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(The Giver – John 3:1-18)

Read John 3:1-18.

Why does John mention that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night?

Nicodemus was a Pharisee. What does that tell us about him?

What do you think inspired Nicodemus to seek out Jesus?

When Jesus says a person needs to be born again (or from above; in Greek it could also mean either), just what does he have in mind?

 

What might Nicodemus have been thinking and feeling when Jesus told him he needed to be born again from above? Does verse 4 suggest Nicodemus couldn’t understand … or wouldn’t understand? Why would the necessity of being born again have been a surprise to him?

 

What is the kingdom of God? What does it mean to see it (v. 3) and enter it (v. 5)?

 

What does verse 5, “born of water and the spirit,” mean?

 

Why does Nicodemus ask, in verse 9, “How can this be?” Is it the mechanics he is questioning or the meaning of Jesus’s words?

 

Read verse 12. In the context, what are the “earthly things” Jesus is talking about?

 

Read Numbers 21:4-9. What was required of the Israelites to be healed from the bite of the venomous snakes?

 

What, if anything, does Numbers 21 have to do with Jesus?


If you were Nicodemus, what would you be thinking after your first meeting with Jesus?


Read John 7:33, 45-53 then John 19:38-42. What might explain the change in Nicodemus?

 

Read John 3:16. What does it mean to “believe in him”?

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