As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
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(John 3:1-11 with Ezekiel 36:25-27)
The concept of the New Birth—aka, “regeneration” (Titus 3:5) or “circumcision of the heart” (Deuteronomy 30:6, 5:28-29 and 10:16)—is found throughout Scripture, but Jesus’ words to Nicodemus are perhaps the Bible’s definitive text on this subject.
The (ESV) text of John 3:1-11 is a good place to start our investigation:
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Jesus’ childhood narrative in Luke 3:41-51 records the only words spoken by Jesus while a youth. His family joined the caravan for an annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. When they could not find Jesus in the caravan, they searched, finally returning to the temple courts in Jerusalem, where Yeshua was in dialog with the learned rabbis.
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(Matthew 2:23, Genesis 28:10-17 with John 1:43-51)
Jesus was just beginning to assemble His band of key disciples. The first chapter of John’s Gospel introduces us to Nathaniel (probably also known as Bartholomew). During their initial meeting, Yeshua dazzles Nathaniel and then shares a midrash to describe the nature of His ministry.
“Did Jesus’ family think He was crazy? Probably. But not quite in the way we might make this accusation today. They thought He was placing Himself outside the bounds of normal society.” - C.Leaders
“Jesus predicted in Matthew 12:39–40 that he would be in the grave for three days and three nights….Culturally, for Jews, it means part of one day, a full day, and part of the third day.” - Word by Word
Christians around the world will remember and celebrate the essence of the gospel this weekend — “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4).
We believe that the Apostle Paul’s inspired summary statement is true, and we are certain that these events actually happened in real history, providing the basis of our salvation.
“What’s more is that Jesus probably didn’t wear bright colors or a brilliantly white robe. Bright colors were expensive to make, and bleached white clothing was a mark of politicians. Common people usually wore earth tones, reflective of the natural color of the sheep’s wool used to create the garments.” - Kainos Project
“While Lessons from the Upper Room is an exposition of John 13-17, it is by no means a dry or academic work. To the contrary, it is devotional and applicable. It did, after all, begin as a series of lessons for laypersons—a teaching series distributed through Ligonier Ministries.” - Challies
“The folly of crowds. History bears this out in many ways, but the life of Jesus highlights this truth in the most vivid way. The heart of man is indeed fickle, in one moment able to recognize a true authority but in another moment being led by whatever feeds their bellies the most.” - Ref21
The popularity of The Da Vinci Code has forced Christians to realize that their beliefs are open to challenge. As a result, many Christians are interested in subjects that used to draw yawns. A few years ago, no one wanted to hear about the Gnostic Gospels and why we reject them, for example.
One issue raised by The Da Vinci Code is Jesus’ relationship to women. We can easily surmise that the Mary Magdalene nonsense of The Da Vinci Code is bogus, but what was Jesus’ real attitude toward women?
On the one hand, He established the church by training her basic leaders, the apostles. Only men were chosen as apostles, and the concept of male leadership in the church is consistent throughout Scripture: the Old Testament priests had to be male (according to Moses) and Paul teaches that church leaders who teach doctrine or Bible to men must be male, as must elders (1 Tim. 2:9-15, 3:1-2).
On the other hand, God used prophetesses as a channel of divine communication (e.g., Miriam, Deborah, in the Old Testament and the daughters of Philip in the New), and both men and women were encouraged to prophesy in the early church (1 Cor. 11:3-11).
Most of us understand that the reasons for these restrictions on leadership have nothing to do with competence or ability. Most of us know strong, capable godly women who have mastered the Word, as well as not-so-godly Christian men who have not. Nor are these restrictions justified on the basis of ancient culture (and thus no longer relevant). Instead, they are anchored to the order of creation and the events of mankind’s fall into sin (see 1 Tim. 2:9-15), past events that do not change (as does culture). The leadership of men in the home or in the church rises or falls together since they are mandated with similar justification. However, it takes quite a stretch to translate this concept into the political or work world.
Discussion