Why Did the Messiah Tell Nicodemus He Must Be Born Again
Throughout his ministry, Jesus frequently butted heads with the stubborn and legalistic Pharisees. His message, which stood in direct opposition to their power and principles, centered around a spiritual transformation of the heart, not a captious adherence to the law.
To feel salvation and truly run into the kingdom of God at work in one'due south life, Jesus taught that nosotros must cast aside the one-time, sinful life to get new creations—transformed, renewed, and reformed by the God's grace, not personal works.
Jesus would afterwards say that we must be "built-in again."
This idea of being "born once more" (i of the most powerful and prevalent themes in the Christian organized religion) really emerged from a conversation with a Pharisee. In John 3, Nicodemus—a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling quango—came to Jesus at dark with a seeker's heart and a question regarding the deeper meaning of salvation.
Jesus' answer would not only change his life; it would modify the lives of future Christians and agreeing seekers forever.
Who was Nicodemus in the Bible?
Nicodemus, a proper noun in Greek which means, "victory of the people," was a member of the Sanhedrin, a regional body of religious leaders and Jewish scholars charged with handling matters of Jewish law and faith. Every bit a fellow member of this body, Nicodemus would have been a well-educated, privileged, and influential man, responsible for knowing about whatever teacher or public figure who might lead the people off-target.
One night, Nicodemus came to Jesus in private to ask almost things he had heard and seen. Some believe that he came every bit a spy for the Sanhedrin, looking to discover the nature of Jesus' ministry or trap him in an respond that could exist used against him in the courts. While this couldprovide an explanation for Nicodemus's motivations, in that location is non enough evidence in the text to support this theory.
As a previously published Christianity.com article explains, the fact that he came to Jesus in individual, rather than challenging him publicly, every bit other Pharisees had frequently done, might reveal more about his center and possible motivation.
Everything nosotros know most Nicodemus comes from John's gospel. What we read in John three is that Nicodemus came to Jesus, starting the conversation with a statement, not a question:
"Rabbi, we know that You accept come from God equally a teacher, for no i tin can practice these signs that You exercise unless God is with him."(John 3:2)
Nicodemus, at the very least, was different than most Pharisees in that he acknowledged Jesus' authorisation and divine wisdom from the start. He may not have been an outright believer or follower of Jesus (at the time), but he could non fence confronting what he had seen and heard.
Every bit Matthew Henry writes in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "his (Jesus') miracles were his credentials."
Nicodemus had witnessed the miracles of Jesus and heard his teachings. Now he sought answers and came when he knew he could speak to Jesus 1-on-one.
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What Did Nicodemus Ask Jesus and Why?
To Nicodemus' initial argument, Jesus responded, "truly, truly, I say to you, unless 1 is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John three:2).
This response clearly befuddled the inquisitive Pharisee, who quickly asked, "how can a man exist born when he is onetime? He cannot enter a second time into his female parent'due south womb and exist built-in, can he?"(John 3:iv)
Nicodemus would ask a very logical question to clarify a very spiritual truth.
In his mind, information technology didn't make sense how a person could be born a 2nd time or how one would return to their mother's womb to do so. In purely concrete terms, he was right. Information technology isn't possible. But the mysteries of God and the wonders of His kingdom are not always apparent or understood in purely literal or concrete terms.
In fact, to the earthly mind, the wonders of God often seem like foolishness. Nicodemus would shortly discover that being "built-in once again" has nothing to do with physical rebirth.
Matthew Henry writes, that "such is the nature of the kingdom of God (in which Nicodemus desired to be instructed) that the soul must be re-modelled and moulded, the natural homo must go a spiritual man, earlier he is capable of receiving and understanding them."
Even prior to Jesus, Scripture spoke of the depth and mysteries of the Creator:
- "Call to me and I volition reply you, and will tell you not bad and subconscious things that you have not known."(Jeremiah 33:3)
- "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out."(Proverbs 25:2)
- "Can yous find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than the sky – what can you do? Deeper than Sheol – what tin you lot know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea."(Job eleven:7-ix)
God, in His infinite power and divine wisdom, is often shrouded in mystery beyond the scope of human understanding. This does not mean that He cannot be known or has intentionally hidden himself from the earth. To understand the divine nature of God, however, we must seek out divine wisdom and allow ourselves to be "transformed by the renewing of our minds." (Romans 12:ii)
In his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus said that, "unless i is built-in of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is mankind, and what which is born of the Spirit is spirit."(John iii:5-vi)
Nicodemus' inability to understand what Jesus meant demonstrated Jesus' signal perfectly.
Born of flesh, the human heed cannot grasp the mysteries of the kingdom of God or understand the fullness of God. This level of understanding can only come up from a spiritual transformation and re-forging of a listen that is fabricated new or "born again" through Christ.
This is why the Pharisees often struggled to sympathise or have the message and ministry of Jesus. They were too entrenched in their ways and reliant on their political power and influence to take any kind of spiritual transformation or philosophical give up.
They were the religious elite and thrived on the public's perception of them being the ultimate intellectual potency in spiritual matters. Only earthly influence and political condition are irrelevant in the kingdom of God.
"To be born again is to be built-in of the Spirit" (Matthew Henry). This was something the Pharisees simply could not fathom.
What Does Nicodemus Demonstrate near Faith?
Nicodemus, however, came curious and eager to larn more almost Jesus' teachings. His heart had been stirred and mind challenged, and as is truthful to Scripture, those who seek the Lord and answers to the mysteries of his kingdom will not be disappointed (Jeremiah 29:13, Deuteronomy 4:29, Luke 11:9).
While Jesus may have gently admonished Nicodemus, a teacher of the constabulary, for his initial ignorance, asking, "are yous the teacher of Israel and practise non understand these things?"(John 3:9), he nonetheless guided him to understanding with a reference to Sometime Testament narrative that pointed to his eventual cede.
"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, all the same must the Son of Man be lifted upwards, so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life."(John iii:14-15)
The conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus clearly planted the seed for Nicodemus' ain spiritual transformation.
Some take noted that Nicodemus came to Jesus discretely and by nighttime. It is possible that he didn't want others to know of this coming together, least of all the Pharisees, and that he may have tried to continue his emerging faith subconscious from the world out of fright of public scrutiny. That would shortly modify.
Nicodemus afterwards would publicly defend Jesus when the Pharisees questioned whether or not to seize Jesus (John vii:51). And even subsequently Jesus' death, Nicodemus was seen, along with Joseph of Arimathea, bringing myrrh and spices to the tomb of Jesus later he had been crucified (John 19:39).
As Matthew Henry writes, "though now he came by night, afterwards he owned Christ publicly."
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Why Does the Bible Address Beingness Born Once again?
Jesus spoke of being "born once again" to explicate what must happen in the heart, mind, and soul of the believer who is transformed by the grace and forgiveness of God. Nascence is the beginning of all life, and to be born of the Spirit, i must start at the foot of the cross.
John the Baptist heralded Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes abroad the sin of the world (John 1:29), and equally Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new animate being; the old things passed away; behold, new things accept come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Our one-time, sinful life died with Christ. New life is born of His resurrection. As Matthew Henry writes, to be born again, "we must have a new nature, new principles, new angel, new aims."
Reborn in Christ, everything must accommodate to His prototype and volition. In Him, we are given fresh eyes, fresh motivations, a fresh heart, and a fresh beginning.
Nicodemus discovered something about the mysteries of God and meaning of salvation in his chat with Jesus. Not long after Jesus talked of being born again, he delivered one of the well-nigh famous passages of Scripture, i which encapsulated the entirety of the Gospel.
"For God then loved the earth, that He gave His merely Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but take eternal life."(John 3:16)
The spiritual rebirth and new life offered through the grace of Jesus Christ is more than only a quick ready to an earthly sickness. It is a spiritual cure that allows u.s. to experience and enjoy a spiritual eternity with Christ. The Pharisees had sadly fallen into the trap of legalism, and in doing so, missed the middle of God in Christ.
Thankfully, Nicodemus' seeking heart overcame his earthly preparation and the narrow-mindedness of his spiritual colleagues.
As it says in Jeremiah, "y ou will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart"(Jeremiah 29:13); and Nicodemus did indeed find Him. It seems that the best mode to understand what it ways to exist "built-in again" is to experience it for oneself, and that is certainly proven in the life and transformation of Nicodemus.
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Source: https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-does-nicodemus-know-about-being-born-again.html
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