Now there was a man of
the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. John 3:1
Jesus has attracted much attention in Jerusalem – both good
and bad. Some believed in Him; some didn’t, and the faith of some was
superficial. Jesus knew that those who chased after signs and miracles would
not stay with Him. The religious leaders didn’t believe in Jesus at all and
wanted to prove that He was a fraud. This was the atmosphere surrounding Jesus.
Nicodemus was a powerful and respected man in the Jewish
community. He was a member of the Sanhedrin Council and a Pharisee. The
Sanhedrin Council enforced the Jewish Law, heard trials and ruled the Jewish
people. Nicodemus was also very wealthy. He was a teacher of the Law and the
Prophets, but he also observed it faithfully. He had seen and heard about
Jesus’ miracles. Because of this, Nicodemus believed that God was with Jesus.
In spite of the fact that the majority of the Pharisees were against Jesus,
Nicodemus wanted to see for himself. “He
came to Jesus at night…” Given the hatred of the Pharisees toward Jesus, it
would be dangerous for Nicodemus to openly go to see Jesus in broad daylight. So,
Nicodemus came to Jesus in darkness, just as believers in Christ all come to
Jesus in the darkness of sin. Without Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we are all in
darkness. Jesus will not leave Nicodemus in darkness just as He will not leave
those who believe in Him in darkness either. Jesus, the Light of the world,
will tell Nicodemus the truth about how to enter the Kingdom of God. The Jews
believed that their ancestry to Abraham would give them a place in heaven, but
Jesus is telling Nicodemus a “new” way into the Kingdom of God – “I tell you the truth, no one can see the
kingdom of God unless he is born again.” John 3:3 Because Jesus is Truth;
He only speaks Truth. Nicodemus is a deep thinker and seeker of Truth.
Nicodemus needs a Savior and a Teacher, not just a teacher.
Nicodemus will have his partial understanding according to the
Law now exposed to the Light of the world – the Living Truth Jesus – as well as
the Holy Spirit who together enlighten every human. (see John 1:9) Nicodemus says to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one
could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
John 3:2 Nicodemus called Jesus a “Teacher,” not Lord. Jesus was not his
Lord yet. Nicodemus says “we know” meaning the other Pharisees and Council
members recognized that God must have sent Jesus, but they did believe He was the Messiah. They did not want to give
up their power and authority over God’s people. Instead they wanted to
discredit Jesus. Jesus went to the very heart of the matter. Being born in the
Spirit from God above is the only way one can be spiritual and receive eternal,
spiritual life. When we are born in the Spirit, the Godhead unites with our
spirit. (see 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Peter
1:3) Without Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we are spiritually dead. We must
have a “new” spiritual birth. We will also have a “new” spiritual home in
heaven with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We will die in the flesh naturally,
but we will live eternally in the Spirit.
Born
Anew
Jesus declared, “I tell
you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 3:3
Nicodemus does not understand Jesus’ words because he doesn’t
have spiritual sight given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus is seeing
and hearing through fleshly eyes so he responds to Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second
time into his mother’s womb to be born!” John 3:4 By His grace and truth,
Jesus will teach Nicodemus about the spiritual birth through Him and the Holy
Spirit. Jesus’ words were always to reveal the spiritual. He wants us to take
our eyes off of the earthly and look up to the supernatural. The Word/Jesus and
the Holy Spirit must breathe new, spiritual life into us. We are all born “naturally”
through the water and blood of our mother’s womb, but we must also be born
spiritually through the blood of Jesus and the water of the Eternal Living Word
and Eternal Living Spirit. This is the only way one can enter the Kingdom of
God which is spiritual and eternal. Our mother suffered for our physical birth,
but Jesus suffered for our eternal, spiritual birth. As our natural birth was entrance into a new
realm, our spiritual birth is entrance into a new, higher realm – the spiritual
Kingdom of God. Humans get their traits from their earthly parents. Believers
in Christ get their “new” nature from Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are to become “partakers of His
Divine nature.” (see 2 Peter 1:4)
In the Older Testament Law, a gentile who wanted to become a Jew
had to be baptized (mitzvah) which
was symbolic of being cleansed and “born again (reborn).” In other words, he was cleansed by the water and raised as
a new man – a Jew. His “old” life is washed away, and he rises as a new man who
believes in Yahweh. This is similar to New Testament baptism only this water
baptism is to prepare us for our new birth in the Spirit. Nicodemus might balk at the notion that he must
repent, be baptized and be born again because that was reserved for the
Gentiles. Understanding that he is one of the chosen people of God, Jesus’
statement would seem humiliating to a Jewish Pharisee like Nicodemus. But,
Nicodemus has been drawn to Jesus and wants to hear and see more! God is
removing the veil from his eyes.
Jesus is talking to Nicodemus on a whole different level than
the earthly one. By telling this Jewish leader that he must be born again, He
is in essence telling Nicodemus that he was born wrong like all of us with the
sinful nature of the first Adam and Eve. Nicodemus was a part of God’s covenant
people, faithful, and a teacher of the Law with exemplary character. He was
also admired and looked up to by others, but Jesus is telling Nicodemus that he
must be born anew. Keep in mind that the
Pharisees had rejected John’s baptism. Those who were baptized by John after
confession of sin and repentance were forgiven and cleansed preparing them for Jesus
and the Holy Spirit that Jesus will eventually send. Here is Nicodemus, a
Pharisee who has come to Jesus, being told that he must be born of water and
the Holy Spirit in order to be born anew. I am sure he didn’t expect this! Perhaps
the thought crossed Nicodemus’ mind that he was far more valuable to God than a
gentile or a Samaritan. Being a Jew or Gentile profits nothing. We are all
filthy sinners. Being born through the Word (both
the written and the Living) and the Holy Spirit profits us eternally!
Water cleanses the body but doesn’t change the heart. Water
baptism for the remission of sins is an outward symbol of what the Holy Spirit
will do inwardly. The Word and the Holy Spirit will make Jesus come alive in us
as we believe and obey. The invisible Spirit guides, teaches,
protects and directs us using the rightly-divided Word of God. In order to receive this new birth, one has to believe
that Jesus is who John the Baptist said – “The
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Once our sins are washed away, we are a
holy place prepared to receive the Holy Spirit.
2
Corinthians 5:16-17: “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of
view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the
new has come! All this is from God…..” And in Galatians 5:15, the Apostle Paul says, “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is
the new creation.” Outward circumcision or uncircumcision now means
nothing. The circumcision of the flesh around the organ that produces life has
now become the “new” circumcision of the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit
and Word. The old fleshly circumcision pointed to the new circumcision of the heart -- the place of love and life. Only God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit can circumcise our hearts,
cutting away our old fleshly nature and breathing God’s righteous nature into
us. The spiritually alive Word and Holy Spirit makes us spiritually alive and
will change us from fleshly to spiritual. The prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah had
prophesied that God would give His people a “new heart” and a “new spirit.”
Jesus fulfilled this through His blood, resurrection power and Holy Spirit.
Water baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
cuts us from our connection with our past, sinful life and breathes new, spiritual
life into us through the power of the Holy Spirit and the shed blood of the Word
of God/Jesus. “He saved us through the
washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us
generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by
His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:6-7
(to be continued next week)
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