In the days of the New Testament there were three levels of teacher in the Jewish community, the ḥâḵâm, the sôpçr and the ḥazzân. These levels were obtained not on the basis of academics but on the basis of morality in the person’s life. Nicodemus is thought to be of the highest order because of his title ruler of the Jews. Therefore he must have been a very moral man.
He comes to Jesus by night. Many commentators believe this was because he feared his fellow Jews and did not want to be seen communicating with Christ. This may be true but there were witnesses present, one being John the writer of this account. We also know from other scripture that Nicodemus had no trouble standing up for Christ in John 7:4 and he stepped forward to claim the body of Christ when all of the disciples had fled the scene. I would be more inclined to believe Nicodemus came at night in order to have a personal private audience with Christ, something that would have been nearly impossible to accomplish during the day when Christ was ministering to the following throngs.
What was his reason for coming? Scripture does not tell us. When George C. Stebbins penned the words to “Ye Must Be Born Again” he made beautiful poetry but unfortunately it is inaccurate from a scriptural standpoint. Nicodemus never asks Christ the “way of salvation and light” nor does scripture say or even imply that was his intent for coming. In fact we can gather, from the dialogue which follows, that Nicodemus thought he knew the way of salvation and light and was well secured in it.
He begins with a statement. “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God:” By making this statement Nicodemus shows that he believes he and the other Jewish rulers have a place of authority in the kingdom of God. “We know” implies that the Jewish rulers are in position to determine what is and is not of God. He also states that the proof of Christ’s being from God is seen on the physical level, “no one can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”
Christ corrects him on both points first He says. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Being a member of God’s kingdom is not a result of physical birth which Nicodemus mistakenly believed, it is a result of “re-birth”. The Word of God often causes us to reevaluate misconceptions that we have accepted as truth for our entire lives. Such was the case for Nicodemus. Since a child he had been taught that the being born a Jew gave him the special birthright of being a member of God’s chosen people. Suddenly he is confronted by the Word of God and told that his physical birth into the nation of Israel is not enough. Another birth is required.
His reaction was the same as many who are told the truth after a lifetime of believing a lie, incredulous disbelief and a somewhat sarcastic reply. “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”
Nicodemus had it all wrong. His entire life had to be rethought. So the Great Teacher, the Creator of the universe takes him back to the beginning to explain the necessity for rebirth. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
Remember Genesis? There were two elements present at the time of Creation, the physical created element which was seen in the water and the spiritual Creator who was manifested in the Spirit. Genesis 1:1-2 1 In the beginning of God’s preparing the heavens and the earth— 2the earth hath existed waste and void, and darkness is on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters. (Young’s literal translation.) God formed man of the physical and breathed into him His Spirit and Adam not only became a living soul he also became a part of God’s Kingdom enjoying the pleasure of God’s fellowship and eating of the tree of life. Then Adam sinned and the spiritual part of Him died. He was cast out of the garden and lost fellowship with his Creator.
Man still is a created being but our first physical birth, whether to the house of Israel, Christian parents, or a certain denomination of the church does not insure entrance into the kingdom of God. Only the one who is born again of the Spirit will enjoy renewed fellowship with God and gain access to the tree of life. And no, Nicodemus, it is not up to you to enter the second time into your mother’s womb to be born. Just as in the beginning, it is up to the Spirit. Like the wind, the Spirit goes under God’s direction. He touches God’s children and they hear His voice and even though they cannot see where He came from or where He goes they know the line of communication with God has been restored and they are born of the Spirit.
Has the Spirit of God breathed new life into your heart and soul? Are you a new creation of God able to once again enjoy fellowship with Him. Are you once again able to feed on the truths of eternal life? If so praise the Lord for His salvation this month. If not, pray that He will breathe new life into your heart.
A self-assured Nicodemus came to the Lord thinking he was not only a member of God’s kingdom but also a leader in it. He came to grant Christ a place in the kingdom of God only to be brought to the stark realization that his place in that kingdom was suspect. The belief that his physical birthright was all that was needed to enjoy kingdom privileges was dashed when he was told that a spiritual rebirth was also necessary. His answer to Christ as we see in verse 9 was, “How can these things be?” Morally Nicodemus was in the highest order of the house Israel God’s chosen nation. Intellectually He held the highest title in the hierarchy of the house of Judah. Yet spiritually he could not grasp the simple truth of salvation.
Christ replies, “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?” Surely one who held the position Nicodemus held would be able to grasp the fundamental truth that man died spiritually and was cast out of God’s presence when he sinned. This truth was proclaimed by the prophets throughout all the history of Israel. The prophets, of whom Christ was one, spoke of what they knew and had seen, yet Nicodemus and others in the house of Israel did not receive that witness. This truth was something that was viewed on the physical level each day. The entire fabric of the Jewish community was centralized around the temple which pointed to their sin and the need for a sacrifice and forgiveness. Yet Nicodemus and the other rulers of Israel could not grasp it.
How then, Christ said, could Nicodemus believe heavenly truths if he failed to accept earthly truths. Christ alone could relate the truths to heaven for He was not only from heaven but He dwelt in heaven. Notice the tense of the verb is in verse 13. IS is in the present tense. Christ as he is speaking to Nicodemus says He IS dwelling in heaven. We could say Christ never left heaven but He brought heaven to earth.
He tells Nicodemus to go back in history. Remember when the children of Israel sinned in the days of Moses (Numbers 21:4-9). They complained about God and Moses even after the Lord had given them a great victory over king Arad the Canaanite. So God sent fiery serpents among them killing many of the people. The children of Israel then repented. They did not blame the serpents on God, they did not blame them on Moses, they accepted the blame themselves. They realized they were the cause of the problem and they cried out to God through Moses for deliverance. Moses prayed and God made a way of healing for them. Notice carefully God did not take away the serpents. They remained as an ongoing judgment for the sin that had been committed. Instead God told Moses to fashion a brass serpent and set it on a pole. A stricken Israelite need only look at the serpent and he/she would be healed.
Christ tells Nicodemus that in the same manner He also must be lifted up, not for temporary healing from a snake bite but as the only remedy for sin. More than two thousand years have gone since Christ spoke these words yet the remedy for our sin is still the same. In each generation the Lord has those who are of the household of faith. They are wondering in the wilderness and have the serpent’s venom flowing through their veins dooming them to eternal death. There is only one cure. They must look to Christ with a repentant heart to receive the healing power of eternal life.
Those of us who have been healed have a very important job to do. Just like Moses we must pray for their healing and then we must lift Christ on high through the proclamation of His Word and power of His Spirit living in us, that all of God’s people in all of the world can look upon Him and be healed.
John then quotes Christ and gives us one of the most well known verses in Christendom. Christ tells Nicodemus that God so loved and uses the verb love in the aorist, active, indicative sense. This tells us three things. First, the verb is in the active voice this means the action of love was performed by God. Secondly, it is in the aorist tense which means this love is a completed action. Thirdly the verb is seen in the indicative mood which means the love of God is a fact, not an idea or a wish. This love, concrete in its existence, complete in its action and choreographed solely by God, is also complete in its scope. It is directed not only towards the nation of Israel and seed of Abraham but finds its recipients in the seed of Adam and the entire human race.
How is this magnificent love displayed to the world? Christ tells Nicodemus it is seen in the giving of God’s only begotten Son. God interacts with man in the most intimate way known to man and through that interaction becomes a man, the man Christ Jesus. Christ is the embodiment of God’s love and He is the only embodiment of God’s love.
This gift of love alone can eliminate the curse of sin brought upon the human race through Adam’s transgression in the Garden of Eden. Adam the bearer of sin and death gives the seed of death to all of his descendants and in the same way Christ the Bearer of holiness gives eternal life to all of His descendants. While the birth of sin in the world is of a solely physical nature the birth of holiness is solely of a spiritual nature. When we experience human birth we know, from our physical appearance, that we children of our parents and therefore children of Adam. When we experience spiritual rebirth God’s Spirit indwelling us causes us to believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ and we see ourselves taking on His spiritual nature. The end result of physical birth is death which each of us will experience in time. The end result of spiritual birth through Christ is eternal life which only those who believe in Him will experience. All others will experience spiritual death and since God’s love was not present with them in this world they will be separated from it in the world to come.
The focus of His coming, Christ tells Nicodemus, is not to bring condemnation on the descendants of Adam for their sin but to offer them a second chance for eternal life. The self-righteous leaders of Israel often attempted to bring condemnation against the sins of those Christ ministered to but He understood their hearts and offered them salvation. As the body of Christ, the church should take a lesson from Christ. Sin is prevalent in the world because it is the nature of man to sin. Our job, as the body of Christ, is not to condemn them for their sin but to offer them salvation through Christ.
Many in the church believe, in error, that no condemnation of sin means we must condone sin. Such is not the case. A physician does not condemn the patient but neither does he/she condone the disease. If a cure is known it is offered. In the same way Christ does not and His church should not condone sin. Being believers and having the Spirit of Christ we alone have the remedy for sin and we need to offer it, without condemnation, to the world.
Why should we not stand in condemnation? Christ tells us in verses 18-21 that sinners who remain in sin condemn themselves. The physician offers a cure to the patient. In so offering the patient determines the condemnation. The patients who refuse the cure because they do not believe it will work or think they are not sick bring condemnation of death upon themselves and have no one to blame but themselves when the illness results in death. Likewise the world brings condemnation upon itself when it refuses the cure for sin regardless of the reason for refusal.
Belief in the person and work of Christ is the only cure for sin. It is available for the entire world but, Christ tells Nicodemus, there are many who will refuse the remedy because the sin in their lives will be exposed to the light of Christ’s righteousness. They will be reproved for it and have to deal with it.
Christ ends His discourse with Nicodemus by describing the two kingdoms that are present in this world. You will note as you read the descriptions that physical birthright is not a determining factor for citizenship. The first kingdom is the kingdom of sin. Those who belong to this kingdom hate the light (righteousness through Christ) and will not come to the light because they do not want to be told they are doing evil in the sight of God. The second kingdom is the kingdom of truth and righteousness. Those who belong to this kingdom have been reborn through the Sprit of God and seek to live righteous lives. When presented with the light (righteousness through Christ) they will embrace it and follow Him knowing their righteousness is of God.
Scripture suggests that Nicodemus came to the light, as countless others have done since Christ explained to him the way to the Kingdom of God. The light still shines and, as believers, we have been called to bring the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ to a dark and sinful world. Many will refuse the light because they have not been reborn through the Spirit of God. Their reaction to the light will range from an uncaring attitude to open hostility. We should not condemn those who refuse the light for they are condemning themselves through their disbelief. We also should not condone their actions for what they are doing is sin. Just continue to shine forth the light to everyone you meet for the children of God are out there waiting for you to bring them the truth of Christ.
