A smart, well-known, and well-liked leader named Nicodemus had seen and heard of this Jesus of Nazareth. This Jesus recently burst onto the scene at Passover when he cleared animals and money changers out of the temple.
Nicodemus, and surely many others, are somewhat intrigued. So, by night, presumably not to be seen by others, Nicodemus comes to Jesus. He wants to know more about him. He addresses him respectfully with a degree of reverence: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
Jesus [who knows what is in the heart of man] redirects him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
Wait… what?
If you’re confused, don’t worry, so was Nicodemus. Without directly addressing this opening salvo, Jesus introduces two key and related concepts: a second birth and the kingdom of God.
This language of rebirth, or being born again, perplexed Nicodemus. And it is perplexing.
Like I know I was born, but I do not remember that experience, praise the Lord. And I know there are some things you can do twice. Like you can watch a movie twice, you can read a book twice, you can take a shower twice, but you just can’t be born twice. That’s a one-time thing.
But Jesus teaches us that if you will see God’s Kingdom–if you will live as the people of God
in the world – know him as Father, obey him as Lord, serve him as King, and worship him as
God, then you will have to be born again.
Unless one is born of water and spirit, they cannot enter God’s kingdom. That means the sort of rebirth Jesus speaks about is certainly not physical or natural–it’s of water and spirit. There is a lot of discussion about what exactly Jesus has in mind here. Let’s just take the plainest sense:
You must be re-born spiritually and that spiritual rebirth is a sort of cleansing.
How do you enter God’s Kingdom? You must be born again! Ok. So we can live in the world as the people who know, love, and obey God by being born again. That leads to a second question… How in the world are you born again? HOW are you born by water and spirit? Like, what must we do to be born again?
How can you be born again?
Check out John 3:14-15 later in their conversation: 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Here Jesus alludes to a fascinating story from the Old Testament. God’s people find themselves wandering in the wilderness and they get really frustrated with God and their earthly leaders. In their grumbling they sin against God.
God, in turn, sends judgment for the sins of his people. What is the judgment? Fiery serpents come among his people!
They realize their sin, they confess their sin, and they ask Moses to intercede on their behalf before God, asking that he would relent in his judgment. God instructs Moses to take a fiery serpent, set it on a pole, and hold it up. Everyone who looks to that serpent will live.
Numbers 21:4-9
4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And 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 take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Just as a snake was lifted up on a pole, so too will be the Son of Man.
Oh, Jesus speaks of his cross. The Son of Man [Jesus] will be lifted up on a wooden cross outside the city gates. All who believe in him, who look upon him with the eye of faith, will have eternal life.
If you will enter the kingdom of God, you must be born again. To be born again, you must look to Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man. He has been lifted up for us and our salvation. Eternal life–life with God–life in God’s Kingdom begins when we believe the message of Jesus – his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.
Have you trusted Jesus?
With the eye of faith, have you looked up on the cross?
Have you been born again, born of water and the spirit, when by faith you believed in Jesus?
Because, Nicodemus, this is what it takes! It is not enough to simply be a descendent of Abraham and Jacob. It is not enough to keep the Law. It is not enough to offer sacrifices. It is not enough to give to the poor.
Nicodemus, this is not about what you must do. There’s nothing you can do to be reborn. Like the wind that blows where it wills, you don’t control this process. It’s God’s initiative. The Spirit brings life when Jesus cleanses us from sin–born again of water and spirit–when we believe in
Jesus we enter God’s Kingdom–a kingdom of love and light.