Nicodemus Comes To Jesus

By Paul Earnhart

Early in the preaching of Jesus, He was visited by a prominent theologian named Nicodemus.

I have often wondered why Nicodemus visited Jesus.  I know some of the reasons people today show interest in religion.  Some are driven by intellectual curiosity.  They want to know a little about everything that is going on in the world.  Others are selfishly motivated…they hope for some material gain by connecting themselves with religion.  Still others feel that they have something to offer to help a good cause…perhaps they have money or talents or influence.

Any one of these may have motivated Nicodemus.  He may have heard of Jesus and been interested in learning what he could about Him.  Or, he may have thought that Jesus would gain a large following and hoped that he might share in His popularity.  More likely, I think he felt that he could help this young teacher.  After all, Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews, and he could contribute both influence and protection if they were needed.

Nicodemus came with a compliment for Jesus.  He said, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with Him.” (John 3:2)

How surprised Nicodemus must have been at the response of Jesus: “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)  It was obvious that Jesus was neither awed nor intimidated by this ruler of the Jews.  Jesus was no respecter of persons.  He was not concerned with what Nicodemus could do for Him.  Instead, He was concerned that Nicodemus should enter the kingdom of God.

What is your interest in Jesus…some material benefit He can give you or some favor you might do for Him?  If so, Jesus would respond to you as He did to Nicodemus: “You must be born again.”

Jesus Knew What Was in Man

By Paul Earnhart

From the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus made a great impression on the people who met Him.  Some were impressed negatively.  He did not fit their expectations of the Messiah, and they refused to consider the evidence of His divinity.  Others, who were not prejudiced, saw in Him those qualities which set Him apart from all other men.

This was the result when He first visited Jerusalem after His baptism and the beginning of His personal ministry.  John 2:23 says, “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed on His name, beholding the signs which He did.”

But this early faith was not a deep faith.  Jesus knew full well that some of those early believers would turn against Him.  And so the next verses say, “But Jesus did not trust Himself unto them, for He knew all men, and because He needed not that any one should bear witness concerning man; for He knew what was in a man.”  (John 2:24-25)

Two things are evident from these verses.  First: Jesus was divine.  Ordinary men simply do not know what other men are thinking.  Only God can read a man’s mind; so if Jesus knew what men were thinking, He must have been divine.  His ability to know what men were thinking was demonstrated again and again during His lifetime.  It must have been a frustration to His enemies.

Second: If Jesus knew what the people of His day were thinking, He must know what is in our hearts as well.  We can fool our neighbors and the people at church.  We may even fool our families.  But the Lord knows what is in our heart; He knows our motives and what we really think, regardless of what we say.  And He is the one who will judge us.  Eccl. 12:14 says that "God will bring every work into judgment, and every secret thing, whether it be good or evil."  Are you ready for such judgment?

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

By Paul Earnhart

When Jesus went to Jerusalem for the first time after the beginning of His personal ministry, we are told that He visited the temple and found merchants who were selling oxen, sheep and doves.  There were also money changers exchanging the money which the people ordinarily used into the kind of money that was accepted for offerings in the temple.

Jesus was greatly disturbed by what He saw.  John tells us that “He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, ‘Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a house of merchandise.’  His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Thy house will consume Me.’” (John 2:15-17)

God does not have a material house today, such as the temple was in those days.  But the church is His house as Peter wrote to Christians in 1 Peter 2:5 saying, “You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house.”

But most churches today have virtually lost their spiritual emphasis.  In some cases, they have again become houses of merchandise; they seem to exist to make money.  In some other cases they have become country clubs with all kinds of recreation equipment and dining facilities.  Church funds are used more for social purposes than for spiritual activities, and more emphasis is placed on entertainment than on worship and Bible teaching.

I wonder what Jesus would do if He should visit a modern church.  I wonder if He would not again engage in a general house-cleaning.  If we are like Jesus “consumed with zeal for our Father’s house” (John 2:17), we will look again at God’s plan for His house and make certain that the church of which we are a part is what God intends for it to be, not what men want it to be.

Did Jesus Approve of Drinking?

By Paul Earnhart

According to John 2:1-11, the first miracle that Jesus performed was turning water into wine.  Many people have used this fact to defend the practice of drinking alcoholic beverages.

Wine, in the Bible, was not necessarily alcoholic.  It refers to all grape juice, whether fermented or unfermented.  Isaiah 65:8 refers to the wine while it is still in the cluster.  At that point, grape juice is certainly not alcoholic, yet the Bible calls it wine.

They used the word wine in those days in much the same way that we use the word cider.  Cider may be either freshly squeezed apple juice, or it may be fermented hard cider.

What did Jesus make?  The word wine does not tell us.  It is a fact that the headwaiter called the wine that Jesus made the “best” wine.  But there is evidence that people in those days did not judge wine by its potency, but by its sweet taste.  Obviously unfermented grape juice is the sweetest of all.

The Bible clearly condemns drunkenness.  Galatians 5:21 states that those who practice drunkenness cannot inherit the kingdom of God.  If the wine that Jesus made was intoxicating, He made enough of it to make everybody at the feast drunk.  Who can believe that Jesus actually did that?

When is a person drunk?  One of the first effects of even a small amount of alcohol is to impair one’s moral judgment.  This is the most serious consequence of alcohol, and it occurs long before one begins to stagger or speak with slurred speech.  The best policy for a true disciple of Jesus is to avoid alcoholic beverages altogether.

By all means, Jesus must not be cited to encourage drunkenness or even the use of strong drink.  The Bible universally condemns them both.

The First Miracle

By Paul Earnhart

The first miracle of Jesus was performed at a wedding feast.  He and His five companions left Judea and came to Cana in Galilee just in time for a wedding.  Apparently, more guests came than were expected and perhaps Jesus and his companions contributed to the problem.  But the supply of wine gave out before the feast was finished.  You can imagine the embarrassment.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, seems to have been involved in the serving, because she came to Jesus with the news that the wine was exhausted.  He told her that the time was not yet right for Him.  She believed, however, that He could help, and she told the servants to do whatever He said for them to do.

Jesus instructed the servants to fill some large waterpots with water.  The fact that they were filled with water meant that nothing could be added to make the water taste like wine.  The servants knew they had placed only water in the pots, but when it was drawn out it was wine, and the master of the feast pronounced it better than the wine they had previously drank.

Jesus could have used His powers to do many amazing things which would have had no real value to anyone.  Instead, Jesus chose to use His powers to do things that were beneficial.  In this instance, He relieved the embarrassment of the host.  But the temporal physical benefits were not the primary reason for the miracles.  John said that His miracles were recorded “that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” (John 20:31)  Turning water into wine is something which God does every year as water from the ground passes through the vine and becomes grape juice, but man cannot do it.  Jesus accomplished it without a vine and in a moment of time, proving that His power was more than the power of any man or natural process…it was the power of God.

Turning the water into wine fulfilled its purpose.  John 2:11 says, “This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.”