From Darkness to Light

John 3:1-21

English Standard Version (Chapter 3)

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 are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered 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 the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is 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 you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Introduction

As we dive into this passage to understand what is happening, Jesus has been doing ministry for a bit now. Not a long time, but he is becoming known.

In Chapter 1 of the book of John, Jesus has started calling his disciples. In chapter 2, He preformed his first miracle. He also drove people out of the temple that were making the sacrifices easy and defiling the temple of God. He has not done many of the things you may have heard of him doing at this point, and it is still early in His ministry. That being said, He was gathering a following and began to get the attention of the religious people at the time.

Specifically, we see that he has the attention of a Pharisee, Nicodemus. The Pharisees were a sect of the Jews who devoted themselves to the written law. They were strict. They took the law and put stricter barriers around it so to ensure they wouldn’t sin. One example is the law says to keep the Sabbath Holy, a day of rest. Well, the Pharisees began defining that if you walk this far, you’ve broken the law. And them without step counters, must have been hard to keep.

As we break this passage down you will see that Jesus uses the imagery of Birth to describe a spiritual point. Birth is a lot of things. Some things that come to mind for me: New Life, Pain, Life Changing, Messy, and Love. As we consider what is being said, you may be thinking of your own experience with birth. That is good, think on those things as it will help us understand what Jesus is saying here to Nicodemus.

Under the Cover of Night

John 3:1-3

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 are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

A. One thing that shouldn’t be overlooked in these opening verses is that Nicodemus, this religious leader, decided to approach Jesus under the cover of night. Why? In an age before street lights and smart phones, Nicodemus was coming to Jesus without anyone aware that he was visiting him. It is as if visiting Jesus was a shameful act. For Nicodemus, it probably seemed that way. What would the other Pharisees say if they knew he was mingling with this rebellious rabbi? My man Nicodemus has street cred and he can’t be caught pursuing Jesus, yet he knows Jesus has something important to offer him.

B. Nicodemus may sound familiar. What would it mean for you to consider Jesus? What would people in your life say? Have you ever thought these things? Nicodemus clearly did and I would guess that many of us are afraid of what it would mean to follow Jesus for our Social life. Despite these fears, Nicodemus recognized that Jesus had God working through him. He could not stay away.

C. Jesus says something wild to think about in verse 3. He says “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” What a statement. Think about birth again. An additional thing that comes to mind is that birth happens once for a person. You may give birth multiple times, but you are only physically born once. What in the world is Jesus on about? Nicodemus probably shifting a little uncomfortably in his chair responds in kind.

John 3:4-8

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 the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is 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 you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

A. Jesus wasn’t talking about physical birth. He was talking about a spiritual birth. A rebirth of one’s soul. Jesus is saying you need to be born again spiritually. A new birth given to you by the very Spirit of God.

B. Jesus compares physical birth and spiritual birth. There are some good points here. He is saying that when you are born of the Spirit, it is life changing. It brings a new life to the one who is born. There may be some pain and it just might be a little bit messy, but in the end it brings new life.

C. Consider Nicodemus, the religious leader. Jesus is telling him that he needs to born again, spiritually. What does that mean for his life? He will lose friends, he will lose social standing, it will be painful, but he will find new life. He will enter the Kingdom of God.

John 3:9-17

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

A. These things hit Nicodemus. He doesn’t understand. Yet, Jesus patiently continues to explain. This metaphor of birth is given so that Nicodemus might grasp a spiritual reality by comparing it to a well known physical reality.

B. Spiritual birth, refers to repenting and believing. What does it mean to repent? Repentance means to change one’s mind. What about believe? It means to trust that in what God has done through Christ. At this point Jesus is telling Nicodemus exactly what is going to happen to himself. In the story he references in of Moses, the people were being bitten by venomous serpents and dying. God told Moses to fashion a bronze serpent to a pole and when they looked upon it, they were healed. Jesus was saying it was He that would have to be lifted up and when we turn to Him we are healed from the bite of sin.

C. In this act we see the love of God. Nicodemus was a religious leader, but being religious was not enough to escape the consequences of sin. He needed to put his trust in Son of God. God in His mercy saw us dead in our sin, unable to rebuild our relationship with Him by any means of our own, and He had compassion not sparing His own Son so that we may live life eternal in relationship with Him.

John 3:18-21

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

A. Jesus came and died and rose again so that we may have a way to live in relationship with God eternally. We chose sin. We chose death. Each one of us. Nicodemus, myself, and you, chose this. Yet God is giving us a choice. A choice that each individual has to make to trust in the one who was lifted up. To enter into that new birth. God won’t force you to reconcile your relationship with Him. You can choose to believe or you can choose not to. However, there are consequences to each path.

B. If we choose the darkness, we will die in darkness eternal. If we come to the light, we will live with the light eternal.

C. I personally, encourage you to consider the light. Consider Christ. Consider that He offers love. He offers forgiveness. He offers true freedom. He is not a condemnation, but the manner in which we are born again.

Closing

In closing, if you have trusted in Christ and have experienced this new birth. I call you to remember what He has done for you. Remember that you have agreed with God about your sin and continue to focus on Christ and live a life that follows Him.

If you have never placed your trust in Christ, I ask you to consider Him again. Nicodemus had genuine questions. Jesus answered with love and truth. He didn’t belittle him for coming in the night. He didn’t call him a coward. He showed him compassion and love and answered to him in truth. Would it be hard for Nicodemus to give up everything to follow Christ? Yes. It would be hard. It would be messy. It would be painful. However, birth is not just messy and painful and hard. It is also good, life giving, life changing, and full of love. Consider Christ’s call to trust him and respond how you will. If you have questions, that’s okay. There are people you can talk with about it including myself. I encourage you to do so.