What Are You Looking For? | Sunday, April 9, 2023

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." (John 3:1–2)

Three people in John's Gospel were each searching for something—and each one was really searching for Him.

Everyone Is Looking for Something

For the last couple of months we've been studying the Old Testament book of Joshua, but today we shift to the New Testament Gospel of John. Because this is an important day in the life of the church, we're going to look at three different individuals. One was looking for a messiah, another was looking for a man, and the third was looking for a miracle.

It may sound strange to put it that way, but that's clearly what we find in these stories. And I want to suggest that the quest of these three individuals differs little from the quest of most people. They may not use those words, but many today are anticipating one great leader who will come and right all the political wrongs—in fact, we're eighteen months from another national election, and many hope they themselves might fill that spot.

Others may not say they are looking for a man, but there is a deep desire in their heart: if I only found the right person—who would give me joy, love, security, happiness—then my life would be complete. And still others may not say they're looking for a miracle, but they're saying, "I need a significant breakthrough, something natural or supernatural to fix the unworkable situations I'm in." Everyone is in search of something, and I think we'll find ourselves identifying with these individuals.

Nicodemus: Looking for a Messiah

The first is found in John 3. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, addressing Him as Rabbi and acknowledging the signs He performed. When this took place two thousand years ago, the nation of Israel was a political dumpster fire. They were in occupied territory of the Roman Empire. They had a king, but he was a flagrant, immoral, wicked man—really just a puppet of Rome, with little power. He had even imprisoned John the Baptist for calling out his immorality.

The people were taxed at every turn, both by Rome and by their own nation. They were imprisoned, tortured, and sometimes killed if they did not submit perfectly to the Romans. Along the highways, the crosses of crucifixion were not abnormal sights—not just a method of execution but a billboard to every person: don't step out of line, or that might be you. Add to this the political zealots who hated Rome, and the average Jew walked a tightrope of fear every single day.

So they prayed constantly for the Messiah, the anointed one the prophets foretold. In their view, this Messiah would throw off the shackles of Rome, establish Israel as the kingdom above all kingdoms, and rule with justice and righteousness. Because of this heightened expectation, anytime someone came on the scene who might fit the bill, the religious leaders dispatched their "Messiah assessors." Nicodemus was sent by the Pharisees to identify whether Jesus was the Christ.

Jesus Breaks Nicodemus's Brain

Nicodemus probably came with prepared questions. He started with the niceties—"we can tell there's something special about You, You speak with authority, we're hearing about Your miracles." But before he can even get to question number one, Jesus says:

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)

This broke Nicodemus's brain. He didn't even know how to respond. But the conversation that follows crescendos to the most famous and most translated verse in the Bible. Leading up to it, in verse 14, Jesus references Israel's history under Moses in the book of Numbers, when venomous snakes came into the camp. God told Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and put it on a pole; anyone bitten who simply looked at it would be healed. It was an issue of faith—and a foreshadowing.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:14–16)

The title "Son of Man" meant something to Nicodemus—it was used by prophets like Daniel and Ezekiel as a title for the Messiah. Jesus answers his question: yes, I am the Messiah. But He also clears up the fogginess. The people expected the Messiah to deal only with Rome and the issues right then. Jesus says there's something more. He is not only the Son of Man but the Son of God—God incarnate.

This brings us to point number one: the true Messiah came to bring eternal life in an eternal Kingdom. The people were looking for a political leader to establish an earthly kingdom, but Jesus came to do something much greater. This is a magnificent claim, and a magnificent claim requires a significant proof. As C.S. Lewis proposed in his trilemma, Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. He cannot merely be a good teacher.

The Samaritan Woman: Looking for a Man

Jesus left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria... a woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." (John 4:3, 7)

Jewish travelers did not normally go through Samaria. The racial tension and animosity between Jews and Samaritans was something we can hardly comprehend. The Samaritans were loosely connected to the Jewish people: in the eighth century BC the Assyrian Empire destroyed the Northern Kingdom, relocated peoples, and intermixed populations. Jews in the first century used "Samaritan" as an insult, like calling someone a dog.

A Jewish man in that day would have no interaction with a woman outside his immediate family. Yet here is Jesus at a well in Samaria, at noon, speaking to a woman—and not just any woman. As you read the story, you find she didn't have the best reputation. She came to the well in the middle of the day precisely because she didn't want to be around anybody else.

Israel was a political dumpster fire; this woman was a hot mess. We discover she had had five husbands, and the man she was with now was not her husband. The likelihood is that she was barren and could have no children, and so was rejected by every man she had. In that day a woman's only welfare came from a husband or children. So when she's looking for a man, she's not just looking for intimacy—she's looking for security, a future, and hope. And every time, she came up with nothing.

Living Water for the Deepest Thirst

When Jesus asked for a drink, she corrected His apparent faux pas. He responded:

If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, "Give Me a drink," you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. (John 4:10)

She was ignorant of two things: the gift of God, and the Giver of the gift. Jesus systematically reveals both, leading her to say, "Give it to me." He tells her:

Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:13–14)

This brings us to point number two: the God-man Jesus Christ has come to satisfy our deepest thirst for everlasting life. The amazing thing is that many people don't realize that's what they're truly thirsting for. We've been indoctrinated by a highly naturalistic culture to believe this life is all there is. Yet resident in every human being is a desire for life beyond this life—a deep thirst that runs contrary to that indoctrination. No man, no earthly messiah, no other connection in this world will satisfy it.

The woman said, "I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ" (John 4:25). And Jesus responded, "I who speak to you am He." In the original Greek it reads, "I AM is speaking to you"—the same name God gave Moses in Exodus 3. It was a clear, magnificent claim: I am the Messiah you've been looking for. And magnificent claims require significant proofs.

The Man at Bethesda: Looking for a Miracle

There is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water... A certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. (John 5:2–5)

Israel was a political nightmare. The woman was a hot mess. And this man was desperately hopeless. The fable was that an angel would stir the water, and whoever got in first would be made well. This is the most pitiful situation you can imagine—a crowd of sick, lame, and maimed people staring at the water, hoping it would move.

Apparently some had been healed there at some point, or there wouldn't still be a multitude waiting. But notice: none who had been healed ever stayed to help this man. And though this pool was in the shadow of the temple, no priest or Levite came to aid the sick. They were all waiting for the moving of the waters—while the Fountain of Living Waters was moving among the people, performing miraculous signs.

When Jesus saw the man and knew he had been there a long time, He asked, "Do you want to be made well?" To this hopeless man, that question must have sounded like the most mocking thing he had ever heard. He doesn't even shift his attention from the water to look at who is speaking. His answer drips with irritation:

Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me. (John 5:7)

How many times had this man watched others reach the water before him? Proverbs says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick." He had a heavy, sick heart. This brings us to point number three: many find Jesus where all hope for earthly help is gone.

"Sin No More"

Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. (John 5:8–9)

But that's not the end—and perhaps not the most important part. The Jewish leaders confronted him for carrying his bed on the Sabbath, and he didn't even know who had healed him, for Jesus had withdrawn into the crowd. Then I love these words: "Afterward Jesus found him in the temple." For thirty-eight years he had likely never been able to go to the temple—he could only go to the pagan worship practices around Bethesda. But Jesus found him in the temple and said:

See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. (John 5:14)

He had waited thirty-eight years for a miracle, looking for something temporal. But Jesus says there is something worse than that infirmity, and He addresses it. Nicodemus looked for someone to fix the political chaos. The woman looked for a future, hope, and security. This man looked for a miracle to ease the pain. What is it that you're looking for?

The One They Were All Looking For

The Gospels introduce us to the One whom Nicodemus, the woman at the well, and the man at Bethesda were all looking for. Jesus said:

I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)

If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink... out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. (John 7:37–38)

I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. (John 8:12)

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved... I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:9–10)

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep... I know My sheep, and am known by My own. (John 10:11, 14)

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. (John 11:25)

When His disciples said they didn't know the way, Jesus answered:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)

Whatever you're seeking falls under one of these categories—a messiah, a man, a miracle. But Jesus is the One in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form, and we are complete only in Him.

The Proof: He Is Risen

Significant claims require significant proofs—and what we celebrate on this day is the proof. Anyone can say "I am the way, the truth, and the life," but you have to back it up. This Jesus was crucified and killed two thousand years ago on a hilltop outside Jerusalem, laid in a tomb, and three days later He rose from the dead. He was seen by many, including more than five hundred at one time. Historians agree the evidence supports that the early disciples believed they had seen the risen Christ, and that belief transformed their lives.

So when we say "He is risen," and you say "He is risen indeed," we are confessing that He has proved He is not a liar, not a lunatic, but truly the Lord. And He says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will not be ashamed." That is His call to you today. That's what we call gospel—and gospel means good news.

Closing Prayer

Father, we come before You this morning and ask that You would move in our midst by Your power and grace. I know there are people here today who have been seeking for something and have been left thirsty. Lord, I pray they would call out to You in prayer, confess You as Lord, believe that You were raised from the dead, and experience life more abundantly from You. It does not mean every problem will vanish immediately, but it does mean that ultimately we will be with You in Your presence, where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.

The Scriptures say in Romans 10 that if we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved. We do that in prayer. We confess that we have fallen short of His perfect standard of righteousness, and we ask for His forgiveness, given to us on the basis of what Jesus did on the cross, where He took our shame and sin upon Himself so that He might give us His righteousness.

Dear Jesus, I recognize that I have fallen short. I have not met Your perfect standard. I confess that I am a sinner. I thank You that You died for me and rose from the dead. I pray that You would forgive me of my sin and help me to follow You by faith. Amen.