Both John and Jesus are baptizing in the river. John defers to Jesus, saying he is greater. Jesus is above all and speaks the words of God. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
13a) That everyone was going to Jesus to be baptized rather than to John.
b) John acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah and that he is less than Jesus.
c) I don’t want to be jealous of others or take away their glory. Instead, I want to support God’s mission like John did.
14) John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”
Jesus is Lord and Savior of the World.
Love John’s example of deference here. So very hard to do with human emotions. We must all defer to Jesus and His ways over ours in all circumstances. I also love how our roles can change throughout life and our calling can change, too.
Note Jesus in in Judea here. The other Gospels are mostly about Jesus in Galilee. 
John was unflustered or bothered by Jesus’ popularity in the same vicinity as he.
John’s gifts were from God. He knew his God-given purpose, and he knew who Jesus was. John is like a bridegroom, a friend of Jesus, at the wedding, but he is not the groom. The bridegroom is Jesus, a familiar reference in the Bible.
John’s mission was fulfilled, and he was full of joy. He knew he would shrink into the background, and he was okay with this.
John has fame and humility. He also continued in his role, albeit changed and diminished from before. He was still doing God’s work.
Jesus came from heaven and is therefore greater than everyone else. No one would receive him.
Note “The Father loved the Son” here (John 3:35) and in John 5:20.
Reject Jesus, and you reject eternal life and receive wrath. The wrath of God lingers until you accept Christ and He comes again.
We would do well to abide by all: be born again, lift Christ up, and defer to Christ. So good!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jesus was sent to save. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned. Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light and into God’s sight.
10) They shall not perish but have eternal life. They are not condemned. They come into the light.
11)
John 3:16: Nonbelievers will perish.
John 3:17-19: Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John 3:36: Whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9: He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.
12) I am encouraged because I know I will have everlasting life.
LOVE John 3:16. So simple and straightforward of God’s love for me. Always gives me shivers.
Fun fact: There are 31,102 verses in the Bible.
John 3:16 is perhaps the most well-known and most loved.
God loved the world (all of us, not just the Jews). God gave his most precious gift. We have to believe. God will save forever. God’s love is boundless.
Jesus came to save believers. All others are condemned. Those who do not believe love darkness more than light.
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Jesus says that the Jewish leaders still do not see or accept him and the testimony of the disciples and others. If you do not understand earthly things, how will you understand heavenly things? The Son of Man will be lifted into heaven so that others will be.
7a) The disciples and John the Baptist.
b) That the Jewish leaders do not accept the testimony of others. That they do not understand God’s Word, essentially.
8 ) The bronze serpent was God’s means of salvation for those bitten by the snake. Similarly, Jesus’ death on the cross is God’s mean of salvation for all of humanity bitten by sin.
9a) When you are saved, you believe in Christ’s sacrifice for your sins on the cross. You then will have eternal life.
b) That Jesus would choose to suffer death for lowly ol’ me.
I love the emphasis on the fact that anyone can be blind to Christ, including religious leaders. We must always grow close to God ourselves and not rely on others for knowledge of God.
Jesus chides Nicodemus as a religious leader that he does not understand the Scriptures.
Christ is the ultimate authority on heavenly things.
Jesus said that the serpent in Numbers is himself, sent to redeem his people. Serpents represent evil in the Bible and appear more than 50 times. Bronze is associated with judgment in the Bible. A bronze serpent is sin judged, which is Jesus who judges sin.
The people trusted the serpent to save them simply by glancing at it. Similarly, we trust in Jesus.
The Son of Man must be lifted up (ascend). We must accept, not do.
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Jesus talks with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who acknowledges he is performing signs that require God to be with him. Jesus responds, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Nicodemus is confused and wonders how someone can be born a second time in their mother’s womb.
Jesus clarifies: “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.”
3a) Nicodemus approaches at night because he is a Pharisee and does not want word to get out that he is questioning Jesus because the Pharisees are against Jesus. I think Nicodemus is curious about Christ.
b) To know him better and to be more like him.
4a) Because Jesus knows that Nicodemus needs to be born again to be saved. Jesus’ primary concern is to bring everyone to him.
b) Nicodemus is not grasping the spiritual/imagery of Jesus. He’s only thinking of the physical and what can be seen.
5) Humanity. The physical body.
6a) They are born of the flesh, not of the spirit. Those born of the Spirit who have accepted Christ as their Savior have eternal life. You mush have a new birth to have eternal life.
b) Yes. If you are born of the spirit, you are born again. Yes.
Great lesson on how even the religious leaders are drawn to Jesus.
Jesus wanted to make it known that just because you were of Jewish heritage, descended from Abraham, does not guarantee a place in heaven.
To be born from above (the Hebrew meaning of the word “again”) is to be born again.
Rebirth is a central theme in the Bible. Most Jews thought they had been cleansed for God. No one understood the acceptance of Christ as the rebirth.
Born of the Spirit is the emphasis here.
Born of water has many interpretations: baptism, physical birth, born by the Word of God, born by the Holy Spirit, or the water of cleansing Ezekiel 36:25-28
Nicodemus did not have to understand to have the Spirit; he just needed to accept.
In short, no human effort can save us; only belief in the redeeming blood of Christ.
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While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover, many people saw him do signs and believed in his signs. He knew the hearts of others and knew many did not believe in him.
11a) The disciples believed in who Jesus was. The belief of many was superficial, as they believed in what Jesus was doing.
b) It doesn’t really challenge my faith, but it does emphasize the importance of believing in Jesus versus what he can do for you.
12a) He knew that many would be against him, so he had to be careful so he could fulfill his duty for mankind. He also could not commit to others who did not believe in him.
b) It’s comforting, actually. I know that Jesus knows what I’m feeling even when I can’t express it.
c) He draws me every day, by being there for me, by putting others in my life I can help and who help me, and by putting His work in front of me to do.
Love the differentiation of belief here. Many people believe in what Jesus can/does do for them, but they don’t believe in him and his sacrifice for us. Super important for us to keep in mind when we are talking to others about Jesus since many come to Jesus looking for him to do something in their lives, rather than looking for Jesus himself.
It’s important that we, as believers, remember that Jesus does know our heart and our heart’s motivations. Even if we believe in Jesus, we must still be vigilant in our actions and our motivations in life. Sin is always closer than we think.
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The Jewish leaders asked Jesus’ authority to do all this. He said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Jesus was speaking of the temple as his body that would rise again in three days, not the actual temple.
9a) Because Jesus’ actions were audacious. The Jewish leaders allowed this to happen, so it made them look bad to let Jesus do their job.
b) They maybe might be thinking Jesus is the Messiah, so they want more proof. Or, they are looking to disprove him altogether.
c) No, not really.
10a) He said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Jesus was speaking of the temple as his body that would rise again in three days, not the actual temple. He willingly laid down his life for us.
b) The false witnesses testified that Jesus said he himself would destroy the temple, God’s holy place, and raise it in three days.
I love how Jesus answers the Jewish leaders with profound wisdom, and I love Jesus’ body as the temple. Such depth here.
Jesus told them that they would destroy his temple (him), but he would rise again. The body of Christ is still a temple of sorts as embodied by the church.
Note Jesus says he will raise himself from the dead and in John 10:18. Also, note that God (Romans 6:4 and Galatians 1:1) and the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:4 and 8:11) raise Jesus, too. It was the power of the Holy Trinity at work here.
Jesus often answers a question asked of him like this. He is not lowering himself to respond to such questions.
The disciples only connected Jesus’ meaning here after his death. This is a frequent occurrence for them that they did not understand at the time but only later.
The Scripture they believed is here: Psalm 16:10 where Jesus would not be abandoned in the realm of the dead nor would he decay.
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Jesus went to Jerusalem for Passover. When he saw that inside the temple courts people were selling cattle, sheep, and doves, he drove all of the money lenders out of the temple.
He told them to stop turning His Father’s house into a market.
6) Passover. At Passover, a sacrificial lamb is required to cleanse them of sin. If the people traveled, they could instead tithe silver. The money lenders were there to supply these requirements to the Jewish people.
7a) He got angry. He made a whip and drove the money lenders out.
b) To take bold, immediate action when you see something being done that is not right.
8a) Psalm 69:9: “for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.” This speaks to the zeal Jesus had for the purity of the temple. And, God speaks this in Psalm, but here it explains Jesus’ actions. It is implied that Jesus is acting for/as God here.
b) Jesus will come to the temple and purify it, which is what he did when he kicked out the money lenders.
I love this example of Jesus’ very human emotions and his direct action to correct the wrong.
Bible scholars estimate that more than 2 million Jews came to Jerusalem for Passover. Paying the temple tax was required, which is why there were money lenders there.
Background: The money lenders were in the Court of the Gentiles, the only place the Gentiles could allowed to pray and offer sacrifices. Jesus sees this as a defiling of the temple since it’s been turned into a marketplace. Great synopsis HERE
Furthermore, the temple tax had to be paid in Tyrian shekels, which had the most amount of silver in it, so the money changers had to exchange the Jews’ coinage in order to satisfy this requirement.
Making a whip would take a bit to time. Jesus did this methodically. He did not drive out the money lenders out of passion.
The outer court was where Gentiles could worship the Lord. With the money lenders there, this space was not corrupt.
Jesus converts water first, then cleanses the temple. Conversion first, then cleansing of the temple.
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Jesus calls Philip in Galilee to follow him. Philip tells Nathanael that they have found Jesus of Nazareth, the one Moses wrote about in the Law.
Nathanael asks if anything good can come from Nazareth. He meets Jesus who tells him that there is no deceit in him because he saw him while still under a fig tree.
Upon hearing this, Nathanael believes Jesus is the Son of God. He tells him he will see great things, including ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
11) Jesus called Philip to follow him. Philip does and tells Nathanael, too.
12a) Skeptical. Prejudiced. Hesitant.
b) Kindly. Matter-of-factly. By telling him there is no deceit in his heart and proving who he was.
c) Jesus has come to bring heaven to humanity. Jesus is the ladder or bridge to God for humanity.
13) Unsure. Put out feelers and keep giving God the glory. When you talk about Jesus, you never know who is listening.
I love how everyone comes to Jesus differently. Great stuff!
So simple words (Follow me); such a profound impact on a life and on others.
Nathanael was prejudiced against those from Nazareth, as we see by his response. Jesus challenged him to come and see for himself.
Bible scholars differ on if Nathanael actually prayed under a fig tree or if this common expression of the times meant he meditated on the Scriptures.
All believers can expect to see greater things when they believe in Jesus.
Jesus is the link between heaven and earth. He came to bring us to heaven. Jesus is the mediator for us to God.
Jesus calls himself The Son of Man frequently because it was a title that referred to the Messiah.
Contact me with questions!
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