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A Rough Revelation for a Religious Ruler
John 3:1-21
In an age of fake news and social media, we don’t always know what the truth is anymore. Some people say that truth is relative. You have yours, I have mine. And people don’t always like the truth that’s told to them. They want the truth, but can’t handle the truth. They react poorly when they hear the truth - like Cain. You’ll be marked forever for killing your brother! But people are going to hate me. Like King Saul - you’re going to lose your kingdom! But could you honor me before the people so I don’t lose face? Cain hated and was afraid of being hated. Saul disrespected God but wanted respect. People can’t handle the truth about themselves. And it’s painful when our idols are destroyed. But we need the truth. We need that revelation - no matter how rough it is. And it can be really rough. Esau realized that he had lost his inheritance forever. Why? He treated it with contempt. But when he realized it, he sought it with tears. Today, we see a man who had a rough revelation. He didn’t expect it, wasn’t raised or trained in it, but needed to hear it. And we shall explore that rough revelation in 3 points. Firstly, the real nature of salvation is spiritual. Secondly, the better provision for salvation is God’s Son. Thirdly, the only agent of salvation is faith.
Firstly, the real nature of salvation is spiritual. In verses 1-2, we read that Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews came to Jesus by night. And he confessed, “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” The fact that Nicodemus would come to Jesus is surprising. We see his opening eyes of faith. Why? He was a Pharisee - a very conservative religious group. They taught people to please God by obeying his laws strictly. They came up with minute rules and regulations for the people to follow. Specialized Pharisees called scribes were further experts called to judge if a certain obedience was obedient enough. They were opposite of Jesus. He taught forgiveness from sin. They taught off you obey enough, you don’t need forgiveness Lamb of salvation versus teachers of obedience. Nicodemus was also a ruler of the Jews. He was part of Israel’s Ruling Council - the Sanhedrin. As a ruler, he had a position to protect. So this is why he came by night, under a cloud of secrecy. Jesus had cleared the temple; made outlandish claims to rebuild a destroyed temple in 3 days; he also performed miracles. He was popular in Jerusalem - Israel’s political and religious capital. So Nicodemus took precautions - coming at night. But we see opening eyes of faith! He acknowledged Jesus as a teacher come from God, that God was with him. He said “we know” - meaning others also said the same. There were those who had opening eyes of faith. They saw something special in him - that he was a teacher from God; different from others. Why? The miracles. They proved he was God-sent. Yes, not all Pharisees saw it. In our church Bible study on Mark, many said he had a devil. But this ruling Pharisee could see it. Why? The opening eyes of faith.
After Nicodemus words, Jesus gave a rough revelation. He spoke about the spiritual nature of God’s kingdom. Verse 3 - “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” It’s a true statement - verily, verily. Amen Amen. And he repeated it in verse 5 - “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” No one can see or enter God’s kingdom; No one can be saved, unless he’s born again, meaning born of water and the Spirit. What does this mean? When Jesus said born again, he used the Greek word anóthen which can both mean again or from above. It’s a spiritual birth - not earthly. Verse 6 - flesh is flesh but spirit is spirit. The second birth is heavenly. Makes sense right? If you want to go to heaven, you must be heaven born. And it’s to be born of water and of the Spirit. One must be cleansed. This is described in Ezekiel 36:25-27, God said to his disobedient people - “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” You want to be saved? Be cleansed! No one can obey the law to be right with God. We have a stony heart; a heart that can’t obey because it won’t obey. It seeks after idols, not God. That’s why we can be angry, unforgiving, and lying people. We have a filthy heart. And the only way a person is saved, is by being cleansed by the Spirit. This is how you can be born from above. And it’s not something a person can do - it’s done to him. Verse 8 says it’s a sovereign work of the Spirit. The wind - meaning Spirit - goes wherever he wants. He washes and cleanses people, giving them a new heart, as he pleases.
And this really confused Nicodemus. While he had opening eyes of faith, what held him back was his blindness of heritage. When Jesus told him to go to heaven, you must be born again; Nicodemus took the word anóthen to mean again. To enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born even when he’s old. And it confused him. Why? Salvation to him as a Pharisee was so tied to ethnicity. You go to heaven because of your heritage. And as long as you keep all things Jewish - like the Jewish laws, the Jewish diet, the Jewish festivals - you are righteous. Your Jewishness is enough to get you into heaven. And what was true for the average Jew was doubly true for the Pharisees. The word Pharisee literally means separated ones. They saw themselves as holy, a cut above the rest, by their theological education and religious status. He’d be saved by heritage. On the other hand, all non-Jews would be hated and judged by God. But the Lord Jesus dismantled that idea. Who is salvation for? Only those born Jewish? No - not flesh but spirit. And this was revolutionary to this man. That’s why in verse 9, after Jesus told him about spiritual birth, he asked - how can these things be? He couldn’t handle the truth.
Jesus answered him with another truth. Secondly, the better provision of salvation is God’s Son. When Nicodemus asked how can these things be - a spiritual cleansing - Jesus asked incredulous - “how can you not know these things as a teacher of Israel?” This is a timeless and authoritative truth! Salvation has never been by works. It’s always been by cleansing. It’s by putting your faith in something else. Nicodemus should’ve known this from the history of his people. When man first sinned, God promised to send a savior to destroy sin. The wicked could be saved from the flood, if they just followed Noah into the ark. Israel was set free from Egypt by the blood of the lamb. This truth is timeless and authoritative. Jesus said in verse 10 - “truly truly, we know what we’re talking about - we’re witnesses - but you’re not listening; you don’t accept our testimony.” And this is interesting. Why did Jesus all of a sudden switch from the first person singular pronoun “I” to the plural pronoun “we”? This wasn’t just his testimony. It was his and God’s. This timeless truth came from him and God. After all, Jesus came from heaven, verse 13. But Nicodemus couldn’t handle this rough revelation. So Jesus asked him - if you can’t even believe this truth that’s already been revealed, and accept my authority, how will you handle greater spiritual truth? And already, Christ had shown his high authority. Nicodemus, verse 2 - “We know you’re from God.” Jesus, verse 11 - “Yes! We know what we’re saying.” Nicodemus, verse 2 - “We know you’re a teacher.” Jesus, verse 10 - “But are you really a teacher of Israel?” Nicodemus, verse 2 - “No one can work these miracles except God be with him.” Jesus, verse 3 - “Therefore, except a man is born again, he can’t see God’s kingdom.” Nicodemus, verse 4 - “How can a man be born when he’s old?” Jesus, verse 5 - “A man must be born of water and Spirit.” Nicodemus, verse 4 - “Can a man enter his mother’s womb?” Jesus, verse 5 - “Can your flesh can enter heaven?!” Nicodemus, verse 9 - “How can these things be?” Jesus, verse 10 - “Don’t you know anything?!”
So if Nicodemus didn’t believe this timeless truth, how could he understand greater revelation? And a past picture was given as an example. Verse 14 - “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” Jesus referred to an incident in Israel’s history to help Nicodemus to understand. In Numbers 21, because of Israel’s sin against God, fiery serpents were sent and the Israelites were dying from serpent bites. God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it up so that anyone who looked at it would live. They were told to look and live. They didn’t have to manufacture an ointment or take meds. They couldn’t. They weren’t told to help others, they were dying themselves. They weren’t told to fight the serpents. Neither to worship the serpent with prayer and offering. They weren’t told to look at Moses, nor at their wounds. They were simply to look at this bronze serpent hung in defeat on a pole. God destroys the serpent that put you in this situation! This was God’s provision for the Israelites’ salvation. It was fixed on a pole to be exhibited. And the promise was simple - just look and live. You don’t have to exert effort to crawl up the pole. You don’t even have to cry out for help. No matter how many times you were bitten. You just have to trust God’s provision and only look. Salvation is by faith. Here’s a past example!
But the new heavenly revelation was this. Just as the serpent was lifted up, the Son of man must be lifted up. That’s the new - the current reality - how to be saved from sin. “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life,” verse 15. The Son of man from heaven - God in the flesh, Christ - would be hung in defeat on the cross, displayed for all to see. Those who look in faith at him, will not perish but have eternal life. Salvation has always been by faith alone. It’s by substitution. Those bitten just had to look at a serpent hanging on a pole. The Israelites escaped death, by the death of a lamb. Adam and Eve needed skins of sacrificed animals. But here was a better substitute. The God-man has come to crush Satan’s head, to conquer sin forever more, whose death would be the source of life to anyone who believed. That’s why verse 16 says - this only begotten Son was given. And should’ve meant something to Nicodemus, who knew the Scriptures. This is the only seed of the woman prophesied years ago, the only provision, that would conquer sin. Whoever believes is saved. Whoever! it’s not your heritage as a Jew, your ethnicity, your high exclusive education as a Pharisee - God loves the world. All kinds of people from all kinds of heritage. All kinds of education, races, economic status - God is merciful to all who are dying and gives this provision - Christ lifted up on the cross - for them to look at and believe for salvation. And he didn’t just love - he so loved. And the result of that love is salvation to any that believe. Christ’s not sent to condemn but to save. And this was a rough revelation. Why? It cut to the heart of the matters before them. Salvation is by cleansing, not by doing. It’s not by heritage, it’s by faith. It’s not for a select group of people, but all kinds of people. God loves the people you hate, Nicodemus! God saves not by your method, Nicodemus! Where does that situate you? Aren’t you contradicting God? Why do you condemn those that God offers salvation to?
That’s why the third rough revelation that Nicodemus heard was this - the only agent of salvation is faith. Faith removes condemnation. Verse 18 - “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” This is a definitive statement. Look, there’s condemnation upon all men. All are sinners. But God offers a way to escape that condemnation. If you believe in Christ, you’ll be saved. Faith in Christ is the dividing line between life and death, salvation and judgment. To be clear, faith is not a work that earns salvation - it’s not how much faith you have. Faith is simply the empty hand that receives salvation. And if you won’t receive this gift, then your refusal to believe condemns you - not Christ. This is the personal responsibility of all here. How do you receive this new birth and benefit of eternal life? By believing. Believing doesn’t earn you salvation, it only receives the salvation that is being offered. Just look and live. There’s no condemnation with belief - only salvation. But there’s condemnation for those who would reject this love.
Not everyone will want to believe. There are hindrances to faith. Those bitten by snakes only had to look and live. But to do, they had to acknowledge they were dying. And to whom should they have looked? The serpent that God told Moses to lift up. This means that the one who offered them salvation was the one who punished them in the first place. So they had to acknowledge their deserved condemnation from God. And to humbly receive salvation from the same God. This would require not only repentance, but humility. But the problem was this - verse 19 says that men loved darkness rather than the light. They loved their sins. Their deeds were evil. And they don’t want their sins to be revealed. The Pharisees loved their laws and heritage. Others loved their sins. It’s this unwillingness to repent and abandon sin that causes a person not to look to Christ. In so doing, they’re rejecting the love of God.
On the other hand, those who look to Christ, who humbly acknowledge their sins, and hate darkness, who are born again from above and spiritually cleansed - what does their faith show? Their faith proves their heritage. Verse 21 compares the one who loves darkness to the one who comes to Christ. He wants the truth. He’s not afraid of the truth. He’s willing to admit who he is. He does the truth - he repents, hates his sin, humbly admits what he is, is transparent, and desires transformation. And this proves that the work of salvation is accomplished in his life. He doesn’t cling on to any heritage or good works. His faith shows his heritage as someone saved by Christ, as someone who looks to Christ to be saved. Faith proves spiritual heritage. The one who believes is a child of God, born of the Spirit, born from above.
This evening’s message is a rough one especially to those who are religious and proud of their good works - you think you can reform your lives. One bite of the serpent, one sin still kills. Maybe even for long time Christians. You have a background of church attendance, church membership, Christian upbringing and family, and religious activity. True salvation cannot be inherited. Young people, you must look to Jesus for that new birth and cleansing. And you must go to him, not under the cover of darkness, but be willing to be scrutinized - and humbly admit your sins and deserved condemnation. And reach out in faith and believe he can save you from condemnation. Nicodemus came under the cover of darkness - he wanted to hide - but we know he came to faith later. If there’s hope for such a man, there’s hope for us.
1. The Real Nature of Salvation Is Spiritual (1-9)
A. The opening eyes of faith
B. The spiritual nature of God’s kingdom
C. The blindness of heritage
2. The Better Provision of Salvation Is God’s Son (10-17)
A. The timeless truth
B. The past picture
C. The current reality
3. The Only Agent of Salvation Is Faith (18-21)
A. Faith removes condemnation
B. Hindrance to faith
C. Faith proves heritage
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Mark Chen, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2025, Rev. Mark Chen
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