Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank God for his Word and ask him to open our eyes, soften our hearts, and help us know and believe what he has done in Jesus.
Read
Scripture Passage
Christ Cleanses the Temple
13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”
19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
Christ Witnesses to Nicodemus
3 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jn 2:13–3:21.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
Jesus cleanses the temple and points to his bodily resurrection, then teaches Nicodemus that sinners must be born from above and believe in God's only begotten Son for everlasting life.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
John 2:22
when he had been risen from the dead his disciples remembered that he what he had said to them and they believed the scriptures and the word which jesus had said
Bryan explicitly underlines verse 22 for the temple section: after Christ rose, the disciples remembered his words and believed both Scripture and Jesus' word.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Look to and cling to Jesus Christ, love the light, and believe in the Father's only begotten Son alone for salvation and everlasting life.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
hey hey welcome to coffee and devotions this sunday morning november 15th this is where every weekday morning at 9 00 am and on the weekends when i get a spare moment from my kids you and i we get together we have some coffee we get into god's word and we grow in our love for the lord together and this year 2020 we'll make it through all the gospels well this evening we are at john chapter 2 beginning at verse 13 and we'll read through chapter 3 verse 21 so why don't we go ahead and have some coffee pray and get into god's word uh behind the scenes a little bit this late at night stead all right so let's have some tea let's pray and get into god's word let's pray father we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word we pray now that as we read your word that you would open our eyes that we would see soften our hearts that we would believe lord we pray that you would let us know who you are and what you have done in jesus name amen okay here we go john chapter 2 beginning at verse 13. now the passover the jews was at hand and jesus went up to jerusalem and he found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers doing business when he had made a whip of cords he drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers money and overturned the tables and he said to those who sold doves take these things away do not make my father's house of merchandise then his disciples remembered what was written zeal for your house has eaten me up so the jews answered and said to him what sign do you show to us since you are doing these things jesus said answered and said to them destroy this temple and in three days i will rise it up then the jews said it has taken 46 years to build this temple and you will raise it up in three days but he was speaking of the temple of his body therefore when he had risen from the dead his disciples remembered that he had said this to them and they believed the scriptures and the word which jesus had said now when he was in jerusalem at the passover during the feast many beli many believed in his name when he they saw the signs which he did but jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all men and had no need that anyone should testify of man for he knew what was in man then chapter 3 and we'll go to verse 21 there is a man of the pharisees named nicodemus a ruler of the jew this man came to jesus by night and said him rabbi we know that you are a teacher come from god for no one can do these signs that you do unless god is with him jesus answered and said to him most assuredly i say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of god nicodemus said to him how can a man be born when he is old can he enter a second time and hit into his mother's womb and be born jesus answered moshe assuredly i say to you unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of god that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit do not marvel that i say to you you must be born again the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes so is everyone who is born of the spirit nicodemus answered and said to him how can these things be jesus answered and said to him are you the teacher of israel and do not know these things most assuredly i say to you we speak what we know and testify what we have seen and you do not receive us if i have told you earthly things and you do not believe how will you believe if i tell you heavenly things no one has ascended into heaven but he who came down from heaven that is the son of man who is in heaven and as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life for god did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved he who believes in him is not condemned but he who does not believe in him is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god and this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for everyone practicing evil hates a light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed but he who does the truth comes at the light that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in god well in our reading there woo two big portions two great things we need to look at us we look at this tonight we need to ask ourselves hey what is this about b what is the best verse to summarize these two sections and see what are we called to do in response to them so first a what is this about well verses 13 through 25 in the second chapter i would summarize with a sentence jesus cleanses the temple jesus cleanses the temple remember what he says he says take these things away do not make my father's house a house of merchandise right jesus is zealous for his father's glory and jesus is pushing them out and he's he's trying to purge the temple of the all this commerce it's supposed to be a house of prayer but people's got money invested in this right that doesn't really work out too well when people are making making their livelihood off of selling their livestock and exchanging currencies and stuff and they ask why what authority are you doing this stuff right and what does jesus say destroy this simple this temple and in three days i will rise it up right jesus is going to give him a sign that he's the one who has the authority and they go whoa hold up they're looking at the colonnades they're looking at the temple they're looking at the sorek with the wall and they're looking at the huge foundation stones and all the beautiful gates and they're thinking it took our forefathers 46 years or no no sorry yeah 46 years to build this temple and you're gonna raise it up in three days are you nuts but they don't get it right jesus is talking about his body but his disciples got this especially after the resurrection what is this about jesus is is purifying the temple but the real temple he's purifying is his body the real thing he's doing is as he is making a church for himself a living temple of whom he is going to be the foundation the cornerstone best verse to summarize this section i think in my bible i'm going to underline um i'm going to underline where is it at here therefore when he had been risen from the dead his disciples remembered that he what he had said to them and they believed the scriptures and the word which jesus had said well the next question we need to ask ourselves is is this this this next section right nicodemus a pharisee one of the leaders right comes to jesus at night and and we can take that a whole bunch of different ways matthew henry if you've ever read any matthew henry commentaries uh his commentary on this section is really really good hey jordan good to see you and i he has some he always gives people the benefit of doubt and you might want to if you're if you want to dig into this section he's really good here on why nicodemus comes at night but no matter what he's a leader he comes at night and he asks jesus he has this conversation with him he says you know uh rabbi we know that you are a good teacher come from god for no one can do these signs unless god is with him right and jesus says he says something that he doesn't understand most assuredly i say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of god and nicodemus has this interaction with him and he says what do you mean is it possible to enter into your your mother's womb a second time and be born and man jesus dude you're a teacher of the jews and you don't understand these things hold on here like you cannot be born of the flesh you cannot be about the earthly things you cannot not understand the spiritual things and be of the kingdom of god right unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of god that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit are you born of the spirit and then it goes on into this next portion of how can these things be right nicodemus is scratching his head and asking the rabbi he's asking the teacher what do you mean by this stuff jesus goes into this long discourse verses 10 down through 21 about are you a teacher of israel and you do not know these things i'm talking to you about heavenly stuff and and you can you don't get it i'm talking how how can you understand if i'm talking to you about earthly stuff and you don't get it how am i supposed to talk to you about heavenly stuff and you're not going to get it right but he's talking he's going to talk about himself in verse 14 and as moses was lifted up and as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up it was jesus who would be lifted up to heal his people it was jesus who would be lifted up that all who would turn their gaze upon jesus christ might be born again might actually have salvation the threat of imminent death is upon everyone but if we fix our eyes upon jesus christ there is hope for salvation right this is what he says in that great bible verses that we encourage our children to memorize that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life that if that is for god so loved the world that if that he sent his only begotten son that whoever should believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life if god so inclines our hearts to look upon his son jesus christ we might not perish but there's the hard reality that comes after this that the men love the darkness rather than the light not everyone will believe not everyone will look upon the one raised up upon the stake not everyone will but nicodemus did will you do you has god drawn you to himself has god softened your heart to this good news that you would see the beauty he offers in jesus christ that in jesus christ there is no condemnation but he would take the condemnation for us that's where i'm going to leave us with our calling tonight do you look to jesus christ do you cling to jesus christ do you love the light do you believe in the only begotten son of the father and in him alone to save you let's pray father we thank you so much for this day we thank you for your word we thank you for what a rich blessing it is to get into your word and we thank you for your holy spirit who can open our eyes and and who can make our ears to hear father we pray that we would have true faith we pray that these would these words would not just fall upon deaf ears but lord that you would let us understand them that they would seep down deep into our hearts and that they would they would expel the darkness and that you might take our hearts a stone out and give us hearts of flesh that we would believe and love you lord we pray that you would do this and that we would cling to you until our dying breath that we would have everlasting life thank you for jesus christ in his name we pray amen well may god bless you tonight and may you go believing in jesus christ and in that faith having peace for your soul bye