Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 1 Study # 7
September 10, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
Thesis: The issue of "looking and living" (in respect to the serpent in the wilderness) is believing into the only God there is.
Introduction: In our last study we saw that Jesus, having summoned humility for Nicodemus, began to answer his question: How can these things be? The first part of that answer is given as a parallel to Moses lifting up a brass serpent in the wilderness so that anyone who "looked" at that serpent was instantly healed of the snake bite that would have, otherwise, killed him/her.
This morning we are going to continue to look into Jesus' answer.
- I. Jesus' Continuing Response To Nicodemus' Rejection Of The Necessity Of Starting Over.
- A. Nicodemus' rejection of the statement "you must be born again" was rooted in his lack of "material world" evidence (at the individual level) and his lack of "relational world" experience (at the national level).
- B. Jesus' Response.
- C. Nicodemus' subsequent question: How are these things empowered to make this discernible difference?
- D. Jesus' response to this "How" question.
- 1. First, He exposes Nicodemus' massive failure.
- 2. Second, He pronounces another "Verily, verily" statement.
- 3. Third, He accuses Nicodemus of "rejecting our witness".
- E. He declares that He has explained a sufficient number of "earthly" ("material world") things to lay a foundation for "believing" (in Nicodemus' own words, "no one is able to do these signs which you are doing, except The God should be with him..."), but that Nicodemus and his ilk have not "believed".
- 1. This is either true or it is not true.
- 2. Nicodemus declared it as a "we know" truth, but as soon as Jesus presses him regarding his actual unbelief, he waffles and backs away from this "truth": this makes his position untenable.
- F. He declares that the serpent in the wilderness was a parallel to His own coming crucifixion.
- 1. His fundamental claim was that God made a provision for those who had sinned that was effective for anyone who "looked at the serpent".
- 2. He made this distinction: "looking at the serpent" must be understood in its analogy to "looking to Jesus" as a matter of "heart faith".
- a. The promise is "eternal life": "...everyone who is believing in Him (en auto) should have (Subjective Present Active) eternal life", or "...everyone who is believing may, in Him, have eternal life...".
- 1) This alternative translation may be rooted in the difference between "believing into Him" (from 1:12) and "believing in Him" from this text (3:15).
- 2) In the follow-up found in 3:16, the words are the same as 1:12 (i.e., "...the one believing into (eis) Him...").
- 3) In John's use of pisteuo, we find these facts.
- a) The critical phrase in 1:12 is also found in 2:11's statement about the disciples' "believing into Him" by reason of the water-to-wine "sign".
- b) The statement in 2:23 about many at the feast "believing" is also "...believed into His name...", but 2:24 tells us what "believing" actually means: committing to someone/something that will allow them to determine one's ultimate future outcome.
- c) In 3:18 it is "...the one believing into the name...[and] because he has not believed into the name..."
- d) 3:36 continues with "...the one believing into the Son is having eternal life..."
- e) Without chasing down every reference in this Gospel which contains the word "pisteuo" (there are 85 such verses), we can see that John set up the pattern "believe into" in 1:12 and then consistently reinforced it at least through chapter three.
- b. This issue is that of "heart faith" that is declared and explained by Paul in Romans 10:9-10.
- 1) "Heart faith" is distinct from any other forms of "faith" in that it is founded and rooted in the "believer's" heart (as a metaphor for those fundamental values that dominate one's responses in this life).
- 2) At the very core of God's promise of "eternal life" is the "giving of a new heart" as it is found in Jeremiah 31:33; 32:39; 32:40 in contrast to Deuteronomy 29:4 and 5:29 and Jeremiah 3:10.
- 3) Thus, every lesser form of "faith" is not productive for the promise (such as Luke's "believe for a while" ((8:13)), and James' "faith without works is dead" ((2:17, 26)) ).
- G. He explained "why" God would make, and keep, such a promise: 3:16.
- 1. In 3:16, it is "The God" Who "loves".
- a. This cuts through every "god-competitor" in the twisted mental condition of mankind which has produced "gods upon gods".
- b. At the "heart" of this phrase is the reality that there is only "The God" (Jeremiah 10:1-16; Isaiah 44:8; 45:5, 14, 21, 22; 46:9).
- c. As "The God", He is The Ultimate Executor of Power whose Omnipotence no other can, in any sense, match or against which anyone can stand.
- 2. In 3:16, it is The God's "Love" that rules absolutely.
