all, Jesus is her son. Is there anything wrong with a mother asking her loving son to do a miracle for her? Whatever exactly Mary is thinking, she turns to her son expectantly but receives a surprising reply. Look at verse 4.

Jesus’ Surprising Reply

“And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.’”

Your first impression of this reply might be that Jesus is being shockingly rude to his mother. Probably most moms here would be offended if their son addressed you as “a woman,” right? Even if that son’s grown up. We have to understand, though, that the address “woman” wouldn’t have been considered rude in Greek or Aramaic. It’s a way that somebody could address someone else, more akin to the way that our Southern brethren might use the word “ma’am.” It wasn’t a rude term.

Jesus will again address his mother as “woman” when she’s there with him at the cross, before asking John to take care of her. That being said, it is extremely unusual for a son to call his mother “woman” in either Greek or Aramaic. In fact, we have no recorded instance of a son doing that in any of the surviving Greek literature we have outside of this in the Bible.

This is unusual. It certainly is a distancing form of address. He’s downplaying the familial connection that he has with his mother. He’s not acknowledging that he refers to her simply as “woman.” It’s not disrespectful, but that certainly is distancing, very unusual for a son to say.

“It is extremely unusual for a son to call his mother ‘woman’—it certainly is a distancing form of address.”

But the phrase that accompanies Jesus’ address is even more distancing. Literally, he says to her, “What to me and to you?” What does that mean? That’s an idiomatic expression. We could translate it the way we have it in the New American Standard version that I’m preaching from here, but better is the King James version of this phrase, which reads, “What have I to do with thee?” That’s, I think, a more faithful translation.

In fact, we see this same idiomatic expression in other parts of the Bible, like when Jesus is dealing with the demoniac with the legion. A demon comes up to him and says, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the most high God?” It’s that same expression: “What to me and to you?” “What business do we have with each other?” That’s what Jesus replies to Mary when she gives this implied request to save the wedding. He says, “Woman, what business do we have with each other?”

Now, if that sounds like an abrupt rebuke, that’s because it is. It’s not a stern rebuke, but it is a rebuke nonetheless. The reason for the rebuke is given in the statement that comes after. Jesus says, “My hour has not yet come.”

My Hour Has Not Yet Come

Now, there’s a phrase we’re going to see again in the Gospel of John, or versions of it, multiple times in this gospel, culminating at the Passover just before the cross. We’re going to see this phrase. Actually, at the Passover, Jesus will announce, “The hour has come.” But before that, he’ll say, “My time has not yet come” or “The hour has not yet come.”

What exactly does Jesus mean? “My hour has not yet come?” Well, at the most basic level, Jesus is communicating that it is not yet the right time to act. But we’ll see another layer to this answer as we move through the gospel, namely that as Jesus is officially beginning his public ministry, he is now firmly set on a timetable that is not determined by his mother, by his brother, by his disciples, or even by Jesus himself. It’s determined by the Father alone.

This is the timetable of the glorification of God’s son, which will culminate in the eschatological hopes for the Messiah from the Old Testament of all the Jewish people. This will be chiefly fulfilled by Jesus’ death on the cross and by his resurrection.

There will be times in this gospel where people try to rush this glorification timeline, this eschatological fulfillment timeline. They try to get Jesus publicly revealed or glorified or even reigning before the time set by the Father. The response that Jesus gives to such people throughout this gospel is essentially the same as the one he gives his own mother here: “What business do I have with you? My hour has not yet come. You’re not concerned with God’s interests, but man’s, even your own. I need to gently remind you of what I’m about and what is your proper place.”

“Jesus is now firmly set on a timetable determined not by any human, but by the Father alone.”

In response, this was a message that Jesus’ own mother needed to hear. He needed her to see that now, especially as this public ministry has begun, he is not chiefly her son, but he is her Messiah. He is the savior sent from God. She cannot think that she can prevail on him to do whatever she thinks would be right. Rather, she is to humbly accept whatever God determines is right for him to do and is right for her.

What Mary needed to learn about Jesus, we also do, don’t we? The Christian life is not about getting God on board with your will, even when you think what is best, what God would really want, surely would want this. It’s about you getting on board with God’s will because he actually knows what is best.

Mary’s Exemplary Faith

Now, did Jesus’ mother get the message? She did, but not in a way that caused her to stop hoping in Jesus. Look at verse 5.

“His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever he says to you, do it.’”

That statement is remarkable, and it is highly exemplary for followers of Christ. Mary has moved from a position of trying to direct the Son of God to act as she thinks he should to now being open to whatever the Father deems best. She knows Jesus has the power to save this wedding. She knows that Jesus knows that she would like him to do so. But she now leaves it up. Having made her request, she now leaves it up to his wise and compassionate heart.

“Mary moved from trying to direct the Son of God to being open to whatever the Father deems best.”

She tells the servants responsible for the drinks at the feast, “Whatever he might tell you to do, get ready to do it. I don’t know if he’ll act or what he’ll do or when he’ll do it, but I know who he is. I know his heart. I know his power. So let’s get ready and let’s see what the Son of God chooses to do.”

Mary hasn’t lost her faith in her son. It’s just that her faith has become properly grounded in the humility that is so necessary. That’s the kind of faith that you and I need.

Humble Faith God Rewards

And what’s amazing is that kind of humble faith that God is so pleased many times to reward. It always amazes me. I can’t think of another word besides that. It always amazes me how many times in life, when you are finally willing to say to God from your heart, “God, I really want this. I think this would go along with your will, but if not, God, I’m okay with that. Your will be done, not my will,” what God often does when your heart expresses that to him is he gives you the thing that you request. He’d always intended to do so.

He’s a good God. He doesn’t hold back a good gift from his people. But first, more importantly, he wants your heart to stop desiring that good thing more than him. He wants you first to humble yourself before him so that he can lift you up. That’s more important.

“He wants your heart to stop desiring that good thing more than him. He wants you first to humble yourself before him.”

That God doesn’t always do this. It doesn’t always bring you to the place where you’re okay without it and then give it to you. He frequently does, but even when he doesn’t, your joy is still intact because you’ve gained the thing that is actually more important. You’ve gained contentment in God. You’ve learned to trust God.

So whether he does or he doesn’t, you can praise the Lord.

Let’s see what Jesus chooses to do next at this wedding. Here we saw number one: the sign miracle needed. Now let’s go to verses 6-8 and see the sign miracle prepared.

The Sign Miracle Prepared

Number two: the sign miracle prepared.

And we’ll take these verses all together, verses 6 to 8: “Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing 20 or 30 gallons each. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the water pots with water.’ So they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, ‘Draw some out now and take it to the head waiter.’ So they took it to him.”

Isn’t this interesting? Having communicated what he needed to his mother, Jesus now takes action, showing that the Father had indeed ordained for Jesus to compassionately intervene at this wedding. It had to be at the right time, but Jesus was going to.

Notice how Jesus does this. It is by some surprisingly ordinary means. Jesus simply tells the banquet attendants to fill up some water pots with water and then take some of that liquid to the head waiter to taste it.

“Having communicated what he needed to his mother, Jesus now takes action, showing the Father had ordained him to intervene.”

The Stone Water Pots

Now notice the way the water pots are described here: “Six stone water pots set up for the Jewish custom of purification.” This custom of purification is not something prescribed by the Mosaic law, nor is it about hygiene. They didn’t know washing hands was really good for preventing bacteria and such. Rather, this is a custom prescribed by the Pharisees for protecting against ceremonial uncleanness.

According to the rabbis, you never know how you might pick up ceremonial uncleanness during the day. You’re going into the marketplace, might bump into a dirty Gentile. You’ve got to make sure you’re ceremonially clean before you eat. According to Mark 4:1-5, this custom of ceremonial hand washing and washing pots and pans and all those types of things was widespread among the Jews in Palestine during Jesus’ day.

So understandably, the bridegroom at this wedding has provided plenty of water for just this purpose: six stone water pots. They needed to be stone because according to the Mosaic law, stone was a type of material that could not become unclean. It’s not porous. So even today, if you go to Israel, stone things can’t become unclean. So they’re very valuable.

He’s got these stone water pots for each guest to ceremonially wash his hands, with the water poured over his hands according to the tradition, before they banquet at the feast. These stone pots are huge. We learned from the text that they can hold 20 to 30 gallons each. The bridegroom wanted to make sure there was quite enough water for all of his guests to ceremonially wash if they needed to.

“Stone was a material that could not become unclean—so these stone water pots were very valuable.”

Jesus Directs the Servants

Jesus takes note of these large stone jars and tells the attendants to fill them up again with water. Apparently, they’re not full of water. They’ve been used. So he says, “Fill them up again,” and notice John tells us the attendants filled the jars to the brim with water. That’s important because what does that mean? It means that nothing else besides water was added to these jars. That’s part of verifying what’s about to take place.

Jesus then tells the servants to draw from the jars and take it back to the head waiter. We could translate that term “head waiter” as the Greek word “head steward” or even “master of the banquet.” This could have been a servant, or it could have just been a friend or family member who was temporarily appointed by the groom to oversee the banquet aspect of this wedding celebration, something like a maître d’ today.

Jesus says to the servants, “Take some, give it to the banquet master.” The last line of verse 8 says, “So they took it to him.” The servants do exactly as Jesus says, and as Mary wisely counseled them to do.

Notice something about the “they” of this last phrase. The “they” is emphatic in Greek. More clunkily, we could translate this: “They themselves took the drawn liquid to the banquet master.” Why is that important?

That emphasis underscores the truthfulness of what is about to take place. There was no switching from the servants who filled up the water in the jars to other servants who took the liquid to the head waiter, the banquet master. No.

The servants can testify. The ones who are bringing the liquid to the banquet master—no one has tampered with the water jars. They filled it up. They know what’s in it. They’re bringing it to the banquet master.

“The servants who filled the water can testify—no one tampered with the water jars.”

Now something amazing happens between the filling up of the water jars and the tasting by the banquet master. That’s the third part of our narrative, verses 9 to 10.

The Sign Miracle Revealed

Number three: the sign miracle revealed.

The sign miracle revealed. Like John 2:9.

“When the head waiter tasted the water which had become wine and did not know where it came from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew, the head waiter called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.’”

I’m amazed at how understated verse 9 is. A miracle has taken place, but if you’re reading quickly, the way the author has written it, you might not even have noticed. “When the head waiter tastes the water which had become wine”—almost like an aside.

What exactly happened? After the water jars were completely filled up with water, Jesus turned the water into wine. No grapes. No growing. No harvesting. No fermentation. Nothing added to the water mixture. All the servants did was fill up the jars with water and draw from it according to Jesus’ direction. And boom. 120 to 180 gallons of wine. Wine should have solved it and then some.

“No grapes. No fermentation. Nothing added. And boom—120 to 180 gallons of wine.”

Except there was no boom. There was no flashing lights. There’s no sound. No announcement. Nothing. Nobody in the room was made immediately aware that a miracle has just taken place at this wedding banquet. Least of all the banquet master, because notice what we see in verse 10: “He did not know where it came from, though the servants who drew it did.” They can testify.

The Banquet Master’s Testimony

And what does the headwaiter do after tasting this water become wine? Yeah, understandably, he calls the bridegroom, supposing that the bridegroom himself has provided some new and special store of wine. In other words, the banquet master does not know that Jesus has just miraculously created this wine, which makes what the banquet master says to the bridegroom in the next verse even more significant.

Verse 10: “And he—that’s the banquet master—said to him, the bridegroom, ‘Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poor wine. You have kept the good wine until now.’”

Notice how the banquet master first notes to the bridegroom the standard practice when it comes to serving wine at a feast or banquet. People serve the better wine first, and the poorer wine, the inferior wine, only after. And why is that? Well, this just makes sense.

Once banqueters have already had their fill of wine, they either decide they’re not going to drink anymore, or if they’ve already gotten drunk, it doesn’t really matter what they drink. So as a host, it makes sense to serve your good wine first, when people are actually going to drink it and appreciate it, and save your cheap wine for when they don’t care.

That’s not an endorsement of drunkenness. That’s just an observation about feasts. The Bible does call drunkenness a sin. But then at the end of verse 10: “You have kept the good wine until now.”

John 2:10: “Every man serves the good wine first… but you have kept the good wine until now.”

In other words, you’ve done the opposite of custom. You served the poor wine first, and you save the better wine for last.

Now there’s some dramatic irony in these words from the banquet master to the bridegroom, isn’t there? Because like Jesus’ disciples and the servants at the banquet who filled up the water pots, we the readers know the bridegroom hasn’t done this at all. The bridegroom hasn’t provided the new and better wine later. It was Jesus.

Yet the banquet master becomes an unwitting yet objective witness to two amazing realities. He doesn’t know, but by what he says, he ends up testifying to two truths. First, the water from the stone pots really did miraculously become wine. This is wine. The banquet master knows that, and he testifies to it.

Second, this wine tasted better than even the best wine already offered at the feast, which means that must have been some seriously good wine. And Jesus made more than 120 gallons of it without any noticeable effort at all.

I wonder what the bridegroom said in response to the banquet master’s observation. But we don’t know because this is where the account of the water turning to wine ends, except for one concluding verse. Look at the final part of the narrative now.

The Sign Miracle Understood

Number four: the sign miracle understood.

The sign miracle understood. And this is verse 11.

“This beginning of his signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.”

John 2:11: “This beginning of his signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory.”

From this verse, we learned that though Jesus’ first sign miracle was public, or at least semi-public, at this wedding, its true meaning and significance was understood only by a few, really by his disciples. John, our author, wants to make sure that we also understand the meaning of this sign miracle, so he includes verse 11 for us.

Notice that this verse begins with “This beginning of his signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee.” With this, John tells us that this was the beginning of the sign miracles that Jesus did. This is the first. There would be many more, but this is the first, and it happened in Cana, Galilee.

Jesus Manifested His Glory

And then notice the next phrase: “He says, and manifested his glory.” This phrase importantly clarifies that this first sign miracle was more than a simple verification that Jesus is the Christ. Does he do a miracle? Yes, he’s the Christ now. This sign was a revelation of the amazing nature and character of the Christ, the Son of God.

What exactly has Jesus revealed about himself here? I’m sure we could answer that a number of different ways. Certainly, one way is that he has revealed that he is the all-powerful Creator and sustainer. Just as John 1:3 has already observed about Jesus as the Word, Jesus creates wine from water, a scientific impossibility unless you are the Creator and can command that which cannot come into being on its own to come into being.

This is what Jesus did, and he did it without any discernible work, without any hand movement, without even a word, except for the directions to the servants to fill up the pots.

“Jesus creates wine from water—a scientific impossibility unless you are the Creator.”

What kind of man has this kind of creation power? Only one: the God-man.

But it’s not just Jesus’ power that’s revealed here. We also see his independence and his holy commitment to his Father’s will. Jesus proved that he will not set aside the will of God for any human interest, not even the interest of his beloved mother. He is not a God to show his partiality, but one who is totally committed to the Father’s will.

We also see his compassionate mercy. This poor bridegroom made a costly error in failing to have enough wine. Truly, he did nothing, yet observed a miraculous rescue from the Christ. But it was God’s will that Jesus would intervene, and lavishly too.

Jesus not only provided abundant wine, but the best quality wine. This was an undeserved gift to someone in need. Yet that’s the kind of God that God is.

Jesus’ Mysterious Humility

We also see Jesus’ mysterious humility. Are you struck by the fact that Jesus did not draw attention to himself with this miracle? He didn’t stop the wedding banquet and announce, “I just want you all to know that good wine that you’re all tasting right now, I did that.” He doesn’t do that. As far as we know, he never clarified for most of the people at the feast what really happened. But he did make sure that his disciples knew, and he made sure that they knew without a doubt he had done it.

When Jesus promised in John 1:51, the last verse of the passage we looked at last time, that his disciples, his new disciples, would see the heavens opened and angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man himself, they perhaps might have expected a dazzling and dramatic show. Something that the Messiah would do that would just attract the wonder and attention of all the world.

But we can see from this first sign miracle that that is not the way that God has chosen to operate. It’s not that what he’s doing is not wondrous, but there’s this mysterious humility about it. God is manifesting his glory. The Son of God is manifesting his glory, but it’s in a way that people, even his people, the Jews, would not have expected.

“God is manifesting his glory, but in a way that people, even his people, would not have expected.”

Why This Sign Miracle?

We see this also from Jesus here. But there’s one other aspect of Jesus showing his glory to which I want to draw your attention. I raised you the question at the beginning: Why this sign miracle? Out of all the signs that Jesus could have done to inaugurate his public ministry, his sign miracles that reveal his messiahship, why this one? Why turning water into good wine at a wedding?

Well, as I said in Sunday school many times, we cannot say for certain why God chooses to do what he does. We know that he’s committed to his own glory. He will always glorify himself. We know that he does whatever he pleases. So evidently, this is how he determined to glorify himself. This is what pleased him.

But can we say anything more than that in this specific instance? I believe we can. I think the key is in that last line of dialogue in verse 10, where the banquet master says, “You have kept the good wine until now.” Does that remind you of anything else that we’ve already heard in the Gospel of John?

Maybe John 1:16-17. John 1:16-17: “For of his fullness, we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”

Do you remember how I explained verse 16 to you? The best understanding of that phrase “grace upon grace” is not super abundant grace. Rather, grace after grace, grace instead of grace, grace replacing and superseding the previous grace.

Why? Because as glorious as the law of Moses was, as glorious as God’s covenant with Israel was, the grace and truth brought about by the Word made flesh is so much better. Verse 17: it’s like grace and truth weren’t even existent before, and they finally come into being with the arrival of Jesus, the Christ.

“The grace and truth brought by the Word made flesh is so much better—like grace replacing and superseding the previous grace.”

God Saved the Best Wine for Last

And isn’t this exactly like what we see happening with the wine at this wedding feast spiritually speaking? God saved the best wine for last. It was wine better than anything previously served. What was served before wasn’t necessarily bad, but this is way better. And it’s certainly better than the Pharisaic Judaism that is masquerading in Jesus’ time as God’s chosen drink.

Is it any accident that we also see in the other gospels Jesus’ coming is tied to a wedding, to the drinking of wine, and to the need to let go of the old to embrace the new? Each of the synoptic gospels—Matthew 9, Mark 2, Luke 5—records a certain conversation in which those concepts are all emphasized.

Some Pharisees come by and they’re like, “Hey, why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples do, and like we do?” What Jesus says? “Then you can’t tell the attendance of the bridegroom to fast, and the bridegroom is here,” implying, “I’m the bridegroom, and I’m here. This is like a wedding. It’s a celebratory time.”

Then he adds soon afterwards, “But you’ve got to put the new wine of my arrival into new wineskins because if you try and put the new wine in old wineskins, what happens? The skins will burst, and both the old skins and the new wine will be ruined.”

Is it not fitting, therefore, that the first miracle of Israel’s Messiah would itself be a metaphor for how all of Israel’s hopes were being fulfilled in something new, something so much better than what came before, something to which the old, which was good, was always pointing and anticipating?

“A metaphor for how Israel’s hopes were being fulfilled in something new, something so much better than what came before.”

If the new is so much better, then what that means that every person needs to do is this: don’t cling to the old. Move from the old to the new. Why hold so tightly to the old system of Judaism and fail to follow Jesus into the culmination and fulfillment of Judaism, into the new age of joy in the Messiah?

The Call to Believe

Thus, verse 11 fittingly ends with a phrase that denotes the only appropriate response to this sign, this first revealing of the glory of God’s Messiah. Verse 11 ends with “and his disciples believed in him.”

Those first five disciples saw what Jesus did. They saw his glory revealed. They were confirmed in their belief in him. They said, “He is the Messiah. He is God’s savior. He is the Lord. I will believe in him, and I will follow him.”

But it wasn’t just for them. John intends for the Hellenistic audience to whom he’s writing that they will do the same. They will not stay with just John the Baptist or with Judaism, but they will go all the way to where God meant them to go: to Jesus. That is what we are to do as well. This is written to us also, so that we would do the same.

So, brethren, do you really believe in Jesus? Have you crossed all the way over into becoming his disciple, not trying to go back to Moses, back to Judaism, back to the keeping of the law as if that will get you into heaven, and not simply clinging to man-made traditions, to your own good works, or to rituals as if that’s going to save you?

No. You ought to trust instead in the one who has the power to turn water into good wine, who also has the power to pay for your sins once and for all by suffering them on the cross, and has the power to clothe you with his own righteousness by his perfect life given to you when you believe, and also has the power to transform the way you walk so that you are no longer a slave of sin but a slave of righteousness.

That’s what it means to believe. That’s what you are to do. That’s what I am to do. That’s what you and I are to keep doing. We cannot stop short. We cannot go back. We must believe in Jesus as he really is, as he reveals himself to be: the only savior, the Lord, the true Lord of your life and my life.

“We must believe in Jesus as he really is—the only savior, the true Lord of your life and my life.”

Don’t merely profess to be a disciple but fail to follow through, fail to actually go all the way to Jesus and live as his disciple. Come all the way so that you may see also and testify that God saved the best wine for last with the coming of his own son. No one else will save. No one else will satisfy. No one will supersede him. He is the climax. He is the full unveiling of God himself.

If you want to experience the spiritual banquet of walking with Christ, if you want to experience the eschatological banquet—we read from an Old Testament passage earlier in the service with constant references to the banquet, to the wine that is going to be in the kingdom of God that he’s going to bring—you want to be part of that banquet?

Remember, even Jesus said that at the Passover before his crucifixion: “I’m not going to drink this wine with you again until I drink it new with you in my kingdom.”

If you want to be part of that banquet, then you must repent and believe in Jesus. You must turn from your sin. You must follow, or you must trust in Jesus to be your only righteousness and salvation, and then you must follow him as a disciple. That’s what the early disciples did. That’s what John wanted the Hellenistic Jews to do who are reading this gospel, and that’s what he wants us to do.

And if you have done that, keep going. Keep going. Keep your eye on the Lord Jesus and on the banquet that he promises to us now and in the future.

Closing Prayer

Let’s close in prayer.

Lord God, I’m thinking about Isaiah 25 again and this wonderful kingdom that you’re going to bring—yes, even to Israel, but to which we Gentiles by faith have been brought in. I think of the testimony of that poetic portion of scripture and how those in that day will say, “It is for the Lord that we have waited. We have waited for him, and he has come. He has provided.”

Lord, how that has been true through the centuries. Your people have waited for you. They have waited for your salvation to be revealed. They have waited for you to bring what you have promised. And Jesus, in your coming, what we were waiting for has arrived. Salvation has arrived. The good wine has arrived.

God, I pray that there is anyone who has not yet tasted and seen that Jesus Christ is good, that they would repent and believe today and they would go all the way as a true disciple, not hedging their bets, professing a Jesus but really living for themselves. Lord, they’d go all in. They’d go all the way.

But God, we know from your scripture that even though our salvation has arrived and it’s been accomplished in one sense, we’re still waiting for it because our bodies are not yet redeemed, your kingdom is not yet on the earth, but it will be one day. And how good that kingdom is going to be. Your prophets and apostles have testified of that again and again. We read about it even in the Book of Revelation, the eternal kingdom that you will set up. And it is just the light. It is the light, God.

In one sense, we’ve tasted in part the good wine that is to come. Yet that is why your Apostle Paul testified, “I am convinced that the suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed.” And I pray that we would embrace that truth also by faith.

As another Psalm says, “You have shown us many troubles and afflictions in this life, but you will revive us again.” You will do that temporally now to sustain us through our pilgrimage here, but ultimately, God, we know that you will revive us again when we die. You will revive us, and you will bring us into your kingdom. And you will say, “I have saved the best banquet for you.”

Now, amazingly, God, you say that you yourself will serve at this banquet. We don’t deserve to be there, much less be served by you, and yet you say that you will do that. What a God! Who is like you, O God? And who are we that you would show us your lavish kindness, your generous mercy now and forever?

Oh, Lord Jesus, all praise be to you. All glory be to you, God. Let us not treat lightly such a great salvation, we who God, why they haven’t come to you or say they’ve come to you. Lord, we dare not walk in uncleanness when such a marvelous savior has arrived. Forgive us, God, for where we have. But no more, Jesus. Help us to walk as your true disciples.

That same creative power, God, that turned water into wine, is the power that you work in us to turn us from people bound in sin now to be bound to righteousness, that we would walk with you, Jesus, to enjoy you as really the best and
February 26, 2023
Come and See
In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines John 1:35-51 and John the apostle’s report of Jesus’ first disciples’ first experiences with Jesus. To be more specific, John presents two come-and-see experiences of Jesus’ first disciples so that you also might come, see, and believe.

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Summary

This passage from John 1:35-51 teaches us that encountering Jesus transforms lives and compels believers to share him with others. The Apostle John presents two parallel “come and see” experiences of Jesus’ earliest disciples—Andrew, John, and Peter in the first group, and Philip and Nathaniel in the second—to invite us into the same transformative encounter. We are reminded that Jesus not only accepts those who seek him but also sees into every heart with divine omniscience, and that his glory only deepens the more we behold him.

Key Lessons:
1. Seeing Jesus personally and spending time with him transforms our understanding of who he is—moving us from curiosity to confident testimony that he is the Messiah.
2. Jesus demonstrates divine omniscience by knowing people before they come to him, revealing that he sees into every human heart.
3. True disciples don’t stop at their own encounter with Jesus—they immediately go find others and invite them to come and see for themselves.
4. Jesus is the fulfillment of all God’s promises, the new staircase between heaven and earth, through whom the glory and work of God are displayed.
Application: We are called to examine whether Jesus truly commands the attention of our lives or whether idols and sin have obstructed our view. We must continue seeking Jesus, growing as his disciples, putting his words into practice, and bringing others to him so they too might come, see, and believe.

Discussion Questions:
1. What was it that first convinced you that Jesus is the Messiah, and how has your understanding of him deepened since that initial encounter?
2. Is there anything in your life right now that is obstructing your view of Jesus and commanding your attention instead of him? What would it look like to remove that obstruction?
3. Who in your life needs an invitation to “come and see” Jesus, and what is holding you back from bringing them?
Scripture Focus: John 1:35-51 records the calling of Jesus’ first disciples and their testimonies. John 1:14 is echoed as Jesus dwells among his followers full of grace and truth. Genesis 28:10-22 (Jacob’s staircase vision) is referenced by Jesus in John 1:51, where he declares himself the new staircase connecting heaven and earth. Psalm 32:1-2 is alluded to in Jesus’ commendation of Nathaniel as an Israelite without deceit.

Outline
Introduction

Well, I am happy to be back preaching verse by verse through the Gospel of John with you. We did a little miniseries to start the year, but we are back in John today. Let’s pray before we dive in.

Holy Lord, you are so beautiful in your glory. We want to know you more and you’ve given us your word so that we may do that. Open our eyes to it today. Open my mouth to declare it. Show us yourself, Lord Jesus, so that we may come to you.

We may see you and we may never leave you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Glory That Arrests the Heart

Back when I was in seminary, my wife and I were privileged to be able to do a vacation in Japan.

We had a great time there. But there was one experience in Japan that very much stood out to me. We had stopped in a little mountain town called Hakone and we were exploring its nearby volcanic national park.

One of the features of the park was a tram ride in which you would get a clear view of neighboring Mount Fuji.

Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan, standing at about 12,400 feet. It is a mountain beloved by the Japanese people for its majesty and its beauty.

They even referred to the mountain with an honorific title, calling it Fujisan, which means something like Mr. Fuji. The snowcapped mountain has become a cultural icon of Japan and is frequently featured in art and media.

Though we were cautioned that there was a chance the mountain would be obscured by clouds on the day of our visit, we still wanted to find out if we might be able to get a good look at this mountain.

There we were in the tram ride slowly rising above the park, and we couldn’t see Mount Fuji at all from the bottom of the ride because there were a series of rocky outcroppings blocking the view. But we slowly rose above these, and our anticipation only built more and more as we passed each ridge, not knowing if this was the one that would finally reveal Mount Fuji.

You pass it and you say, “Oh, it’s not that one. Okay, maybe this one. No, it’s not that one.” Well, quite unexpectedly, we passed the final ridge and there it was, Mount Fuji.

The word that best describes my emotional reaction at that moment is the word arrested. I immediately felt my heart squeezed and chills running down my body. I was captured by the glory of the mountain before me.

“I immediately felt my heart squeezed and chills running down my body. I was captured by the glory of the mountain.”

It commanded all of my attention and the attention of everybody else in the tram.

I had known previously that the mountain was majestic. But it wasn’t until I saw it with my own eyes that I realized just how much this mountain dominates the landscape with its size and its beauty.

Unlike some other mountains, there’s nothing tall near Mount Fuji to compete with it. It stands alone, and the shape of the mountain is almost totally symmetrical. From a distance, it looks like the slopes are rising gently to a snowcapped volcanic cone of pure white.

There were a few clouds in the sky on the day of our viewing, but they had all providentially moved aside so that there was no obstruction to seeing the mountain.

I didn’t want to turn away from the view. I could hardly believe that I was being granted the sight of something so amazing.

Come and See Jesus in God’s Word

And yet, as wonderful as viewing Mount Fuji was, or as wonderful it is to view other parts of God’s magnificent creation, there is something else, or rather someone else, who is much more marvelous.

Unlike a mountain, this marvelous one’s greatness cannot really be appreciated until you see him yourself.

And unlike viewing a mountain, which only grants temporary awe, viewing this one leads to eternal life.

The one I am speaking of is the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we know, Jesus is no longer on the earth in a physical way. After he was crucified, he rose again and ascended into heaven, where he waits until he comes back to set up his kingdom.

But that doesn’t mean we can no longer see Jesus now.

Jesus has been put on display in the God-breathed words of the Bible that has been passed down to us.

“Jesus has been put on display in the God-breathed words of the Bible that has been passed down to us.”

We can see him. As we move on in the next passage in the Gospel of John, the Apostle John is going to invite us to come and see Jesus.

He’s going to do that by showing us the experiences of Jesus’s earliest disciples when they first beheld Jesus’s glory and believed in him as the Messiah. Please open your Bibles to John 1:35-51.

The title of the message today is simply “Come and See.”

Last time we were in this gospel, we were listening to John the Baptist proclaim in John 1:19-34 that he is not the Christ, but instead Jesus is the Christ, even the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Remember, our author John the Apostle presents John the Baptist’s testimony as part of his gospel’s main purpose: to show Hellenistic Jews—that is, Greek-speaking Jews who don’t live in Palestine—that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing in him they have life in his name.

Now our new section picks up right after the baptizer gives his testimony. John the Baptist begins to fade from the scene and Jesus’s official ministry begins.

Let’s hear the word of God. The next day John was standing with two of his disciples and he looked at Jesus as he walked and said, “Behold, the lamb of God.” The two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to him, “Rabbi,” which translated means “teacher, where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah,” which translated means Christ. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas,” which is translated Peter.

The next day he purposed to go into Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathaniel said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit.” Nathaniel said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathaniel answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the king of Israel.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

In this passage, we see the earliest followers of Jesus take their first step of discipleship.

According to Matthew 4, Mark 1, and Luke 5, these disciples would later respond in another step of discipleship where they became official and full-time disciples of Jesus. They respond to an official call from him by the Sea of Galilee. This is before that. Here is the earliest testimony of Jesus’s own disciples about him.

Two Come and See Experiences

Now, our text divides into two parallel sections which have three main features.

There’s going to be someone who sees Jesus and becomes transformed as a disciple. Then that disciple is going to find someone else so that person can come and see Jesus. Then finally Jesus will demonstrate his own divine sight to his new disciples. Lots of seeing is going on in this passage.

Now this passage is historical narrative. It does report what actually took place with the man Jesus and with the men who were his disciples. But it’s been included for us purposefully by our author John.

Really the reason is so that we might experience what the people of this passage are experiencing with Jesus. To say that another way and to give you the main idea of this text, the apostle John, our author, presents two come and see experiences of Jesus’s first disciples so that you also might come, see, and believe.

Say that again. John presents two come and see experiences of Jesus for his disciples so that you also might come, see, and believe.

“John presents two come and see experiences so that you also might come, see, and believe.”

The Experience of Andrew, John, and Peter

Now let’s take a closer look at these two experiences starting with the first one, which comprises verses 35 to 42. That is number one: the experience of Andrew, John, and Peter.

Verse 35 again: “The next day John was standing with two of his disciples.”

Now this verse connects our new passage with the previous one. Remember, the narrative of John’s gospel officially began in verse 19 with John the Baptist ministering in Bethany beyond the Jordan. So beyond the Jordan River in a place called Bethany. And on the first day there, some Jewish visitors arrived from Jerusalem to question John the Baptist about whether he was claiming to be Messiah or something like that.

On the second day, John the Baptist saw Jesus and proclaimed him to be the Lamb of God.

Now it’s the third day. John the Baptist is in the same location, except now we’re told in verse 35 that he’s standing with two particular disciples—that is, his disciples, two follower learners of John the Baptist.

Now, who are these two disciples?

The identities are not given right away. We learn in verse 40 that one of them is Andrew, the brother of Philip. The other disciple is never identified for us in the passage, which is curious considering that the other four disciples are all identified by name.

Did our author simply not know the name of this other disciple? Could he not find it out from Andrew or anybody else who was there?

Most likely, the answer is much simpler. This other disciple is the author choosing to mention himself without drawing attention to himself. That is to say, the other disciple is John, the son of Zebedee, our author.

I told you in the book introduction sermon that John the Apostle never mentions himself by name in this book. He only refers to himself obliquely with phrases like “the other disciple” or “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” So we’re seeing the first of such instances here right in verse 35.

So what that means is that before meeting Jesus, John and Andrew were disciples of John the Baptist. They’re already looking for the kingdom of God following John the Baptist’s message.

“Before meeting Jesus, John and Andrew were disciples of John the Baptist, already looking for the kingdom of God.”

And by the way, John the Apostle’s presence in this scene explains some of the very specific time details that we get in these first passages of John—when things happen on particular days and even what hour of the day. That’s consistent with somebody who was there as an eyewitness.

So on the third day, John and Andrew are standing there with John the Baptist.

John the Baptist Points to the Lamb of God

And what happens? Look at verse 36.

He—that’s John the Baptist—looked at Jesus as he walked and said, “Behold the lamb of God.” Notice here, like in the previous passage, Jesus appears again walking. Apparently this time he’s not walking to John the Baptist but just walking in the vicinity of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist stares at Jesus as he walks by and then repeats in shorter form what he had said earlier in verse 29: “Behold the lamb of God.” Everyone, look at the one who’s been provided by God to be our savior from sin.

This is not an idle declaration because notice how the two disciples, John and Andrew, respond. Verse 37: “The two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus.”

Now notice John never tells his two disciples explicitly to leave him. He doesn’t say, “Follow Jesus. Guys, what are you doing around me? Go follow him.”

He doesn’t say that specifically. But John the Baptist’s whole ministry has been designed to prepare the people for the coming of Messiah and then point people to that Messiah once he arrives.

So John has always been wanting to get people to follow Jesus. That’s what his ministry’s been all about.

“John the Baptist’s whole ministry has been designed to prepare the people for Messiah and then point people to that Messiah.”

He makes this renewed, pointed declaration of Jesus as the lamb of God.

John and Andrew get the message and they literally turn to follow Jesus. They get behind Jesus and start walking behind him.

But by this point, we know who Jesus is. He’s not only been identified by John the Baptist, but even earlier in the prologue of John, we know he’s the word of God made flesh, the eternal God who was with God.

Will such a one accept John and Andrew as disciples?

Jesus Invites: Come and You Will See

Well, let’s look at the first part of verse 38. Verse 38a.

And Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What do you seek?” This response from Jesus is quite a natural one. If you were just walking around and suddenly noticed two people following you, you’d probably ask a version of this same question. What do you want? What are you looking for? What can I do for you? Why are you following me?

It’s a simple question, and it could have a simple reply.

What will John and Andrew say? Look at the second part of verse 38.

They said to him, “Rabbi,” which translated means teacher, “Where are you staying?” The term rabbi here comes from Aramaic and literally means my great one.

By this time, among the Jews, rabbi had come to be a title of respect for a teacher. So people weren’t really thinking about what it means literally. It more or less just means teacher, which is why our author, speaking to Hellenistic Jews who don’t speak Aramaic, translates the word rabbi for them simply as teacher—dascalos.

Already in this address to Jesus, we see that John and Andrew are confessing Jesus to be a teacher worthy of respect.

But there’s still much they don’t know about him. There’s still much they want to ask him and learn from him. How do you put that desire and all the things you desire from Jesus into a simple reply to Jesus’ question?

Well, they elect to answer the question with a question, which is always a clever tactic.

They ask, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Now, that’s a question with an implication, isn’t it? What are they really asking Jesus?

Rabbi, can you tell us where you’re staying so that we can stay with you, so we can talk to you and learn from you, so that we might even become your disciples. Really, their question is a request for extended time with Jesus.

But Jesus is God. How will he respond?

Verse 39a.

He said to them, “Come and you will see.” Again, on the surface, a very simple response. Want to know where I’m staying? Come with me. I’ll show you.

But in this reply, Jesus, the eternal word, the only begotten God who dwells forever in the bosom of the father, grants that sinful, no account people like John and Andrew may spend time with him, can stay with him, can be taught by him, can see him, can get to know him.

Thus, in this simple reply from Jesus, we are beginning to see illustrated what John said in John 1:14. “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, full of grace and truth.”

He dwelt among us. John and Andrew immediately take up Jesus on his offer. Rest of verse 39. So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the 10th hour.

Remember, we’re still near Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River, which is pretty far from Galilee.

But Jesus has accommodations of some kind. It’s not clear what kind or where. Nothing grand, no doubt, but they go with Jesus. They find out where he’s staying, and they stay with him the rest of the day and probably the night as well.

You see here that it says it was about the 10th hour. That could mean 10:00 a.m. More likely, it means 4:00 p.m., since most people at this time counted the hours of the day starting at sunrise, or about 6:00 a.m., rather than midnight. So probably this is already late in the day.

Now, we don’t hear exactly what kind of talk passed between Jesus and his disciples as they traveled to wherever Jesus was staying or what they talked about once they got to the house.

Andrew Declares: We Have Found the Messiah

But it must have been poignant. It must have been powerful. It must have been transformational because look at what we see happening next in verses 40 and 41.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah.” Which translated means Christ.

In verse 41, we’re told Andrew first went to find his own brother. Now, that could be taken to mean that both Andrew and John went to go find their brothers.

Andrew went first to find Peter, and John went later to find his brother, James.

But the Greek is probably better translated: Andrew first found his brother, Simon. That is to say, before Andrew did anything else, he went to go find his brother.

Andrew goes with Jesus to find out where Jesus is staying and then probably on that same day he goes to find his brother so that he can bring his brother to Jesus and he can stay with Jesus too.

Simon must have been in the area, which means Simon was very much probably also a disciple of John the Baptist because otherwise what are you doing at Bethany beyond the Jordan? John the Baptist is the only attraction over there. Simon Peter was probably a disciple of John the Baptist as well.

Well, Andrew goes to find Simon and notice what he says to him. He says, “We have found the Messiah.” Now, you see another translation note from our author. He says, “Messiah, it means Christ.” Messiah is Aramaic.

Christos is Greek. They’re both terms that mean the same thing: anointed one.

And we’ve already seen this term back in John 1:21. We talked about it. Remember, God did designate certain persons in the Old Testament as anointed ones—Israelite kings, Israelite prophets, Israelite priests. But that term came to refer more and more to a specially anointed one who is going to be Israel’s ultimate savior and king. That’s what people were looking for.

Many in Israel are anxiously awaiting the arrival of this Messiah, not least John the Baptist’s disciples. Remember, John the Baptist is the forerunner. He prepares the way for the Messiah.

So Andrew, John, and Simon, they’re all waiting for this Messiah. Andrew gets to deliver the happy news to his brother.

Simon, we found him. The one we’ve been looking for. The one we’ve been waiting for, the Messiah, the Christ. He’s here.

John and I found him.

Now, notice what change has taken place in Andrew since verse 38.

In verse 38, Andrew wanted to find out where Jesus was staying so he could spend time with him. But now Andrew is declaring with certainty to his brother and to John’s original Hellenistic Jewish audience and to us today, guys.

Jesus is the Messiah.

“Andrew is declaring with certainty: Jesus is the Messiah.”

I’m a Jew. I’ve been looking for him.

I’ve been following John the Baptist and I found him. We found him. You’re looking for him. It’s Jesus.

What happened to make Andrew so sure?

He had the words of John the Baptist.

That’s true. But did Jesus tell him more that convinced him? What did Jesus say? What did Jesus do?

We’re not told specifically, but we know whatever happened, it was a result of Andrew seeing and spending time with Jesus.

So Andrew tells Simon the good news. And as a fellow disciple of John the Baptist, Simon was probably ready for news like this. So he immediately goes with his brother to where Jesus is.

Jesus Sees into Simon Peter’s Heart

But then something unexpected happens when Jesus sees Simon. Look at verse 42.

And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, the son of John. You shall be called Cephas,” which is translated Peter.

In verse 42, we see that Jesus renames Simon, which as we’ve been talking about in Sunday school today, is a mark of authority. Jesus is asserting his authority over Simon. When you name somebody or rename somebody, it’s like you’re identifying with that person and showing your authority over that person, which implicitly means that Jesus was accepting Simon as a disciple. You belong to me now. I’m giving you a new name.

But there’s something else there because notice it says Jesus looked at Simon.

The Greek word translated “looked” is one that means to look at something directly and intently. It’s to stare at. It’s to gaze, even to study.

So this means that Jesus didn’t pull one of his favorite names out of the air when he just happened to look at Simon. Jesus steadied Simon, not just looking at him, but looking into him.

For notice what Jesus says: “You are Simon, the son of John.”

How did Jesus know that? Did Andrew tell him? Did John tell him? Did Simon say it first? Perhaps that was not mentioned in our passage.

Regardless of whether someone told him or not, Jesus knew. I know exactly who you are. You are Simon, the son of John.

And Jesus knew something else. He continues, “You shall be called Cephas,” or Kepha in Aramaic. This is another word that gets originally translated. Kepha means rock, but John’s original audience doesn’t know Aramaic. So he translated immediately to the Greek equivalent, Petros, or Peter, which also means rock.

Well, why that name for Simon? Why did Jesus decide to call him Rock and not something else?

Again, it’s because Jesus saw who Simon really was and more importantly who Jesus would transform him to be.

Simon surely at this point has a lot of faults. He will have much growing to do.

Yet Jesus could also see that Peter is already an earnest seeker of Yahweh and one who eventually, because of Jesus’s work in him, would become a rock solid witness for Jesus, even being crucified for Jesus’s sake. That’s how the book of John is going to end with a reference to that.

“Jesus saw who Simon really was and more importantly who Jesus would transform him to be.”

Thus, Peter is one who fulfills something we’re going to see just a little bit later in the book of John: John 3:21.

John 3:21 says, “But he who practices the truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” If you’re somebody who’s truly seeking God, if you’re someone who truly loves God and you’re a Jew, you come to Jesus.

That’s what Peter does. And Jesus acknowledges that.

Jesus’ Sight Is Powerful

In the first experience of Andrew, John, and Peter, we not only see that seeing Jesus is transformational, but also that Jesus’s own sight is powerful.

He is able to see into every man’s heart, including yours.

“Jesus’ own sight is powerful. He is able to see into every man’s heart, including yours.”

The question now is how will we respond? Will we come and behold Jesus ourselves so that like these three disciples we also might see and believe.

The Experience of Philip and Nathaniel

But theirs wasn’t the only “come and see” experience. We hear about another one in verses 43 to 51. Number two, the experience of Philip and Nathaniel.

Let’s look at verses 43 to 44 together.

Jesus Calls Philip to Follow Him

The next day he purposed to go into Galilee and he found Philip and Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Notice another time detail here. We’ve arrived at day four. The beginning of the verse tells us that Jesus decides to travel away from the Jordan area where John the Baptist is and go back to Jesus’s home area, which is also the home area of his disciples. That’s Galilee in the northern part of Palestine.

But somewhere before or along this route of travel, Jesus does something a little unexpected. He finds a man named Philip and he says to him, “Follow me.” I say this is unexpected because as we saw, Jesus didn’t search out the other three disciples. They were directed or brought to him by others.

“Jesus does something unexpected. He finds Philip and says, ‘Follow me.’”

Moreover, Jesus explicitly calls Philip to discipleship with that simple phrase: follow me.

This is unique to Philip. We don’t see it happening with the others in this passage. Why did Jesus seek out Philip in this way?

Did the other disciples tell Jesus about Philip and ask Jesus to pick him up? Maybe it’s not mentioned though.

It may be that Philip also was a disciple of John the Baptist, which would explain his quick acquiescence to Jesus’s command just like the other three. But we can’t say for sure. One thing we can say though is that based on this and the ones we’ve already seen, not everyone meets Jesus the same way.

Yet all end up in the same place being called to a fundamental response: follow me. Follow me. Jesus says, learn from me. Get to know me. Trust me, obey me. Become like me. Become my disciple.

Philip Finds Nathaniel

Philip begins to talk and spend time with Jesus as a new disciple, and it has a similarly transformative effect on him as with the previous group. Look at what we see Philip doing in verse 45.

Verse 45: “Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, ‘We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’”

Bit of déjà vu, isn’t it?

Here’s another person who has met Jesus and become his disciple, immediately seeking out someone else and declaring to him with certainty: we have found the Messiah. Notice the “we” there, indicating Philip has joined the group of disciples around Jesus. We, not just me, we have found the Messiah.

“Another person who has met Jesus immediately seeks out someone else, declaring with certainty: we have found the Messiah.”

But this time, it’s Philip going to find Nathaniel.

Now, who exactly is Nathaniel?

Nathaniel was probably Philip’s brother or good friend. Interestingly, while we do see Philip mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels—he’s included in the list of the twelve apostles—we never see the name Nathaniel anywhere else in the Gospels except at the very end of the Gospel of John.

Nathaniel appears in John 21:2 when the apostles are waiting in Galilee for Jesus to show up and they go fishing. Nathaniel is there. We also learn from that verse that Nathaniel is originally from Cana, another small town in Galilee.

So why is Nathaniel nowhere mentioned anywhere else?

Well, it’s possible Nathaniel was a disciple of Jesus who did not become an apostle. He was just one of those other disciples. But more likely, Nathaniel is another name for an apostle that we do know: Bartholomew.

Why do I say that? Well, Bartholomew is a name that is really just a patronymic, which means it’s a name that indicates who the man’s father was. Bartholomew is Bartholomaeus, or “son of Tholmaeus.” That’s not much of a name. Surely he had another name besides “son of this guy.”

He probably did, and that name was Nathaniel.

Notably, in the listing of the twelve apostles that we see in the Gospels, Philip and Bartholomew are always listed together, which suggests they have a close relationship. That’s what we see with other names on the list. Philip and Nathaniel apparently have a close relationship here, which makes sense if Nathaniel is just another name for Bartholomew.

Philip goes to find Nathaniel and tell him about Jesus. Notice the way that he describes Jesus as the Messiah. It’s a little different from before, but it’s essentially the same. He doesn’t use the word “Messiah,” but he gives a description of the one who has to be the Messiah.

The one whom Moses and the prophets wrote about in various places—that’s the one the Jews had come to know and expect to be the Messiah. They called him Christ. They called him Messiah. This is the one Philip’s talking about. Philip confidently declares to Nathaniel, “It’s Jesus of Nazareth. We found the Messiah. We found the one who’s been foretold in the law and the prophets. It’s Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Can Any Good Thing Come from Nazareth?

But that declaration leads to a problem because notice Nathaniel’s response in the first part of verse 46.

Nathaniel said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”

Nathaniel seizes on Jesus’s identification with Nazareth as a reason to question Philip’s claim. You’re telling me that you found a Messiah who comes from Nazareth? Come on. Can any good thing come from Nazareth, much less the Messiah that we’ve been waiting for all these years?

In those days, Nazareth was a Galilean town without an impressive reputation. Emma and I actually got to visit it on our trip to Israel.

Ancient Nazareth was very small, tucked away in the side of a hill, not connected to any main roads. Most people would have never had a reason to visit it or to pass through it. It really was Nowheresville.

Not that Cana, the town from which Nathaniel is from, is much more impressive. It also was a small town that was tucked away and people didn’t have to go there. So what’s his beef with Nazareth? Well, maybe it’s one of those things where small towns that are near each other have a little rivalry. He says, “Oh, Nazareth. I feel nothing but contempt for Nazareth.”

What’s good about Nazareth? Or maybe it’s not a rivalry thing. It’s just a simple recognition of the fact that Nazareth is nothing special. Hey, my town’s not special either, but you’re telling me the Messiah has come from Nazareth and you found him?

Nazareth doesn’t have anything to recommend itself as the place of the Messiah.

“Nazareth doesn’t have anything to recommend itself as the place of the Messiah.”

So he questions Philip’s claim.

What’s Philip going to say to that? How’s Philip going to shoot down Nathaniel’s objection?

Come and See for Yourself

Well, the reply he makes is probably the best one he could have made. Verse 46, second part, Philip said to him, “Come and see.” And more literally, “Come and behold.” Philip may not have known how to deal with Nathaniel’s specific objection.

Maybe he hadn’t learned at that point that Jesus wasn’t really from Nazareth. He’s from Bethlehem, and that’s consistent with messianic expectation. Maybe he hadn’t learned that yet.

But Philip knew one thing: Jesus is the Messiah. And therefore, Nathaniel needs to encounter Jesus for himself. That was the same for John’s original Jewish readers. It’s the same for us today.

We may have different prejudices and different objections when it comes to Christianity that make us skeptical, but we ultimately need to do the same thing that Philip is encouraging here. Come and see. Come and behold. Come see Jesus for yourself.

Get to know him. Behold his glory on display in the words and works he did as recorded in the Bible.

“We may have different objections, but we ultimately need to come and see Jesus for ourselves.”

Even in the book of John, behold Jesus this way and come and see if you don’t come to the same conclusion as these early disciples.

Well, did that response work for Nathaniel? It at least made Nathaniel willing to come visit Jesus. Let’s see what happens next. Verse 47.

Jesus Knows Nathaniel Before They Meet

Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit.” Are you getting déjà vu all over again?

As before with Simon Peter, notice Jesus just looks at Nathaniel and before Nathaniel has even said anything, Jesus declares to everyone who Nathaniel really is on the inside.

Look, here is indeed an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.

That statement from Jesus is not a criticism. That’s a commendation.

I mean, wouldn’t you want Jesus to look at you and say that? Hey, there’s somebody who doesn’t have a bit of lying or deception in his heart. I’d like Jesus to say that of me.

And in your Psalms, you may recognize that Jesus’s phrasing is an allusion to a certain verse in the Psalms.

Psalm 32:1-2, which says, “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. How blessed is the man to whom the Lord, that is Yahweh, does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

Now Psalm 32:1-2 describes a saved person, not a perfect person, but a forgiven person, a person saved by the mercy of God, who has been transformed to live a new life of holiness, even honesty.

And what Jesus says? That description fits Nathaniel.

What he is essentially declaring when he sees Nathaniel is here is another true worshipper of Yahweh that I am willing to accept as a disciple.

“What Jesus is declaring is: here is another true worshipper of Yahweh that I am willing to accept as a disciple.”

And notice Nathaniel’s poignant reply.

He doesn’t give any false modesty by saying something like, “Oh, you’re too kind, Jesus. I’m not that great. Oh, come on.” No. Instead, he says in verse 48a, “Nathaniel said to him, ‘How do you know me?’”

How do you know who I am? Yes, I do love Yahweh. I do strive to live honestly. But how do you know what’s in my heart?

Verse 48b: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’”

In this reply, Jesus reveals something again, both wondrous and sobering.

He already knew Nathaniel before Philip brought him.

In fact, Jesus says, “When you were under the fig tree,” which must have been where Nathaniel was before Philip picked him up. Jesus says, “When you were under the fig tree, I saw you. I was already seeing you and taking note of you.”

Now, we must understand that Jesus is not referring to any kind of physical sight. There’s no indication that Jesus had met Nathaniel before or had been spying on him. And it’s not as if Jesus had a high vantage point in the area and saw Nathaniel from a distance.

He’s like, “Oh, he’s under a fig tree.” And it’s not as if the whole fig tree thing is just a lucky guess. I mean, there were a lot of fig trees in Israel at this time, and people would sometimes sit under them.

But it’s the fact that Jesus knew that Nathaniel was under the fig tree before Philip came to him that arrests Nathaniel.

He knew that there wasn’t a way that Jesus could know this otherwise because look at the way that Nathaniel responds in verse 49.

Nathaniel’s Confession: Son of God and King of Israel

Nathaniel answered him, “Rabbi, you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel.” Again, notice how Nathaniel’s whole attitude has changed in response to seeing Jesus and witnessing his power. He’s no longer skeptical. He’s no longer questioning, but he instead says, “Rabbi, my respected teacher, you yourself”—it’s the you that is emphatic in both these phrases in Greek—”You yourself are the son of God. You yourself are the king of Israel.”

Nathaniel doubly affirms Jesus to be the long-awaited Christ. Then he uses two titles from the Old Testament, both associated with the Messiah, the coming Davidic King, and that even express the divine nature of this promised savior.

“Nathaniel doubly affirms Jesus with two Old Testament titles associated with the Messiah and expressing his divine nature.”

It’s hard for Nathaniel to be more emphatic in his testimony that Jesus is the Christ.

Now, these are to be sure correct identifications of who Jesus is. But does Nathaniel grasp them in their full implications?

Probably not.

He’s right. He fundamentally understands, but he’s going to grow. He’s going to grow in his understanding of what it means for Jesus to be the son of God and the king of Israel along with the rest of the disciples.

Remember, I told you this is a theme in the book of John. People get that Jesus is the Messiah. They believe in him. But then they realize what that really means. They mature in their understanding. They deepen in it. And they see even how more glorious Jesus is than they thought.

That’s going to be Nathaniel’s experience. Nevertheless, fundamentally, just seeing Jesus for the first time, meeting Jesus, witnessing his divine power is enough to convince Nathaniel that Jesus of Nazareth, even from Nazareth, this one is Israel’s Christ.

And he testifies not just to those who were in the circle around Jesus that one day, but he testifies to the Hellenistic Jews of John’s day. And he testifies to us. Here’s another witness of somebody who was even more skeptical than the other four.

He says, “Guys, Jews, all of you religious persons looking for the saving provision of God, I’m telling you, it’s Jesus. I’ve seen. I want you to see it’s Jesus.”

You Will See Greater Things

It’s a beautiful testimony. It’s a powerful testimony. But Jesus gives a response to it that perhaps surprises us. Look at verse 50.

Verse 50: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’”

Jesus first notes here that Nathaniel believes Jesus to be the Messiah because Jesus demonstrated his omniscience by seeing Nathaniel under the fig tree. Nothing necessarily wrong with that. That is a true clue.

But Jesus quickly adds, “You will see greater things than these.” That is to say, “If you’re looking for proof that I really am the Messiah so that you can believe, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

In fact, he goes on in verse 51: “And he said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Now, in this last verse, we see some favorite phrases from Jesus that are used throughout this gospel. One is the beginning part: “Truly, truly I say to you.” You’re going to hear this a lot of times in John. Amen. Amen. It’s true. It’s true. Believe it.

Jesus often uses this phrase when he’s about to say something really marvelous, even something that people will be slow to believe because it’s so wonderful.

“If you’re looking for proof that I really am the Messiah, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Note something else interesting here. You see the words “truly, truly I say to you.” There’s been a shift. This is hard to detect in English, but Jesus has switched from the second person singular version of “you” to the second person plural. So he’s no longer just addressing Nathaniel, but he’s addressing all those listening, which includes all his early disciples, John’s original readers, and us.

He’s going to make a declaration that’s going to wow us. But he says, “Believe it.”

Now, the latter part of this verse—this whole thing about heavens, angels, and ascending and descending—that’s probably going to be really confusing if you do not recognize the allusion to Genesis 28:10-22, which is the passage we read earlier in the service.

Recall that in Genesis 28:10-22, the patriarch Jacob, after stealing his brother Esau’s birthright and his brother’s blessing, flees to Haran to find a wife. Since he’s all by himself with a murderous brother back home, he’s making this long journey. He’s probably wondering how things are going to work out. Am I going to survive?

But then he goes to sleep. God grants Jacob a vision in the night of a staircase. It’s translated as “ladder” in many Bible translations, but staircase is better. He sees a staircase reaching from earth to heaven with angels going up and down on it and God himself standing at the top.

God then, from the top of the stairs, affirms to Jacob that the Abrahamic covenant—the promises of land, seed, and blessing to the whole earth—will be fulfilled in Jacob and in Jacob’s descendants. God will protect Jacob and bring to pass everything that he has promised to him.

The staircase and the angels are actually visible testimony to God’s words to Jacob. Though Jacob normally couldn’t see what God was doing, God pulls back the spiritual curtain, so to speak, to let Jacob know: “Look, my servants are at work. They’re going up and down. They’re constantly delivering my messages. They’re doing my will. You can be sure my promises are going to be fulfilled. I’m at work.”

That would have been a great encouragement to Jacob. It was part of how God was turning Jacob to seek God in faith.

Jesus the New Staircase to Heaven

But notice how here in John 1:51, Jesus has updated this vision. He’s tweaked it from what was originally given to Jacob.

Now Jesus says, “The disciples will see heaven opening and remaining open.” This is hard. You don’t see this in the English translation, but in the Greek it’s perfect tense, which means that something takes place and it remains that way.

Heaven will be having opened and the disciples will see the angels of God ascending and descending not on a staircase but on the son of man, which is the way that Jesus identifies himself. He thus becomes a new kind of staircase.

Now son of man is Jesus’s favorite title for himself. We’re going to see it a lot in the book of John. You see it in the other gospels. It’s a title with which many Jews in Jesus’s day weren’t super familiar and didn’t know how to respond to it.

They get the idea: “Oh, son of David, king of Israel, son of God.” They’d heard these titles before and sometimes they apply them to Jesus because they’re like, “Yeah, our political savior is here. He’s going to get rid of the Romans.” Jesus usually didn’t use those titles for himself, though he didn’t deny them. He instead prefers son of man.

Son of man is a title that certainly emphasizes Jesus’s humanity. He is a son of man literally. But it is also a phrase associated with Daniel 7:13, where one like a son of man is going to come from heaven and is going to reign in glory on God’s behalf on the earth.

So son of man is a messianic title that actually emphasizes Jesus’s divinity. I know that’s a little bit confusing. You’re like, “Son of man—doesn’t that emphasize humanity?” Yes, but because of that association in Daniel 7:13, it also emphasizes divinity.

That’s the title that Jesus prefers and that’s the way he refers to himself here. We’re going to see it again.

But what is all this about? You’re saying Jesus, you’re the new staircase, angels descending and ascending on you, heaven opened up. What are you really saying?

Well, in connection with the Genesis passage, I’d say that this is Jesus’s assertion that he will be the one who will open up heaven for his disciples in a lasting way. It will be by him and through him. Also, he will be the means of all God’s promises coming to pass.

Even the ancient promises given to Abraham and to Jacob. It’s going to be by him and through him.

And also the work and the glory of God that was emphasized with the angels ascending and descending to Jacob. Jesus says all of that you’re going to see taking place in me.

The work and the glory of God will be put on display in me, myself, and in my life.

“Jesus will be the one who opens heaven in a lasting way. The work and glory of God will be put on display in him.”

Now that’s a pretty mighty assertion.

And the question any reader or listener should have after hearing that, especially if they don’t yet believe in Jesus, is: What are you going to do? How are you going to show that you indeed are the new staircase bringing to pass all of God’s promises in what you yourself do?

What’s the answer to that?

Come and see.

It’s no accident that John’s gospel, right after this statement is made from Jesus, presents the first sign miracle of Jesus at the wedding of Cana.

Remember, John picked these signs out specifically to say these prove Jesus is the Messiah.

It’s just the beginning, though. It’s not one event that’s going to be all of this that Jesus just talked about in verse 51. It’s everything that’s going to happen in his life. Everything that he says, everything that he does—it’s going to put the glorious work of God and his own identity on display. And it’s going to culminate with Jesus’s work on the cross and his resurrection.

You want to see the angels ascending and descending on the son of God? You got to come and see Jesus’s life. You got to listen to him speak. You got to see what he does.

It’s like Jesus says to us and to the original readers of this book: “You think it’s impressive that I’ve elicited the testimony of these five disciples that I am the Messiah? You think it’s impressive that I can see and know men before they even came to me, before I’d met them?” Yes, that is impressive and that does point to me being Messiah. But what? You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Don’t stop reading this gospel. Don’t stop reading this Bible. Come and see who I really am. Jesus says, so that you may believe and find eternal life.

Come and See and Remain

Brethren, those of you listening today, have you done that? Have you come and seen that Jesus really is the Messiah, son of God?

And if you have, are you still seeking Jesus? Are you still getting to know him? Once you see Jesus, it’s not like, “Okay, that’s nice. What else can I look at now?” No. This is a mountain of majesty that you can’t turn away from.

Jesus demands. He commands. By his own glory, he commands all your attention.

Or at least he ought to. Are you continuing to seek Jesus? Are you continuing to get to know him?

Are you seeking to become more like him? Are you seeking to put his words into practice as a true disciple? And are you even bringing others to him so that they might see and believe?

That’s what it means to be a true follower of Jesus. Once you start, you don’t stop. Once you’ve come to see him, you’re transformed and you can’t go back to the way you were.

Does Jesus command the attention of your life truly? Or has something else gotten in the way, obstructed the view, and is commanding your attention instead?

That’s what an idol does. That’s what sin does. If that’s the case with you, then what you must do is repent. You must get rid of that idol. You must leave it behind. You must turn away from it and say, “I want to go seek Jesus again. I want to see him again. I want to remember all the things that are so wonderful and beautiful and saving about him.”

Come and see is the main exhortation of this passage. Come and see and remain. Don’t go away from Jesus.

Everything that you’re really looking for, everything that’s worth looking for is found in him. There’s nowhere else to go. There’s nowhere else you need to go.

“Come and see and remain. Everything worth looking for is found in Jesus. There’s nowhere else you need to go.”

Come and see. Come and remain with Jesus.

By this point, John the Baptist has testified that Jesus is the glorious Christ, and so have Jesus’s first disciples.

The question to leave you with then is: Do you believe their witness? They came and saw and they believed. Do you believe based on their witness that Jesus really is worth coming and seeing and remaining?

And does your life prove that?

Let’s close in prayer.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, we are beginning to get a glimpse of who you are in your words and works. And it’s wonderful. It’s amazing.

You take these disciples, Lord, who hardly know anything, who are imperfect, and you say, “Come and remain with me. Come be my disciple. Come learn from me, Lord.”

This is your grace and truth on display. This is your dwelling among us, the word made flesh. What a wonderful reality.

Yet, Lord Jesus, you also display your sobering power that you really know what’s going on in our hearts. Oh, how many people, Lord Jesus, have come to you and said, “Yes, I love Jesus. Yes, I’ll follow Jesus.” But their hearts—and you say, “Nope, you’re not my disciple. You don’t really want me. You just want to pretend to want me.”

It’s not going to be very long in our passage that we’re going to see that, or in the book of John, that there were many who were believing in Jesus and yet Jesus, you did not entrust yourself to them because you knew what was in their hearts. What’s in the heart of man.

God, if there are any people who are hearing this message today who are false with you, I pray Lord that you would convict them by your spirit. They wouldn’t play the game anymore. That they would come and see you truly and give themselves over to you truly. That they’d say, “Jesus has my intention now and I’m not giving it to anything else.”

Jesus, we need your help because we are weak. You were so patient with your disciples, and we’re so glad about that because we need your patience with us. Yet, God, we know we don’t want to be false with you. We don’t want to be hypocrites before you, pretend that we love you and seek you when we don’t.

God, I pray if there’s any who have not yet come and seen you that they would, and that those who have, Lord, would remain with you and they’d see more and more what a beautiful, glorious God you are. They would grow in you. They would say no to ungodliness, yes to righteousness. They’d become more like you. Put you on display to this world.

Lord, we know there are many people we love who need to come and see you as well. Help us not to be afraid to tell them, to bring them. Open their eyes, God. Transform them by sight of you so that they also might believe and be saved.
February 19, 2023