Day 15 | Miracles Did Jesus
October 18, 2015 - WEEK THREE
William Brassey Hole, Jesus Counsels Nicodemus, [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
DAILY READING
CONSIDER AS YOU READ
- How does Christ’s approach to Nicodemus exhibit love and patience?
- How does Christ’s teaching style, when dealing with sincere seekers, differ from when he dealt with those trying to trap him?
- Which type of seeker was Nicodemus? Which type are you?
SUPPLEMENTAL READING
[I]n his groping toward the light [Nicodemus] was, in a sense, as plain as all others darkened by apostasy and damaged by life lived without revelation.
Nicodemus was obviously haunted by what he heard and saw and felt coming from Jesus. On the other hand he was not quite confident enough to come by day, publicly, and acknowledge Jesus’ Messiahship. His first remark seems tentative, almost exploratory. “We know that thou art a teacher come from God,” he says, but in the record we have, he stops short of admitting the Savior’s Messiahship and shys away from asking what he must do to be saved.
Fortunately—as with others coming with other kinds of limitations—Jesus reached out to him, inviting Nicodemus to reach up: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again [or, “from above”], he cannot see the kingdom of God” [John 3:5]….
But Nicodemus seemed more confused than ever. “How can these things be?” he asked. Jesus answered, “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?”
Indeed, how can anyone understand spiritual, eternal truths if he is muddled about physical, temporal facts? If he does not understand the whispering source of the Spirit, perhaps he will understand the whispering source of the wind as an earthly application of an otherwise heavenly teaching. We must come to understand heavenly things by starting where we are (Jeffrey R. Holland, “‘Lift Up Your Eyes’,” Ensign, Jul. 1983, 9).
ADDITIONAL MEDIA
FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES
Jesus and His Heavenly Father’s House
QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES
- Why were people at the temple offering sacrifices?
- Do you think God would like it if we mistreated the temple today?
QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES
- Why did Nicodemus believe in Jesus?
- How are we born again?