Chapter
three begins with an interesting scene, Nicodemus, a leader of the Pharisees,
came to visit Jesus at night. Jesus
proclaims to him that a person cannot see the Kingdom of God unless he is born
again. This confused Nicodemus, because
he could only think in earthly terms and had no understanding of the
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
In this chapter we see Christ claim to be the Son of God (v. 13). The entire plan of salvation is shown to be
rooted in Christ (vs. 16). He is the
light who came to save the world! Yet
some prefer to live in darkness. The
chapter concludes by returning to dialogue about John the Baptist. His disciples are perturbed by the popularity
of Jesus and His ministry but John reminds them that he was the one sent before
Christ (vs. 28). He gives a beautiful
analogy of the friend of the Bride and the Bridegroom and concludes by speaking
of the Deity of Christ, and the importance of humbling himself before Him. By sending the Son, the Father, has sent
Himself! Amazing!
PRAYER & MEDITATION
1. What does John mean in verse 27? What does this teach us about life being
fair? Ask the Lord to show you any
attitudes in your heart that you need to correct based on the teaching in this
verse? What attitudes do you need to
stop having and what attitudes do you need to choose instead?
2. Although each person receives the Holy Spirit
upon conversion, not every believer is walking with the Spirit (Gal.
5:16-25). Every single believer needs to
be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to walk in holiness and bear good
spiritual fruit (John 15:1-8). Ask the
Lord to show you what your relationship with the Spirit is like, are you
walking together? Ask Him for a word,
thought or picture to clarify things for you.
3. Spend some time praying for a filling of the Holy
Spirit. Ask Him to show you any areas of
sin that you need to clean up and then ask Him to fill you with His Spirit so
that you can be a light, as Christ was a light.
