Posted on 02/18/2012 7:49:10 PM PST by pastorbillrandles
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.(John 3:1-2)
John 3 is one of those bible chapters which in my view are of an essential nature to all who are seeking God, and in need of the salvation God offers. Jesus himself is the instructor, the pupil, (standing on this passage as representative for all seekers of God) is a Senator of Israel and a Pharisee, named Nicodemus. The subject is the new birth.
But first a word about Pharisees. Who were the Pharisees?
Over the years, there has developed a serious misconstruction about who these people were and how we are to view them. Modern readers of the Bible often see the Pharisees as real “bad guys”, hypocritical to the core and vicious enemies of the Lord. The last thing anyone would want to be considered in modern evangelical christianity, would be to be called a Pharisee.
The Pharisees that Jesus rebuked, exposed, and vehemently denounced in scripture seem to the modern Bible reader as an almost alien species. This is because we have developed caricatures of Pharisaism, which allow us to mentally distance ourselves from any identity with them.We may be a lot of things but we are certainly not greedy, hypocritical, murderous Pharisees!
But the Pharisees, and Jesus’ encounter with them are meant to serve as a warning to us, for they apply particularly to we who are evangelicals . How could that be ? The Pharisees were to back to the Bible movement of the inter testamental period! They sought to resist the worldliness which was sweeping away the majority of their countrymen in the ancient world.
That virulent species of worldliness was called “Hellenism”, ie the acceptance of greek culture, and the repudiation of Judaism. How bad did it get? Hellenism was imposed by force, in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, the brutal anti-christ precursor, but many Jews willingly accommodated to it , some going as far as submitting to “reverse circumcisions”!
At one point the High Prest of Israel took on a greek name, and a gymnasium was built in Jerusalem. We are not talking about todays gyms for physical fitness. A “gymnasium” was a greek school for the whole man. Athletic activities were done in the nude, greek philosophy, and the worship of the physical body were involved, and homosexuality was rampant.
Pharisaism emerged out of a godly resistance to all of that. The Pharisee attempted to take on his shoulders all of the 613 commands of the Law of God , making it his life’s goal to keep them! He believed that by doing so, the Kingdom of God would come again to Israel.
The word Pharisee means “separated one”. This was a serious reform movement, within Judaism.
By no means am I saying I agree with what the Pharisees would end up as, nor do I deny that the Pharisees were the hypocrites Jesus exposed them to be. My purpose is to remove the caricature of hem, so that we can realize that God is not describing some openly hateful, alien cult to us, but rather people very much like the modern “back to the Bible ” movement, concerned about worldliness and seeking to separate ourselves from it by turning to God and the Bible.
Actually, the Pharisees were theologically closest of all of the contemporary sects to Jesus. Unlike the ruling Sadducees, the Pharisees believed in death, resurrection, angels, demons, the afterlife, heaven and hell. The Pharisees were right on board with John the Baptist and Jesus at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Because He was closest to them, Jesus critiqued them more than any other sect.
The many warnings to the Pharisees are meant as a message to all of us. Warnings against mere externalism, innovation, substitution of man-made precepts for the word of God, eye service, self-seeking, and self-serving religion, misplaced emphasis, proof-texting, “using scripture” rather than truly seeking God apply to every spiritual reform movement. The Pharisees were evangelical, crossing “land and sea” to make one convert!
This particular Pharisee served in the Sanhedrin, the senate of Israel. He was a “chief ruler”, and was called “The Teacher of Israel”. His subject was the Kingdom of God and entry into it. everyone esteemed Him as a Spiritual giant, and as a teacher of the nation.
But something about Jesus penetrated his heart, so the “teacher of Israel” went to meet him on evening.
to be continued…
Yes God talked to Ahaz about his 'flesh' safety, and God told Ahaz about his 'spiritual' safety. Solomon wrote down about their being two bodies, the flesh under the sun and the spiritual body that returns to the Maker that sent it. And by what God told Ahaz is also instructional to us now even though it is history. Well at least most of that chapter is history.
Good post.
The way I remember the difference between Sadducees and Pharisees, is that one group believed in life after death and the other didn’t. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection,.....which is why they were Sad,...U sees?? ;^)
Moses did not lead the Israelites to idolatry, but Aaron sure did. Jesus came in the flesh to be God with US, until the appointed time for Him to become the one and for all time perfect Passover. After that final blood sacrifice and the tearing of the veil in the temple from top to bottom, each individual has direct access to the Heavenly Father in Jesus name. I pray to the Heavenly Father in Jesus Name, to demonstrate I believe Jesus is the Savior.
King David wrote the Psalms 22 around a thousand years before the event occurred. Christ while hanging on the cross quoted the Psalms. Christ was NOT crying out to Himself but directing those that believe to a foretold witness all those many years before. Psalms 22 give the Crucifixion its credibility and witness.
Either He was truthful or a Liar.
If He was truthful, then volumes can be discerned from the report of His death on the Cross.
God is revealed to us in 3 persons,....one God,...3 persons. This isn’t too difficult to grasp.
Jesus Christ manifest to all humanity how we are to have fellowship with God. He remained obedient to God the Father, through faith in what He provided in His Plan, and exercised power through God the Holy Spirit.
The very same is available to us today in the Church Age.
One will never understand it until they exercise a smigeon more faith than no faith whatsoever in what Christ provided in His Judgment at the Cross.
His quoted “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?”, manifests His death on thee Cross. Death as a state of existence involving separation occurred when all the sins of mankind were imputed upon Jesus Christ on the Cross and Judged.
The penalty of sin is death and He remaining physically alive, while manifesting a spiritual death, bears testimony that He paid the price for our redemption.
Rom 11:25-36 0;^)
Rom 11:28
(28) As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
There will come a time when all of this makes sense and all of Israel will be saved.
Praise be to God!
It was this very same concept that God used to open my eyes when I was dying in a religion based on works. For the first time in my life I felt clean, free, and had a desire to know and walk with Him. Upon explaining what had happened to me, that I experienced the "new birth", to the "minister" of the church I was attending, he opened his book and read the words of the church that officially excommunicated and anathematized me. I guess that was better than them stoning me for my "heresy".
Then there’s Satan. One God in four. Do I hear five?...
You pray to j-sus (which is idolatry)and I will pray to the one TRUE G-d.
You need to read ALL of Isaiah,Chap.7 to put Isaiah 7:14 into its’ proper context.
You cannot pick and choose from the Hebrew Scriptures.
I do not adhere to the ch*istian bible so Romans does not matter to me.
Three-in-one makes no sense and is pagan. Look up the Council of Nicea and the Council of Constantinople. It is a man-made idea and runs contrary to everything G-d said about Himself.
The trinity is difficult to understand because it defies logic and is impossible.
G-d never became a human.He made that very clear. THAT is not too difficult to grasp. I can prove this by quoting verses if you’d like.
So when j-sus allegedly died on the cross he and G-d were separated? Is that how it works,because it makes ZERO sense.
Why the lowercase "j" and a "-" for the "e"?
Because we Jews see him as a false god and we are forbidden from mentioning other gods and writing their names.
So you assert the Messiah is not human. If not, what is He?
Better yet, study how Israel will know her God.
When the time comes, you will understand.
Understanding everything about God can be a fairly daunting task. One reason He reveals Himself in three persons is to help us understand how we are to have fellowship with Him.
BTW, the concept isn’t pagan. It’s Christian. Let’s at least be intellectually honest about its association.
Jews are forbidden from using the name of God in vain (as are believers). This also implies not to write into His Word what He has not added, nor remove what He has provided.
Unfortunately, it uses God’s name in vain, to deny the deity of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and to deny His Incarnation.
The penalty of sin is death. Death is a state of existence involving separation. The testimony of Christ Jesus on the Cross manifests that separation.
The resurrection manifests God the Father returned the human spirit to the body of Jesus Christ in the new body, the first fruits.
Chr*stianity has taken on pagan ideas. The virgin birth,the trinity and the man-god savior who dies and is resurrected are all pagan ideas from pagan religions that existed around j-sus’ time.
It was at the Councils of Nicea and Constantinople that the trinity was conceived by men.
The messiah will be human,not a man-god. He will do many things when he comes,one of which is bringing peace. j-sus never did that. Didn’t he say he came to spread the sword?
Israel knows G-d through the Torah.
Here is a list of what the messiah will accomplish:
1) He will bring world peace. (Isaiah 2:4,11:6)
2) Universal recognition of G-d (Isaiah 11:9,Jeremiah 31:34)
3) Resurrection of the dead (Isaiah 26:19,Ezekiel 37:12)
4) Ingathering of Jewish exiles (Isaiah 43:5,11:11 Jeremiah 23:8)
5) Building of the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26)
Nowhere in scripture does it say the messiah will come back a second time. He will begin his mission the first time he appears. All the messianic prophesies have to be fulfilled and j-sus hasn’t fulfilled any of them.
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