Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.6LIKELY
Disgust
0.13UNLIKELY
Fear
0.12UNLIKELY
Joy
0.49UNLIKELY
Sadness
0.54LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.83LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.52LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.91LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.53LIKELY
Extraversion
0.1UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.73LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.54LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
PRAY…
Today, I want to start with a few quotes from Shakespeare.
Specifically, from the play Hamlet.
To be, or not to be, that is the question.
This above all: to thine own self be true.
The lady doth protest too much, me thinks.
What a piece of work is a man!
How noble in reason!
How infinite in faculty!
In form, in moving, how express and admirable!
In action, how like an angel!
And, perhaps the most famous quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well.
But, wait, that last one is not correct.
That line is one of the most misquoted lines ever.
The actual quote is, Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio.
You can look up the line in the play to verify what I am saying.
Now, why would I start a sermon with an intentional misquote?
Today, we are going to look at a story that is probably very familiar to you.
It is one that I know I studied many times as child.
But I want us to take a fresh look at this story.
I don’t want us to lean on what we think we know about this story.
I want us to take a fresh look at the Bible, the source book.
Just like the persistent misquoting of that line from Hamlet may have led us to believe the line was actually in the play, sometimes we allow our previous learning on a Biblical passage over-rule what the text actually says.
With that short introduction, please turn in your Bibles to the 3rd chapter of the Gospel according to John.
As you are turning, I’ll remind you of the context of the book.
We call this the Gospel according to John because it is a first-person account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
There are 4 Gospels in our Bible.
The 1st 3 of those Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are usually referred to as the Synoptic Gospels.
They provide a chronological account of Jesus.
The tell the story of Jesus in the order that the events happened on earth.
John, however, has no such intention.
He makes no pretense about it.
From the very beginning of the Gospel, John proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God.
And then, near the end of the Gospel, John tells us why he wrote the whole thing.
Do you see?
The whole point of this Gospel is for you to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing you might have life in Him.
So, with that backdrop, I’ll remind you of the end of chapter 2. Jesus has purged the temple and then redefined the focus of worship from the temple to Himself.
But John tells us that He knew the hearts of men and didn’t fully reveal Himself to them yet.
We know that the full revelation of Christ comes after God raises Him from the dead.
Yet, because of the miracles Jesus is performing and because of that temple cleansing, we find a leader of the Jews coming to inquire further of Jesus.
Do you see?
The whole point of this Gospel is for you to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing you might have life in Him.
So, with that backdrop, I’ll remind you of the end of chapter 2. Jesus has purged the temple and then redefined the focus of worship from the temple to Himself.
But John tells us that He knew the hearts of men and didn’t fully reveal Himself to them yet.
We know that the full revelation of Christ comes after God raises Him from the dead.
Yet, because of the miracles Jesus is performing and because of that temple cleansing, we find a leader of the Jews coming to inquire further of Jesus.
1.1.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus.
He is trying to reconcile what he knows of Scripture with what Jesus is doing.
Nicodemus recognizes something about Jesus is special because Nicodemus calls Jesus, “Rabbi.”
This is a term of great respect.
Nicodemus is a Pharisee, so he is supposed to be the teacher, yet he recognizes that Jesus also deserves the title.
Then Nicodemus acknowledges that Jesus is doing things that only someone sent from God can do.
1.1.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus.
He is trying to reconcile what he knows of Scripture with what Jesus is doing.
Nicodemus recognizes something about Jesus is special because Nicodemus calls Jesus, “Rabbi.”
This is a term of great respect.
Nicodemus is a Pharisee, so he is supposed to be the teacher, yet he recognizes that Jesus also deserves the title.
Then Nicodemus acknowledges that Jesus is doing things that only someone sent from God can do.
1.2.
Now, this is a spot where we might need to put our preconceptions on hold.
There is nothing in this text that says Nicodemus came at night because he was ashamed or somehow embarrassed to talk to Jesus.
There just isn’t anything here to confirm that.
It could be that Nicodemus had many appointments during the day.
Or that, during the day, Jesus had too many people gathered around Him for a deep conversation to happen.
There are plenty of plausible explanations for why Nicodemus came at night.
The problem is, when we focus on small details like that, we miss the point of the story.
1.3.
So, what John has told us so far is that Nicodemus was a Pharisee.
That he came at night and called Jesus, Rabbi.
And Nicodemus acknowledged that only someone sent from God could do the things Jesus was doing.
So we see a teacher of the Jews wrestling with what he knows of Scripture and what is happening in his world.
Jesus answers
2.1.
Jesus’ answer is similar to the riddle we saw last week.
Back in 2:19, Jesus answered the question about what He was doing by saying, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it.
John tells us that Jesus was talking about His own body.
In a very similar way, Jesus answers Nicodemus’ question with a bit of a riddle.
similar to the riddle we saw last week.
Back in 2:19, Jesus answered the question about what He was doing by saying, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it.
John tells us that Jesus was talking about His own body.
In a very similar way, Jesus answers Nicodemus’ question with a bit of a riddle.
2.2.
Here, again, is a place where we need to put our preconceptions on hold for a moment.
Those of us who have been Christians for a few years have called ourselves born-again Christians.
It is a term that is meaningful.
It separates us from those who would continue to embrace sin and call themselves Christian.
But the word translated “again” here could also be translated “from above”.
It could go either way.
We will see how Nicodemus interpreted the word.
And in a few more verses, we will see why it is important that the word could be translated either way.
Born again?
3.1.
Nicodemus interpreted what Jesus said in terms of physical birth.
And IF Jesus was talking about birth like that, Nicodemus’ question makes perfect sense.
Can a full grown man really crawl back into a woman’s womb and then re-emerge?
The answer, of course, is no way!
What Nicodemus heard was Jesus say, You must be born again.
Now listen to how Jesus answers the silly question.
3.1.
Nicodemus interpreted what Jesus said in terms of physical birth.
And IF Jesus was talking about birth like that, Nicodemus’ question makes perfect sense.
Can a full grown man really crawl back into a woman’s womb and then re-emerge?
The answer, of course, is no way!
What Nicodemus heard was Jesus say, You must be born again.
Now listen to how Jesus answers the silly question.
Born Above
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9