Nicodemus, a prominent Pharisee and religious leader, had some questions for Jesus. Having seen or heard of the miracles that Jesus had been performing, he boldly confessed that Jesus had surely come from God “as a teacher,” and that God was undoubtedly “with Him.” But Nicodemus wanted to know if there was more to this Rabbi than just being “a teacher” (Jn. 3:1-2). In response to Nicodemus’ statements of fact about Jesus, Jesus responded with His own statement of fact, saying,

“Truly, truly, I say unto you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).

Nicodemus was totally caught off guard. Thinking in physical terms, as most of us tend to do, Nicodemus was thinking of natural, physical birth, but Jesus was, of course, thinking of supernatural, spiritual birth, or rebirth. Jesus went on by saying, 

“Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:5).

What did Jesus mean by “water” and “the Spirit?” There is some connection in the Book of Ezekiel with the spiritual cleansing of water, where the Lord speaks through the prophet, 

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes,…(Ezek. 25-27).

There is definitely a connection with Ezekiel’s prophecy to what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus. However, I think in this case, Jesus is contrasting one’s physical birth with one’s spiritual birth, because in the next verse, Jesus says,

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (Jn. 3:6-7).

Jesus is telling Nicodemus that while everyone is born physically, it’s ones spiritual birth that makes all the difference. In fact, without being “born again” spiritually, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

So, just how is one born spiritually? The Scriptures constantly affirm that it’s through repentance and faith, that is, by turning from your old way of thinking and acting, and by faith, turning to Christ who is the only one who can redeem you. Jesus is going to clarify what He means with Nicodemus as the encounter continued well into the evening hours. Jesus asked Nicodemus to look back into the Old Testament Scriptures, which Nicodemus was very familiar with, to find the real answer to his concerns. 

And that’s where we will pick up the dialogue next week. I hope to see you then. In the meantime, I pray that God’s richest blessings will overwhelm you this week.