22 | October | 2008 | Maranatha!

~John 3:11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

Jesus continues to reach Nicodemus in the heart of his religious beliefs. Nicodemus is not only a good Jew; he is a teacher; he is a leader; he is the ultimate Jew, a Pharisee. Yet Jesus does not allow Nicodemus’ prestige to gain him entrance to heaven. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Jesus emphatically tells Nicodemus that despite all his knowledge, Nicodemus still does not believe their witness and testimony!

Nicodemus suffered from what all very “religious” people suffer. He knows so much and has lived so long that he believes he can no longer be taught any truth. He relies on his religious knowledge to be enough to get him to heaven. Jesus reprimanded many Pharisees in the Book of Matthew and called them all hypocrites. Nicodemus was recognized as a leader by Jesus in our earlier reading. But Jesus goes further in this next verse by telling the Pharisees that not only were they not going to enter heaven but they were preventing their congregation from going to heaven as well! Oh my!!

~Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

WE are responsible for our OWN salvation, not a religious leader.