Lesson 5: “Born Again”
John 3:1–22 and John 4:1–42
Quotes:
Elder Bednar—“We are
instructed to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny [ourselves]
of all ungodliness” (Moroni 10:32), to become
“new creature[s]” in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17), to put
off “the natural man” (Mosiah 3:19), and to
experience “a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more
disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). Please note
that the conversion described in these verses is mighty, not minor—a spiritual
rebirth and fundamental change of what we feel and desire, what we think and
do, and what we are. Indeed, the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ entails
a fundamental and permanent change in our very nature made possible through our
reliance upon “the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8). As we choose
to follow the Master, we choose to be changed—to be spiritually reborn.”[1]
C S Lewis : “People often think of Christian morality as a kind of
bargain in which God says, ‘If you keep a lot of rules I’ll reward you, and if
you don’t I’ll do the other thing.’ I do not think that is the best way of
looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you
are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into
something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a
whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly
turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish
creature…Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the
other.”[2]
James E. Talmage: “Nicodemus was given to understand that his worldly
learning and official status availed him nothing in any effort to understand
the things of God; through the physical sense of hearing he knew that the wind
blew; by sight he could be informed of its passage; yet what did he know of the
ultimate cause of even this simple phenomenon? If Nicodemus would really be
instructed in spiritual matters, he had to divest himself of the bias due to
his professed knowledge of lesser things.”[3]
Henry B. Eyring Facebook post: "A few days ago, I met in my office with a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to discuss work on increasing the spirit and the power of the Sabbath to build faith in Jesus Christ. As I later pondered this conversation, I felt that faith in Jesus Christ is built more by acting than by listening, even when the teacher or speaker has the power of the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost testifies of our Heavenly Father and of the Savior with the purpose of moving us to repent and to keep commandments. Those are actions. It is the actions to pray, repent, and keep the commandments that build faith in the hearts of disciples of Jesus Christ."
Henry B. Eyring Facebook post: "A few days ago, I met in my office with a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to discuss work on increasing the spirit and the power of the Sabbath to build faith in Jesus Christ. As I later pondered this conversation, I felt that faith in Jesus Christ is built more by acting than by listening, even when the teacher or speaker has the power of the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost testifies of our Heavenly Father and of the Savior with the purpose of moving us to repent and to keep commandments. Those are actions. It is the actions to pray, repent, and keep the commandments that build faith in the hearts of disciples of Jesus Christ."
For information on the Samaritans, see the post entitled
“Intertestamental Period and Jewish Groups in Israel.”
Introduction
For these chapters, Jesus and his disciples make the journey from
Galilee to Jerusalem and back. In Jesus’s time, Archeleaus was the son of Herod
the Great who ruled Judea and Samaria until he was replaced by Roman
procurators (governors) like Pontius Pilate; Herod Antipas was the son of Herod
the Great who ruled Galilee; Philip was the son who ruled the region east of
Galilee (see the chart in “Political situation in Jerusalem since the Old
Testament.” Jesus had already started His Galilean ministry, so news of some of
His teachings would have reached the Sanhedrin. Compounded with His cleansing
of the temple and declaration that “Destroy this temple and in three days I
will raise it up,” curiosity and trepidation would have been high among the
ruling class.
Nicodemus—a member of the Sanhedrin (high
court), a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jewish people. He stood up for Jesus when the Pharisees were conspiring against him:
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number,
asked, "Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out
what he has been doing?" (John 7:50–51, NIV). He helped Joseph of
Arimathea take Jesus's body down from the cross and lay it in a tomb, at great
risk to his safety and reputation. Nicodemus also donated 75 pounds of
expensive myrrh and aloes to anoint Jesus's body after Jesus died.
John 3
Nicodemus was a good man, much like Alma the Elder hearing Abinadi in
the court of King Noah. But he was a politician, so he sought Jesus out by
night, rather than openly. Again, like Abinadi, Jesus chides Nicodemus for
displaying ignorance of things he should know, “Art thou a master of Israel,
and knowest not these things? . . . If I have told you earthly things and ye
believe not, how shall ye believe, if I
tell you of heavenly things?” (John 3:10, 12).
Question:
Cast your minds back to your baptism and then think about where you are
now. How have you been “born again”?
Last week on the lesson on repentance, the importance of baptism of
water and of the spirit was emphasized. Elder Packer said: “Remember what
Joseph Smith said: ‘You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not
done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by
water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other
half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.’[4] . . .
You can receive this great blessing—to become familiar with the still, small
voice and learn that this voice will tell you all things that you must do. The
word we use to describe this communication is promptings, the way we feel.
These promptings can come many times, through many experiences. That is the
voice of the Lord speaking.”[5]
Question: How does rebirth in the spirit help
you endure the slings and arrows of life?
3:16–20
Atheists deny the existence of God, but also throw out examples of
suffering by children as evidence of a cruel God if He were to exist. In these verses,
we see that God is Love and Light. His Love counteracts evil, and His Light
dispels the darkness. By sending His Only Begotten Son to effect the Atonement,
our Heavenly Father provides a way to overcome suffering and, eventually death.
John 4
The Samaritan Woman at the Well—Because she came to Jacob's Well which is near the
foot of Mount Gerizim, it is likely that she lived in Sychar, a village that in
the Old Testament was known as Shechem and is near the Palestinian city of
Nablus today. Usually, women drew water early in the morning, but Jesus was
resting there "about the sixth hour," around noon (John 4:6). It is
possible that she had been ostracized from her own people, as well as the Jews
because of her having had five husbands and was currently living with a man not
her husband.[6]
After dealing with baptism by water (John 3:5), we now turn to an
explanation of living water. Our outward bodies are refreshed and cleansed by
water; our inner bodies are also refreshed and cleansed by water. And our
spirits are nourished and purified by living water. Jesus, prefiguring the
Sacrament, is the Bread of Life and Living Water.
5–6—it was unusual to travel from Jerusalem to Galilee through Samaria,
yet Jesus did not avoid the Samaritans (the parable of the Good Samaritan is a
prime example).
Read John 4:14 “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a
well of water springing up into everlasting life” and D&C 63:23 “But unto
him that keepeth my commandments I will give the mysteries of my kingdom, and
the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting
life.”
Question: What do these two scriptures mean to
you?
John 4:24, God is a Spirit! See the JST: “For unto such hath God
promised his Spirit; and they who worship him must worship in spirit and
truth.” Firstly—our true selves are our spirits—that doesn’t change even though
we inhabit first a mortal, then an exalted body. Secondly, what does it mean to worship in spirit and truth? (C S Lewis
quote).
Unlike Nicodemus (as far as we know), the Samaritan woman went back to
her village and, like the shepherds, told everyone she knew about the Savior
and brought them to Him, where they gained their own testimony of His divinity.
Enough came and besought Him that He stayed there with them for two days, much
to the consternation of His disciples.
[1]
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/ye-must-be-born-again?lang=eng
[2]
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, book
3 ch. 4.
[3]
Jesus the Christ at https://www.lds.org/manual/jesus-the-christ/chapter-12?lang=eng.
[5]
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2006/08/the-gift-of-the-holy-ghost-what-every-member-should-know?lang=eng.
[6] Olsen, Women of
the New Testament, 219–25.
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