What Jesus Did! 'A Good Place to Start' — John 3:1-2

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

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There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. "Rabbi," he said, "we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you."
— John 3:1-2 NLT

Key Thought

Some people give Nicodemus a hard time for coming to Jesus at night. However, John doesn't. In fact, if we listen carefully to this story, Nicodemus does exactly what Jesus says people "who do what is right" will do - they come out of the darkness to the light to have their deeds revealed. Nicodemus makes a good start. He recognizes that what Jesus does shows he comes from God. That's a good beginning. In fact, there are a lot of people who think Jesus is a good person, a good teacher, a good prophet that has come from God. For many of them, that is enough: good intentions, good thinking. But for Nicodemus - and the rest of Jesus' disciples - this evaluation of Jesus is not enough. Jesus will challenge Nicodemus to see things in a whole new light. [1] He will do very much the same for those of us who want to keep Jesus contained. Jesus is about to remind us that he is our Lord and we begin fresh, or we stay in darkness. Are you ready for the journey? Are you ready to join Nicodemus?

[1] Nicodemus' positive response to Jesus and his teaching is indicated by Nicodemus helping Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus after his crucifixion (John 19:38-40).

Today's Prayer

Father, I confess that there are times when I want to tame Jesus and take some of the radical call of his Good News out of my path. Yet I recognize that grace was costly to you and should not be trivialized by me. With all that I have, I surrender my heart to Jesus as Lord. Use your Spirit, O God, to open my heart to follow Jesus fully and to live powerfully as a witness to your transformational grace. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Related Scripture Readings

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7 Related Resources by Heartlight

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If Nicodemus needed grace despite all his religious accomplishments and his genuinely God-seeking heart, then we desperately need grace, too. Phil Ware continues his series on 'I Doubt It' by talking about Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus and his need to be born of God, from above, born again.
See All 7 Related Resources about John 3:1-2

Illustration

Illustration of John 3:1-2 NLT — "Rabbi," —— "we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you."

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About This Devotional

What Jesus Did! is a series of one-year devotional guides through each gospel, using one short scripture passage each day and following the Gospel in sequential order. Each devotional consists of a scripture passage and a reflection and a prayer which open up the day's scripture and show how it challenges you to live for Jesus.

What Jesus Did! is written by Phil Ware and is available in book form.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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