Nicodemus Revelation
From SPARK
Contents |
Unpublished
Nicodemus Revelation
Hands to the Plow Ministries
One-sentence summary
Description
This is a 52-page booklet, in English, based on the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus recorded in John 3. For those who have been a Christian for some time, it is easy to read these words calmly, as if they are common knowledge. But they are not! We need to understand that, for Nicodemus, this was an extremely difficult conversation. Jesus’ words shook Nicodemus to the very core, radically changing his concept of how a person enters the kingdom of God. What was new for Nicodemus is just as new for people today. People desperately need to hear this message of the good news! Study questions in the back of this book make this a useful tool for individual study, discipleship groups and Bible studies with new believers.
Considerations
Level of Media sophistication required to understand resource: In general low to medium if one is just listening. The presentation is straightforward and clear.
A higher degree of fluency would be needed if one is to read it for themselves. (also see comments in ‘remarks’ section at the end of this form). In my opinion it is written for people from upper age teens through adults as to level of difficulty of the writing, the arguments and connections, and the ideas presented. Also some fairly high degree of sophistication is needed as to the layout and appearance of the print materials, illustrations etc. For example, the text narration and comments are in one type of font, and the Scripture references are indented, a different font and bolded, found in quote marks, the narrators conjectures attributed to the stories characters etc. are also in italics in quotes, but not bold etc. Chapter headings or titles are not complete sentences and only suggest the contents of the section. Similarly, the illustrations are only ‘suggestive’ of what is to be illustrated; i.e. partial bodies, only a few distinct details on people, a couple of illustrations for ‘effect’ only and which do not clearly indicate or illustrate any given, specific item or idea from the text. (The illustrations are found only at chapter beginnings, so there aren’t very many and they are small.)
Type of audience for whom this resource might be useful: I would say teens through adults who are for the most part either new to and unfamiliar with the gospel and the plan of salvation, or at least have not quite understood its deeper meaning and relevance for themselves. I think this would work best with pretty literate, and print-savvy people. Also see comments above and below.
Salient actor/narrator characteristics: It has a basically conversational style and tone, as with someone teaching you something in kind of a one-on-one or face-to-face situation. It is not hard to follow. For a fluent reader, it is easy to read. It has a ‘personalized’ flavor to it, and would be easy to listen to as well if someone else read it to you.
Biblical and cultural accuracy of the resource content: For the most part, this piece is very good, clearly and logically presented, contextually correct, and scripturally accurate etc. There are, however, a few spots where I have reservations, or even feel that there are inaccuracies (see below), and also some commentary which I would change if I were translating it, or planning to give it to people.
- • First, the statement is made (pg 5) that Nicodemus was “possibly the most spiritually respected man in all Israel”. That in my opinion is a pretty large overstatement for which there is no scriptural basis/evidence. It is just not necessary to make the point or to tell the story.
- • The statement is made (pg 6) that “the words here have lost none of their power. Whenever they are spoken, lives are forever changed”. I know what the author means to communicate, but if I were doing this for other cultures around the world who have completely different world views about “powerful” words which can change people’s lives, I would restate this to avoid a quite literal/ magical/ritualistic understanding of its meaning; e.g. that simply speaking these ‘powerful’ words will result in changed lives. I would caution those who do not think that this is the sort of conclusion people from other cultures and contexts might draw from such a statement. Suffice it to say that this is exactly how some of their own rituals work, and is an assumption they often carry based on their upbringing, experience and ‘training’ in their own worldview and spiritual orientation.
- • The statement (pg 8) that Jesus was a “self-taught traveling teacher…”. This is not Biblically accurate. Jesus repeatedly said himself that everything that he said and did and taught came from the Father (God), and that he did and said nothing on his own etc. This is untrue and could/would be misleading about the character and ministry and teachings of Jesus. (The point the author probably wants to make is that in contrast to Nicodemus, Jesus was not formally schooled somewhere: true enough and commented on by others, but probably not best to get at it in this way.)
- • The statement (pg 8) that Nicodemus “had memorized the majority of the Old Testament”. This is a fact I would want to check out pretty carefully before teaching/telling/translating it. Again, certain historical facts or trends notwithstanding regarding Pharisees, this may be stating more about Nicodemus than we can really vouch for, prove or substantiate historically.
- • The statement (pg 9) that although Jesus was called a carpenter, given the shortage of wood in that part of the world and country, he was probably actually a stonemason etc. is probably overdoing it a bit. Yes, the word means “builder” or “craftsman” and it is true that such a designation very likely meant that a person so described would be skilled in wood, stone and other elements used in building, not exclusively wood carpentry. Still I think the present statement overdoes it a bit, slanting the understanding in one main/key direction only. (It does little to advance the purpose of the piece, and so would be better avoided.)
- • The mild, passing suggestion (pg 11) that perhaps the disciples were listening in on the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, and reacting to it. Again, little or no textual evidence for this notion and thus better to avoid suggesting it.
- • There are statements made based on the translation of John 3:3 including the phrase “no one can see the Kingdom of God” (pg 12) as if the word “see” were to be taken literally. The word in context (and elsewhere) often means, as it does in this case, “experience”. It can have the sense ‘to see’, but this is clearly not the sense/meaning here. The word also means: ‘to understand, to experience, to learn about’; all of which make a lot more sense in the passage, where it is pretty obvious that Jesus is not speaking of literal visual ability/opportunity. This is born out by the following verses, particularly 3:5 where the word often translated ‘to enter’ there means ‘to experience or ‘move into the experience of’. Thus, in 3:3, the word does not have the sense ‘to see with the eyes’ and the comments there, while not wrong in basic gist, are sort of nonsensical for someone understanding the passage in the original. We want to translate and explain things on that basis, not on English renderings… as does this section. In other words, the comments are based on the English translation and the literal meaning of “see”, not the Greek textual & contextual meaning.
- • The characterization of God’s “glory” (pg 18) as having the meaning “weight”, and that this is in reference to God’s overwhelming goodness; which is ‘weighty’. This is followed with “each aspect of his (God’s) nature is so pure it carries a weight with it…his attributes that are so good and so pure that they can be felt”.
This use of the word ‘weight’ in connection with personal attributes is very likely to be a collocational clash (2 words in a given language which don’t normally go together and when they occur together may only communicate nonsense or wrong connotations/meanings). In fact, even in English, one must take ‘weight’ in a figurative sense to make sense of this statement. Further, the explanation is quite a literal sounding one associating the ‘weight’ of attributes of God with ‘feeling’ them (i.e. the weight of them??). This meaning for the textual word ‘glory’ is questionable, as is this exegesis and application. This section is followed by one (pg 19) with a similar tendency to take ‘glory’ and ‘feast upon’ in a literal or semi-literal sense: which will make nonsense to many languages and cultures. (The verses quoted are from poetic, i.e. figurative/ metaphorical language in Psalms and so such applications/statements would better be avoided.)
- • The statement (pg 20) that “absolutely no one, with the exception of God himself is good on the inside”. This follows the quotation of Jesus in Mark 10:7-8 in reference to himself, so a less Biblically informed reader could take this to mean that Jesus also was not good inside since he was not also claiming explicitly here to BE God; or the very same as God without any distinction. (Otherwise why the distinctions of Father/Son which he scrupulously maintained in references to himself and God the Father). At the very least, there is a potential wrong meaning from this explanation. Part of Jesus’ point is that he is in fact God Incarnate, come in the flesh; and therefore IS good, just as God is good. The Bible declares him to have been sinless; thus of course good. I’m not suggesting that the author does not believe this about Jesus, but that the statement left as it is, could be easily misunderstood by less Biblically exposed reader/hearers to be a disclaimer on Jesus’ part that he was/is good.
- • Between pages 22-25 it is unclear whether the author is suggesting or teaching that the presence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life will result in the ability to perform righteous acts and to live a righteous and good enough life to be (or become) pleasing to God, and further that an unregenerate person cannot do anything good. This meaning/intent of these kinds of statements are sufficiently ambiguous throughout this section that I would certainly question it. If I were translating this booklet I would have to change some things in this section to avoid that misunderstanding; which I believe is scripturally unsound and inaccurate on both counts. It sometimes sounds almost as if the author believes that the Christian loses his sin nature, e.g., becomes a righteous person by virtue of his regeneration (i.e. forensically/actually morally pure and upright. {NOTE: This error/miscommunication is better avoided in a similar discussion in the book called “The Gift” by the same author.})
Notable interpretation or contextualization of Scripture (plausible and/or appropriate):
- • Pretty sound throughout as to the Scriptures and the comments made about them. Basically no problems noted on that score.
- • There are certain figures of speech used here and there which, though fine in English, would be very hard or impossible to translate sensibly and would probably/likely have to be changed to some other cultural equivalent for other contexts. For example; (pg 8) ‘he ate, drank, and slept religion’. .. ‘a prizewinner of the holiest man in Israel contest… would have gotten some votes’. Another is “spiritual heart transplant (pg 23); another (pg 40) “Jesus’ death is the only antidote to the poisoning of sin..” These of course communicate well in a medically informed culture like ours used to such allusions/figures/metaphors, but perhaps will not work quite so well elsewhere. The use of such images would need to be tested.
- • The style used allows the author some “editorial license” so to speak in that he suggests possible thoughts and comments from Jesus, the disciples, and from Nicodemus etc. This is fine for literary savvy English speakers and audiences of course, but may not be understood in any way other than literally (i.e. actually happened) by other cultures or less sophisticated readers. That is, they may well understand that these thoughts and comments actually took place. These are so interwoven into the text of the book, that one needs to be pretty print-smart to keep it straight: this requires a level of sophistication or exposure we take for granted, but which is not the norm in many other parts of the world. The print feature to represent the fact that this kind of material is conjecture or commentary is a light italic font and quote marks. That is a signal English print-savvy people are used to, but will not work out in other cultures where literates have not been taught that particular convention and have become used to it. Note that the Scripture passages are also in italics, the only difference being that they are bolded and followed by a Book, chapter and verse number. This may not be enough distinction for newer audiences who have been literate for less time and with fewer print conventions ‘under their belts’ of experience.
- • Similarly, it is not always clear, even to an English reader, whether the author intends some of the comments to be Jesus to Nicodemus, or Jesus to a present day reader, or the narrator/author to the present hearer/reader. These kinds of ambiguities would have to be made very clear to avoid misunderstanding for new literates, or for literates without as much experience with this type of ‘give-and-take-plus-commentary’ type of style.
- • The author’s position on the results/effects of the new birth with respect to righteous living and pleasing God are, in a few places, somewhat questionable (if I’ve understood him correctly). See above section.
Additional remarks: Overall, a very well done, and very good, attractive and helpful piece.
In my view, it is written for an adult audience of fairly sophisticated people who can follow a rather lengthy and somewhat convoluted line of reasoning and logic. There are numerous passages, stories and points made throughout the piece, taking the reader in a number of different (though related) directions. This would in my view be for highly literate adults. It could potentially be used with less literate adults, and/or with younger people as long as someone thoroughly familiar with the information and this presentation of it could be at hand to help explain and lead them through it.
Limitations
Guidelines for Use
Where to Obtain
Link to Producer or Source Organization
Cost
Producer/Owners
Author/Artist/Producer
Tom Kelby - Hands to the Plow Ministries
Current copyright owner
Other Information
- Name Hands to the Plow Ministries
- Address 24540 State Road 35
- Siren, WI 54872
- Phone (715) 349-7185
- Website http://handstotheplow.org
- Contact tomkelby@handstotheplow.org
Contact to obtain Resource
- Name VMS – Resources Department
- JAARS
- Address Box 248
- Waxhaw, NC 28173
- Phone (704) 843-6563
- Fax (704) 843-6079
- Resource contact: VMS_Resources_Jaars@SIL.org
