How can these things be? John 3:1-21

When it comes to the good news of the gospel, I believe there is a question that we all need answered.

The question is asked in John 3 by a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a very important and central leader of the Jewish people. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin.

The Pharisees were a sect of Judaism…

“Although the origin of the Pharisees is disputed (they may date as far back as the period of resettlement in Palestine following Babylonian exile), the group appears to have become the primary voice of Judaism following the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in ad 70. The Pharisees developed a tradition of strict interpretation of the Mosaic law, developing an extensive set of oral extensions of the law designed to maintain religious identity and purity. The origin of the term “Pharisee” comes from the Aramaic word פרשׁ (prsh), which means “to separate,” “divide,” or “distinguish.” Greenspoon asserts that the sect emerged from the Hasidim, a group of strictly devout separatists known as the “righteous” or “pious” (see Greenspoon, Between Alexander and Antioch, 343).”

The Sanhedrin was, “the supreme council in charge of Jewish affairs in Roman Palestine… the varying depictions of the Sanhedrin reveal a group consisting of priests and religious teachers who meet to decide on legal matters with religious, political, and social ramifications.”

Nicodemus was a part of the council that oversaw Jewish life, and a part of group that considered themselves to be righteous based on their strict adherence to the law of Moses.

Nicodemus is only mentioned in the gospel of John, and he is mentioned in three different situations related to Jesus and John 3 is the first of these instances.

In John 3:9, this leader, ruler, and pious keeper of the law of Moses was confounded by the words that Jesus was speaking.

Let’s read the conversation that leads us to the question…

John 3:1–8 (ESV)

“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.”

Then, John 3:9-10 says, 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?

“How can these things be?”

Nicodemus is grappling with the reality of what Jesus calls the new birth. And why? Because according to Jesus, and remember Nicodemus believes that Jesus has come to them from God, the new birth is the only way to see or enter into the heavenly kingdom of God.

And as a man who has dedicated his life to being a part of God’s kingdom, the struggle was real to understand something that he had never seen.

Jesus replies with a hint of friendly and loving mockery… For how could it be that someone who is a ruler and teacher of the Word to the people of Israel not understand the truth of God’s kingdom?

But, Jesus gave him the answer he was already looking for in verses 7-8… “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.”

Those who are born again are known by their fruit, or the evidence… just like the wind. You don’t know where the wind started from and you are entirely sure where the wind goes after it passes by you. And, as Jesus says it’s the same way with those who are both of the Spirit, or who are born again.

Nicodemus was struggling to believe that what he had already seen was the evidence of the very thing he was searching for.

How can these things be carries with it the underlying question from a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin… How can someone be changed in way that gains them entrance into God’s kingdom?

Do you see the tension for Nicodemus? Or really probably the tension for all of us. The question people want to ask is “what must I do to be a part of God’s kingdom, or to be saved, or to have eternal life?”

Nicodemus had dedicated his life to giving evidence that he belonged to God’s kingdom

Nicodemus, like most every person who has ever lived was looking for affirmation and direction that he was living the right way as to receive the right result in the end.

This is the aim of all religions, and it’s what’s missing from those who claim to follow no religion. World religions aim to set you on a path of personal accomplishment and responsibility that results in a reward, typically worth more than the sum of your effort, but never the less contingent upon the sincerity and consistency of your work.

No religion, and even agnosticism, however offers no eternal reward or system to live according to… at least not one that can offer any testimony of life change that results from adhering to the system of beliefs. For instance, where are the testimonies of lives being changed from following after atheism or agnosticism… and for that matter, where are the stories of life change in other religions apart from the person effort and work of the man or woman.

Jesus presents Nicodemus with the evidence of transformed and changed lives…

Look in John 3:11–15 (ESV), “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?”

The evidence of Jesus’ ministry is what drew Nicodemus to Him. But, it was the claim that Jesus made about the kingdom of God that left Nicodemus puzzled. For when you see the miraculous evidence of the Spirit’s work… you can ask one of two questions, but only one of them will get you to the right answer:

It’s one thing to ask “what did that man change?” But, it is altogether different question to ask “what, or who, changed that man?”

Nicodemus came asking the first question, but the answer Jesus gave him was to the question he should have asked…

Look as Jesus continues in John 3:13-15 (ESV)

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.

I can’t explain this passage well without giving you the context to the reference that Jesus makes here in verse 14. This is a reference that would have been familiar to most Jews, especially one like Nicodemus, a teacher and a ruler.

Jesus references a situation when Israel was in the wilderness where God delivered them.

Let me read for you from Numbers 21:4–9 (ESV),

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Here in Numbers 21… the people have sinned against the Lord, the Lord judges the people for their sin, and they cry out to God for a way to escape the judgment of serpents that God has sent to them.

Moses prays, and God makes a way for them to delivered from the punishment of their sin. And the way had no plan, process, period of time, etc. They weren’t told how to make a anti-venom solution, they weren’t told how to kill the serpents, or even how to defend themselves against the serpents.

The solution to their sin was to simply look to the bronze serpent when they were bitten by a serpent… and if they would follow the Lord and believe in His promise to save them, then the would live. Then, the testimony of the Israelites was that everyone who looked upon the serpent lived.

Now you might want to ask, “How can these things be?!”

How could looking with hope toward a bronze serpent deliver someone from the poison and certain death of a serpent bite? Well, I think the only way to explain is to say that it’s similar to the wind, it blows where it wishes, and you hear it’s sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes…

But, it’s similar in that you see the change, but it’s different because in Numbers 21 the people of Israel knew where their deliverance had come from. They know who had healed them… they know who had saved them.

And Jesus says that this is the way it works with those who are born again into the kingdom of God.

John 3:14-15 says, 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.

Eternal life, seeing the kingdom, these are goals and aims that Nicodemus had for his life. But, like many people today Nicodemus was aiming for his goal by focusing on what he could do to get there.

Nicodemus was leaning into the truth that Jesus was the Son of Man that was predicted by the prophets of old. Nicodemus was hoping that Jesus was the promised Messiah… in many ways Nicodemus is exhibiting the signs that he believes that Jesus is the one God had promised…

How could it be that these things are true? How could it be that God would answer the cries of His people and deliver them by His own hand rather than through their devotion and effort?

Jesus tells us how it could be in John 3:16

John 3:16–21 (ESV)

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.

Nicodemus asks… How can these things be? You may be asking the same question… and the answer to the question is found in the truth of God’s love.

God saves because He loves.

Look as the passage continues in verses 17-18

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.

God saves those who have already been condemned.

Jesus didn’t come to condemn, because that was already done. Condemnation has been over the condition of man since the garden of Eden. And, like the serpent in the wilderness Jesus has come to the hope of your salvation, the way to be delivered for those who have already been condemned and bitten by the stain of sin.

God saves those who have things to hide.

John 3:19-21 says, “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.”

Jesus told Nicodemus that He has come into the world and people can either choose to love their works… for those who love their sin and even their own personal accomplishments will choose the darkness and reject the light. Why? Jesus says they don’t want their works exposed. They don’t want the truth about who they really are to come to light. They are proud, they are determined to demonstrate their own righteousness, or they are proud and want their sin more than they want a savior.

Regardless they show evidence of what has not happened in their lives… they reveal that they are not born again.

And, as Jesus says in verse 21… “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.”

God saves and transforms the lives of sinners by His own power

As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8–10 (ESV),

“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Like the Israelites in the wilderness who looked up at a bronze serpent lifted on a pole, God delivers sinners from their sin and they born again by the work of His Spirit.

The evidence of our salvation is not about what we have done, no, it’s like the Israelites in the wilderness who were miraculously healed and saved by the power of God.

Our salvation is the work of God’s power… those who believe in Jesus Christ are born again to an eternal life because of God. And, the changed and transformed life of a Christian is evidence and testimony to the truth of what God has done.

So this leads me to this question: Can someone look at your life and wonder, “How can these things be?”

I really believe that when those who don’t know Christ examine our lives, and even examine the relationships we have within the church, they should ask themselves the question: How can these things be?

They should see the evidence of God’s transforming work in our lives… they should see the truth and people who are walking in the light… knowing that walking with Christ means our deepest sins are exposed, but that our lives tell the testimony of His great saving power!

And here is my closing question: Would you like to receive the love of God and be saved from the condemnation of your sin?

You could have been a part of church stuff your entire life, but have never received the love of God and been born again by the work and power of the Holy Spirit.

You could be hearing all of this for the first time, or as a part of a recent searching in your life for something that is real and true… and whether you have heard it your whole life, or if you are hearing this fresh and new… God loves you and has sent Christ to deliver you from the curse of sin and transform you into a new creation through the power of the Spirit.

God has a plan for you, and He has had a plan for you since the foundations of the world… and His plan begins and ends with you receiving His love by trusting in the truth of Jesus Christ and the promise of your salvation.

But, it’s not just a system to believe in… It’s a real deliverance with a real and immediate result. When you look to Jesus for deliverance, He is good and gracious to save immediately… and then from that point forward He is good and gracious to help you learn how to live this new life He has given you… but it starts with believing the truth and testimony… in fact, raise your hand if God has saved you and changed your life.

Right here is the testimony of hundreds of men, women, students, and even children who know the love of God and who have received their salvation by the goodness and grace of God.

If you want to receive the love of God and be saved from the condemnation of your sin… it comes down to whether or not you believe. Romans 10:9–10 (ESV) says, “because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

If you want to receive the love of God and be saved from your sin and receive a new life, or as Jesus said be born again, it comes down to whether or not you believe the truth of the gospel or of Jesus. It is through the confession of that belief and the surrendering of your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ you will be saved by the power of God.

Bow your heads…

If you want to be saved… cry out to God right now in prayer in belief, surrender your life to Him, admitting your sin, telling him how you need him to deliver from the judgment that your sin deserves, and ask him for forgiveness of your sin… and praise Him for his goodness. Praise Him for sending Jesus to save you from your sin and condition. Thank Him for the power of the Spirit that saves, thank Him for accepting you and for loving you, and tell him that you are devoted to Him and committed to him and want to live your life for Him and grow in the new life He promises. Tell him your life belongs to Him and that you don’t want to live in the darkness anymore, you are walking into the light bringing all of your sin so that it can be forgiven, and then living in the light with His help and His power from this point forward.

Know and remember this… the Christian life is not about what we do from this point forward. Your salvation doesn’t hinge on how well you do the rest of your life…

The rest of your life gives evidence and tells the testimony of what the Spirit has done in you.