Small Group Discussion Guide
Jesus Talks with Nicodemus
Season 1 · Episode 7 - 9:34
How to introduce this clip
“If you’ve read the accounts of Jesus’s life, you know that the religious leaders did not know what to make of him or his teachings, stirring suspicion and contempt. But we know of at least one religious leader who had genuine questions for Jesus, because the Gospel of John tells us about him: a pharisee named Nicodemus. An episode from The Chosen gives us a front-row seat to a late-night, secretive conversation Nicodemus was able to have with Jesus, as recorded in John 3. Let’s watch the conversation play out…”
*If your church does not know about The Chosen, before you show the clip, you might also want to tell them the following: “The Chosen is a television show that tells the story of Jesus through the eyes of the people who knew him.”
Discussion Questions
Let’s start with a more general question: if you could sit down face-to-face with Jesus, what question(s) would you ask him?
Nicodemus does get that opportunity to talk face-to-face with Jesus. Which questions did he ask that you identified with most? (Follow-up questions: What did you think of Jesus’s replies to Nicodemus's questions? What questions do you still have even after Jesus’s replies?)
In the clip we watched, Jesus speaks about mystery. How do mystery and faith work together?
Jesus and Nicodemus talk a lot about the Holy Spirit. In what ways do you see the Holy Spirit working in your life? (Follow-up questions: Where do you see the Holy Spirit at work in your church? And what about in the global church?)
Watch the news, and you’ll see the trials people are facing all over the world. When Jesus tells Nicodemus that he came to rescue people from spiritual death, rather than to save them from Rome, how did that make you feel? What questions does that leave you with, and how do you think Jesus would answer them?
Near the end of the clip, Jesus asks Nicodemus to follow him, and Nicodemus would have to give up a lot to do so. What have you lost—or might you lose—in following Jesus? (Follow-up question: what have you gained—or might you gain?)