Grace Thoughts
GraceLife Thoughts: Love and Wrath (Part 3)
The world’s most popular Bible verse, John 3:16, is part of a conversation Jesus Christ had with a ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus.
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night … John 3:1-2a
Nicodemus
It almost seems as if Nicodemus came out of nowhere. His name is mentioned only in the Gospel of John. Here’s this Pharisee who is a member of the Sanhedrin (Jewish ruling Council) visiting Jesus at night. Other Pharisees approached Jesus during the day to try to make Him look bad in front of His followers or force Him into making a ‘legal’ mistake that would allow them to arrest Him. Their intent was to kill Jesus. Not so with Nicodemus. He wanted to ‘learn’ more about Jesus and probably visited Jesus at night so other Pharisees and members of the Sanhedrin would not know what he was doing.
Here’s how Nicodemus approached Jesus verbally –
… 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.’ John 3:2
While other Pharisees might use similar words to ‘flatter’ Jesus to get Him off His guard, I think Nicodemus meant what he said. I think he could tell that Jesus was special and that no one could do the ‘signs’ He was doing ‘unless God is with him.’
I can imagine many ways that Nicodemus may have imagined that Jesus would respond to his kind words, but I doubt he expected to hear this –
Born Again
Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’
What kind of response was that? Exactly the kind of response Nicodemus needed to hear. Jesus told a ruler of the Jewish people that unless a person is ‘born again,’ they ‘cannot see the kingdom of God.’ That is not what Pharisees believed or taught. The answer caught Nicodemus off guard and probably set him back on his heels a bit –
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?’
Nicodemus was a Jewish scholar. He had reached the pinnacle of his profession through years of studying, debating, and teaching, along with the political savvy necessary to become a member of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus took time out of his busy schedule to visit Jesus at night, called Him ‘Rabbi’ even though Jesus didn’t attend any of the ‘right schools’ for becoming a teacher, only to hear Jesus say the only way to enter the Kingdom of God was by being ‘born again.’
Jews believed they would enter the Kingdom of God because of their ‘physical’ connection to Abraham –
They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ John 8:39a
Jesus made it crystal clear that being born a Jew was not going to get any of them into the Kingdom of God –
Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.’ John 8:39b
The Jews viewed the scribes and Pharisees as being on the ‘top rung’ of the type of righteousness that would open the doors to the Kingdom of God. Jesus did not see it that way –
For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Imagine that! Jesus taught thousands of people that their ‘righteousness’ had to ‘exceed’ that of the scribes and Pharisees in order to ‘enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’ So, how in the world could a Jew do that? Through being ‘born again.’
When Nicodemus questioned Jesus a second time, the Lord doubled down on His answer –
Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ John 3:3
‘Seeing the Kingdom of God’ is what Jews believed was their rightful inheritance as God’s chosen people, yet here was the Man performing the ‘works of God’ saying that was not enough. What did it mean ‘not to see the Kingdom of God?’ It meant they would not see God. They would not be with God. They would not dwell in His Presence. They would not receive the great benefits God had promised Israel through the prophets. Jews would suffer an eternity without God. They would suffer God’s wrath as the ‘prophets’ had declared.
Even after Jesus answered a second time, Nicodemus still did not have a clue to what Jesus meant –
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?’ John 3:4
Nicodemus was still hearing the Words of Jesus in a ‘physical’ context. His answer seems to indicate that he’s perplexed and possibly put off by what Jesus was saying. The idea of a physical ‘rebirth’ was a physical impossibility and Nicodemus made his point clearly – “Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” The idea was ludicrous!
However, what Jesus said next took Nicodemus from the physical to the spiritual, which is where he should have been the entire time. Nicodemus was after all, “the teacher of Israel” (John 3:10).
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. 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. John 3:5-8
Aahhhh – being ‘born of the Spirit.’ Now we’re getting somewhere. Nicodemus responded to that with these words –
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, ‘How can these things be?’ John 3:9
Those are the last of Nicodemus’ words to Jesus that night. What follows is Jesus explaining to a teacher and ruler of the Jews how someone is saved from God’s wrath through God’s love. More about that in Part Four of our study.
[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts
