Learning Jesus | Week 3
Learning Jesus Week 3
Zeal for the Real
Key Word – Authenticity >> Central Passage – John 3:1-21
Day 1 -- John 1:19-34
In our reading of Matthew 3, the Pharisees and Sadducees (Jewish religious leaders) visited John the Baptizer in the wilderness, but they did not speak to him. They merely observed. This Observation Stage is the first step in their protocol to determine if a leader of a religious movement qualified as the promised Messiah. If during the Observation Stage, the movement was deemed significant, then the Pharisees and Sadducees would return for the second stage of interrogation. In today’s reading, Jerusalem has sent these religious leaders to initiate the second stage: Interrogation. Notice how John responds to their questions.
1. In first-century Israel, to wash a fellow man’s feet was considered lowly even for a servant to do. Considering only verses 19-28, how does John contrast his person to the Messiah’s?
Before the first Passover, God commanded the Israelites to take a male lamb into their homes and observe it for four days in order to test whether this lamb was without flaw or blemish. Jesus had just passed His temptation test in the wilderness, and now John refers to Him as the Lamb of God. During the first Passover, God further commanded the Israelites to slaughter their lamb and apply its blood to their doorposts and lintels. Any home with applied blood, the destroyer passed over; in homes without blood the first born died (Exodus 12:1-13). Now that John also states that Jesus is the Lamb who will take away the sins of the world.
2. The day after John makes this statement, Jesus visits John again. Remember this is after Jesus’ test in the wilderness. Now Jesus is ready for John to identify Him as the Messiah. John does so, but in a poetic way. Rewrite in words simple enough for a ten-year-old to understand John’s identifiers.
o Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!
o After me comes a man who ranks before me, because He was before me.
o I myself did not know Him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that He might be revealed to Israel.
o I myself did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”
o I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.
3. John stated that Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. If you trust that Jesus died for your sins and rose again, then you have died and risen with Christ. He baptized you with the Holy Spirit. Read these words out loud, emphasizing the bolded words each time you read it; then... just sit with Him for a bit.
Jesus baptized me with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus baptized me with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus baptized me with the Holy Spirit.
Day 2 -- John 1:35-51
John and Andrew were following John the Baptist, but the day after John the Baptist identifies Jesus as Messiah, John and Andrew approach Jesus. In first-century Israel when a wanna-be disciple followed a rabbi around and then asked, “Where do you live?” this was code for “I want you to teach me.” Inviting John and Andrew to “Come and you will see,” indicated Jesus accepted them as His disciples, as learners. This begins His gathering of the Twelve, all invited to come see if He was the real deal.
1. John the Baptizer would have baptized John and Andrew. In submitting to this baptism, they committed to following as Messiah whomever John identified. Find evidence in verses 37, 38, 39, 41, and 42 that speaks to the seriousness of their commitment.
The second day after John the Baptist identifies Jesus as Messiah, Philip becomes a disciple and tells Nathanael to “Come and see” Jesus. When Jesus meets Nathanael, he said he saw him under a fig tree meditating when Philip came to talk to him. The shady fig tree was the meditation tree of choice for students of the Scriptures. That Jesus saw this in His omniscient mind was impressive, but then Jesus says something else that told Nathanael that not only did He see him under a fig tree, but He knew the very Scripture Nathanael was meditating upon! Nathanael was studying the story of Jacob in Genesis 28. Here’s the evidence:
Jesus contrasts Nathanael to Jacob and to all Israel by naming Nathanael “a true Israelite without deceit.” The people of Israel were named after their forefather Jacob who deceived his father so that Isaac would bless him. This is Jacob’s one act of deceit. Some preachers teach that Jacob cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright; however, the verbal agreement Esau made to sell his birthright to Jacob for a pot of stew was of his own free will and binding. Moses describes Jacob as a tam, meaning a blameless man. “Blameless” is how the Old Testament often describes a true believer (Gen 25:27). In contrast, Hebrews identifies Esau as an unbeliever because he despised his birthright (Heb 12:16-17). The contract for the birthright did indeed include the father’s blessing, so Esau despised his father’s blessing as well. Jacob deceived his father to get what was lawfully his, yet God does give grace to Jacob, despite all that. When Jacob flees Esau, who vows to kill him and spends the night at Bethel, God gives Jacob a dream of angels ascending and descending on a ladder from earth to heaven and also promises that his line is indeed the line through which the Messiah would come.
However, God does discipline Jacob, for He disciplines every true believer (Heb 12:7-11). God’s sovereign hand leads Jacob straight to Laban, an unbeliever and master deceiver. After twenty years of divine discipline, Jacob returns home, bringing his two wives and children. He knows he will face Esau, and he is afraid. The God of grace again meets with him at Bethel. Here the angel of the LORD, the incarnate Jesus, wrestled with Jacob through the night. In the morning, Jacob refuses to let go of the angel of the LORD until He blesses Jacob. This vindicates Jacob as one who desired God above all. The angel of the LORD answers Jacob’s prayer by changing his name to “Israel” because he “wrestled with God.” As Jacob’s Creator, the angel of the LORD had all authority to change his name, and this name Israel, “God wrestlers,” is how the Hebrew people chose to identify themselves.
2. Jesus changes Simon’s name to Peter (Cephas). And in a sense, He names Nathanael as well in that He characterizes him. How do these actions authenticate Jesus as the Son of God?
3. A true Israelite trusted the “Son of God” would come through the line of Jacob (v.49). Jesus, calling Himself the Son of Man (Dan 7:13-14) states here that He is the greater Jacob, the greater ladder on whom angels will ascend and descend. Remember Jesus is the angel of the LORD who wrestled with Jacob, and now He’s hitting the wrestling mat a bit with Nathanael too.
o Make a list of Jesus’ wrestling moves in His interaction with Nathanael. What is Jesus revealing about the Son of Man?
o Andrew brought his brother Peter to Jesus. Philip brought his friend Nathanael to Jesus. Write the name of someone you want to “Come and see” Jesus _____________________________.
Day 3 -- John 2:1-25
In the Jewish wedding system, a small group is invited to the wedding, and a large group is invited to the wedding feast, which lasted up to seven days. Instead of “miracle,” John uses the word “sign” in verse 11. The purpose of Jesus’ signs at this point in His ministry is to authenticate His Messianic claims. Since the Temple and Jewish leadership resided in Jerusalem, this is where Jesus must reveal Himself; therefore, Jesus objects to announcing His ministry in Cana. As an adult, He is not obligated to obey His mother, yet He still honors her request. The six jars held water used for purification rites, and each likely held at least 20 gallons.
1. In Scripture, wine is symbolic of joy. Review the details (who, what, when, how, why) of the text and the notes. Why is it also appropriate that Jesus’ first sign in authenticating His Messiahship is performed in all these circumstances?
The Passover commemorates how God spared Israel through the blood of a pure lamb when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. During Passover millions of Jews traveled to Jerusalem to make an offering. They could either bring their offering or purchase it at the temple. The former high priest Annas and his family monopolized temple sales by finding fault with offerings brought from home. This priestly family cheated fellow Jews by giving them no recourse but to purchase their offerings at inflated prices. The Passover is also when Jews paid their annual Temple tax. They could not pay the tax with Roman money because it bore Caesar’s image. Therefore, the Jews had to go to the moneychangers who charged for the service. This profit also went to Annas’ “family business.”
2. Turning temple tables is how Jesus announced to Jerusalem His Messianic claim to the kingdom. What exactly is Jesus zealous about that authenticates His Sonship?
3. During the first Passover of His ministry and in Jerusalem, Jesus announces what would be His ultimate sign: His resurrection (John 2:19-22)
o Why do you think Jesus announces this ultimate sign after flipping temple tables?
o Let’s make this more personal. What is Jesus most zealous about for your heart?
Day 4 -- John 3:1-21 Central Passage of the Week
1. Nicodemus makes a statement about signs, and Jesus replies with a statement about being born again. Pharisaic tradition taught Nicodemus to trust these six ways as means of being born again:
1. Convert to Judaism
2. Be crowned king
3. Commit to obeying the Mosaic Law at Bar Mitzvah
4. Marry a wife
5. Be ordained as a rabbi
6. Be commissioned as a teacher of rabbis
Because Jesus asks Nicodemus “Are you THE teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” (v. 10), we understand that Nicodemus was a teacher of rabbis. He had to be married to be a ruler of the Jews (v. 1). Nicodemus is not a convert or a king, but otherwise, according to the Pharisees’ version of what it meant to be born again, Nicodemus had been born again four times! So, when he asks Jesus, “How can a man be born again WHEN HE IS OLD?” he’s really saying, “What else can I do?
What did Jesus know was in man (John 2:25) that we see echoed in these six ways to be “born again,” six ways that man authorized?
To be born of water (v.5) is a first-century Jewish expression for being born physically. The Jews believed that simply being born physically as a Jew meant they would enter the kingdom of heaven, so Nicodemus basically admits I don’t get it (v.9). Jesus reminds Nicodemus of a time when the nation of Israel was dying because they focused on the physical instead of the spiritual (John 3:14)
During the Exodus the second-generation of wilderness wandering Jews lifted themselves up by complaining about God’s provision. In response, God sent venomous snakes to bite them. Many died. The Israelites confessed their pride and asked God to remove the snakes. Instead of removing the snakes, God told Moses to make a fiery serpent of bronze and LIFT IT UP on a pole. Any person bitten who looked up at the bronze snake on the pole would live (Numbers 21:1-9). The snake pictured God’s curse, which was death.
2. Summarize what Jesus is teaching to the teacher of rabbis in verses 3-15 as if you are explaining it to a ten year old.
3. We are all very familiar with these next verses. Before we apply them to ourselves, let’s apply them to Nicodemus, the Pharisee, who taught a man-centered religion to rabbis who taught the people.
o What did God do? How must Nicodemus respond? (v16-17)
o How is Jesus also correcting and warning Nicodemus? (v18-21)
Optional -- Memory Verses for the Week John 3:16-17
Day 5 -- John 3:22-36; John 4:1-4; Matt 4:12; Mark 1:14a; Luke 4:14a
In this passage, John compares himself to the friend of the bridegroom. He is borrowing from the Jewish wedding system to make that analogy. This makes Jesus the bridegroom. Later in New Testament the Church is referred to as the bride.
1. What is John’s role and attitude as the bridegroom’s friend?
2. How does John clearly authenticate Jesus’ authority? Include how Jesus is given the Spirit without measure.
3. To summarize those last bits of passages --
We learn that John the Baptizer is now in prison and Jesus is on the move.
John’s ministry ends in prison. Jesus knows His own ministry will end in rejection as well -- with a trial and the cross -- but as we shall see Jesus remained in control of His destiny all the way to the cross. In this passage we see Him departing for Galilee after John’s imprisonment to remove Himself from the controversy because He is not ready to meet His end yet. “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We have a turning point here:
The messenger’s work is finished. The Son’s work is just beginning.
Deep Think (Totally Optional)
John states that God gave Jesus the Spirit without measure. The seven-fold or complete measure of the Messiah is prophesied: “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:2).
1st The Spirit of the LORD resting upon Him means the Messiah is Jehovah’s Spirit.
2nd & 3rd Wisdom refers to His ability to make the right decision at the right time. Understanding refers to the Messiah’s ability to choose the best option among all others. These convey that Jesus had both discernment and insight to administrate.
4th & 5th Counsel describes His ability to draw the right conclusions and to plan and strategize accordingly for a given situation. Might conveys the ability Jesus had to execute His plans with the energy and strength needed. These describe Jesus’ practical life.
6th & 7th Knowledge is the understanding Jesus possessed due to His experience with and love for God. Fear of the LORD is His attitude of reverence. These describe Jesus’ spiritual life.
How does knowing all this brainy stuff lead you to worship the God of the Word?
You might choose to answer this in the form of a prayer to God.
REFLECTION Questions
1. This week we studied what John the Baptizer said about Jesus (Day 1 & 5) and how Jesus interacted with John, Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nathanael (Day 2) His mother & wedding servants (Day 3) the moneychangers, sacrificial animal merchants, the Jews, the many who believed in His name (Day 3) and Nicodemus (Day 4).
o Choose one of those people above. How does Jesus show Himself to be the real deal living in real time in the real world with real people?
o How does seeing Jesus interact with these people also draw you to Him?
2. The Deep Think explains how the full measure of the Spirit rested upon the Messiah. We already see how the Spirit was at work in Him, but let’s focus on the Spirit of Understanding which gave Jesus the ability to choose the best option out of all other options.
How did you see Jesus administrating the Father’s plan for His story and for ours by choosing best options or as we say, “by keeping the main thing the main thing”?
3. Discuss the summary below as a group and how Get the Word Out is an optional application of our Learning Jesus this week.
A logical principle in teaching or leadership is that those whom you teach or lead can only know or go as far as you know and go. We are just at the beginning of Learning Jesus, so we are going to take all that “know and go” slowly. This week you learned that Jesus Himself baptized you with His Spirit (Day 1). You wrote the name of someone you would like to know Jesus (Day 2). You considered what Jesus is most zealous to see in your (and everyone’s) heart (Day 3). You wrote out the gospel in such a way that a 10-year-old could understand (Day 4). And you read again about how Jesus, the Word, speaks the very words of God (Day 5).
These are all foundational to anyone Learning Jesus for the first time and are good reminders for those of you who have loved Him long and well. Wherever we are as a disciple, we can teach others what we know.
GET THE WORD OUT | Bible Highlighting Outreach Project – You will purchase a Bible at Bridge Ministries, then highlight the Bible with key verses to prepare to give it to a co-worker, neighbor, or family member. This opportunity to share God’s Word will be even more fun and meaningful if you bring friends, family, or your community group with you! Join us on September 23rd at Bridge Ministries anytime between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM! Contact http://ahuerta@gracelaredo.org to discuss possibly reserving a table for your group at a specific time.
4. Given what you have learned this week and how God is moving in your life right now, what is a prayer request you can share with your group? Use this space to also record others’ prayer requests when you meet.
• My prayer –
• Group Prayer Requests –
COMMUNITY GROUP TIME
• Discuss the Central Passage questions. (This week that is Day 4 -- John 3:1-21.)
• Open Share Time -- Allow time for each to share “starred” insights or questions from Days 1-5. Allow others to respond to the shared insight.
• Discuss Reflection questions and possibility of attending Get the Word Out as a group.
• Is anyone able to recite all or part of John 3:16-17?
• Close in prayer.
God’s joy & strength to you,
kpaulson@gracelaredo.org