John 03 Round Two: Jesus Truth-Bombs the Wise

A rooftop conversation in the dark. A respected teacher with careful questions. And a startling claim from Jesus that still confronts our assumptions: you must be born again. We walk through John 3 with Nicodemus, tracing the move from head knowledge to heart-level trust and discovering why spiritual life cannot be engineered, only received. The wind image becomes our guide—mysterious, undeniable, and free—inviting us to stop controlling and start surrendering.

We unpack the difference between believing that and believing on Jesus, using a simple chair analogy to make a hard truth accessible: facts don’t save, trust does. When Jesus recalls the bronze serpent from Numbers, he links ancient rescue to a present promise—he will be lifted up so that anyone who relies on him finds eternal life. We linger with John 3:16 and 3:17, exploring God’s love, the purpose of the Son’s mission, and the honest reason many avoid the light. This isn’t about shaming the broken; it’s about healing the willing.

Then we turn to John the Baptist, whose response to shrinking crowds is pure joy. His line—“He must become greater; I must become less”—becomes a map for leaders, creators, and everyday disciples who feel the pull of comparison. We show how humble alignment with Jesus restores purpose, reduces anxiety, and frees us to celebrate someone else’s success without losing our own identity. Along the way, we highlight practical ways to practice real faith: step into the light, place your full weight on Christ, and trade platform-building for presence with the Bridegroom.

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBibleBreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's wordtogether.
Well, hello, everybody.
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your
host, Pastor Brandon.
Today, John chapter three.

(00:22):
This is going to be absolutelyamazing.
If I were to give this episode,this chapter, a title, it would
be The King Truth Bombs theWise.
I mean, Jesus is just bombingthis guy left and right in just
a moment.
Let me set up the context foryou and then we're going to dive
into this.
But before we do that, I want tomake sure you realize, man, I'm
so thankful that we read thesetogether.

(00:43):
So thankful we're doing thistogether.
And if you've been thankful forthe opportunity to do this, make
sure that you like, share, andsubscribe.
These let other people know whatwe're doing.
And my favorite thing is whenyou go over to our Facebook
discussion group and just typein Bible breakdown discussion
and let me know what you'regetting out of this.
Some of you have been digginginto this even deeper are just
finding some amazing things.
I want you to share it withother people.

(01:03):
Don't just, don't just send itto me.
Man, the more we dig, the morewe find.
Let's share our passion forGod's word together.
And the more we dig, the more wefind again and again and again.
So we're going to dive intothis, but remember the context.
The apostle John is writing tothe church as he's been inspired
by the Holy Spirit.
And he's saying, Man, you haveread the miracles from from
Matthew, from Mark, and fromLuke.

(01:25):
You've heard all of this.
Jesus is God.
He's telling the truth, church,telling the church, you got to
know Jesus is God.
Man, I love it.
Say it like this.
Man, you may have 99 problems,but Jesus ain't one.
He is the king and he is God.
And if he is the king of all, hecan do it all.
He can do whatever needs doing.
And so that's what John iswriting about and making sure we

(01:45):
know.
Chapter one, he opened that upfor us.
Chapter two, he talked about themiracles in Cana.
Now, chapter three is where it'sgoing to get interesting.
Chapter three and chapter fourreally go together because in
chapter three, what we're aboutto read, Jesus confounds the
wise.
There's a guy named Nicodemus,he would have been a religious
Jewish leader.
He would have had most of thefirst five books of Moses

(02:07):
memorized to be part of theSanhedrin, part of the leaders.
They would have had most of thatmemorized.
He would have been just abrilliant person, knowing the
law backwards and forwards, veryintelligent guy.
And he is just baffled by thetruth bombs that Jesus is
sharing with him.
And it is amazing.
Chapter four, we're going toread tomorrow.

(02:27):
Jesus shares the gospel again,but then next time with someone
who is not like that.
Someone who is in a differentplace in life and a different
things going on in their life.
But he he loves the scholar andhe loves the seeker as well.
And I absolutely love that.
But tucked in the middle is myman Johnny B, who's going to
also lay some truth bombs on usas well.
So I'm excited.

(02:48):
Let's jump in this together.
So imagine what's going on inthe setting.
It's at night, probably on arooftop somewhere, probably
hidden away from everybody else.
Nicodemus is very interested inwhat Jesus is doing, but he's
also very interested in hisreputation as well.
And so he's not wanting otherpeople to see, but he's come at
night in this secret place totalk about Jesus.
So in hushed voices, Jesus andNicodemus are having this

(03:11):
discourse.
And here we go.
If you've got your NLT Bibleopen, kind of imagine it's dark
all around you.
Got your cup of coffee.
Let's dig into this together.
The Bible says, John chapter 3,verse 1.
There was a man named Nicodemus,a Jewish religious leader who
was a Pharisee.
After dark one evening, he cameto speak with Jesus.
Rabbi, he said, we all know thatGod has sent you to teach us.

(03:33):
Your miraculous signs areevidence that God is with you.
Jesus replied, Hey, I tell youthe truth, unless you are born
again, you cannot see thekingdom of God.
What do you mean?
exclaimed Nicodemus.
How can an old man go back intohis mother's womb and be born
again?
Which, by the way, that's gross.
Verse 5.
Jesus replied, Oh, the Lord, Iassure you, no one can enter the

(03:57):
kingdom of God without beingborn of water and the Spirit.
In other words, yes, he has tohave a physical birth.
He also needs a spiritual birth.
Humans can reproduce only humanlife, but the Holy Spirit gives
birth to spiritual life.
So don't be surprised that I sayyou must be born again.
The wind blows wherever itwants.
Just as you can hear the wind,but cannot tell where it comes

(04:20):
from or where it is going, soyou can't explain how people
must be born of the Spirit.
How are these things possible?
Nicodemus asks.
And I love this.
I love Jesus says his verse 10.
Wait a minute.
You are a respected Jewishteacher, and yet you don't
understand these things?
I assure you, we tell you whatwe know and have seen, yet you

(04:41):
won't believe our testimony.
But if you don't believe me whenI tell you about earthly things,
how can you possibly believe ifI tell you about heavenly
things?
No one has ever gone to heavenand returned, but the Son of
Man, Jesus talking abouthimself, has come down from
heaven.
As Moses lifted up the bronzesnake on a pole in the
wilderness, so the Son of Manmust be lifted up, so that

(05:03):
everyone who believes in himwill have eternal life.
By the way, pause.
All of my book of Numbersreaders, there was the reference
to the brazen serpent on a polein the Old Testament.
All right, here's the verse.
The gospel in one phrase.
For God, for this is how Godloved the world.
He gave his one and only Son, sothat everyone who believes in

(05:24):
him will not perish, but haveeternal life.
Now, and this one is my favoriteverse.
God sent his son into the world,not to judge the world, but to
save the world through him.
There is no judgment againstanyone who believes in him, but
anyone who does not believe inhim has already been judged for
not believing in God's one andonly Son.

(05:45):
And the judgment is based onthis fact.
This is why we get judged.
God's light came into the world,but the people love the darkness
more than the light, becausetheir actions were evil.
All who do evil hate the lightand refuse to go near it for the
fear that their sins will beexposed.
But those who do what is rightcome to the light, so others can

(06:07):
see what they are doing, thatthey are doing what God wants.
Now, what Jesus just said isJesus just said that we are born
in sin, and we are judged forthat sin because when the light
is revealed, we run to ourdarkness.
But Jesus came to rescue us fromthat sin, and he's going to take
that sin upon himself on thecross.
He's going to die and pay theprice so that we can have

(06:30):
forgiveness.
But there's a phrase there thatwe can kind of get a little
confused with if we're notcareful, because this phrase has
changed over time.
Jesus says, this is how the Godhas loved the world, that he
sent his one and only son, sothat whoever believes in him.
Now, the problem with that wordbelieves is nowadays we use that
word to simply know thatsomething is factually true.

(06:53):
You know, I believe that I'msitting in this chair right now.
I believe that two plus two isfour.
But there's a difference betweenbelieving in and believing on.
Let me say it this way.
There's a difference betweentrusting that something is true
and trusting on something.
Give you an example.
Let's say that you and I werestanding in a room and there was

(07:15):
a there was a chair right there.
And I were to tell you, justkind of picture with me that
we're both standing looking at achair, and I tell you, man, that
chair is awesome.
That chair is black, that chairhas four legs, that chair has a
cushion on it, that chair isawesome.
And you go, okay, that's great.
No, no, no.
You don't understand.
That chair is amazing.
That is the best chair in theentire world.
I'm gonna tell you something.
You can sit on that chair andthat chair will never break.

(07:38):
It will never rock around, it'llnever squeak.
That chair can hold you up.

And here's the thing (07:42):
at some point, you would say to me,
prove it.
If that chair is so awesome andif that chair is so sturdy, sit
on it.
Well, there comes thedifference.
There's a difference betweentrusting that that chair exists,
and it's quite another thing totrust on it, where I'm willing
to sit down on that chair.

(08:03):
The type of trust, the type ofbelief that Jesus is talking
about here is not a factualbelief.
The Bible actually says thatdemons believe that Jesus is God
and they tremble.
It's not a factual belief, it isa trust in.
At some point, what Jesus issaying here that if you want to
be forgiven, you have to gobeyond a head knowledge and put
your hope in.

(08:24):
It's the same thing if I cantell you about how awesome that
chair is all day long.
The difference becomes when I goand I sit and hope that it will
hold me up.
The good news is Jesus is strongenough for anything you have
done in your life.
That kind of trust is what'scalled saving faith.
When you trust that Jesus isenough to wash away all your,

(08:48):
what he did is enough to washaway all your sins, that is the
safe, that is the saving faiththat believing in him, then he
washes away all of our sin.
Okay, let's finish this up.
Verse 22.
Let's go back to my my Johnny B.
Then Jesus and his disciplesleft Jerusalem after the
conversation with Nicodemus andthey went into the Judean
countryside.
Jesus spent some time there withthem there and baptizing people.

(09:10):
At this time, John the Baptist,Johnny B.
was also baptizing in Enon nearSalim because there was plenty
of water there.
The people kept coming to himfor baptism.
This was before John was throwninto prison, by the way.
A debate broke out betweenJohn's disciples and a certain
Jew over ceremonial cleansing.
So John's disciples came to himand said, Rabbi, the man you met

(09:31):
on the other side of the JordanRiver, the one you identified as
the Messiah, he is alsobaptizing people, and everyone
is going to him instead ofcoming to us.
John replied, No one can receiveanything unless God gives it to
them from heaven.
You yourselves know I plainlytold you, I am not the Messiah.
I am only here to prepare theway for him.

(09:53):
It is the bridegroom who marriesthe bride, and the bridegroom's
friend is simply glad to standwith him and hear his vows.
Therefore, I am filled with joyat his success.
He must become greater andgreater, and I must become less
and less.
He has come from above and isgreater than anyone else.

(10:14):
We are from earth and we speakof earthly things, but he has
come from heaven and he isgreater than anyone else.
He testifies what he has seenand heard, but few believe what
he tells them.
Anyone who accepts his testimonycan affirm that God is true, for
he is sent by God.
He speaks God's words, and forGod gives him the Spirit without

(10:35):
limit.
The Father loves his son and hasput everything into his hands.
And anyone who believes in God'sSon has eternal life.
Anyone who doesn't obey the Sonwill never experience eternal
life, but remains under God'sangry judgment.
You gotta love some Johnny B.
I mean, what he's saying is he'sis yo, he's he's the talk of the

(10:56):
town for a while.
Everybody's coming to see theJohnny B show, right?
But then the disciples come andthey say, wait a minute.
You know that guy that you saidwas the Messiah?
Yeah, yeah, son of God, yeah.
Well, they're going to see himnow.
And John's like, well, of coursethey are.
That that means what I'm doing'sworking.
And I love this analogy that hesays, you know what?
I'm I'm just a friend of thebridegroom.
And as the bridegroom and thebride are getting married, as as

(11:19):
as God is connecting back to hispeople, I'm so proud and I'm so
full of joy at the success thatit's working.
He must become greater, and Imust become less.
I love that so very much.
And so I'm curious for you, whatdid you get out of this chapter?
Remember, the overall theme,what John is trying to say to
the church, is that Jesus isGod.

(11:41):
And you may have 99 problems,but Jesus ain't one of them.
And what can you learn fromthis?
And that is that Jesus is greatand he is awesome, and he is for
you and not against you.
And so our testimony needs to belike John's.
Jesus, become greater andgreater, and let my will become
less and less.
Because the more I know you, themore I love you.

(12:02):
I love that so much.
Let's pray, and then we'll bedone for today.
Father, thank you so much thatyour word is true and that you
are good, and that you sent yourson into this world because of
your great love, and thatbecause of your great love, you
came to make everything that waswrong right.
I pray that you'll help us tobecome, yeah, to have you become
greater in our life, and for usto be concerned with our lives

(12:23):
less and to walk in your gloryevery day in Jesus' name.
Don't forget the reason why thiswas written in John 20, verse
31.
These are written that you maycontinue to believe that Jesus
is the Son of God, and that bybelieving in him, you will have
life by the power of his name.
I love you.
I see you tomorrow for Johnchapter four.