WARNING! Regeneration required before entry!

John 3:3-8

Truly, truly, 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, “Truly, truly, 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 its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 

Unless you are born into a new life, you cannot see the kingdom of God. This is not even about entering the kingdom. You can't even SEE it! 

But why would you want to have a new life just in order to SEE the kingdom of God? 

Well, we make a lot of decisions in life in order to 'see' what something is like. People want to drive before they truly see what a life driving is about. Most of life requires us to reach out, adapt or extend ourselves in order to 'see' something that we are currently not able to experience. Sometimes the things we gain are not what we anticipated, they don't match our hopes. Others exceed our expectations, or show us how far away we are from our goals! 

To 'see' the kingdom of God will exceed your expectations. Guaranteed.

To see the kingdom dedication is required. You need to be 'born again'. 

So, what does that mean? Nicodemus doesn't seem to quite get it in the passage above. It's not about turning back time, or about being physically born. Being born again is a conscious decision to have a new life. 

When you are born you are suddenly thrust into; a new environment, new experiences and new relationships. At first you are pretty helpless and have to rely on others to care for you and train you. There's lots to discover and learn. Being born again is about being born into God's family, becoming a child of God. 

How? By believing in Jesus. Not just believing he lived, or that he was a holy man, but understanding that he lived and died for you. He lived and died so you don't have to carry the weight of all the wrongs you've committed. He died so that we can become children of God. Once we accept that we have the privilege of seeing the kingdom. The world will seem different, you will see the effect of God in people's lives, and your own life. You will begin to see what life is really all about. That's only SEEING though, what about ENTERING it?

Seeing and entering are different and they require different things. 

Think about work experience. Having a taster of a job for a week or two might give you a sneak preview, but you won't know what it's really like to work there unless you take the plunge and jump into the job. Unless you dedicate yourself full-time to the work environment, you won't have a full picture of what it's like. Or you might be able to see a mountain. Admire it, appreciate the scale of it, but you won't know the details, the feel of climbing it, of smelling the fresh air or experience the perspective it gives you, unless you take steps to go up it. The same with the kingdom. Unless you dedicate yourself to change, then you can't know what it's about. You might see the effect the kingdom has on others but you won't know it for yourself. Unless you make a decision and dedicate yourself to get there you're not really going to know what it is like. 

In order to enter the kingdom, the text says that you must be, 'born of water and the Spirit'. So, what does that entail? The water can refer to renewal or cleansing - this is the traditional imagery seen in the Old Testament where water was used in order to make things clean. It says in Ezekiel 36:25–27:

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations."

This passage describes that not only does the body that need transformation, but the heart also. God's spirit does the work of transforming our hearts, and the water cleans our bodies.

In order to enter the kingdom both need to be cleansed, we need cleaning up inside and out. The outward appearance that people see needs to be scrubbed up. This involves our actions and words. Also, the interior, the heart needs to be scrubbed up as God's nature is infused into us by the Spirit. Both are necessary for entry into the kingdom. It's no good just doing the outward acts of obedience if you still have a heart of stone. God sees both and both need to be regenerated before we can have access to the kingdom of God. We need a heart transplant!

So in order to SEE the kingdom, you need to choose to have a new life, to become vulnerable and to re-learn some things, your life will be based on some different standards and you'll see some amazing things. In order to ENTER the kingdom, you need to be washed clean. Your sin wiped away, your experiences cleaned up and your heart transformed. Are you ready for that kind of renewal? 

Warning! 

Once the body and heart are renewed, your life will be different! 

Are you ready for that? 

Remember and believe.

John 2:16-22

'he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.'

It's only in the light of the fact that Jesus died and came back to life that his life and words make sense. 

Even the disciples, the very closest people to Him, didn't understand what he was saying! 

Yet they were the ones that spent day in, day out, night and day with him. They ate with him, followed him, lived with him, yet they still didn't really understand him.

It is only when he died, and rose again that his words make sense to them. That's when they 'got it'. 

They recognised the truth of who Jesus must be - No-one else can triumph over death like he did! 

The reality of who Jesus is can only break into your life when you understand Jesus words considering not just his death, but also his resurrection. 

Jesus existed. Jesus died. Jesus rose. 

That means something. 

What he says and does, and what the Bible says only makes sense through this lens. 

It's not the fact that Jesus died that gives us assurance, but the fact that he died and 'was raised from the dead'. He had no pulse, no heartbeat, no brain function. 

THEN, 'HE WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD'! 

If that happened today, after being dead for three days someone started breathing again, I'm pretty sure we'd listen to them! It's a miraculous event!  

It's significant, and only once we truly appreciate this, and that this is what happened to Jesus, can we begin to understand what his life and words were about. 

The disciples remembered and believed. 

Maybe it's time to revisit some (positive) things that have been said to you and believe them. 

When the disciples remembered and believed there was a massive difference- the church was born! What could be the difference in your life if you start believing? 

Mary's response

John 2:3-5

'When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”'

Now, this bit of scripture has often confused me. I know it's pretty straight forward, the words are clear. What has confused me though, is that this seems a bit rude. Doesn't it seem rude to you? Jesus, the one we are meant to follow and imitate in all ways, seems to be a bit rude to his own mother. I don't know about other members of the female population, but if someone were to call me, 'woman', I would be a little offended. It is not a polite way to speak to someone. Especially when you consider that this is not just anyone, but a mother!

So, I had to look a bit deeper into this, because I refuse to believe that Jesus would be intentionally rude to his own Mum. 

This is what I have discovered;

The term translated for, 'woman' in the original language is a courteous term. Though, not a term usually used for a loving mother-son relationship. Some commentaries suggest that we may equate it to the term 'Ma'am'. It's probably not what you'd call your mother, but it is a polite and respectful term. So, Jesus, thankfully, isn't being rude. He is being polite, but not indicating an emotional, sentimental attachment to his mother

Isn't  that a bit harsh? 

Surely Jesus must love his mother right? They've had many years living together, Mary has watched him live and grow, he is her firstborn. Doesn't Jesus love her?

Well, if we fast forward to when he dies in the cross, he does provision for her, so he must care deeply for her. Some of his last words were concerning her, so he surely must love her.

Why then does Jesus seem not be responding as a loving son in this passage?

This extract from the account of the wedding at Cana is the first account of the miracles that Jesus performed (turning water into wine). So, for all of his life so far, Jesus had grown up as the son of Mary and Joseph. As with all children, they have to spread their wings sometime and establish their identity apart from their parents. Now, I'm sure Jesus knew his identity already, but he needed his Mum to know that identity too. 

Mary had clearly been told that Jesus was the son of God before he was even born. Then she had: raised him, loved him, looked after him and protected him as any mother would. 

Now, Jesus needed her to recognise that although he is her son, he is also her saviour. That's why he has to maintain some kind of emotional distance for her to begin to understand the developing nature of their relationship. 

Jesus is Mary's saviour before he is her son. 

Imagine, if you can, how that must be for Mary. 

All those years of love and care poured out. Not only is her son grown up, and moving into his life's work, but he has to distance himself from her, and alter the state of their relationship. The mother-son relationship is formed, but now the relationship has to be borne out of a recognition that Jesus primary role is not as her son, but as her saviour.

I cannot imagine how hard that must be.

However, I love Mary's response to this. It is not how I'd respond. 

Eventhough she has just been referred to as, 'ma'am', she doesn't go off and cry about it, become angry or sulk. In fact, she does not seem to take offence at all. Instead, she demonstrates complete trust in Jesus, AND she encourages others to do so too! 

What an amazing woman! 

She realises that she can depend on Jesus to make a difference and she expects him to (otherwise why would she address the servants in such a way?) Mary has no idea what is about to happen, yet she stands in faith. She overlooks the awkwardness, the perceived offence and gets on with the work at hand. Wow! 

For me, I am quick to take offence to words, so how does Mary manage that?  

I wonder if it's because, she recognises that this is not the big issue here. The problem she mentioned to Jesus is still there, getting offended in the process won't help the situation. 

I wonder if we sometimes get sidetracked by becoming offended when there's a bigger matter at hand? I know I do. I pay too much attention to how words effect me rather than what the words are trying to communicate. 

I admire Mary, she overlooks any offence she may of taken and gets to the important part, she realises there's still a matter at hand that needs hers and Jesus attention. She does not focus on who she is but who Jesus is. She doesn't respond in a way that shows offence, she responds as someone who knows Jesus.