“But will God indeed dwell on the earth?” asked King Solomon as he dedicated the Temple (1 Kings 8:27). A good question indeed. God’s glory had dwelt in the Tabernacle during the wandering years (Exodus 40:34) and then in the Jerusalem Temple when it was built (1 Kings 8:10-11); but God’s glory had departed from disobedient Israel (Ezekiel 9:3, 10:4, 18, 11:22-23).
But the Old Testament prophets pointed to a coming Messiah. 600 years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah wrote “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His Name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah chapter 53 is amazing. And we recently read in our study of the prophet Jeremiah about the “New Covenant”, chapter 31, verses 31-34. This was written hundreds of years before the birth of Christ.
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
After the miraculous birth of Jesus, the Glory of God appeared to His people again, in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. As Pastor Warren Wiersbe writes, “The writers of the four Gospels have given us snapshots of Jesus’ life on earth, for no complete biography could ever be written. John concludes his Gospel message by saying “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” So Matthew wrote his Gospel with his fellow Jews in mind and emphasized that Jesus of Nazareth had fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. Mark wrote for the busy Romans. Whereas Matthew emphasized the King, Mark presented the Servant, ministering to the needy people. Luke wrote his Gospel for the Greeks and introduced them to the sympathetic Son of Man. But it was given to John, the beloved disciple, to write a book for both the Jews and Gentiles, presenting Jesus as the Son of God. The first three Gospels describe the events in the life of Christ, and John emphasized the meaning of these events. But there is one major theme that runs through John’s Gospel; that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and if you commit yourself to Him, He will give you eternal life. But also, in addition, by committing ourselves to Him, He will empower us with His Holy Spirit to equip us for this life here on earth. No other belief system or religion can make these claims.
So we are reading from John’s Gospel, chapter 3, verses 1-20, Christ’s encounter with a man named Nicodemus. Benjamin Franklin was a great statesman and inventor, but he was also a great correspondent. He wrote and received letters from famous people from all over the world. One day he received what could well have been the most important letter ever to come to his desk. It was from the well-known preacher George Whitefield. “I find that you grow more and more famous in the learned world” Whitefield wrote. “As you have made such progress in investigating the mysteries of electricity, I now humbly urge you to give diligent heed to the mystery of the New Birth. It is a most important and interesting study and, when mastered, will richly repay you for your pains.” We read of the New Birth in the third chapter of John.
Nicodemus was originally attracted to Jesus because of the miracles he preformed. He wanted to know more about Jesus and the doctrines that he taught. Nicodemus himself was the teacher of the Jews, a well trained, highly educated Jewish man with a high moral character and a thirst for knowledge. He was one of the esteemed Pharisees which meant he lived by the strictest possible religious rules. He was also a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin represented the ruling body of the Jews in Palestine. It was the Jewish Supreme Court or ruling council made up of the High Priest, or president, chief priests, Elders who were family heads and scribes for a total of 71 people. It executed both civil and criminal jurisdiction according to the Jewish law, however, capital punishment cases required the sanction of the Roman procurator. Does this body sound familiar to you? It should. They obviously play a big part leading up to the crucifixion of Christ. Nicodemus was deeply sincere in his quest for truth. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The phrase ‘born again’ literally means “born from above” or “becoming children of God.” Jesus answered a question that Nicodemus does not even ask. He read Nicodemus’s heart and came to the very core of the problem, the need for spiritual transformation through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through one phrase, Jesus is addressing the difference in being religious, relying on works and rituals, vs. a simple act of accepting that Christ is the Son of God.
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Because Nicodemus was a teacher himself, he understood the rabbinical method of using figurative language to teach spiritual truth, and he was picking up on Jesus’ symbolism.
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Jesus referred not to literal water here but to the need for cleansing. When water is used figuratively in the Old Testament, it refers to renewal or spiritual cleansing, especially when used in conjunction with “spirit.” Again the words from the prophet Ezekiel, written almost 600 years prior to the birth of Christ, chapter 36:24-26. “And God said, for I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.”
Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Just as the wind cannot be controlled or understood, its effects can be witnessed, so it is with the Holy Spirit. We cannot control it, or even understand it, but we certainly can witness its effects.
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?
Jesus is once again addressing the fact that Nicodemus was recognized as one of the leading teachers of his day. When he spoke, people listened. When he taught, people gathered. But early on, Jesus is teaching the difference between being religious and being filled with God’s spirit.
From this point on, the focus turns from away Nicodemus and centers on the true meaning of Salvation. The word “Believe” is used seven times in these upcoming verses. The new birth requires an act of faith. Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? Jesus focused on the idea that unbelief is the cause of ignorance. Nicodemus was a very intellectual man, and Jesus obviously knew this, but Jesus was not trying to speak to his head, He was trying to reach his heart.
No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. Listen to these words found toward the end of Proverbs, chapter 30, verse 4, written hundreds of years before the birth of Christ; “Who has ascended into Heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His Name, and what is His Son’s Name, if you know?”
If we are speaking about religion, who else can make these claims? We read in the Gospel of Mark and Luke, and also in the book of Acts that Jesus ascended to Heaven in the presence of witnesses. We also know that He was transfigured in the presence of witnesses. And we know that for forty days following His resurrection, Christ appeared in human form in the presence of hundreds of witnesses. And to be a witness, or to witness means to teach the truth about Jesus.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
What a great reference once again to the wandering years. We read in the Old Testament Book of Numbers, that the Israelites were complaining again. They complained to Moses again asking why they had to leave Egypt, and the comfort of their captivity and slavery. God was providing everything they needed, yet they complained. When Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, people’s physical lives were saved. When Christ was crucified, lifted up on the cross, when we look up at Him, our spiritual lives are saved for eternity/
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Eternal life refers to a divine quality of life. It means literally “life of the age to come” and refers therefore to resurrection and Heavenly existence in perfect Glory and Holiness.
The intellectual teacher Nicodemus I believe would become a believer of Christ, although nothing is mentioned to this effect in the Gospels. He allowed Jesus to speak to his heart. A little later in John’s Gospel we find Nicodemus defending Jesus in the presence of the Sanhedrin. And then following Christ’s crucifixion, Nicodemus risked his own life and reputation by helping to give Jesus’ body a decent burial. Following Jesus’ crucifixion, along with Joseph of Arimathea, also a member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus brought spices and helped carry Jesus to the Garden Tomb nearby.
