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Jesus' message and prediction to Nicodemus
| (a) Would not die on the cross: |
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'And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.' (John 8:15).
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'Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus said unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I spake these things.' John 8:25
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The staff of Moses was a lifeless rod but when lifted up it was a serpent alive. By this parable, Jesus was able to foretell to Nicodemus that after his awaited ordeal on the cross, Nicodemus would lift up a living man when he would have herbally treated Jesus' wounds in secrecy in the sepulcher. (see John: 19: 39) This coincide with:
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'An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.' Matt: 12: 40
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Jonah entered the whale's belly alive and came out alive. A dead man could not have talked, walked and ate!
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(b) What Nicodemus should do to gain eternal life:
'Verily, verily I say unto thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'
'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God.'
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Jesus was referring to the baptism of John not of reincarnation. John was baptizing with water that the spirit of those baptized may be reborn, that is, cleansed and purified of their sins. Nicodemus, if he wished to see and enter into the Kingdom of God should be baptized of John, the Father.
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( c) Nicodemus - his conviction:
'Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him. And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man, Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them) Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look; for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. And every man went unto his own house.' John 7: 40-53.
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