One of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, came to Jesus
one evening and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher Who has come from
God, because no one could perform the miracles You perform if God were not with
them.” Jesus responded, saying, “The truth of it is, unless a man or woman be
born again, he or she cannot experience the Realm of God.” Nicodemus asked, “How
can a person be born again when he or she is old? Surely we cannot enter our
mothers’ wombs to be born a second time!” Jesus answered, “The truth of it is,
unless a person is born of water and of the Spirit, neither he nor she can enter
the Realm of God. What has been born of flesh remains flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. Don’t be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must
be born again.’ The wind blows where it will. You can hear its sound, but you
don’t know where it is coming from or where it is going. That is the way it is
for everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus asked, “How can that be?” Jesus replied, “You are a teacher of Israel,
yet you don’t know this? The truth of it is, we tell you things about which we
know, and testify to what we have seen–and you people aren’t accepting what we
say! If I tell you about things of the earth and you don’t believe, how will you
believe if I tell you things of Heaven? No one has ever gone into Heaven except
the One who came from Heaven–the Son of Humanity.”
(John 3:1-13)
John now introduces us to Nicodemus, who was a person of wealth (John 19:39) and high position. He was a Pharisee, which was the strict religious sect of Judaism. The Pharisees devoted their lives to keeping even the minutest details of the Law. Nicodemus was also a member of the Sanhedrin, which was the ruling council. The Sanhedrin had religious jurisdiction over every Jewish person in the world. One of its duties was to watch out for and investigate anyone who claimed to be a prophet, to determine whether he or she were truthful.
It appears that Nicodemus went to Jesus on a personal mission, and not in his capacity as a religious investigator. It was evening when he approached Jesus–away from the crowds and the prying eyes of his peers. Nicodemus was a man in the closet. He didn’t want to be seen by his peers as a Jesus sympathizer, but still he wanted to learn more about Him. Even though as a Pharisee he would have been very conservative, perhaps he had an open mind and heart and was looking to accept Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. On the other hand, the reason he sought Jesus at night might simply have been that he wanted Jesus’ attention all to himself, to learn from His teachings, and perhaps even experience a miracle for himself.
Nicodemus began by acknowledging that Jesus was a teacher with a power that came from God. Jesus responded by posing an enigma: “The truth of it is, unless a man or woman be born again, he or she cannot experience the Realm of God.” Doesn’t it seem odd that Jesus would jump into this discourse without any questions from Nicodemus? Perhaps not so odd–didn’t we just read that Jesus knew what was in people’s hearts–their human nature? This was Jesus’ way of getting right down to what Nicodemus really wanted to know–not just the words he spoke. Jesus looked into Nicodemus’ heart and answered the question that was there.
The startled Nicodemus asks, “How can a person be born again when he or she is old? Surely we cannot enter our mothers’ wombs to be born a second time!” Nicodemus has taken Jesus literally and has recognized the impossibility of Jesus’ assertion. Jesus replies, “The truth of it is, unless a person is born of water and of the Spirit, neither he nor she can enter the Realm of God. What has been born of flesh remains flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Scholars differ on their interpretation of what Jesus meant by being “born of water.” Was Jesus simply using a metaphor for human birth–i.e. referring to the fluid in a mother’s womb, or was this a reference to baptism? Was Jesus simply saying that in addition to physical birth, all human beings must undergo a spiritual birth if they wish to experience God’s realm?
Jesus was speaking to the heart of what it meant to be a Pharisee. Pharisees were very devout in their desire to please God, so much so that they devoted their lives to the strictest adherence to even the minutest details of the Law, in purity, fasting, tithing, praying, and strict separation from anything or anyone considered unclean. According to Josephus, the Pharisees were considered, “the most accurate interpreters of the Law,” and excelled the rest of the country in observing religious customs. This was the only life Nicodemus had known.
Jesus was saying to Nicodemus that living the life of a Pharisee was not enough to attain the Realm of God. Following rituals and living life in strict obedience to the Law only will never get you to the Realm of God. Following rituals and living in strict obedience to the Law are activities of the flesh. They are human activities that remain on a human level.
To be born of the Spirit is an entirely different matter. Not merely having a spiritual awakening, to be born of the Spirit is to have the actual presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within a person. The person born of the flesh operates on his or her own power. The one born of the Spirit lives with the guidance, comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit. On our own, it is extremely difficult to make changes in our lives, but with the power of the Holy Spirit behind us, nothing is impossible. Power comes from the Spirit. The Realm of God is of the Spirit. If you would attain the Realm of God, you must have a spiritual awakening–a spiritual birth, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus explains further by saying, don’t let what I said confuse you. You know what wind is, and you know it goes wherever it wants to. You know it exists because you can hear it, but you don’t know where it came from or where it is going. And that’s the way it is with people who have been born of the Spirit. You may not see any physical change in them, but you will come to know that they have been born of the Spirit by the different way they live their lives. It is interesting to note that both the Hebrew and Greek words for spirit are the same words for wind.
Nicodemus asked, “How can that be?” Nicodemus was stunned! All his life he had lived in strict adherence to the Law, because it was what he understood God wanted from him. He had grown up believing that the Law was the perfect word of God and sacrosanct. He believed that as long as he followed the letter of the Law he would be doing what was pleasing to God. Yet here was Jesus telling him that all his studying, sacrifice and ritual observances were not what God wants from a person. God wants a change of heart. God wants a life lived, not merely according to written rules and regulations, but lived on a spiritual level–in love, peace, justice, mercy, compassion, kindness and understanding. And Jesus is saying that this kind of life can be obtained only through spiritual rebirth.
Jesus seems just as surprised at Nicodemus’ reaction: “You are a teacher of Israel, yet you don’t know this?” Pharisees knew the scripture as well as their own names. The prophet, Ezekiel, had spoken of receiving from God …a new heart and a new spirit… (Ezekiel 18:31, 36:26). Yet, Nicodemus seemed to neither know nor understand what Ezekiel said, or he didn’t want to hear it. Perhaps it was the old thing of, “I’ve made up my mind, don’t confuse me with the facts.” So Jesus tells him, look, I’m speaking to you about things I know and have experienced, and I’m trying to explain things to you using ordinary things (such as the wind) that you would understand. If I explain to you about things of this earth and you don’t believe me, how are you ever going to believe anything I might have to say to you about Heaven? I can talk until I’m blue in the face, but if you don’t accept what you’re being told; things will never change for you. If you don’t believe, you can’t receive. The only One who can tell you what Heaven is like is the One who came from there–the Son of Humanity. So, the only way you will ever know about Heaven will be when you decide to believe the One who came from there.
Nicodemus was the fundamentalist of his day, locked into a belief system based on rigid adherence to the Law. Now here comes this young upstart, Jesus, upsetting the whole applecart of his tradition, telling him that following all those rules and regulations wasn’t going to earn him his way into Heaven, telling him that the way to Heaven would come as the result of a spiritual awakening and living a new way of life in the Holy Spirit. Would Nicodemus accept it?
This ends the study for today.
Points to Ponder