Seek Understanding | How John 3:9-15 Helps Us

Topic: Seek Understanding

Reading: John 3:9-15

9 Nicode’mus said to him, “How can this be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

Introduction and Overview

Throughout the scriptures in both the old and the new testament, we are encouraged to seek understanding. If we want to know the ways of God and how to live our lives, we must seek understanding. In fact Solomon wrote this in the opening prologue to the Book of Proverbs.

2 That men may know wisdom and instruction, understand words of insight, 3 receive instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity; 4 that prudence may be given to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— 5 the wise man also may hear and increase in learning, and the man of understanding acquire skill, 6 to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:2-7)

The overriding theme of these words is that we ought to seek understanding. Understanding the will, words, and ways of God lead to wisdom. To seek understanding will lead us into the paths of righteousness. If we are to live with God and Jesus Christ into eternity, then we must seek understanding.

Jesus had just spoken to Nicodemus about entering the kingdom of heaven. But Nicodemus did not understand how this all worked. The teachings Jesus gave were spiritual, but He used earthly and physical examples and metaphors to enable insight. And in these verses we see Jesus continue to discuss and explain these things to Nicodemus in ways and examples that he could understand. Nicodemus was seeking to understand. He may have been a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews, and he may have been afraid to speak these things to and about Jesus in public, but he was still a man seeking understanding. In time Nicodemus became a believer, as we see in later chapters of John’s gospel. But here at the beginning, Nicodemus was trying to seek understanding so that he could know the truth and do what was right.

Key points from reading:

The importance of asking questions
Jesus explains how He uses physical examples to explain spiritual matters
The example of Moses raising the serpent in the wilderness as an analogy for Jesus death and resurrection

Discussion:

Scripture: John 3:9 – Ask questions to seek understanding
- Too often in the church today, people do not ask questions. They blindly accept whatever is spoken from the pulpits of the church without questioning what is said. People readily agree there are things they do not understand, but for some reason the do not seek understanding.
- Nicodemus was not like that. He came to Jesus by night and in secret to seek understanding. He knew that Jesus was a man from God, even if he did not know yet that Jesus was the Son of God. And he was about to find that out as well. But Nicodemus wanted to know what was going on and what Jesus was doing. That is why he came to Jesus to seek understanding. He came and asked questions. The only way we can learn is to ask questions. If we don’t understand a thing, we must question it. When we don’t question what we hear, and especially if we blindly accept whatever we are told, we run the risk of believing false information. That is how so much false doctrine entered the broad church. Doctrines and teachings that have no basis in scripture. They flourished because no-one questioned them.
- But Nicodemus questioned. He was trying to seek understanding. He questioned Jesus in order to get his head around these things Jesus was telling him. And they were new and strange teachings. He did not immediately understand. But as he continued to question, Jesus unpacked the message for Nicodemus in a way that he would understand. He used analogies that Nicodemus would have recognised, such as the serpent being raised on a pole by Moses, and the faith required to overcome the sting of the serpents. We will cover that in a moment. Nicodemus, as a teacher and ruler of the Jews would have been well aware of that message, and in his desire to seek understanding, he would have finally “got it.” What was important in this is that we too need to ask questions, as Nicodemus did, when we are trying to seek understanding.
Scripture: John 3:10-11 – We speak of what we know
- These two verses are interesting. It sounds as though Jesus was upbraiding Nicodemus because he didn’t get it. And maybe there might have been something in that. But Jesus did not just walk away. He continued in His explanation so that Nicodemus could and would eventually understand.
- Jesus made the point that we “speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen.” When we have knowledge of something, especially first-hand knowledge, we can speak confidently about those things because no-one can tell us we are wrong. They may not believe what we are saying, but they cannot say we are wrong because we have personally experienced it. For example, many Christians today do not speak in tongues because they have been told that tongues was only meant for the early church to spread the gospel.
  
  And nothing could be further from the truth. They do not understand the purpose and power of tongues for the Christian and their walk with Christ. Tongues are a gift from God that enable us to overcome the power of the devil and the passions, lusts and desires of the flesh. It is a mechanism of prayer for the Holy Spirit dwelling within us to speak to God on our behalf. It is a means by which we can take control of our negative emotions, using the power of the Spirit through speaking in tongues, to humble ourselves beneath the mighty hand of God, as the Holy Spirit appeals to God for us in our weakened state.
  
  And who wouldn’t want all of that?
- No-one can tell me this is wrong because these are things I have learned and experienced over sixty years as a Christian. Anyone who believes the gift of tongues is no longer needed, and was only for the early church to spread the gospel, has no idea about the truth of tongues. Perhaps you who are reading this have accepted that view from your church or ministry. From my personal experience and learning, I can assure you it is a false teaching, spread by the devil in the churches, to stop the spread of the Holy Spirit who enables people to gain victory over the flesh. The devil does not want you to have victory over the flesh because he uses our passions to drive us to sinfulness.
  
  I can speak of this because I, “…speak of what I know and bear witness to what I have seen…” as this scripture says. But like Jesus also said, there will be and are many who do not receive my testimony. They reject these things because they choose not to believe, even though everything I have said is backed up in the scripture and I have experienced personally. It is important that we seek understanding and ask questions rather than believe a devilish lie.
Scripture: John 3:12-13 – Jesus is from heaven
- Jesus continued His discourse with Nicodemus here, and makes an astounding statement. He tells Nicodemus the mechanisms by which He is teaching the truth of the gospel. And Jesus indicates that even though He uses earthly metaphors and examples, Nicodemus still does not understand. But Nicodemus continued to seek understanding and in due course Jesus opens up the example that will open his eyes to the truth, which we cover in the next verses.
- But in these verses we see the authority that Jesus has to make the statements He is making. In John 3:1-8 He spoke to Nicodemus about how a person must enter the kingdom of heaven through being born anew of water and the Spirit. These are spiritual teachings and spiritual matters, which is clear because Jesus is talking about the spiritual kingdom of heaven.
- After making these points that if Nicodemus could not understand the earthly analogies Jesus used, how would or could he begin to understand the things of the Spirit? So, Jesus tells Nicodemus who He is. Jesus explains that He is able to describe and speak of the kingdom of heaven because Jesus is the Son of Man and is from Heaven. He is the one who descended from heaven to bring the good news of the gospel of salvation to man. So, Jesus is able to accurately speak of these things because He has seen and known the kingdom of heaven, having been ascended from heaven. As He said, “…we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen.” Jesus was speaking of things He had seen and knew to be fact and truth.
Scripture: John 3:14-15 – The need for faith for salvation
- In these two scriptures, Jesus provides a final analogy to Nicodemus to help him seek understanding of what Jesus is telling Him. He has been speaking about entry into the kingdom of heaven and matters of the Spirit. So, to finalise the conversation, Jesus tells Nicodemus of what Moses did when the children of Israel were in the desert for forty years and were being attacked and killed by serpents. If you cannot recall the details of the story, this is what the scripture says:
  
  5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. (Numbers 21:5-9)
- The fiery serpents would bite the people and anyone bitten would die. But the Lord instructed Moses to make a bronze replica of the fiery serpent and raise it up on a pole in the midst of the camp. Then, if anyone was bitten, they only needed to look up at the bronze serpent and they would be healed and not die. But if any person did not look up at the bronze serpent after they were bitten, they would die.
- What was it that saved the people from death? It was not just the act of looking up to the bronze serpent, but it was their faith in God who said that if they did that, they would not die of the serpent’s bite. It was their faith in God that saved them from death. And Nicodemus would have understood that, being a teacher and ruler of the Jews.
- In his desire to seek understanding, Nicodemus would have finally understood that Jesus was showing him that entry into the kingdom of God was based upon faith. Just as the ones bitten by the serpent needed enough faith to believe God would save them if they looked at the bronze serpent, so too people needed faith by looking up to Jesus to enter God’s kingdom and be saved. And just as the bronze serpent was raised up and people needed to look up to it to be saved from the bite of the serpent, so too Jesus was raised up to die, and when we look up to Him, we too are saved from death. The bite of the serpent, who is the devil and who has the power of death (See Hebrews 2:14), will not destroy those who look up to Jesus. Our salvation is in looking up to Jesus, just as the salvation of the Israelites from the bite f the serpent in the wilderness was to look up to the bronze serpent. Faith is and was the key in both situations. And I am sure that Nicodemus finally “got it” after this explanation. He came to Jesus with questions to seek understanding, and there is no doubt he finally understood. I say that because Nicodemus did become a follower of Christ. He assisted Joseph of Arimathea in His burial, providing the mixture of myrrh and aloes for Jesus’ body, and also defended Jesus among the chief priests and Pharisees (See John 7:47-52, and John 19:38-39). All of this was possible because Nicodemus came to Jesus, asking questions, to seek understanding. And the Lord showed him the truth in ways that he could learn and understand.

Prayer Points:

Pray and ask God to help you as you seek understanding. Ask God the questions that are on your mind and ask Him to help you seek understanding to find the truth and the answers you seek.
Pray also that you can understand the messages here in John chapter 3, just as Nicodemus sought understanding. It is essential we understand what is necessary for entry into the kingdom of heaven if we are to receive the inheritance promised to those who follow Christ Jesus.