John 3:1-7 (ANIV)
Jesus teachers Nicodemus
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
DRAWING NOTES:
TIME OF DAY:
Night
LIGHTING NOTES:
Some mysterious lighting from above employed, to avoid making a flat & lifeless cartoon.
CHARACTERS PRESENT:
Jesus & Nicodemus
RESEARCH/ADDITIONAL NOTES:
The cartoon is to show the debate & conversatioon between Jesus & Nicodemus. This is a friendly interaction, hence the smiles!
I think this cartoon was drawn after the “Jesus & Pharisees” one (John 08), hence Nicodemus looking similar in colouration to those other Pharisees.
in TXP Article excerpt
It is from this passage in John that we get our phrases “new birth”, “regeneration”, “second birth”, “twice-born” and “born again”.
Verses 14-15 are crucial to understanding how we get this second birth…
14 [Jesus said] “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
This phrase refers to the incident in Numbers 21:4-9. The new birth is only possible through Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross and via faith in Him as God’s antidote for the terrible poison of sin (see John 8:28; 12:32-33).
John 8:28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.”
John 12:32-33 “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.”
The new birth is the door to eternal life, and the phrase “Eternal life” is another way of referring to the kingdom of God in John’s gospel. Compare John 1:13; Ezekiel 37:1-10; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:15; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3,23; Revelation 21:5.
3:2 JESUS CHRIST, Teaching (1.24A)
Jesus is referred to as a teacher or “Rabbi” in the New Testament, a title and description Nicodemus recognized. A teacher/Rabbi was one of many Jewish interpreters of the Law, who gathered disciples and performed authenticating signs. John 3:2 shows us that Nicodemus knew Jesus came from God, just as he responded to the mighty works and miracles he had heard Jesus had performed. Compare John 1:38, 49; 3:2, 26; 6:25; 20:16. The term teacher/Rabbi implies all the traditional reverence and respect which Judaism assigned to wisdom and instruction. But Jesus was critical of the exaggerated place of teachers who desired compliments more than they wanted to serve the people (see Matthew 23:7-8). Jesus knew that Nicodemus’ respectful form of address did not issue from a heart of saving faith. Remember John 2:24-25 which states “24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.”
Jesus must be seen as much more than merely a powerful teacher.
3:2 MIRACLE, Vocabulary (2.21C)
For Nicodemus the miraculous signs Jesus performed signified that God was with Jesus and authenticated Jesus as a Teacher of God’s truth. Nicodemus did not question the miraculous nature of Jesus’ works. See note on John 2:11.