John 3:1-7
The Bible has never been so accessible to the entire world. L. Ron Hubbard’s writings of scientology have been translated into 65 languages and the Book of Mormon is in about 100 languages but 2,656 languages have all or some of the Bible. 65 million copies of the Bible are brought or distributed in the United States every year--nothing else is a close second.
The average house has at least three Bibles because people get them for gifts or buy them for display purposes. People cheer the Bible, buy the Bible, give the Bible and own the Bible. They just don’t read the Bible.
So, here is one of the key passages in the New Testament and it’s found in the fourth gospel, in the gospel of John. John is a great book and chapter 3 is one of its highlights. This is the one thousandth chapter in the bible and verse 16 is probably the most famous verse but we’ll begin with the first seven verses.
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 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.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 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?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
In chapter 20:31 we’re told, “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” And in chapter three we have the account of how one man went to find out more about Jesus but found out more than he wanted to know about himself.
His name was Nicodemas and according to the scripture he was very wealthy because he and Joseph of Arimathea were the two who had prepared Jesus body for burial then placed Him in Joseph’s unused burial cave. He was also obviously a very educated man because Jesus actually referred to him as the teacher of Israel. And he also held a seat on the Sanhedrin which was the religious governing council that ruled over Israel.
So, he was someone who had what most people wanted. He had lots of money, the respect of all the people and intellectual credibility and when Nicodemas spoke; people listened. But in spite of everything he had he seemed to sense there was something missing and so, he came to have a little talk with Jesus.
Now, we’re told three things about Nicodemas and the first is; he was a member of the Pharisees and the Pharisees were known as the separated ones. They dressed in black and tried to live their lives according to the 613 laws of the Old Testament and not only did they try to keep every rule but they made up others as they went along.
And the people of Israel looked to men like Nicodemas for spiritual leadership because of his commitment to the temple and his knowledge of the law.
He was also a member of the Sanhedrin which was the name given to the seventy men who served on the Jewish council and they ruled in both civil as well as religious matters. These were both powerful and respected men.
And then we also see where Jesus called him “the teacher of Israel” and some suggest that Nicodemas was a popular religious speaker at the temple.
So, he was prosperous, popular and powerful and the scripture says “he came to Jesus by night.” And we wonder why? It might have been because he was afraid people might criticize him for talking to Jesus who had been labeled as a heretic. Then again, the rabbi’s taught that the best time to study the scripture was at night and since Jesus was surrounded by crowds during the day maybe Nicodemas thought he could have some private and undisturbed time with Jesus. Or maybe he wanted to investigate who Jesus was before making any kind of public declaration as to whether he was for Him or against Him.
But we might also wonder why he came at all? Was there a personal need? Was there something missing in his life or did he suspect that Jesus was the coming one he had been teaching about?
So, in the darkness of night it says he came to the source of light and here’s the conversation he had with Jesus and it follows a pattern in John’s gospel where one asks a question, then Jesus responds in a way that’s difficult to understand but then He explains what it means. And the purpose of this dialogue is to get the one who is asking the question to think things out as he follows Jesus’ logic.
I So, we begin with a statement by Nicodemas about who he believes Jesus is that leads up to his asking about His teaching.
It begins in verses 2 and 3, “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.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
When we see what was being said by both we tend to ask what Nicodemas was saying that would provoke such a response. Basically, from his own words we see he had a certain amount of respect for Jesus because he was a respected teacher and was addressing Jesus as a teacher and was saying, I’ve been watching and listening to you.
And he would have heard Jesus teach about the kingdom of God, seen Him perform miracles and even watched Him cleanse the temple with a whip. And Nicodemas was saying, one can’t help but be impressed by all the miracles you’re doing but what I want to ask you about is the kingdom of God and maybe he was wondering what Jesus thought about future things as well. But, rather then get into a theological discussion with him Jesus just zeroed in on the issue of personal salvation.
And Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you. Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And here He divides mankind into two categories. There are those who are saved and those who are lost. There’s nothing in the Bible about purgatory and no waiting room. We either have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ or we don’t.
Jesus said, “You must be born again.” And “Must” is a strong word. It means there is no other way of going to heaven unless you’re born again.
John Wesley, who was the founder of Methodism had been born into a home where his father was a pastor and was very educated in the things of the faith. He went to the right university and was headed for the ministry. He even founded a group called the “holy club” which was an organization that was dedicated to obeying the scripture and living it out. But he knew there was something was missing in his life and he was born again.
John Wesley was said to have preached on the title, “You must be born again” over three hundred times. When someone asked him why he preached that message so many times he said, “Because, you must be born again.”
Now listen, this term “born again” wasn’t knew to Nicodemas. The Jews said that when someone came from another faith to Judiasm, he was born again. Many of the mystery religions of the Greeks used this term to describe what happens when someone enters into a mystical union with a god; they said they were twice born. The ancient world all wished they could be born again; it’s what everyone wished for; the opportunity to start a second time so we could do everything right. e
II Then Nicodemas asked a second question in verse 4, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
There are two kinds of misunderstandings. One is when something is too hard to understand and the second is when we hear something we’re not willing to understand because it means we’ll have to change the way we live.
I think Nicodemas understood what Jesus was saying but he wasn’t willing to face it emotionally. He said, “Can a man be born when he is old? Or can a man ever be born again?” I think he was saying, I’ve been travelling down the same old road for the last fifty years and change comes hard for me.
And he was probably wondering, what about my teaching position or what about my position of respect or what about my seat on the Sanhedrin?
And then Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.”
I’m sure the argument could have gone on but Jesus said all He needed to say. Nicodemas could have said, “But I’ve been a good member of the temple and Jesus would have said, “You must be born again.” And Nicodemas might have said, “I’ve spent my life teaching the Bible but Jesus would have said, “You must be born again.” And then Nicodemas might have said but do you know how much money I give to the temple and Jesus would have said, “You must be born again.” And as a last stab at justification nicodemas might have said, I’m just as good as the next guy but Jesus would say, “You must be born again.” It’s been said, “If you’re born once, you die twice; if you’re born twice, you only die once!”
Listen, in this room we can have people from any kind of religion who’ve spent their lives going to and supporting a church but Jesus will ask you one question when you get to heaven, “Are you born again or are you lost?”
The gospel message almost sounds too good to be true and it is too good but it’s also true. There was a story that went around the news a while back about a couple by the name of Glen and Gloria Symes. They had had their taxes done by H&R Block and were automatically entered into some kind of a contest and the prize was one million dollars. There were seventeen million Americans entered into this contest. And when the draw took place Glen and Gloria received a call from H&R Block telling them that they had won the million dollars and they politely hung up and thought, that was some kind of advertisement or a way to get your credit card and they forgot all about it. A few days later H&R Block called back again but they politely told them they weren’t interested. Then they received information in the mail but they thought it was false advertisement and they threw it out. Glen just told his wife it was some kind of scam so they ignored it. They received another call from H&R Block and they hung up on them. Finally, someone from H&R Block went to visit them but they wouldn’t even let them in the door. At last, they were contacted by the Today Show and they realized that this was for real. And they received the cheque for a million dollars on the show.
Listen, you can hear the gospel every which way possible but if you don’t receive it in faith it won’t do you a bit of good. You’ll live for yourself and die by yourself. Mark Twain once said, “The only one who likes change is a wet baby.” But change is what we need.
Close
There’s a tombstone in an English village that says,
Here lies a miser, who lived for himself,
And cared for nothing but gathering wealth.
Now where he is and how he fares,
Nobody knows and nobody cares.
What an awful way to describe someone and yet there are many who live their entire lives for themselves and sadly some of them can even claim to be believers. And let’s face it, we can all put on a good show for every one else but the Lord sees beneath our mask.
