Two Pharisees

 

This is from my Amplified Bible, published in 1958. I really did like John 18 from this version:

He who believes  on Him - who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him - is not judged (he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation; he incurs no damnation).  John 3:18a

This is the Amplified Bible today from Biblegateway:

Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation] John 3:18a

And from e-Sword:

He that believeth on him is not condemned: (John 3:18a KJV)

Finally, from e-Sword, the King James version with Strong's Greek Numbers:

He that believeth (G4100) on (G1519) him (G846) is not (G3756) condemned (G2919) (John 3:18a)

Here's G2919 - do you see the "condemned" that translators used:

• 62919
• κρίνω
• krinō
• kree'-no
• Properly to distinguish, that is, decide (mentally or judicially); by implication to try, condemn, punish: - avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think.

Two different Pharisees came to understand Jesus and His message.  We meet the first one in John 3. Nicodemus was a ruler - a leader and authority - among the Jews, and he had questions. Jesus had answers - among them:

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? (John 3:9-10 KJV)

Both Nicodemus and Saul were Pharisees - one came to Jesus for answers, Jesus came to the other with blinding light and commands:

And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. (Acts 9:5-6 KJV)

Nicodemus is mentioned only in John - chapters 3, 7, and 19 - when he assisted Joseph of Arimathaea in placing Jesus in the never used sepulchre. Saul - as Paul - permeates the New Testament.

Which one are we?

Are we the one who believes in God, but doesn't know the Savior personally? Maybe we do come asking questions, then saying we don't understand the answers. As a Pharisee, Nicodemus would have almost the same teachers available in Jeruslem that Saul had. They would have studies the scriptures - written down by scribes for centuries, subject to changes, words, punctuation, readability, all the things that are possible results in the old "Gossip" game children played.

I remember the story of an early computer translation test from English to Russian and back again. The quote used comes from Matthew 26:41, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." It returned as "The wine is good, but the meat is spoiled."

What I want you to see is that for millennia, the Bible remains sufficient when you study, research, and pray for God's word to be openly understandable. The Bereans heard the message from Saul - after his life was so changed that he was called Paul. He gave his life over to what God planned for him to do.

Nicodemus' questions brought us one of the most beautiful chapters that most of the world has heard, read, or repeated these verses:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18 KJV)

Paul's work in the book of Acts, as well as his letters to the churches, tell of how he testified to kings and commoners what he and the Bereans found in the Old Testament that led them to live and write the New Testament, as inspired by God:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV)

I have a question for those who do not believe: "Would you please take time to pray and seek God for what the Bible offers mankind, and what it means for you?" And, another question for those who do believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of mankind in God's planning: "To whom are you explaining why you believe this?"