John 3:1-8

John 3:1–8 NLT

1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” 3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” 5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

Why this passage?

My birthday was on Friday! I have been thinking about birth and being born, and it reminded me of this passage. That we are born physically, but Jesus calls us to be born again!

Ezekiel running through the background

Ezekiel 11:19–20 NLT

19 And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, 20 so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.

Ezekiel 36:25–27 NLT

25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

Nicodemus visits with Jesus and seems to be trying to flatter Jesus

John 3:1–2 NLT

1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

Jesus cuts to the chase and begins a discussion on entering the kingdom.

He quickly gets to the heart of the matter. He KNOWS why Nicodemus has made this appointment with Jesus -or, at least knows why he should have - TO DISCUSS HOW TO ENTER THE KINGDOM of GOD.

John 3:3 NLT

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

Born again?

How?

This causes Nicodemus to ask the question about entering his mother’s womb. Yet, as Israel’s teacher he should have known. He SHOULD have understood.

Jesus answers that this NEW BIRTH comes from the HOLY SPIRIT

John 3:5–7 NLT

5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’

He SHOULD have recognized what the prophets like Ezekiel had foretold.

Nicodemus shows us that ALL The knowledge and schooling, riches and wealth, prestige and honor, DO NOT REPLACE SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS and they DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY POSITIVELY AFFECT OUR SPIRITUAL CONDITION

But, Nicodemus has a different context, perspective, or frame of reference. He is a Jew, and in HIS mind ALL JEWS, BY THEIR BIRTH, are apart of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus’ Pharisaic contemporaries believed all Jews would enter the kingdom of God through resurrection on the last day, the only exceptions being those who denied the faith and committed acts of apostasy (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 10:1–4). To be born a Jew was to be an inheritor of the kingdom of God. Nicodemus would have been astounded by Jesus’ statement that he as a Jew would not see the kingdom of God unless he were ‘born again’.11 Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 4, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 107.

The message that Jesus gives to Nicodemus is for ALL.

It is not only a message for Jews, but it is for ALL People. It is a message that calls us to be born by the Spirit and to recognize that this work is truly OF the spirit

PS. verse 7 is PLURAL. This message is for ALL PEOPLE- not only Nicodemus!!

John 3:7–8 NLT

7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

But, like the wind, we will SEE the results of the Spirit’s work in people’s lives!

Tacos vs Top Ramen coming home from Germay...

THERE IS EVIDENCE OF THE WIND, and THERE MUST BE EVIDENCE OF BEING BORN AGAIN!

AND, it is CLEARLY BY THE SPIRIT

Fulfilling the prologue

John 1:10–13 NLT

10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

But, the question really is...Why do we have to be born again?

Because in our natural birth we are sinners

Romans 3:23 NLT

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

But, to see the kingdom, God provided Christ as the atoning sacrifice for our sins so that we may enter in to God’s kingdom

1 John 2:2 NLT

2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

Romans 3:23–26 NLT

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Romans 6:23 NLT

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

To be born again is to believe in His sacrifice, trust it to redeem and transform us, and to live by it’s power.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

May we believe int eh sacrifice of Jesus and allow the Spirit to birth us anew!

COMMUNION

1 John 2:1–2 NLT

1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

As we receive communion this morning, we do so ACCEPTING Christ as the atonement for our sin - the One whose Spirit creates in us a NEW being who is BORN AGAIN.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Matthew 26:26–28 NLT

26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.