A Revelation for Nicodemus
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” John 3:1-3
Nicodemus was a member of the Pharisees, the most influential Jewish sect in Jesus’ time. But more than just this, he was also ‘a member of the Jewish ruling council,’ the Sanhedrin. In this conversation Jesus will address Nicodemus as ‘Israel’s teacher’ (3:10) inferring he is Israel’s most respected and revered teacher.
Nicodemus begins by addressing Jesus as ‘Rabbi,’ a teacher like himself. What he says next identifies him with the more moderate leaders in both the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin, “We know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” With Jesus’ first visit to Jerusalem, many people ‘believed’ when they saw the miracles He performed (2:23). Nicodemus could well be including himself in this group. At the very least the miracles convinced Nicodemus that Jesus was sent from God and that God was with Him in a unique way.
At this point Jesus addressing Nicodemus alone, “I tell you (singular) the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Like all orthodox Pharisees, Nicodemus believed godly Jews would enter the kingdom of God through resurrection on the last day. Because it would have been instilled into him from childhood that to be born a Jew was to be an inheritor of the kingdom of God, Nicodemus would have been astounded by Jesus’ assertion that he would not see the kingdom of God unless he was ‘born again.’
The word ‘again’ in ‘born again’ can mean ‘again’ or ‘from above.’ In the strong majority of cases in the New Testament the word means ‘from above’ but as the conversation progressed, it was clear Nicodemus was thinking born a second time, rather than born from above.
What did Jesus mean by “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again”? The kingdom of God in Scripture is the sphere of God’s sovereign rule and reign. Where God rules His kingdom is manifested.
The theme of God’s kingdom was overwhelmingly Jesus’ most common preaching subject. Jesus spoke more about the kingdom of God than even His death and resurrection.
God’s rule is established in us when we come to faith in Christ. Before our ‘new birth’ we stood separated from God, but when we received Christ we were transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and into God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13).
Christ wants us to go deeper and deeper into Himself. The more we know Him, the more willing we are to let Christ have more of us. We have nothing to fear by a greater yielding to Him and the kingdom to gain.
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