"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
As a public school teacher of 52 years, there was a teacher term I heard a lot in my last couple of decades: Anticipatory Set. I haven't heard it much since retiring, but I giggled out loud as I realized that Jesus had understood and used it 2000 years ago. So what does it mean?
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
As a teacher starting a new unit, I understood where I was going, but my students did not. I would begin with a catchy thought provoking story that my students would hold onto, until that witticism turned into an "AHA! moment", and my students' light bulbs blinked on. Then they understood where I was going. I could see it in their faces.
The great teacher that was Jesus used an anticipatory set with Nicodemus here in John 3. Nicodemus' light bulb hadn't flashed on yet, but as we work through the Book of John, you will see a changing Nicodemus as his 100 watt bulb suddenly shines brightly!
I led with the flagship of Christian scripture, John 3:16, but what I pray is that you will pause carefully at the two verses that precede it.
"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him." John 3:14-15
Understand that Nicodemus is a Pharisee and a high ranking member of the Sanhedrin. Jesus refers to him as Israel's teacher. If anyone knows scripture, it is him. So, when Jesus refers to Moses and the serpent on his staff, Jesus plants a seed that won't germinate yet, but God will continue watering it until the fateful end of Jesus' earthly story, when Nicodemus' light bulb goes on and stays on.
The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. Numbers 21:8-9
Moses lifted up a bronze serpent on a pole in the wilderness because the Israelites were being bitten by poisonous "fiery" serpents as a punishment for their sin and complaints against God. God instructed Moses to create the bronze serpent, and anyone bitten who looked at it was healed by faith, symbolizing that looking to God's appointed means of salvation would save them from death. The bronze serpent later became a symbol for Jesus' crucifixion, as Jesus himself noted that just as Moses lifted the serpent, so too must the Son of Man be lifted up for salvation.
Nicodemus starts out as a man secretly on the fence about Jesus, but when Jesus is nailed to the cross, Nicodemus' bulb comes on and stays on.
Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. John 19:38-39
I cited Jeremiah earlier because God had a plan for Nicodemus before he realized what was coming. Nicodemus had no inkling of what was going to happen. And the same can be said for you and I. God has a plan for us as well. Remember Nicodemus' story and wait patiently for your "AHA moment". It is on the way! And this grinning ex-teacher can't wait.
Click.
by Bruce Hanson
