Lesson 8

A Night With Nicodemus

John 3:1-13

I once read about a guy who was reading the morning newspaper and read his own name in the obituary column. He called the paper to complain. The editor apologized and then added, "Cheer up, old man, I'll put your name in the birth announcements tomorrow and you can start life over!"

Wouldn't it be nice to start life over again? A clean slate. A fresh start. A new life. Wouldn't that be nice? Well, I 'm here today to tell you today that a new life is exactly what Jesus Christ offers. He doesn't just offer that, he demands new life for entrance into heaven.

We learn about this new life in John 3, where we read about a night that Jesus spent with Nicodemus. John has recorded their conversation for us to read in 3:1-21. This is one of the earliest one-on-one evangelistic encounters of Christ recorded in the gospels. It teaches us several important things about going to heaven.

The Necessity Of The New Birth, 3:1-7

Verses 1-2 introduces us to a man named Nicodemus. In just a few words we learn a lot about this man. He was a very religious man. To be referred to as a ruler of the Jews, means that he was a member of the Sanhedrin, one of only 70 men who oversaw the religious affairs of Israel. He would have been considered a part of the religious elite of Israel. In verse 10, Jesus acknowledged that Nicodemus was "a master of Israel" - the word means "the leading teacher, a master teacher, a doctor of the law."

We also learn from verse 1 that Nicodemus was a Pharisee, the strictest sect of the Jewish religion. The Pharisees were hyper-legalists demanding the strict adherence to some 600+ laws and a whole host of other traditions. The Pharisees, for example, believed that you could not gargle on the sabbath, because gargling constituted work. The Pharisees believed that you could eat an egg that was laid on the sabbath, if you killed the chicken the next day for breaking the sabbath.

It would seem that Nicodemus was a sincere man according to verse 2. He came to Jesus by night. Perhaps it meant that he was afraid of what his fellow Pharisees would think and so he came under the cover of darkness od night. But even if that was true, he still was interested enough to come to Jesus. He had aboserved all the miracles of Jesus in Jerusalem during Passover. The miracles had served their purpose. They had confirmed that Jesus had come form God, although Nicodemus had wrongly concluded that Jesus was just a great teacher. The miracles had aroused his interest enough to bring him for a personal conversation with Christ.

But it is not enough to be religious, to be religious, to be strict in your religious practices, to be a religious scholar and leader or even to be sincere. Jesus went straight to the need in Nicodemus' life. He didn't waste time debating religion. Jesus didn't commend Nicodemus for his religion. he confronted him with his need. He simply said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (v. 3). And He said it again. John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And then he said it a third time in verse 7 - Ye must be born again. In spite of all his religious activity, Nicodemus needed to be born again.

There are many terms to describe the act of salvation. "Become a Christian; receive Christ; trust in Christ; get saved; be converted to Christianity; make a commitment to Christ; repent; enter the kingdom." These phrases are all synonymous. Jesus adds a new one in his conversation with Nicodemus - "born again." And Jesus said that it is an absolute necessity . You will never see heaven unless you are born again. You cannot enter the kingdom of God unless you are born again. Jesus did not say that this is a way to be saved, one of many. He said that it is the way, the only way to go to heaven.

A few years ago, I cut this out of the newspaper. No not my obituary - this comes from the Ann Landers advice column. Ann Landers quotes Jesus and then turns around a contradicts Jesus. Ann Landers may be willing to allow you into heaven without having been born again, but Jesus will not. Whom do you prefer to believe? I'll take Jesus over Ann Landers any day! You must be born again in order to enter the kingdom and see heaven. You must be born again. This conversation speaks of the necessity of the new birth.

The Nature Of The New Birth, 3:5-13

Nicodemus didn't quite understand the new birth. He had some questions for Jesus. Mostly he wanted to know, not why, but how. John 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? John 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Give him some credit for that.

I think that we need also to give him a little credit, cut him some slack, for the question about re-entering into his mother's womb and being born again. I remember when I was about ten years old, hearing a preacher say that this question was to be taken literally. I was only ten, and I knew that I could not be unborn and then get reborn. Nicodemus was the leading teacher in Israel and he knew that, too. I mean ... come on. Some seem to think that this verse has sarcasm in it. But even if Nicodemus is being sarcastic, you have the same problem.

What Nicodemus is saying is, "Are you telling me that I can start over? I've invested my whole life in religion. Are you telling me that that doesn't count? That I need to start at the beginning again? How can I do that? How can you expect me to start over?"

Entering the Kingdom is not a matter of Imagination (some imagined psychological need), Generation (being born into a particular family o nation), Perspiration (religious rituals, good works, charitable deeds and self-effort), Reformation (turning over a new leaf, being a morally good person) or Imitation (following Christ's example). It is a matter of Regeneration. Carla and her mother and I were recently talking about someone whom we know and love, who recently made a profession of faith. My mother-in-law said, "I know that he made a profession of faith but I think that he still needs to be born again, not just to reform his life but to transformed, and to experience new life.

Seeing heaven is not the result of the works of men but is a gracious act of God. It is interesting to note that the Greek work translated "again" in verses 3, 5, 7 is translated "from above" in verse 31. It is not just another birth, it is a different birth. We are born from above. We are born of God. See 1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1; 5:4; 5:18.

Jesus said three things about the new birth. First, it is a spiritual birth, vs. 5-7. We are born of the Spirit. Don't be confused by the fact that Jesus mentions being born of water in verse 5. Some have interpreted this as baptism as a means of being born again. That isn't at all what Jesus is talking about.

If Jesus is speaking about baptism, He has them in the wrong order. He speaks of being born of water before being born of the Spirit. The external before the internal? No. Never. Furthermore, John makes a point to tell us in 4:2, that Jesus himself never baptized a single person. If you had to be baptized in order to go to heaven, then Jesus would have baptized. Baptism is not a picture of birth; it is a picture of death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus cannot be talking about baptism here.

What does the water refer to then? Allow me to give you a couple of possibilities. First, from the context it is easy to see that that water birth could be referring to the first birth. The first birth, the physical birth, involves water. It could be that Jesus is distinguishing the first and second birth. That which is born of the flesh and that which is born of the Spirit.

There is another possibility. Nicodemus, a scholar and teacher of the Old Testament scriptures might be thinking that Jesus is teaching some new way to go to heaven. This reference to born of water and of the Spirit could be tying the teaching of Jesus on salvation to the Old Testament. Nicodemus would, undoubtedly, have known Ezekiel 36 , one of the most significant prophecies of the Old Testament. Ezekiel 36:25-27 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. God had promised to cleanse them, give them new life, and indwell them by the Holy Spirit. The word "water" could be used as it was in Ezekiel to speak of cleansing that comes from God. Later, Paul would connect the idea of cleansing with possessing the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:5-6 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; Jesus may be reminding that this has always been the way of salvation, that His message is not new. Verse 10 - "You're the leading teacher of Israel and you don't know this?" The new birth is spiritual.

The new birth is mysterious, vs. 8-10. The new birth goes beyond human explanation. The work of the Spirit is like the wind. We don't know where it came from; we don't know where it is going; we cannot see it; we can only hear it and feel it and see what it moves. It is a mystery.

But even though it is mysterious, the new birth is real, vs. 11-13. Jesus says to Nicodemus, whether you believe it or not, I am telling you what I know, what I have seen.

The new birth is based on two things. And beginning in verse 14, Jesus explains the basis of the new birth to Nicodemus. We will consider that the next time.

Did Nicodemus experience the new birth? Was he born again? The answer is not found in John 3. We are sort of left hanging about this man. But we will meet him again later in the Gospel of John and I think that that question will be answered.

For our purposes, there is a more important question. Not was Nicodemus born again, but have you been born again? Have you experienced new life that comes only from Christ? If you have, praise God. If not, come during the invitation and let us show you how to be born again?