John 3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 The same came to him 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 him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born again, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”
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 certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees, a member of the ruling religious council, the Sanhedrin, seeing the signs that Jesus had performed in Jerusalem during the Passover, was convinced that Jesus was a teacher come from God. Nicodemus was curious. He came to Jesus one night seeking more information. Rather than directly responding to the man’s inquiry Jesus challenged Nicodemus with a perplexing statement.
“Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born again, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”
What was Jesus getting at?
The Pharisees taught that because the Jews were descended from Abraham they were guaranteed a place in heaven. They believed that heaven was their birthright saying, “We are safe because we are the descendants of Abraham.” Matthew 3:9 Of course we encounter the same thinking in the world today. Many Jewish people believe that they will go to heaven because they are descendants of Abraham. Similarly, many Christians think that because they were born to Christian parents or in a “Christian” nation their eternity is secure. Christ is making the point that neither membership in his Old Covenant Kingdom nor membership in his New Covenant Kingdom is a birthright. To enter into God’s Kingdom one must be born again. Redemption is spiritual.
John 3:9 Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”
Jesus answered his question by referring to a prophesy in the Old Testament. “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom,”
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:25-28
Being a descendant of Abraham cannot guarantee Kingdom membership. Rather one must be cleansed by the sacrifice of Christ by acknowledging and confessing their sins and receiving the Holy Spirit.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Even today we don’t fully understand how and where the wind blows but we see its effects. Similarly, the ways of God are beyond our understanding, Isaiah 55:8-9, but we see the effects of the Spirit. We don’t know how or why the Spirit moves, but we do know this; We were dead because of our sins, Ephesians 2:5, but made alive in the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18
Jesus chides Nicodemus because as a teacher of Israel he should have been aware of Ezekiel’s prophesy.
John 3:10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things? 11 Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness. 12 If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. 14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Numbers 21:9, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
After scolding Nicodemus for not understanding the prophesy of Ezekiel Jesus continues to explain himself by giving Nicodemus an object lesson. Jesus compares his ministry to a perplexing Old Testament event. In Numbers 21:6-9, the people spoke against God complaining that he had freed them from slavery only to lead them into a harsh, unforgiving wilderness.
So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that he may take away the serpents from us. Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole; it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it shall live.”
Like Israel, we have all sinned following the temptations of the serpent, the father of lies. John 8:44 The Israelites, who because of their sins were facing death, had to confess their sin and look up to the one who offered redemption. The story in Numbers foreshadows the work of Christ who was lifted up on the cross taking our sins, the sting of death, upon himself.
Jesus goes on to explain.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”
The ancient Israelites had sinned against God. As sinners they were condemned. There was nothing that they could do to save themselves. They were dying. There was only one way to not perish. There is only one way to life. Just as the Israelites in the desert had to look to the bronze serpent who foreshadowed the Messiah, who is the only way of salvation, the only way to gain eternal life, is to look to Christ, God’s one and only Son. For God didn’t send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
A lot of people in our world today reject Christianity because they have succumbed to the lies of Satan. They believe in and worship their false counterfeit gods in their own way. They view God’s offer of eternal life exclusively through Christ as judgmental and condemning.
For example, in his sermon just this week Reverend Brent Hawkes, pastor of Metropolitan Community Church in Toronto, stated that because referring to Jesus as Savior is a stumbling block for many, the designation Savior should be removed from the Bible.
“I would hope that someday the church would see the possibility of changing that word because it is a stumbling block for so many who want to be here. It is a stumbling block for people to do interfaith work – how do we explain the word Savior- to Muslims and to Jews and to Hindus?”
But nothing could be further from the truth. Just like the Israelites in the desert, because we love darkness, because we cling to our sin, we are facing judgment. But God so loved the world, to remedy our hopeless situation he sent his Son that the world should be saved through him…As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Numbers 21:9, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Jesus wanted Nicodemus to understand that just as the Israelites had to look up to the bronze serpent to be saved, those who look to the Son of God, the Messiah, will not perish in their sins, they will not face eternal condemnation. They will be born again into God’s Kingdom. As a teacher of the law Nicodemus should have understood the meaning of these two Biblical stories.