you can't teach an old dog new tricks

John 3:10

John 3:3

Jesus said, “You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics?

Jesus said, “You’re absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to-

it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

to God’s kingdom.”

"for the common man"

John 3:13-15

"politically correct"

from a higher place, anew

"doing the right thing"

"very religious"

"outward appearance"

No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe,

"knowing truth"

"γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν"

If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God?

NOT THE WAY TO SEE GOD"S KINGDOM!

begotten

John 3:7-8

“So don’t be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak.

That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.”

You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next.

John 3:1-2

a pickle recipe:

Nicander (200 B.C.)

There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews.

1) clean about anything

in water

John 3:11-12

“‘For here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You’ll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God! Ezekiel 36:24-28

Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions.

2) stick in a jar of vinegar and spices and seal

John 3:5-6

1) βάπτω: clean by immersing in water

3) heat

Jesus said, “You’re not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom.

When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.

4) let soak in solution for an extended period of time

2) βαπτίζω: the soaking process

5) enjoy!

to be changed

Late one night he visited Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we all know you’re a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren’t in on it.”

John 2:23-25

John 3:9

on the inside

During the time he was in Jerusalem, those days of the Passover Feast, many people noticed the signs he was displaying and, seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to him. But Jesus didn’t entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. He didn’t need any help in seeing right through them.

Nicodemus asked, “What do you mean by this? How does this happen?”

of

born

excuses:

water

and

γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος

a sure path to failure

spirit

questioning:

or another excuse?

a stalling tactic...

John 3:4

“How can anyone,” said Nicodemus, “be born who has already been born and grown up? You can’t re-enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?”

Sadducee

Pharisee

• consider the "elite class"

• small in numbers supported by the common man

• heavy taxation (lifestyle support)

• appearance is everything

• one God

• legal mediation (national and individual)

• all have same physical destiny with consequences

• social administrators

• no afterlife

• man has a choice, God knows in advance

"the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon.” Acts 1:5

• free choice

• interpreters & authorities of the complete truth

• truth is limited

By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. 1 Corinthians 12:13a

"you can't teach an

old dog new tricks"

living the Kingdom life