May 5, 2026 • 25 mins
A respected Bible expert slips into the night to talk with Jesus and discovers that knowledge, influence, and religious effort still leave him empty. We start at the end of John 2 where crowds believe because of signs, then slow down to ask what kind of “belief” Jesus actually recognizes. The text says Jesus knows what is in man, and that truth turns Nicodemus’s visit into more than a late-night Q&A.
We unpack who the Pharisees are, why Nicodemus likely carries real authority in Jerusalem, and why he still comes quietly. Then Jesus delivers the line that reshapes everything: unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. I explore what “born again” and “born from above” mean, why Nicodemus gets stuck in physical categories, and how Jesus contrasts flesh and Spirit to show the necessity of spiritual regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
The conversation moves from new birth to the wind, highlighting that salvation is not controlled by rituals or earned by works, but comes by God’s mercy through Christ. We end with Jesus pointing to Numbers 21 and the bronze serpent as a preview of the Son of Man being lifted up, so that whoever believes may have eternal life. If this helped you think more clearly about John 3, the gospel, and what saving faith really is, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.
Email: nathan@nathandietsche.com
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:14):
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Today we are going to read whathas become one of the most
popular and well known storiesin modern Christianity.
A story about a very religiousman named Nicodemus.
(00:35):
I'm actually going to pick up atthe end of John chapter 2,
starting at verse 23.
Now, when he was in Jerusalem atthe Passover feast, many
believed in his name when theysaw the signs that he was doing.
But Jesus, on his part, did notentrust himself to them because
he knew all people, and neededno one to bear witness about
(00:57):
man, for he himself knew whatwas in man.
These verses at the end ofchapter two are describing for
us how many people began tobelieve on Jesus Christ at the
end of that first Passover whenthey saw the signs that Jesus
was doing.
From the context and language ofthose verses, it would seem that
(01:22):
some people had come to agenuine faith in Jesus as the
Messiah.
But yet there were other peoplewhose faith was very emotional,
just as in seeing Jesus as agood teacher or as a healer, not
their savior, not their Messiah.
While some converts were genuineand others were not, Jesus knew
(01:45):
some would endure and otherswould fall away.
And following this, here in theGospel of John, we are
introduced to three uniquepeople as Jesus begins to reach
out to those who hear more abouthim.
The first is going to beNicodemus, that we will read
about today.
And Nicodemus was a veryreligious man who needed to have
(02:08):
more than just an intellectualfaith.
The second person we will readabout later is the Samaritan
woman, who needed a moraltransformation in her
understanding of the Messiah.
And finally, we'll read aboutthe nobleman whose son needed
healing, and through the healingof his son he places his faith
(02:29):
in Jesus.
In verse twenty five of chaptertwo, John tells us something
very unique.
He gives us a testimony andinsight into the divinity of
Jesus.
He said he knew all people, andhe knew what was in man.
Only God knows what's in thehearts of other men.
(02:51):
Jesus knew what was in thehearts of people.
He knew those who genuinelybelieved on his name and why
they were believing, and hefully understood who was truly
seeking him, and who was justcoming for the show.
Now starting at the beginning ofJohn chapter three.
(03:11):
Now there was a man of thePharisees named Nicodemus, a
ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by nightand said to him, Rabbi, we know
that you're a teacher come fromGod, for no one can do these
signs that you do unless God iswith him.
(03:34):
Let's examine those first twoverses.
It begins there was a man of thePharisees named Nicodemus.
Let's just talk about thePharisees for a moment.
The Pharisees as a group werelaymen.
They were not priests, and theywere about six thousand strong
(03:54):
at the time of Christ.
The Pharisees would strictlyfollow the Mosaic law, but they
also added a great deal of extrarules and regulations.
And while they believed in thewritten Torah, or the first five
books of the Bible, they alsoadded another Torah.
(04:16):
And this other Torah was theiroral Torah, or the traditions of
the elders, as they would callthem.
The Pharisees were the largestreligious political party during
the time of Jesus, and theirleaders were called rabbis or
teachers.
Some of these rabbis or teachersamongst the Pharisees were
(04:39):
members of the Sanhedrin, andthe Sanhedrin itself was the
supreme council of the Jews.
We might think of it like thesupreme court in the United
States.
It made the final decisionsamongst the Jews.
So again, in verse one we seethat there's a man of the
(04:59):
Pharisees named Nicodemus, andhe is a ruler of the Jews.
Now from what we've just learnedabout the Pharisees, we see that
Nicodemus is a prominent memberof the Pharisees.
He is very likely a member ofthe Sanhedrin, because it tells
(05:20):
us he's a ruler of the Jews.
There are also some historicalindications that show that
Nicodemus was one of thewealthiest men in all of
Jerusalem, which means he wouldhave reached the highest levels
of influence.
Nicodemus was considered anexpert with regards to the
(05:41):
scriptures.
Nicodemus was a highly elevatedreligious Jewish man.
Yet as we will see, he was lost.
He did not have eternal life.
He did not have a saving faith.
Nicodemus is a prime example ofa hypocrite.
(06:03):
But yet there is a little bit ofbeauty in Nicodemus' hypocrisy,
because Nicodemus understandshis hypocrisy.
He understands he's sinful andhe deserves God's wrath.
In fact, Nicodemus is deeplytroubled, and he will eventually
(06:25):
come to have a genuine savingfaith in Jesus, risking his own
life and reputation for Jesus.
But as we read, this is thefirst time Nicodemus is about to
encounter Christ.
Nicodemus came to Jesus bynight, and the fact that he came
(06:46):
at night shows us at the veryleast that Nicodemus had a
genuine curiosity that could notbe quenched.
Yet it also shows us thatNicodemus wanted to have a
secret meeting with Jesus,because Nicodemus feared what
the other leaders would think ofhim if he associated with Jesus.
(07:07):
And Nicodemus respectfullyaddresses Jesus as a rabbi.
Nicodemus says, Teacher, we knowthat you have come from God.
Now Nicodemus, being greatlytroubled about his own
hypocrisy, thought maybe Jesusbeing sent from God would have
(07:27):
answers to his troubled heart.
At this time, Nicodemus does notsee Jesus as his Lord and
Savior.
He doesn't understand that Jesusis the Christ.
He sees Jesus as a great teacheror prophet.
And the fact that Nicodemus usesthe word we when he says, We
(07:49):
know that you are a teacher,tells us that there are more
leaders than just him thatbelieve that Jesus was sent from
God, while there were othersthat thought quite the opposite.
And Nicodemus says, No one cando these signs unless God is
with him.
Nicodemus, along with otherleaders, understood that these
(08:11):
powerful signs that Jesus wasdoing were meant to attest to
God's goodness.
And picking up in verse three,Jesus answered him, Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless oneis born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.
(08:32):
Nicodemus said to him, How can aman be born when he is old?
Can he enter a second time intohis mother's womb and be born?
Let's pause there for a moment.
Jesus' reply to Nicodemus is toanswer a question that Nicodemus
didn't ask.
Jesus knows Nicodemus' heart,and he knows Nicodemus's
(08:57):
greatest need.
And he tells Nicodemus exactlywhat he needs to hear.
Jesus says truly, truly thephrase truly truly could be
translated amen amen, or mostassuredly.
It stresses Christ's authorityas well as an announcement that
(09:18):
Jesus is making.
And the announcement that Jesusmakes is that I say to you,
unless one is born again hecannot see the kingdom of God.
The Greek word for born againcould also be translated born
from above.
But for some reason, Nicodemusis going to think of this as
(09:42):
another physical birth.
Nicodemus's greatest need rightnow is to be born spiritually,
to be born again.
It means to be transformed, tobe taken out of the kingdom of
darkness and placed into thekingdom of light.
(10:04):
And Jesus says, Unless you areborn again, you cannot see the
kingdom of God.
When a person is in the kingdomof darkness, their minds are on
the things of darkness.
Their minds are on the things oftheir flesh.
But when they've beentransferred into the kingdom of
(10:27):
light, the Spirit has set themfree from the chains of
darkness.
And Nicodemus, this devoutPharisee, only understands God
in physical terms.
While he does understand thatsomeday the Messiah, the son of
David, would establish anearthly kingdom, Nicodemus only
(10:50):
understands this kingdom of Godin terms of the flesh.
In terms of the Jewish nation,Nicodemus doesn't understand the
promise of God to establish hiseternal kingdom for those born
spiritually.
While Nicodemus was looking forthe regeneration of this world,
(11:11):
he did not understand the needto be regenerated personally.
What Jesus is saying isrevolutionary to his mind, that
somehow the kingdom of Goddoesn't require a national or
ethnic heritage, but rather itrequires a personal
relationship, one of repentanceand spiritual birth.
(11:35):
So Nicodemus simply answers, cana man enter into his mother's
womb a second time?
Nicodemus clearly has spiritualblinders on.
He is only understanding Jesusin physical and fleshly terms.
It's very important tounderstand that Nicodemus only
understands Jesus in terms ofthe flesh, because Jesus is
(12:01):
about to reply contrasting theflesh with the spirit.
And Jesus answers Truly, truly,I say to you, unless one is born
of water and the spirit, hecannot enter the kingdom of God.
That which is born of flesh isflesh, that which is born of
(12:25):
spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said thisto you.
You must be born again.
Let's pause and look at versesfive through seven.
Jesus' answer to Nicodemus meetsNicodemus where he is, but
challenges him with the truth.
(12:48):
Jesus again uses those wordstruly, truly, emphasizing what
he is about to say.
And he says, Unless one is bornof water and the spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God.
There have been many thoughts asto what Jesus is speaking of
(13:09):
when he says you must be born ofthe water and the spirit.
But I want to say this Jesus iscontrasting the two births.
The first birth is the naturalbirth of the flesh, being born
of the water, a mother's birthwater.
This is what Nicodemus isthinking of, being born again
(13:33):
from his mother.
The second birth is a spiritualbirth, being born of the Holy
Spirit.
The water here cannot meanChristian baptism.
Christian baptism would havebeen meaningless to Nicodemus.
Some believe it's referring tothe cleansing rituals of the
(13:56):
Jews, which Nicodemus would havebeen familiar with.
However, that too cannot be whatJesus is referring to.
We see that this entireconversation is about Christ
trying to reach Nicodemus wherehe's at.
Even the phrase you can't enterthe kingdom of God unless you're
(14:17):
born again, is a reference tothe Messianic kingdom, where
Christ rules over the earth.
Nicodemus, being a man veryconcerned with the things of the
flesh, and being concerned aboutentering into God's earthly
kingdom when the Messiah comesto reign, wanted to be certain
of how he would enter into thefinal Messianic kingdom.
(14:41):
And Jesus speaks to Nicodemus atthis level.
He tells Nicodemus that ifyou're going to come into this
Messianic kingdom, you must havea personal relationship through
repentance and faith by beingborn of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is trying to takeNicodemus out from his religious
(15:02):
rituals, out from his religiousthinking, and place his faith in
the Messiah, the one sittingright in front of him.
Picking up in verse eight, thewind blows where it wishes, and
you hear its sound, but you donot know where it comes from or
where it goes.
So it is with everyone who isborn of the Spirit.
(15:24):
Jesus finishes talking aboutbeing born again with Nicodemus
by using an illustration of thewind.
Jesus is showing Nicodemus howthe work of the Holy Spirit is
outside of man's control.
Just as man cannot control thewind, likewise man cannot
(15:44):
control the Holy Spirit.
There's no religious ritual thatman can perform to get the Holy
Spirit or give the Holy Spirit.
There's no religious right thatman can do to gain favor with
God, so that the Holy Spiritwill be sent upon them, or so
that the Holy Spirit will doyour bidding.
(16:06):
Rather, the Holy Spirit does ashe wills, and he does the will
of God.
Jesus is teaching that it's notaccording to our works, but it's
according to God's mercy that weare saved.
The Holy Spirit ministers God'sgrace and mercy through Christ,
the man sitting in front ofNicodemus.
(16:30):
Finally, we can't see the wind,but we can hear it move.
And likewise, we can't see theHoly Spirit, but we can listen
and hear God's word and themessage about Jesus.
And if we do, we will hear hisvoice.
And Jesus says to Nicodemus, soit is with everyone who is born
(16:54):
of the Spirit.
Those who are born of the HolySpirit have not gained salvation
through any human effort, butrather they have surrendered to
the work of the Holy Spirit ontheir heart.
They have heard the messageabout Christ and believed.
It is the Holy Spirit that worksthrough the message about Christ
(17:16):
to bring about true conversion.
While we cannot see this orcontrol this, we can hear his
voice and believe.
Picking up in verse nine,Nicodemus said to him, How can
these things be?
Are you a teacher of Israel andyet you don't understand these
(17:36):
things?
Truly, truly I say to you, wespeak of what we know, and bear
witness of what we have seen,but you do not receive our
testimony.
If I have told you earthlythings and you do not believe,
how can you believe if I tellyou heavenly things?
(17:57):
No one has ascended into heavenexcept he who descended from
heaven, the Son of Man.
And as Moses lifted up theserpent in the wilderness, so
the Son of Man must be liftedup, that whoever believes in him
may have eternal life.
(18:20):
In verse nine we see thatNicodemus is completely
befuddled.
He is so fixated on the thingsof the flesh and of this world
that in spite of all of Jesus'teaching here, he cannot
understand his need forspiritual transformation at this
time.
(18:40):
And Jesus asks, Are you theteacher of Israel and you don't
understand these things?
In my studies I found that thereis a definite article indicating
that Nicodemus is the teacher ofIsrael.
In other words, Nicodemus'sexalted standing amongst the
Jews would appear to be thehighest of teachers.
(19:04):
Nicodemus was known as theestablished authority in all
excellence in how he wouldexamine Scripture.
But Jesus asks him, Are you theteacher of Israel, but you don't
understand these things?
Despite Nicodemus' outwardreligious piety, despite his
(19:27):
adherence to the law, despitehis great depths of
understanding the writtenscripture, Jesus rebukes
Nicodemus because Nicodemus doesnot recognize his own need for a
spiritual cleansing andtransformation through the Holy
Spirit.
(19:48):
There are actually many OldTestament verses about how
important it is to betransformed in your spirit.
For example, Psalm fifty one tenreads, Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a rightspirit within me.
Deuteronomy six five reads, Youshall love the Lord with all
(20:11):
your heart, with all your souland with all your might.
There are many others thatdescribe the importance of
loving the Lord from your heart,and being transformed by the
message about the Messiah.
Jesus' message to Nicodemus is awarning for all who would have
(20:33):
an outward religious displaywithout having an inward
transformation, because suchthings can harden one's heart.
In verse eleven, Jesus givesanother truly, truly statement,
and he says, We speak of what weknow and bear witness to what we
have seen, but you do notreceive our testimony.
(20:56):
This is an amazing statementbecause Jesus is telling
Nicodemus that he is revealingto Nicodemus things he has
personally known and seen.
Jesus is giving Nicodemusfirsthand information about
eternal things.
Unbelievers focus on things ofthe flesh, what they can see in
(21:18):
this world.
They see only through eyes offlesh, because their eyes are
focused on earthly things.
Jesus, however, knows theFather.
Jesus has seen the Father andbeen with the Father, and he
came to bear witness to theFather.
And then Jesus points toNicodemus and says that
(21:41):
Nicodemus's issue is not anignorance of his intellect, but
rather an ignorance of hisheart.
It's unbelief.
When Jesus says, But you do notreceive our testimony, he's
referring to more than justNicodemus.
He's likely referring to thewhole Sanhedrin, or even Israel
(22:02):
as a nation.
In verse twelve, Jesus contraststhings that are happening here
on earth with things that arehappening in heaven.
And he tells Nicodemus,Nicodemus, if you can't grasp
these spiritual things that I'vetold you here on earth, how
(22:23):
could you possibly understandmore abstract spiritual things
in heaven?
Like the Trinity, theincarnation of the Son of God,
my second coming and myglorification.
But then Jesus goes on todescribe some of these things.
Jesus tells Nicodemus using acombination of earthly and
(22:45):
heavenly terms.
He says, No one's ascended intoheaven except he who descended
from heaven.
In other words, no human hasgone into heaven, no person, no
man has ever gone into heavenexcept the Son of Man.
And Nicodemus understands thereference to the Son of Man from
(23:08):
Daniel 7 3.
And at this point, Nicodemuswould know that Jesus is
claiming to be that Son of Manwho has dwelt with the Father.
And then in verse 14, Jesus usesa word picture to tell Nicodemus
about his upcoming death, whichof course Nicodemus will not
(23:30):
understand until later.
But Jesus says, as Moses liftedup the serpent in the
wilderness, so the Son of Manmust be lifted up.
If you remember back in Numbers21:9, the reason that God sent
venomous snakes to Israel wasbecause they began to speak
(23:50):
against God and against hisprophet Moses.
And when Israel began to cry outto God in their suffering, God
in his mercy commanded Moses tomake a bronze serpent and set it
up on a pole.
And the Lord said that anyonewho would repent of their
rebellion and trust enough tolook upon that serpent would be
(24:14):
healed.
And Jesus says in like manner,sinners who carry the poison of
the ark serpent, Satan, who bearphysical and eternal death, can
repent of their sin.
They can look to Jesus who willbe lifted up on the cross, and
they can be saved.
(24:36):
Jesus says, Whoever believes inhim may have eternal life.
We're gonna break here.
We will finish up Jesus'conversation with Nicodemus next
week as we dive into John threesixteen and how God so loved the
(24:58):
world.
Thank you for joining me forthis conversation between Jesus
and Nicodemus.
God bless you this week.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Today we are going to read whathas become one of the most
popular and well known storiesin modern Christianity.
A story about a very religiousman named Nicodemus.
(00:35):
I'm actually going to pick up atthe end of John chapter 2,
starting at verse 23.
Now, when he was in Jerusalem atthe Passover feast, many
believed in his name when theysaw the signs that he was doing.
But Jesus, on his part, did notentrust himself to them because
he knew all people, and neededno one to bear witness about
(00:57):
man, for he himself knew whatwas in man.
These verses at the end ofchapter two are describing for
us how many people began tobelieve on Jesus Christ at the
end of that first Passover whenthey saw the signs that Jesus
was doing.
From the context and language ofthose verses, it would seem that
(01:22):
some people had come to agenuine faith in Jesus as the
Messiah.
But yet there were other peoplewhose faith was very emotional,
just as in seeing Jesus as agood teacher or as a healer, not
their savior, not their Messiah.
While some converts were genuineand others were not, Jesus knew
(01:45):
some would endure and otherswould fall away.
And following this, here in theGospel of John, we are
introduced to three uniquepeople as Jesus begins to reach
out to those who hear more abouthim.
The first is going to beNicodemus, that we will read
about today.
And Nicodemus was a veryreligious man who needed to have
(02:08):
more than just an intellectualfaith.
The second person we will readabout later is the Samaritan
woman, who needed a moraltransformation in her
understanding of the Messiah.
And finally, we'll read aboutthe nobleman whose son needed
healing, and through the healingof his son he places his faith
(02:29):
in Jesus.
In verse twenty five of chaptertwo, John tells us something
very unique.
He gives us a testimony andinsight into the divinity of
Jesus.
He said he knew all people, andhe knew what was in man.
Only God knows what's in thehearts of other men.
(02:51):
Jesus knew what was in thehearts of people.
He knew those who genuinelybelieved on his name and why
they were believing, and hefully understood who was truly
seeking him, and who was justcoming for the show.
Now starting at the beginning ofJohn chapter three.
(03:11):
Now there was a man of thePharisees named Nicodemus, a
ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by nightand said to him, Rabbi, we know
that you're a teacher come fromGod, for no one can do these
signs that you do unless God iswith him.
(03:34):
Let's examine those first twoverses.
It begins there was a man of thePharisees named Nicodemus.
Let's just talk about thePharisees for a moment.
The Pharisees as a group werelaymen.
They were not priests, and theywere about six thousand strong
(03:54):
at the time of Christ.
The Pharisees would strictlyfollow the Mosaic law, but they
also added a great deal of extrarules and regulations.
And while they believed in thewritten Torah, or the first five
books of the Bible, they alsoadded another Torah.
(04:16):
And this other Torah was theiroral Torah, or the traditions of
the elders, as they would callthem.
The Pharisees were the largestreligious political party during
the time of Jesus, and theirleaders were called rabbis or
teachers.
Some of these rabbis or teachersamongst the Pharisees were
(04:39):
members of the Sanhedrin, andthe Sanhedrin itself was the
supreme council of the Jews.
We might think of it like thesupreme court in the United
States.
It made the final decisionsamongst the Jews.
So again, in verse one we seethat there's a man of the
(04:59):
Pharisees named Nicodemus, andhe is a ruler of the Jews.
Now from what we've just learnedabout the Pharisees, we see that
Nicodemus is a prominent memberof the Pharisees.
He is very likely a member ofthe Sanhedrin, because it tells
(05:20):
us he's a ruler of the Jews.
There are also some historicalindications that show that
Nicodemus was one of thewealthiest men in all of
Jerusalem, which means he wouldhave reached the highest levels
of influence.
Nicodemus was considered anexpert with regards to the
(05:41):
scriptures.
Nicodemus was a highly elevatedreligious Jewish man.
Yet as we will see, he was lost.
He did not have eternal life.
He did not have a saving faith.
Nicodemus is a prime example ofa hypocrite.
(06:03):
But yet there is a little bit ofbeauty in Nicodemus' hypocrisy,
because Nicodemus understandshis hypocrisy.
He understands he's sinful andhe deserves God's wrath.
In fact, Nicodemus is deeplytroubled, and he will eventually
(06:25):
come to have a genuine savingfaith in Jesus, risking his own
life and reputation for Jesus.
But as we read, this is thefirst time Nicodemus is about to
encounter Christ.
Nicodemus came to Jesus bynight, and the fact that he came
(06:46):
at night shows us at the veryleast that Nicodemus had a
genuine curiosity that could notbe quenched.
Yet it also shows us thatNicodemus wanted to have a
secret meeting with Jesus,because Nicodemus feared what
the other leaders would think ofhim if he associated with Jesus.
(07:07):
And Nicodemus respectfullyaddresses Jesus as a rabbi.
Nicodemus says, Teacher, we knowthat you have come from God.
Now Nicodemus, being greatlytroubled about his own
hypocrisy, thought maybe Jesusbeing sent from God would have
(07:27):
answers to his troubled heart.
At this time, Nicodemus does notsee Jesus as his Lord and
Savior.
He doesn't understand that Jesusis the Christ.
He sees Jesus as a great teacheror prophet.
And the fact that Nicodemus usesthe word we when he says, We
(07:49):
know that you are a teacher,tells us that there are more
leaders than just him thatbelieve that Jesus was sent from
God, while there were othersthat thought quite the opposite.
And Nicodemus says, No one cando these signs unless God is
with him.
Nicodemus, along with otherleaders, understood that these
(08:11):
powerful signs that Jesus wasdoing were meant to attest to
God's goodness.
And picking up in verse three,Jesus answered him, Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless oneis born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.
(08:32):
Nicodemus said to him, How can aman be born when he is old?
Can he enter a second time intohis mother's womb and be born?
Let's pause there for a moment.
Jesus' reply to Nicodemus is toanswer a question that Nicodemus
didn't ask.
Jesus knows Nicodemus' heart,and he knows Nicodemus's
(08:57):
greatest need.
And he tells Nicodemus exactlywhat he needs to hear.
Jesus says truly, truly thephrase truly truly could be
translated amen amen, or mostassuredly.
It stresses Christ's authorityas well as an announcement that
(09:18):
Jesus is making.
And the announcement that Jesusmakes is that I say to you,
unless one is born again hecannot see the kingdom of God.
The Greek word for born againcould also be translated born
from above.
But for some reason, Nicodemusis going to think of this as
(09:42):
another physical birth.
Nicodemus's greatest need rightnow is to be born spiritually,
to be born again.
It means to be transformed, tobe taken out of the kingdom of
darkness and placed into thekingdom of light.
(10:04):
And Jesus says, Unless you areborn again, you cannot see the
kingdom of God.
When a person is in the kingdomof darkness, their minds are on
the things of darkness.
Their minds are on the things oftheir flesh.
But when they've beentransferred into the kingdom of
(10:27):
light, the Spirit has set themfree from the chains of
darkness.
And Nicodemus, this devoutPharisee, only understands God
in physical terms.
While he does understand thatsomeday the Messiah, the son of
David, would establish anearthly kingdom, Nicodemus only
(10:50):
understands this kingdom of Godin terms of the flesh.
In terms of the Jewish nation,Nicodemus doesn't understand the
promise of God to establish hiseternal kingdom for those born
spiritually.
While Nicodemus was looking forthe regeneration of this world,
(11:11):
he did not understand the needto be regenerated personally.
What Jesus is saying isrevolutionary to his mind, that
somehow the kingdom of Goddoesn't require a national or
ethnic heritage, but rather itrequires a personal
relationship, one of repentanceand spiritual birth.
(11:35):
So Nicodemus simply answers, cana man enter into his mother's
womb a second time?
Nicodemus clearly has spiritualblinders on.
He is only understanding Jesusin physical and fleshly terms.
It's very important tounderstand that Nicodemus only
understands Jesus in terms ofthe flesh, because Jesus is
(12:01):
about to reply contrasting theflesh with the spirit.
And Jesus answers Truly, truly,I say to you, unless one is born
of water and the spirit, hecannot enter the kingdom of God.
That which is born of flesh isflesh, that which is born of
(12:25):
spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said thisto you.
You must be born again.
Let's pause and look at versesfive through seven.
Jesus' answer to Nicodemus meetsNicodemus where he is, but
challenges him with the truth.
(12:48):
Jesus again uses those wordstruly, truly, emphasizing what
he is about to say.
And he says, Unless one is bornof water and the spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God.
There have been many thoughts asto what Jesus is speaking of
(13:09):
when he says you must be born ofthe water and the spirit.
But I want to say this Jesus iscontrasting the two births.
The first birth is the naturalbirth of the flesh, being born
of the water, a mother's birthwater.
This is what Nicodemus isthinking of, being born again
(13:33):
from his mother.
The second birth is a spiritualbirth, being born of the Holy
Spirit.
The water here cannot meanChristian baptism.
Christian baptism would havebeen meaningless to Nicodemus.
Some believe it's referring tothe cleansing rituals of the
(13:56):
Jews, which Nicodemus would havebeen familiar with.
However, that too cannot be whatJesus is referring to.
We see that this entireconversation is about Christ
trying to reach Nicodemus wherehe's at.
Even the phrase you can't enterthe kingdom of God unless you're
(14:17):
born again, is a reference tothe Messianic kingdom, where
Christ rules over the earth.
Nicodemus, being a man veryconcerned with the things of the
flesh, and being concerned aboutentering into God's earthly
kingdom when the Messiah comesto reign, wanted to be certain
of how he would enter into thefinal Messianic kingdom.
(14:41):
And Jesus speaks to Nicodemus atthis level.
He tells Nicodemus that ifyou're going to come into this
Messianic kingdom, you must havea personal relationship through
repentance and faith by beingborn of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is trying to takeNicodemus out from his religious
(15:02):
rituals, out from his religiousthinking, and place his faith in
the Messiah, the one sittingright in front of him.
Picking up in verse eight, thewind blows where it wishes, and
you hear its sound, but you donot know where it comes from or
where it goes.
So it is with everyone who isborn of the Spirit.
(15:24):
Jesus finishes talking aboutbeing born again with Nicodemus
by using an illustration of thewind.
Jesus is showing Nicodemus howthe work of the Holy Spirit is
outside of man's control.
Just as man cannot control thewind, likewise man cannot
(15:44):
control the Holy Spirit.
There's no religious ritual thatman can perform to get the Holy
Spirit or give the Holy Spirit.
There's no religious right thatman can do to gain favor with
God, so that the Holy Spiritwill be sent upon them, or so
that the Holy Spirit will doyour bidding.
(16:06):
Rather, the Holy Spirit does ashe wills, and he does the will
of God.
Jesus is teaching that it's notaccording to our works, but it's
according to God's mercy that weare saved.
The Holy Spirit ministers God'sgrace and mercy through Christ,
the man sitting in front ofNicodemus.
(16:30):
Finally, we can't see the wind,but we can hear it move.
And likewise, we can't see theHoly Spirit, but we can listen
and hear God's word and themessage about Jesus.
And if we do, we will hear hisvoice.
And Jesus says to Nicodemus, soit is with everyone who is born
(16:54):
of the Spirit.
Those who are born of the HolySpirit have not gained salvation
through any human effort, butrather they have surrendered to
the work of the Holy Spirit ontheir heart.
They have heard the messageabout Christ and believed.
It is the Holy Spirit that worksthrough the message about Christ
(17:16):
to bring about true conversion.
While we cannot see this orcontrol this, we can hear his
voice and believe.
Picking up in verse nine,Nicodemus said to him, How can
these things be?
Are you a teacher of Israel andyet you don't understand these
(17:36):
things?
Truly, truly I say to you, wespeak of what we know, and bear
witness of what we have seen,but you do not receive our
testimony.
If I have told you earthlythings and you do not believe,
how can you believe if I tellyou heavenly things?
(17:57):
No one has ascended into heavenexcept he who descended from
heaven, the Son of Man.
And as Moses lifted up theserpent in the wilderness, so
the Son of Man must be liftedup, that whoever believes in him
may have eternal life.
(18:20):
In verse nine we see thatNicodemus is completely
befuddled.
He is so fixated on the thingsof the flesh and of this world
that in spite of all of Jesus'teaching here, he cannot
understand his need forspiritual transformation at this
time.
(18:40):
And Jesus asks, Are you theteacher of Israel and you don't
understand these things?
In my studies I found that thereis a definite article indicating
that Nicodemus is the teacher ofIsrael.
In other words, Nicodemus'sexalted standing amongst the
Jews would appear to be thehighest of teachers.
(19:04):
Nicodemus was known as theestablished authority in all
excellence in how he wouldexamine Scripture.
But Jesus asks him, Are you theteacher of Israel, but you don't
understand these things?
Despite Nicodemus' outwardreligious piety, despite his
(19:27):
adherence to the law, despitehis great depths of
understanding the writtenscripture, Jesus rebukes
Nicodemus because Nicodemus doesnot recognize his own need for a
spiritual cleansing andtransformation through the Holy
Spirit.
(19:48):
There are actually many OldTestament verses about how
important it is to betransformed in your spirit.
For example, Psalm fifty one tenreads, Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a rightspirit within me.
Deuteronomy six five reads, Youshall love the Lord with all
(20:11):
your heart, with all your souland with all your might.
There are many others thatdescribe the importance of
loving the Lord from your heart,and being transformed by the
message about the Messiah.
Jesus' message to Nicodemus is awarning for all who would have
(20:33):
an outward religious displaywithout having an inward
transformation, because suchthings can harden one's heart.
In verse eleven, Jesus givesanother truly, truly statement,
and he says, We speak of what weknow and bear witness to what we
have seen, but you do notreceive our testimony.
(20:56):
This is an amazing statementbecause Jesus is telling
Nicodemus that he is revealingto Nicodemus things he has
personally known and seen.
Jesus is giving Nicodemusfirsthand information about
eternal things.
Unbelievers focus on things ofthe flesh, what they can see in
(21:18):
this world.
They see only through eyes offlesh, because their eyes are
focused on earthly things.
Jesus, however, knows theFather.
Jesus has seen the Father andbeen with the Father, and he
came to bear witness to theFather.
And then Jesus points toNicodemus and says that
(21:41):
Nicodemus's issue is not anignorance of his intellect, but
rather an ignorance of hisheart.
It's unbelief.
When Jesus says, But you do notreceive our testimony, he's
referring to more than justNicodemus.
He's likely referring to thewhole Sanhedrin, or even Israel
(22:02):
as a nation.
In verse twelve, Jesus contraststhings that are happening here
on earth with things that arehappening in heaven.
And he tells Nicodemus,Nicodemus, if you can't grasp
these spiritual things that I'vetold you here on earth, how
(22:23):
could you possibly understandmore abstract spiritual things
in heaven?
Like the Trinity, theincarnation of the Son of God,
my second coming and myglorification.
But then Jesus goes on todescribe some of these things.
Jesus tells Nicodemus using acombination of earthly and
(22:45):
heavenly terms.
He says, No one's ascended intoheaven except he who descended
from heaven.
In other words, no human hasgone into heaven, no person, no
man has ever gone into heavenexcept the Son of Man.
And Nicodemus understands thereference to the Son of Man from
(23:08):
Daniel 7 3.
And at this point, Nicodemuswould know that Jesus is
claiming to be that Son of Manwho has dwelt with the Father.
And then in verse 14, Jesus usesa word picture to tell Nicodemus
about his upcoming death, whichof course Nicodemus will not
(23:30):
understand until later.
But Jesus says, as Moses liftedup the serpent in the
wilderness, so the Son of Manmust be lifted up.
If you remember back in Numbers21:9, the reason that God sent
venomous snakes to Israel wasbecause they began to speak
(23:50):
against God and against hisprophet Moses.
And when Israel began to cry outto God in their suffering, God
in his mercy commanded Moses tomake a bronze serpent and set it
up on a pole.
And the Lord said that anyonewho would repent of their
rebellion and trust enough tolook upon that serpent would be
(24:14):
healed.
And Jesus says in like manner,sinners who carry the poison of
the ark serpent, Satan, who bearphysical and eternal death, can
repent of their sin.
They can look to Jesus who willbe lifted up on the cross, and
they can be saved.
(24:36):
Jesus says, Whoever believes inhim may have eternal life.
We're gonna break here.
We will finish up Jesus'conversation with Nicodemus next
week as we dive into John threesixteen and how God so loved the
(24:58):
world.
Thank you for joining me forthis conversation between Jesus
and Nicodemus.
God bless you this week.
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