Ninety-One - Week 7

We have established in past weeks that Jesus came to establish something new. He has a new command and a new movement. This was troubling to the Jewish leaders and even to His own disciples at times. The new that Jesus was bringing to us was hard for people during His time. He was changing sacred from meaning a temple, rituals, and rules to Jesus saying sacred is a place in the hearts of people. An example of that, as we saw last week, was Matthew the tax collector. Jesus invited him to be one of His followers and ate with him at his home with his tax collecting friends. People like Matthew the tax collector, were outcast and traitors, and Jesus made it a point that, that was who He was here for. These are the people I've come for, these are the people who need me. Now while Jesus' message and actions were disturbing and disruptive to some, we will see in this weeks message of Ninety-One, that there is others that were intrigued by what Jesus had to say. In the Gospel of John, John said, there is a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. Nicodemus was a teacher of the law and was part of an elite group of men who ruled Israel in all religious and civil matters. Nicodemus knew there is something unique about Jesus. He had questions. he wanted to see Jesus. A meeting was set up, and Mark shares with us the details of that meeting and how that meeting might have not gone the way Nicodemus might have envisioned. 

Ninety-One week 7 video - https://subspla.sh/hz7bvwd

1. In this passage, we see that Nicodemus wants to check out Jesus. What do we know about Nicodemus from this passage? Why did he want to visit Jesus?
2. What does the fact that he was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews tells us specifically about Nicodemus? Was he a religious man? Did he know Old Testament Scripture? Did he obey the Law?
3. What does Nicodemus already know about Jesus? What had Jesus been doing that made Nicodemus curious?
4. What is Jesus’ message to Nicodemus in verse 3? Does Jesus address a question that Nicodemus has asked, or does he already know what Nicodemus needs to hear?
5. What does Jesus tell Nicodemus about himself in verses 13-15? What does Jesus mean when he talks about “being lifted up”?
6. Read Numbers 21:4-9. What is going on in this Old Testament story? What parallel does Jesus make by using this story? Do you think that Nicodemus understood what Jesus was telling him? Why or why not?
7. Is it possible to see the Kingdom of God without being born again? Read John 3:3, 5 & 7. What is the requirement for “seeing” and “entering” the kingdom of God? a. What must all “good” people do in order to enter the kingdom? b. What must all “religious” people do in order to enter the kingdom? c. What must all “bad” people do in order to enter the kingdom? d. All people must be born again! This is the message of the New Testament. Read Romans 6:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:14-16; Matthew 16:24.
8. Is Jesus’ message to Nicodemus relevant to you and your life? Have you been born again?