Now 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 have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness of what we have seen, and you do not accept our witness. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God.” John 3: 1-21 LSB
John 3: 1-3 Nicodemus
There is probably no chapter in the Bible that has been butchered in pulpits and out on street corners so much as this one. It is Christ own sharing of the gospel, His account of how salvation works, yet people skip through the story of Nicodemus as though it were insignificant. They skip to John 3:16 and try to attach that, away from this context, into a self help gospel, a repeat after me gospel. I hope you will slow down, read and study this with me; it is one of the great treasure chests of Scripture, beyond glorious, it is the gospel according to Jesus. We left off with John 2 where people had believed in His name due to seeing the signs He performed, but He looked beyond outward belief or intellectual assent and into their hearts. It is a great entry into our discussion on chapter 3.
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, when they saw His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He had no need that anyone bear witness concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man. John 2: 23-25 LSB
Now there was a man of the Pharisees - There were two main parties of differing Theological persuasion in the Judaism of Jesus' time, and these were the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees were the more liberal theologians, not believing in angels or the resurrection of the dead, and the Pharisees, who believed in those things, and who held the OT law and the prophets in high regard. The Pharisees put a premium on morality and Holy living, trying to follow the OT law but also adding to it. Their theology, though superior in some ways to the Sadducees failed at the most critical of points, it failed to understand the hopelessness of a system that relied on the merit of men. Jesus corrected them often on this, calling the Pharisees hypocrites.
…22And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it. 23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.… Matthew 23:
…2Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh! 3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4though I myself could have such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more:…
…5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless. 7But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.… Philippians 3: 2-7
9What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. 10As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. 11There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.… Romans 3: 9-11
J C Ryle - THE conversation between Christ and Nicodemus, which begins with these verses, is one of the most important passages in the whole Bible. Nowhere else do we find stronger statements about those two mighty subjects, the new birth, and salvation by faith in the Son of God. The servant of Christ will do well to make himself thoroughly acquainted with this chapter. A man may be ignorant of many things in religion, and yet be saved. But to be ignorant of the matters handled in this chapter, is to be in the broad way which leadeth to destruction.
John MacArthur- The placing of the chapter break here is unfortunate, since the story of Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus is logically tied to the previous section (Jn 2:23–25).....John 2:23–25 described Jesus’ refusal to accept shallow, sign-based faith, since in His omniscience, He understood the people’s hearts. The story of Nicodemus is a case in point, since Nicodemus himself was one of those superficial believers whose heart He read like an open book. Instead of affirming his profession, the Lord refused to accept Nicodemus’s faith, which was solely based on the signs he had witnessed (v. 2). Jesus pointed him to the life-transforming nature of true saving faith. (See John Commentary)
Named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews - The name Nicodemus is a Greek name meaning "one who has won distinction among the people". This is quite fitting as we read later in verse 10 Jesus call him out as "the teacher in Israel". He is also a ruler of the Jews, meaning he sits upon the bench of the Sanhedrin, the table of esteemed intellectuals, and he is preeminent as a teacher among them.
This man came to Jesus by night - I like what John Macarthur says about this, that it simply means he didn't come during the day, but I cannot help but see a nugget here when we read ahead and so I will leave you with the verses and just look at them for yourself, they seem transformational. I will comment more on them when we reach those chapters, but I agree with those that think John is showing Nicodemus outward call through the miracles, A shift in chapter 7 where he tries to defend Jesus, and then in chapter 19 verse 39, "who had previously come to Jesus at night", is now identifying with Him in His death, honoring Him as one would honor a King at their burial.
…48“Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? 49But this crowd that does not know the law, they are under a curse.” 50Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who himself was one of them, asked,…
…51“Does our law convict a man without first hearing from him to determine what he has done?” 52“Aren’t you also from Galilee?” they replied. “Look into it, and you will see that no prophet comes out of Galilee.” 53Then each went to his own home.… John 7: 48-52
38Afterward, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Jews), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed His body. 39 Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.… John 19: 38-40
V. 2b Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with Him - This takes us back to John 2:23 where many believed in His name because they saw the signs which He was doing. This is a general call with an outward response. Nicodemus is acknowledging the miracles, "obviously there is something different about You, not everyone can do these things." He is a Pharisee, a teacher and practitioner of the law, so he is looking for the Messiah, desirous of the Kingdom just like the only other Pharisee we know of that came to Christ, which is Paul, who was Saul, a persecutor of Christians. None of these men, most of whom hated Jesus for interfering with their use of the temple and perversion of religion to feed their greed, ever denied the miracles, even in extrabiblical writings. They just didn't want Him, He did not fit the mold that they would use to make a Messiah. They don't deny what they saw though, so how do they deal with the miracles?
Zodhiates - This was introduced as a title into the Jewish schools under a three-fold form, Rab, as the lowest degree of honor; Rab with the first person suffix i, Rabbi, my master, with higher dignity; and Rabboni, meaning my great master, the most honorable of all. This was publicly given to only seven persons, all of the school of Hillel and of great eminence.... In the days of Christ the title (RABBI) was misused by Jewish teachers in that they used it to require implicit obedience to their decisions and traditions and words rather than to those of the law and the prophets. Our Lord charged the Jewish scribes and Pharisees with being very fond of this presumptuous title, but commands His disciples not to be called Rabbi in the Jewish acceptance of the word (Matt. 23:7, 8). Although the title Rabbi was often given to the Lord Jesus, we do not find that He ever rebuked those who gave it to Him because He was in truth the Teacher sent from God, even that great Prophet who should come into the world, and of whom the Lord had said by Moses in Deut. 18:18, 19: "It shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." (Borrow The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament) - Precept Austin
They despised Him. They despised His origin. They despised His presence. And they despised Him at the end. He was “a man of sorrows.” Nobody gave Him honor and nobody gave Him respect. Nobody important. He had no one in His life that mattered. He hung around with a bunch of ragtag nobodies from Galilee who, seven of whom may well have been fisherman. The rest were uneducated Galileans. And the only non-Galilean in the group was Judas from the town of Carioth. He was the kind of person you just turn your face away from. That’s why we rejected Him.
You know, it got ugly from there. Do you know the Hebrew word for Jesus is Yeshua? Have you heard that? Yeshua. The Jews through history have changed it to Yeshu, Yeshu, which is an acrostic for “let his name be blotted out.” Let his name be blotted out. He is also called Tului, in Hebrew, “the hanged one.” And “cursed is anyone - ” Deuteronomy says “ - who is hanged on a tree.”
Maybe you’ve heard the story about Mary being a hairdresser. This is written in the Talmud, which is the codification of Jewish history. That His mother Mary was a hairdresser who committed adultery with a Roman mercenary named Joseph ben Pandera, produced Yeshu, who learned the magical arts in Egypt and led people astray. That’s a quote from the Jewish Talmud.
They developed early on a prayer, Jewish prayer. “May all Christians be suddenly destroyed without hope and blotted out of the book of life forever.” This is a deep-seated animosity. And it hasn’t been helped through history by what so-called fake Christians have done to the Jews. But they started out with contempt and it’s still there even today. And do you know every Jew knows the story of Jesus so he or she can reject it? I mean, you’re not really a Jew if you don’t know you can’t believe in Jesus. We didn’t esteem Him. That’s an important last line. “He was despised; we did not esteem Him.” That’s the ultimate scorn. You know what that means in Hebrew? He was non-existent. He didn’t even exist. To put it mildly as Paul said in Romans 9:32, “They stumbled over the stumbling stone.” John Macarthur from Behold The Lamb Sermon Sep 29, 2012
V. 3a Jesus answered him and said to him - Look at this, Nicodemus did not ask, outwardly vocalize a question. Jesus is answering his heart, He's showing His omniscience, verifying John 2: vs 24 and 25 above, that He knew all men and knew what was in man.
V. 3b Truly, truly I say to you - Amen and Amen, certainly, most certainly, assuredly, assuredly it is so.
Truly, truly I say to you - Truly is amen meaning "It is and shall be so." Truly, truly in used only by John to introduce a statement of special import and was used three times (Jn 3:3; 5; 11) in Jesus dialogue with Nicodemus! (cf Jn 1:51; Jn 3:3, 5, 11; Jn 5:19, 24–25; 6:26, 32, 47, 53; Jn 8:34, 58;Jn 10:1, 7; Jn 12:24; Jn 13:16, 20–21, 38; Jn 14:12; Jn 16:20, 23; Jn 21:18). And so Jesus' first words emphasize the supreme importance of the truth He is preparing to present. Only Jesus uses the double amen and only Jesus uses amen at the beginning of a sentence rather than the end. When used at the end amen confirms the preceding words and invokes their fulfillment. But placed at the beginning of the sentence amen gives a strong affirmation, guaranteeing the truth of what His says and underscores His authority, for He alone is the "Amen, the faithful and true Witness." (Rev 3:14+) for as Paul said "all the promises of God in Him (CHRIST) are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." (2 Cor 1:20KJV) In other words, the promises of God find their sure fulfillment, their "Yes," in Christ! - Precept Austin
V. 3c Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God - He drops such a bomb here, speaking to a man who is a Pharisee, a follower of the law. Nicodemus did not directly ask our Lord how to get into the Kingdom, but Jesus looked inside his heart and skipped to the chase. Let's get straight to the matter of what is bothering you inside. You are waiting for the Kingdom, wanting a Messiah as promised in the OT, and you have been following the law, even the laws that God didn't make up. You have an outward form of religion, have been weighing your herbs so you can be sure that you are giving 10 percent. You dress a certain way, your nose is in the books of the prophets, and you revere the scribes, but inside you are hurting, inside there is still sin and decay despite the outward appearances. He read his mind and then gave him the diagnosis, He looked at His heart and saw what was missing. You are dead in your trespasses and sins, you need to be born again. It is also translated as born from above. He didn't say wait for the organist to start playing "Just as I am", get up from your seat, come to the front, now repeat this prayer after Me, Jesus didn't say that. It is never a mistake when God chooses an illustration, and He chooses birth, you must be born again. Read this from Pastor J Mac:
We have a responsibility as a church in doing the will of God to proclaim the gospel, and the gospel is here articulated by Jesus as sinners needing to be born again. Proclaiming the new birth, proclaiming being born again is the priority, the most critical responsibility the church has. “Born again” is a very familiar term. Books have been titled Born Again. There are a lot of books on how to be born again. I went through some of them just this week. Five Steps to Being Born Again comes to mind, How to Pray to be Born Again. One book entitled How to be Born Again. All of those are familiar to us because the notion of being born again is so commonly expressed. It’s part of evangelical pop culture. But almost no one seems to understand what our Lord is saying.
It’s a simple idea, being born again. In fact, down in verse 12 of chapter 3, Jesus calls it an earthly thing. In other words, an earthly illustration. Here’s the truth: this is so simple that you should never be confused by what it means to be born again. Here is an earthly illustration. “And if you don’t understand this earthly illustration,” – verse 12 says – “how are you going to understand it’s heavenly meaning?”
Like any parable or any illustration our Lord used, He picked something very common and simple. If you can’t get the illustration that in order to enter the kingdom you must be born again, you’ll never understand the heavenly reality of the new birth. And you must understand the heavenly reality of the new birth because it is a foundational truth of salvation. You must be born again.
Nicodemus says in verse 4, “How?” And we’ll look at it more closely in a moment. “How?” If there were an evangelist there he might say, “Pray this prayer.” Might say, “Take these steps.” But that would miss the entire point. And actually, Nicodemus was getting the point. And here is the point: you must be born again. Perhaps, more accurately it’s translated: “You must be born from above,” – anōthen – “you must be born from above.” Anōthen, two other times later in the gospel of John, is translated “from above.” “You must be born from above.”
Let me tell you how simple the analogy is. What role did you play in your birth, your physical birth? That’s an absurdity. You played no role in your physical birth. What contribution did you make to your physical birth? You made no contribution to your physical birth. And that is exactly the idea in our Lord using this analogy. To assume that you have anything to do with your physical birth is an insane idea. To assume that you have anything to do with your spiritual birth is equally insane. It’s absurd. That’s why our Lord chose this analogy, because it’s so clear. It’s not really possible if you give it any thought to miss the point.
To be born again, or born from above, is a work in which you play no role. Your birth happened to you, you had no part in it. And the same is true of new birth. The message of our Lord here is that it’s a work of God and it’s totally a work of God, which immediately obliterates all works righteousness – all religion, all ceremony, all ritual, all sacraments, as having any contribution to make to new life. It is what theologians call monergistic. It isn’t something you and God do together, it is God alone. You’re not going to enter the kingdom of God because you try harder to be a better person, or more religious, or more moral, or moral philanthropic, or more virtuous. That is exactly the point the Lord is making. And – mark it – He is making it to a man who was just introduced to us as a ruler of the Jews, and – down in verse 10 – a man who was called the teacher of Israel.
This is a simple earthly analogy as to the foundation of salvation. It is solely a work of God, solely a work of God. This stops a legalist dead in his tracks. All his life the legalist – in this case the Pharisee, and in specific, Nicodemus – was achieving heaven, or trying to by his self-righteousness. Here our Lord says, “It is all for nothing: meaningless. Your morality, your supposed virtue: useless.” This is a dramatic, dramatic moment in the Word of God, crucial revelation that is introduced to us in the story of Nicodemus. - J Mac
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