THIS WEEK’S PASSAGE: JOHN 3:1-21
PREPARATION: Read through John 3:1-21 prayerfully. Think about what stands out to you and what confuses you. A good question to help you understand what’s going on is: why does Jesus reply to Nicodemus in the way he does? You’ll also want to look at John 7:32-52 and John 19:38-42 to see the rest of Nicodemus’ story and Numbers 21:4-9 to see what Jesus references in John 3:14. You will need: some building blocks (Jenga blocks work fine), some Bibles, pens and paper.
CONDEMNED BUILDING
10 mins
Divide the building blocks up among your young people and get them (in teams if you have few blocks) to build towers to a set minimum height on the same flat table. When construction is done, wobble the table, slowly increasing the force. The winner is the team whose tower lasts the longest. Explain that when a building is no longer fit for purpose it’s condemned. That means it’s going to be torn down soon and replaced.
DISCUSSION
10 mins
Ask the young people: is this world a good place or a bad place? It shouldn’t be hard to draw out arguments for both positions.
Give Bibles out to the young people, and get them to read John 3:1-21 as a group. Tell them we’re going to look at the second half of the passage first. Ask the young people what this passage tells us about the world. What does it tell us about whether the world is a good place or a bad place? What does God think about it?
Explain that there are two things to see in this part of the passage. The first is that God loves the world; the second is that the world is perishing and unless God does something it’s going to be condemned. Jesus doesn’t come to condemn it (as he has every right to) but rather to save it.
Ask the young people: what’s God’s plan to solve this problem? How does he work out his love for a broken world? Get someone to read John 3:16 out loud.
KEY POINT
God’s love for the world looks like Jesus coming to die to bring people eternal life, to rescue people out of their darkness and bring them into the light, and to save people from condemnation.
ACTING OUT THE PASSAGE
10 mins
Give the young people the passage to read. Get them in small groups to act out, in 15 seconds, the opening scene where Nicodemus comes to Jesus. Get them to think through the different emotions Nicodemus could be feeling. Judging from the passage, which emotions are most likely? Get them to think how he comes to Jesus. Is he sneaking up to him like a ninja, or striding in the front door? Let them present their mini-sketches to each other. Ask why they thought Nicodemus acted in that way and encourage the group to debate which way best represents the Bible passage.
WHAT DOES NICODEMUS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT JESUS?
10 mins
Ask the young people to discuss these questions:
• Why do you think Nicodemus comes in the darkness?
• What do you think it is about Jesus that makes Nicodemus want to visit him to come?
• Why do you think Jesus replies to Nicodemus by saying ‘no-one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again’?
• Why is Nicodemus’s need to be born again his real need?
Explain that being born again is one way the Bible describes being saved and becoming a Christian. It’s described as being born again because it’s receiving a new life to replace our condemned, dying one. When someone is born again they see Jesus for who he really is, and start living in the light of Jesus. This person is no longer condemned.
KEY POINT
You must be born again to see the kingdom of God. To be born again is to see Jesus and believe in him.
AN ILLUSTRATION FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT
10 mins
Tell the group that you’re going to look at the story Jesus mentions in John 3:14. Get your group to turn to Numbers 21:4-9 and read the story. What are the similarities between this story and the cross? Jesus is saying in verse 14 that this story is a picture of what’s going to happen when he’s crucified. Get your group to draw up two lists of similarities, or if it’s more appropriate two pictures comparing the two stories. Make the point that to look upon the person hanging on the pole is an act of belief. As the Israelites were dying they looked up at the thing hanging there and were saved, in the same way we’re dying and look up at the person of Jesus hanging on the cross and are saved.
CLOSE
10 mins
Spend some time thinking about what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Give the young people some space to write down a couple of things that Jesus did for them on the cross and to pray about these things. If you’re the kind of group that sings this would be a good opportunity to sing a song of praise to God for what he’s done on the cross.
Notes for adapting
If you’re working with more mature young people then you could ditch of the first activities to spend more time in the discussions. If you’ve got time, have a look with them at John 7:50 and John 19:38-42 and see how Nicodemus’ character changes after his encounter with Jesus. If you’re working with non-Christian young people then you might want to have an initial discussion about whether or not it’s fair that God gets to judge the world. After the condemnation activity ask what they would do in a situation where their creation had turned against them - is God fair to do the same to the rest of the world?
