John 3:4-8 -- 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the physical is merely physical], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be surprised that I have told you, ‘You must be born again [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified].’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Today, our journey in the Word has us listening in on the continued conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus. Nicodemus had come to Jesus by night, calling Him "Rabbi", acknowledging He must be from God. Then Jesus responds by telling him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”.
Nicodemus was a highly educated, religious ruler and leader, so his response isn't because he didn't know enough. It's because what Jesus was speaking to him went against Nicodemus' understanding of things. What does Jesus mean, "born again", when Nicodemus is already a Jew, he has already been born a descendant of Abraham. So, Jesus presses further in today's reply.
We go through Jesus' reply in these verses and Jesus has quite a lot to say. There is tons of good stuff we can read just on the surface and doing word studies finds even more. I've read this many times but not until today did some things fall into place. It's not until you understand things from Nicodemus' perspective, that it really hits home what Jesus is doing here. Yes, He is speaking truth for all of us, but He is doing something deep here with this Jewish Pharisee, member of the Sanhedrin, religious ruler, and teacher.
As the Lord and I moved into reading and studying the Word today, I did what I normally do. Prayed over it, then read multiple translations, read the whole chapter over, I started looking over each word in the Greek, then read a few commentaries. It wasn't until some historical context came into view that added more depth to what Jesus was doing.
Here is the excerpt from Guzik's Commentary. It's the first place that brought historical context, then I went to a few others and found the same details as well.
b. How can a man be born when he is old? In His description of new birth, Jesus recalled a familiar theme from Old Testament promises of the New Covenant (Deuteronomy 30:1-6, Jeremiah 23:1-8, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Jeremiah 32:37-41, Ezekiel 11:16-20, Ezekiel 36:16-28, Ezekiel 37:11-14, 37:21-28). These passages essentially made three promises in the New Covenant:
· The gathering of Israel.
· The cleansing and spiritual transformation of God’s people.
· The reign of the Messiah over Israel and the whole world.
i. In Jesus’ day, the common teaching among the Jewish people was that the first two aspects of the New Covenant had been fulfilled. They saw Israel gathered – at least in part – after the Babylonian exile. They saw strong spiritual movements like the Pharisees, which they believed fulfilled the promise of spiritual transformation. All they waited for was the reign of the Messiah.
ii. That’s why Jesus’ statement about the new birth was so strange to Nicodemus. He thought that the Jewish people already had it; they certainly weren’t looking for it. They only looked for a triumphant Messiah.
When you see that Nicodemus' understanding of the New Covenant was that it was already two-thirds complete, to be born again as a Jew made no sense, because he was already born as a Jew.
Another interesting bit historically is that when a gentile converted to Judaism, they had to go through a process. It included being immersed in water to wash away gentile impurities, then they were described as starting a new life or being newborn children. So, if Jesus had said, "Gentiles must be born again.", it's quite likely Nicodemus would've easily understood and agreed. However, Jesus says we all must be born again.
What is happening here is same thing Jesus has done from the beginning and that is confront those who come to Him with the whole truth. Jesus kept saying, "Truly, Truly" or in the Greek it's "Amēn, Amēn", to convey to Nicodemus, this is truly true. He was opening Nicodemus' eyes to the self-deception he had that he was perfectly okay with just being born a Jew and knowing the scriptures. That what he'd rooted his life and beliefs in wasn't enough.
It's just this continued theme that Jesus doesn't want people to follow Him just to follow Him, or just because others are, or just because someone said to… NO.. He wants people to fully understand who He is. What He's about. What the cost is upfront. You see for Jesus his actions show it's not about the headcount or tallying up how many showed up. It's about genuinely making Himself and the whole truth known, so that people will follow Him for Him, or they will go the other way. This sounds harsh, but if someone comes to follow Jesus with their eyes closed, and they have no clue the cost, or what it entails, there is a danger they could go their whole life believing they are all set, but in the end never actually knowing Him.
Christian, If we're going to obey 1 John 2:6, which is for those who profess to be in Christ Jesus to act and walk as He acted and walked, then we're going to need to be willing to lovingly, speak up, be direct, and be willing to confront people with His Truth, to help them fully see what it is to KNOW Jesus, to walk with Him.
I close with the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23 as something for us to deeply think about.
Matthew 7:21-23 -- “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Well, that's it for today. Please know you are loved. You are prayed over. You are not alone. Reach out if you need prayer, to talk, or just someone to listen.
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