1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus 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 and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
John 3:1-3 (NKJV)
Discussion Question:
- If someone asked you how could they see the kingdom of God, what would you tell them?
- Had Jesus asked Nicodemus the question He asked of the disciples in 1:38, "What do you want?' what do you think he would have answered? (question from page 33 of our book)
Comments:
Over the next two weeks we will cover chapter 3, which is a great chapter that is filled with amazing truths that help us understand our relationship with Christ. The first half of the chapter is Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus; the last half covers John the Baptist's last testimony regarding Christ. No matter where you are in your walk with Christ this portion of God's word will bring you closer to Him if you will only let it.
We begin with an introduction to a fellow named Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee, which means that he was part of group that was very ritualistic and thought of themselves as religiously pure according to OT law. He was also a ruler of the Jews, which probably means that he was a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was like the Jewish Supreme Court. All of this is important because it shows us that Nicodemus was a well educated religious guy. He knew his scripture and he lived as he believed the scripture taught.
Therefore, because of his knowledge, when he seen Jesus performing miracles and heard His teaching, he knew that there was something special about Him. So, he waits until it is dark, where no one of his groups can see, and he approaches Jesus. He doesn't really ask any questions, he just states what he believes as fact, "we know that You have come from God as a teacher." Jesus, knowing what was in Nicodemus' heart and where he stood in an eternal sense, answered a question that Nicodemus did not even ask (at least not out loud). Nicodemus' beliefs were based on what Jewish tradition had taught him; he believed that he was qualified for heaven based on his Jewish heritage and his keeping of religious rites. Jesus knew this is where his heart stood, so now He is going to correct him.
Jesus says to him, "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Let's start at the end with, "he cannot see the kingdom of God;" Why can he not see the kingdom of God? He can't see the kingdom of God because his sin makes him unsuitable for the kingdom. He can't see it because he is dead in his sin. This would be a surprise to Nicodemus because he thought that he was doing everything right: he was from the right blood line (Jewish) and he performed all the right rituals required by his religion. However, it did not matter how much he did, he could never see the kingdom because he is still dead; he cannot with any ritual or with any claim to heritage bring himself new life.
So what can Nicodemus do? Well, he can't do anything. In order to see the kingdom, he needs new life; he has to be "born again." What Nicodemus didn't understand was that there was nothing he could do to cause his new birth, the same way that the little baby growing in my wife's belly right now has no say or can do anything that will result in his birth neither can Nicodemus cause his new birth.
That begs the question then, how is one born again? Well, Nicodemus ask that very question and tomorrow we will see that question and Jesus' answer.
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