Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
John 3:7
“You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’”
Remember, that when Jesus speaks this verse, he is talking with Nicodemus, a high ranking member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, and a respected teacher in Israel. Jesus clearly expects that Nicodemus should understand the things he is saying. Yet, Nicodemus seems confused.
Q: If you were able to help Nicodemus understand what Jesus meant, what would you tell him?
John 3:5-6
“Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.’”
With this verse Jesus lays down a gauntlet. (In olden days, to ‘throw down the gauntlet’ was to challenge someone to a duel … often to the death.) Here he literally spells out a challenge that means the difference between life and death.
Q: How do you understand the meaning of, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit?”
John 3: 4
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
I expect that Nicodemus was taken off guard a bit by Jesus’ statement that only people who are born again will see the kingdom of God. What could this mean? Considering that Jesus was speaking directly to Nicodemus’ heart, it is not surprising that his mind went into overdrive trying to recover control of the conversation. Logically a person can only be born once! Right?
Q: If you agree with Nicodemus that it would be awkward at best to try and be born again physically, what do you think Jesus was really trying to get Nicodemus to see?
John 3: 3
“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’”
You gotta admit that the way John tells this story, Jesus does not mess around! No chit chat or small talk this evening! Jesus does not have to ask, “Why Nicodemus, what brings you out this way so late at night?” He knows! He knows Nicodemus’ heart and what is on his mind. Without preamble or further introduction, he cuts right to the heart of the matter: You need to be born again!!
Q: What do you think Nicodemus had on his heart and mind for Jesus to make the statement he did?
John 3: 2b
“For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Isn’t it interesting what Nicodemus says here? “For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Clearly, this line of thought was not common or popular in any form among his fellow Pharisees, and yet logically it seems like a very reasonable statement to make. After all, the “signs” that Jesus did while on earth were unique. No one else in history has claimed the power to do the things that Jesus did.
Q: How do you explain the fact that others saw Jesus do the same things Nicodemus saw and yet refused to admit what Nicodemus so reasonably admitted; that Jesus could not have done the things he did if God were not with him?
John 3: 2a
“He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.’”
When Nicodemus comes to see Jesus and talk with him, he starts out by calling him, “Rabbi,” meaning “teacher.” Technically Nicodemus was a teacher of the highest order, so he was either being extremely deferential or extremely sarcastic in his address to Jesus. But Nicodemus does not stop there. He goes on to commend Jesus as “a teacher who has come from God.”
Q: What do you think Nicodemus meant by the statement that Jesus had “come from God?”
John 3:1-2
“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night”
With just a few short strokes of his Pen, John sketches out a picture of this Pharisee named Nicodemus. Clearly, he is drawn to Jesus. Unlike other Pharisees who try to entrap Jesus at dinner, or reprimand him in the synagogue, Nicodemus comes to see Jesus away from the crowds and away from other eyes.
Q: How many reasons can you think of for a Pharisee to visit someone at night?