hermeneutics

It is not until Herod Antipas arrests John the Baptist that Jesus proclaims the message of repentance. This is a key point in understanding the distinction between Christ’s call to individuals to believe for eternal life and His call to Israel to repent for the establishment of the kingdom. John MacArthur supposes:

He was urging Nicodemus to repent. And He was calling Nicodemus to believe in Him as the Savior who would be lifted up so that whoever believes might be saved.
In other words, ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel’ (Mk. 1:15) was Jesus’ appeal to Nicodemus.¹

The Gospel of John never uses the word, “repent.” It is the only book in the Bible with the expressed purpose of evangelism (John 20:30-31), so there is no need for John to mention repentance. Bringing repentance into the Gospel of John is a maneuver to advocate for Lordship Salvation, which reckons saving faith to include works.

The shortcomings of works-based faith are abundant,² but that is a discussion for another day. MacArthur cites Mark 1:15, “Repent, and believe in the gospel” (μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ) as being the call with Nicodemus. This transfer fails exegetically as Matthew writes, “Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee… From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matt 4:12, 17) and the Gospel of John clearly says of John the Baptist that during the Nicodemus conversation, “John had not yet been thrown into prison” (John 3:24). Repentance is related to “the gospel of the kingdom” (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς βασιλείας Matt 9:35) while faith is all that is necessary for that which Paul calls “the gospel of your salvation” (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς σωτηρίας ὑμῶν Eph 1:13). It is not until much later in the Gospel of Matthew, after the kingdom offer has been rescinded, that Jesus begins to explain His death, burial, and resurrection, but even this is rejected and misunderstood by His disciples (Matt 16:21-23; 17:22-23; 20:18-19). While the gospel of the kingdom in Mark 1:15 is good news that through repentance the kingdom will enter the world, the gospel of salvation is good news that through faith an individual can enter the kingdom (John 3:3).³

When Christ and His disciples pass through Samaria on the way to Galilee, they stop in Sychar for evangelism apart from the kingdom offer. John Chrystostom believes that in accordance with the custom of the day, Samaritans could have dealings with the Jews, but the Jews could not have dealings with the Samaritans,⁴ so the fact that these Jews would stop in Samaria is remarkable in and of itself. Sychar is waiting for the Messiah (John 4:25, 28-30), but never is there a mention of the kingdom. Instead of associating the Messiah with the kingdom, the believers say, “we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (John 4:42b). The precise wording at the end of John 4:42 according to the Textus Receptus is ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου ὁ χριστός, “the Savior of the world, the Christ.” Within the context of John, the word κόσμος has already occurred 10 times (John 1:9, 10, 29; 3:16, 17, 19) to emphasize the Savior’s effectiveness for all of humanity. The comment in 4:25, Οἶδα ὅτι Μεσσίας ἔρχεται, ὁ λεγόμενος χριστός “I know that Messiah is coming (the One called ‘Christ’)” repeats the equivalence of Christ and Messiah as in John 1:41. Zane Hodges comments that “it is noteworthy that these non-Jewish believers explicitly express the universal scope of Jesus’ saving power (see 17:2).”⁵ Rather than focusing on what the Messiah means for Israel, the Samaritan mindset is focused more on the global implication of the coming Messiah. He is not just the coming King for Israel, but He is the Savior of everyone, Samaritans included. These two roles are related and fulfilled by the same Messiah, but they are quite distinct in their applications. The Messiah’s role as Savior of the world demands that the disciples carry the gospel of salvation to the Samaritans, while the Messiah’s role as the Davidic King in the coming kingdom has the burden of urging Israel to repentance so long as the kingdom is at hand.

In contrast to the Samaritan woman and her city, Nicodemus is Jewish. He is in Jerusalem (John 2:23-3:1), he is a Pharisee who certainly knows John’s testimony (John 1:19-34), and he has already accepted that Jesus was ἀπὸ θεοῦ “from God” and that ὁ θεὸς μετ’ αὐτοῦ “God was with Him” (John 3:2). Nicodemus understands the kingdom offer and that Jesus is the Messiah making this offer, but instead of discussing His offer to bring the kingdom, Jesus uses the anticipated kingdom to change the topic to why Nicodemus would not be able to enter, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3b). The most important question that any individual has ever struggled with is the question of who Jesus is. Because Nicodemus has not yet trusted in Christ alone for eternal life, Jesus shifts the discussion to the gospel of salvation and John records it in accordance with his purpose.

On another occasion, a believing centurion has a sick servant (Matt 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10). Jesus calls him a believer who will be in the kingdom (Matt 8:10-11) and it is evident that he is a Gentile because Jesus says that he has not found anyone of such great faith οὐδὲ ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ “not even in Israel” and He contrasts him to υἱοὶ τῆς βασιλείας “sons of the kingdom,” referring to Israel. This Gentile centurion loves Israel and has even built a synagogue (Luke 7:5). He even has a voice among the elders and they are even willing to go to Jesus in the centurion’s name.⁶ Whether these leaders are in a sincere minority or if their interest in Jesus was purely for the service of the centurion, Capernaum remained unrepentant; indeed, Jesus later pronounces the woe upon Capernaum, “if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day” (Matt 11:23b). This is an interesting sight for the Jewish Messianic Kingdom; while the average Gentile grasps the sleeve of an average Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you” (Zech 8:23b), and while some Jews are cast εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον “into the outer darkness” (Matt 8:12),⁷ there are be faithful Gentiles from all directions who are rewarded with the opportunity to sit and fellowship⁸ with the Jewish patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.⁹

Christ’s offer of eternal life through faith is not unique to His ministry. It is a message that believers should be proclaiming to unbelievers even today. A message to proclaim to believers is the offer of rewards in the coming kingdom. Christ’s offer of the kingdom through national repentance is special and unique to first century Israel. God in the flesh offering the kingdom and verifying the offer with miracles is unlike anything that the Christian could hope to declare today. Likewise, the rejection of the offer of eternal life continues today, but the rejection of the kingdom offer ceases with the eventual withdrawal of the kingdom offer after the final rejection of the Messiah’s offer, which occurs when Israel’s leadership commits the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.