VERSES 1-2 A Visit at night
Nicodemus approaches Jesus by night. We need to remember that in the days before electricity people did not usually run around at night. There are only two assumptions we can make about Nicodemus visiting Christ at night and both of them are reasonable. First, that at night Jesus was not occupied with ministry concerns and therefore surrounded by people and Nicodemus could obtain an audience with him. Second, that Nicodemus did not want the people to see him, a representative of the Jewish ruling council, approaching Jesus. Both are probably correct.
His approach is, on the surface, respectful. He speaks for a group. There is often a discussion of whether he was speaking for the Jewish Ruling Council or for a schism of this group that also included Joseph of Arimathea who provided for the burial of Christ in the garden tomb. It is my opinion that the very fact that John mentions the ruling council is indicative that Nicodemus has come as their representative.
Nicodemus declares that those he represents know by the signs and wonders that Jesus has come from God. That is almost comical when you consider that we read in multiple places that these very same people deny Jesus publicly about the basis of his authority for teaching, healing, etc. In John 9, the Pharisees disagree that Christ came from God because he healed a man born blind on the Sabbath. In Luke 20 the Chief Priests and teachers of the Law and approach and demand to know by what authority he was ministering under. Absurd! They had already sent Nicodemus with a declaration that they knew he came from God, but then again, perhaps they were offering simple lip service and did not believe that at all.
VERSES 3-8 The Need to be born again
Jesus did not waste any time with the flattery offered by Nicodemus. Instead he told Nicodemus that he (and the Jewish Council) lacked spiritual perception because they needed to be born again. Jesus was pointing out in a clear and undeniable manner that if Nicodemus and the ruling council wanted spiritual perception then there would have to be an experience that was a start over from square one.
Nicodemus was confused by the analogy that Christ offered him. How could an old man be born again? Jesus said that there are two births, one by water and one by blood. Some interpret the reference to water birth as a necessity for baptism. I don't see that here. I believe it is a clear reference to the natural birth, as a child is suspended in an amniotic fluid (water) for nine months and then born in a gush of fluid after the mother's water breaks. He is telling Nicodemus that a spiritual birth is necessary.
Jesus did not even give them credit for their religious zeal, their fervor for the Law, or their observance of religious ritual. It is not religious practices that redeem people and provide spiritual insight, it is a born again experience with God.
Paul spoke about this issue in Philippians chapter three. A group of false teachers wanted to add religious works to faith in Christ as a path to salvation. Paul wrote about those people using some opposites. (See Philippians 2 verse 3) He told the people to watch for them and used three very nasty names for them. He called them dogs, evildoers, and mutilators of the flesh.
Dogs? These were not nice little poodles or golden retrievers he was talking about. This word, used to speak of those who were not Jewish refers to the worst mutts and curs that scavenge for food, run in packs, often are rabid, mangy, ugly, and mean. It speaks specifically to the spiritual uncleanness. They thought that their religious activity would make them spiritually clean, but like Isaiah said, in the eyes of God their very righteousness was like filthy rags. (See Isaiah 64 :6).
Evildoers? They thought they were doing the work of God. They thought that God would honor them for their works and their teaching, yet Paul refers to them as evildoers.
Mutilators of the Flesh? They though circumcision was an essential for salvation yet Paul declares that this act, as a means of salvation, was nothing more than simply deforming a person. Paul wasn't speaking against circumcision for other purposes, but was against it being required as a basis for salvation.
Then Paul goes on to declare that all of the good works, his birthright, his practices of righteousness, were all worthless. He refers to them as dung (KJV) and we all know how worthless that is. Instead, he says he has given them all up in exchange for knowing Christ. He threw those worthless acts away in order to have a righteousness that comes from Christ.
This righteousness can only come from a born again experience with Jesus Christ. It doesn't come from attending church, being religious, having a church-oriented mindset, or doing things in the church. Salvation is through faith in Christ alone. Christ declared that nobody could come to the Father except by Him. Jesus said it best when he spoke of the need for a spiritual birth to Nicodemus.
If I could earn my salvation by standing in front of 7-11 with a copy of the Watchtower in my hand then the work of Christ on the cross would be cheapened. If I could earn my salvation by singing in the Sunday choir than why would I need Christ. Religious activity does not save or bring us even one step closer to salvation. Salvation only comes from Faith in Jesus Christ.
Not only is this righteousness only found in the spiritual rebirth, but spiritual perception is also found in the rebirth. Jesus uses the analogy of being in the wind. You can sense the direction of the wind, you can feel its strength, its temperature, etc. At times you can even hear it. What you cannot discern as you stand in the midst of the wind is where that wind began and where that wind will end up. You can be aware that the wind is blowing around you. Jesus was telling Nicodemus that he might be aware of God's spirit working around him, but he wouldn't understand anything about it without the rebirth.
VERSES 9-15 How Can These Things Be?
In answer to Nicodemus' question about how these things can be Jesus suggests that Nicodemus' spiritual perception is indeed very low. As a ruler of Israel he ought to have a better grasp of spiritual matters. He tell Nicodemus that he has been speaking in earthly terms in an attempt to make matters less complex. Then he uses an illustration from Hebrew history. Jesus reminds Nicodemus about how the children of Israel complained against God and Moses. God sent a plague of venomous serpents in their midst that were biting and killing them. The Israelites repented and Moses prayed for the people to be forgiven. God commanded Moses to make a serpent out of brass and to lift it on a pole for people to look upon it if they were bitten and they would live. The bronze serpent is a symbol of sin judged. (brass is heated and pounded into shape). I doubt Nicodemus understood this illustration until Christ became sin judged and was lifted up on a cross for all of Israel to look upon. (Numbers 21:4-9)
VERSES 16-17 Real Love Demonstrated
Real love is sacrificial. God loved the world so much that he made a way of salvation by giving up his beloved Son. Eternal life is not something to be earned through religious activity such as the Jewish rituals, feast days, rites of circumcision, dietary laws, etc. Eternal life is not something we earn by being good. Eternal life comes about by believing in God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
God's purpose in sending His Son was not to condemn the world. God's plan had as its very core the distinct purpose of providing a way of salvation. He knew that we could never be good enough. All of our efforts would fall short of God's glory, which is His Son, Jesus Christ. So he made a way where there really was no way.
He offered final greetings and closed out his letter with a expression of peace.
VERSES 18-21 Where do You Stand?
Our status with God depends on what we have done with Jesus. If we have believed we are not condemned, but instead redeemed. If we have not believed we are condemned.
I want you to think of the most despicable thing you can think of. Years ago, we had a child in our Christian school who had a deformed hand. It was deformed not by a birth defect, but by a cruel parent. As a very young child, his birth mother had taken his hand and held it to a hot stove, causing his hand to be damaged. The child was an unholy terror. I told his adopted mother that I was sorry, but I could no longer deal with him. I told her that no matter how much of a disciplinarian I could be that nothing I could ever do would ever come close to the fact that his birth mother had held his hand to a flame and burned that young child's hand. In that moment, and even to some extent as I share this, I hated that woman for that despicable act. She irreparably harmed that child intentionally. It was a despicable, dirty, terrible act.
I share this because our sins, before God, are a terrible affront to him. Outside of Christ, we are objects of God's wrath because of our sin. In Ephesians 2 Paul writes of the position of the Ephesian believers (and by extension all of us) before they came to Christ. They were dead in transgressions and sins, bound to the ways of the world, manipulated by Satan, living to satisfy their lists, and deserving God's wrath. Because of their faith in God, God demonstrated His mercy and brought them into a position where they were redeemed in Christ. That salvation did not come from works, so nobody could brag, but instead by grace (undeserved) through faith in Christ.
In conclusion, I have two things to say.
First, where do you stand? Do you have an awareness of a born again experience with Christ? Are you depending on faith in Christ or your religious activity to bring you to salvation?
Second, do you soft-pedal the gospel? Do you believe that your faith in Christ is just ONE way to heaven or is it the ONLY way? Do you declare your faith and point to Christ as the only way or just hope that those around you might earn their entrance into eternity by somehow being good and loving others, etc. ?
Jesus did not mince words with Nicodemus. He came straight to the point. As he told Nicodemus that this religious man needed to be born again, we need to be telling others of their need to be born again in order to receive a life-changing assurance of salvation.
