Lesson 3

Jesus vs Religion

"Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit."    John 3:3

Read John Chapter 3

Here is a man named Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council, who goes to visit with Jesus at night. To give a little background, a Pharisee (which means "separate ones") was a member of a group of religious leaders who composed and enforced religious law for the Israelite community. They were the elite, the religious leaders everyone looked up to, respected and even feared. And Nicodemus was not only one of these guys he was a member of the Jewish ruling council, the elite of the elite.

Now put yourself in Nicodemus' shoes. All your life you have studied the scriptures, talked about them, debated them with other students and risen through the ranks to become a Pharisee. You have made religious laws, well-meaning laws for the people, been an example of someone who lives by these laws and are highly respected by all. (maybe the equivalent of being a Judge today or even on the Supreme Court). You are a Man of God! But you are on the way to meet this Jesus guy, who already has a lot of the population talking about him because of his healings and miracles and authority. You are thinking who is this guy? And you have a whole bunch of questions, because you've never seen anyone like him. You start out with a well rehearsed introduction, very gracious, commending Jesus on who he is.......and Wham!!!! Out of nowhere Jesus hit's you with a curve ball..." No one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again." What! Where did that come from? What does it mean? Your mind is reeling and you are visualizing some freaky stuff about entering your Mom's womb to be born again. (it's the best you could come up with!).

Now before you start getting down on Nicodemus, we are all in the same boat. Nicodemus was thinking physically, humanistically, earthly and for the first time someone was speaking to him in spiritual, heavenly, other-worldly terms. And it rocks our boat, turns our world upside-down, inside out and spins it all around until you've lost your bearings. And Nicodemus (Israel's Teacher) had lost his bearings.

I can relate, there are many times I have lost my bearings in following Jesus.

You are at a crossroads. Do you turn back and stick with the so-called safety of the world & religion with it's rules, regulations and laws or are you going to let go & continue forward on this adventure to get to know this man called Jesus?

Some questions to ask:

1: Why do you think Nicodemus went at Night?

2: Who was the real teacher and who was the student? 

3: What is a Kingdom?

4: Who's Kingdom is it?

5: How do you get into this Kingdom?

6: What is this Water & Spirit all about?

Write down some of these clues & your thoughts for later.