The Gospel of John: John 3.11-21

Read and meditate on John 3.13.
As if Nicodemus’ brain was not sufficiently scrambled by this point! Yet Jesus scrambled it even more, by making a statement about Himself which Nicodemus could not possibly have processed from within his own worldview. But Jesus made it anyway, and precisely because of this.

                                                     ¹³No one 
to heaven has ascended but the Son 
of Man, Who came to earth from heaven.

- John 3.13

Reflect
1.  The thrust of this verse is to insist that the message Nicodemus is hearing does not come from the traditions or minds of men. Its provenance is elsewhere. Where? Should we be reluctant to assert the same about what we believe? Explain. Complete this prayer: I know that Your Kingdom is not of this world, Lord, and that I am a citizen and ambassador of that Kingdom, so…

2.  Meditate on the verbs Jesus uses here: “has ascended” and “came down” (the Greek text does not include “is in heaven”). Jesus refers to Himself. Summarize what He is saying. How does this compare with what Jesus asserted in John 1.51? Is Jesus doing this still today? Explain. Lord, You may not make sense to my unbelieving friends, but they still need…

3.   Conversation and communion between heaven and earth travels through and by means of Jesus. We can only “ascend” to heaven in Him, and we can only receive heaven’s teaching and life through Him – not through our own wisdom or cherished traditions. What are the implications of this for following Jesus? You are my great High Priest, Lord Jesus, and today I need You to…

4.  Nicodemus believed in the spiritual realm. He believed in God, angels, and heaven. As a Pharisee, he would have believed in all these things. So why was he having so much trouble believing Jesus? Do you see any parallels with Nicodemus and people today? I know, Lord, that most people will say they believe in God, but this “belief” is…

5.  Jesus is saying to Nicodemus that He and He alone has the authority to make sense out of things earthly and heavenly. Given what John has already told us about Jesus, why is this so? Should we be reluctant to proclaim this to the people in our Personal Mission Field? Explain. Bring together into one prayer the prayers you wrote from questions 1-4.

Summary
“Some people, certainly, find very surprising what the Lord said in the Gospel, ‘Nobody has ascended into heaven, except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven.’ How, they ask, can the Son of man be said to have come down from heaven, when it was here that he was taken on in the Virgin’s womb? People who say this are not to be rejected but instructed. I think, you see, that they are raising this question out of piety but are not yet able to understand what they are inquiring about. They do not realize, I mean, that the divinity took on the humanity in such a way as to become one person, God and man; and that the humanity was attached to the divinity in such a way that Word, soul and flesh were the one Christ.”Augustine (354-430 AD)

These are hard words, and Nicodemus does not understand them. But do we? Do we understand all the mystery involved in being born from above? But do we believe it? What’s the difference?

Closing Prayer
The LORD said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!
Your people shall be volunteers
In the day of Your power;
In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning,
You have the dew of Your youth.
The LORD has sworn
And will not relent,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
The Lord is at Your right hand…

Psalm 110.1-5a

Psalm 110.1-4 (Aurelia: The Church’s One Foundation)
“Sit by Me at My right hand,” the Lord says to my Lord,
“Until I make Your foot stand on all who hate Your Word.”
From in His Church the Savior rules all His enemies;
While those who know His favor go forth the Lord to please.

Filled with the Spirit’s power, in holy robes of love,
From early morning’s hour they serve their Lord above.
Christ reigns a priest forever, the King of Righteousness
And King of Peace Who ever His chosen ones will bless.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.