The Necessary Rebirth

John 3:1-3 ESV

1 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.”

Throughout the five Sundays that are in this month, we will be working through a very familiar narrative in the scriptures as we will be expositing the famous discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus, found in the first twenty-one verses in the third chapter of the Gospel of John.

This famous discussion is one of the most famous dialogues found throughout the Bible, as we find throughout this dialogue some of the most fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. For this reason, it is vitally important for us to not just know about this conversation and the things that were said in it, but to also truly understand what is being said throughout the conversation.

We are in the third chapter of John’s gospel, which of course means that there are two chapters that come before it. And in these two chapters we read some of the events which led up to this narrative in chapter three.

In chapter one, we read of the baptism of the Lord Jesus and the subsequent descent of the Holy Spirit, Who remained on Jesus. We see Him also calling His first disciples.

Then in chapter two, we read of the first recorded miracle of Jesus when He turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Then we read of how during the Passover, Jesus came to the Jerusalem temple, made a whip out of cords, drove the money-changers out of the temple, and overturned the tables where they kept their money.

And finally, we read in verse twenty-three of chapter two that,

John 2:23 ESV

23 …when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs that He was doing.

Now, this is an important verse to remember, and one that we will be referencing throughout this series. And what we see in this verse is that while Jesus was in Jerusalem, during this same Passover Feast when He had first cleared the temple, He performed signs. And because He performed these signs, there were many that were present who came to “believe in His name”.

Now, we read that, that these came to believe in the name of Jesus, and we likely will immediately connect that belief with a saving belief. But that isn’t exactly the kind of believing that is being referred to here.

Shortly, we will see what kind of believing is being referred to there in chapter two and verse twenty-three, but for now, let it suffice us to know that these events, especially the events at the Jerusalem temple have already happened leading up to this conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, and have thus influenced and kick-started this conversation.

As we go to our reading for today, we look first at verse one, which reads:

John 3:1 ESV

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

So, here we are introduced to a man named, Nicodemus. And he is introduced, first of all, as “a man of the Pharisees”. The Pharisees, I’m sure we are all familiar with, in that we are all, I’m sure, familiar with the name and the title, but we may not be overly familiar with who exactly the Pharisees were.

The Pharisees were a Jewish sect, what we today may consider to be like a certain denomination in the Jewish faith that was very prominent in the first century. And this particular sect or denomination observed and exercised strict adherence to the Mosaic Law, or at least to how they interpreted it.

In a time of great Hellenization, or assimilation to Greek culture and practice, the Pharisees’ resisted the pressure to change and encouraged the general population to do the same. Thus, to the general population, if you were a Pharisee, you were the ideal Israelite.

And because this was the general population’s perception of them, they held great influence over that same general population. And this influence wasn’t just in the religious sphere; it was also in the political sphere.

First century Israel was dominated and governed ultimately by Rome, but Rome allowed a certain level of local governance in most of its territories. This local government in Israel came in the form of the body known as the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the supreme council in charge of religious and political affairs in Israel. It was an assembly of 70 men, primarily rabbis from the sects of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

As was already said, the Pharisees were the more politically and religiously conservative branch, which resisted Greek influence. The Sadducees, though, were the more liberal branch, both politically and religiously, often welcoming and encouraging Greek influence in Israel. And while the Pharisees were the more popular of the two political and religious branches, and while there were more Pharisees than Sadducees in the general population, the Pharisees were still in the minority in the official Sanhedrin.

Now, Nicodemus being identified not only as a man of the more popular and influential Pharisees, but also as “a ruler of the Jews” indicates that he was a member of the Sanhedrin. So, in Nicodemus, what we find is a man who is perhaps a chief leader among the most influential religious and political faction in Israel.

Indeed, Nicodemus was a leading figure with much influence in Israel, and perhaps he was even among those mentioned in chapter two, verse twenty-three who believed in the name of Jesus after seeing the signs that He had performed at the Passover.

Well, as we now move on to the first part of verse two, we see that:

John 3:2a ESV

2a This man came to Jesus by night

So, Nicodemus visited Jesus “by night”, in the evening. Why is this time of the day included in our narrative? Well, there have been a number of presumptuous answers to that question. Some have suggested that this visit taking place “at night” indicates that Nicodemus was spiritually dark before coming to Jesus. The more popular opinion though is that this was done at night because Nicodemus feared that his colleagues in the Sanhedrin may see him fraternizing with Jesus.  

But because we can’t positively affirm either of these, it is best not to read anything into what the text says and to simply acknowledge that what follows took place in the evening. As my friend, Randy always says, “When scripture is silent about something, I too need to be silent about it”.

And when Nicodemus comes to the Lord Jesus at night, we read next what he says to the Lord at the end of verse two, where Nicodemus says to Jesus:

John 3:2b ESV

2b “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.”

So, the first thing that we notice about this exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus is the respect that this leading Pharisee shows to Jesus when He sincerely addresses Him as “Rabbi”.

Now, the term “Rabbi” means “Teacher”, and so the remarkable aspect that we observe here is that though Jesus did not belong to one of the rabbinical schools in Israel, He is nonetheless reckoned to be a “Rabbi”, a “Teacher”.

Furthermore, Nicodemus addressing Jesus as “Rabbi” indicates that Nicodemus himself considered Jesus to be a Teacher from Whom he could learn from. And even more, coming to Jesus and calling Him “Rabbi” indicates that Nicodemus comes to Jesus with the intent of learning from Him.

And the reason why Nicodemus does this, the reason why he seeks out Jesus to learn from Him, Nicodemus says is because “we” that is, those who came to believe on the name of Jesus back in chapter two, verse twenty-three knew that Jesus “must come from God”.

Saying that they believe and are positive that Jesus comes from God means that they believe that Jesus has been sent by God and performs His ministry by the power of God, and thus, they believe that He speaks and embodies the orthodox understanding of God.

So, the belief that Nicodemus and those in John 2:23 exhibit is not a belief that Jesus is God, but that Jesus is from God; clearly their understanding was not an accurate understanding. That’s like saying to God, “You’re a lot like God, but You’re not quite God”… that kind of understanding definitely misses the mark.

But Nicodemus says that he and his companions who had come to believe that Jesus was from God came to believe this through the fact that they had determined that “no one can do these signs that (Jesus does) unless God is with Him”.

So, here is the situation; Jesus has taught and given signs in the temple at the Passover Feast, many came to believe that He was from God because of the signs that He had performed, among those who came to believe this was Nicodemus, a leading man of the Pharisees, who comes to the Lord Jesus and says that he desires to be taught by Jesus because he believes that Jesus is from God.

But look at the response that Jesus gave to Nicodemus in verse three, the final verse in our reading, which says,

John 3:3 ESV

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

So, Nicodemus comes to be taught by Jesus, and here we see Him teach Nicodemus indeed! The response of Jesus is abrupt, and it is foundational and fundamental to the orthodox religion. Jesus tells Nicodemus that before he can truly regard and glean from Jesus as Rabbi, he must first be born-again. For Jesus says that “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Now, this, as I said, is a foundational, fundamental truth, and so, we need to take a couple of moments to really understand what Jesus is saying here.

The “kingdom of God” is indicative of that state of being righteous in the sight of God. And so, Jesus says that a man cannot “see” that kingdom, cannot be made fit to be a partaker of the holy society of God unless he is first born again.

But why? Why rebirth? Why must a man be born again? Because man has come into the world at odds with God, in a state of sin and rebellion. Thus, we can confidently say that man is born into the world spiritually dead.

But the kingdom of God is for the living, therefore, man must be made spiritually alive in order for him to partake in that kingdom. He must be brought from a state of spiritual death to spiritual life.

Well, we logically ask next, “How does that come to be? How does a man go from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive?” and really, the answer is quite obvious.

A dead man has no real power, he is a corpse that is unable to reason, decide, or will anything. So, if man is naturally dead in the spiritual sense, then we know that man cannot naturally reason, decide, or will anything gainful or productive in the spiritual sense.

And just as a dead man, being dead, cannot miraculously decide to stop being dead and come to life, so it is that a man who is spiritually dead cannot just decide to stop being spiritually dead and become spiritually alive.

So, when we ask how does a man go from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive? how is a man born again? The answer must lie outside of man, because as has been said, in himself there is no power whatsoever, and whatever it is outside of himself that can make him born again, it must have the power to give spiritual life. And there is only One Who has that kind of power, that One is God Himself.

So, once again, we ask: how is a man born again? How does he arrive at the point of being made righteous? How is man able to possess saving faith? And the answer to all of those questions is God.

Whenever you were conceived by your mother and father, did anyone ask you for permission to be created? Did God come to you in your pre-existent state and say, “I would really like for you to be born into the world, but I won’t do that, and I can’t do that if you don’t give me permission to do it.”? Of course not! We being born into this world was passive on our part. God willed to bring us into the world and so we were born into the world.

And in a similar way, if God causes to give a man the new birth, it’s not a matter of God asking for permission and only if that man decides that he’s ok with it, it will happen. No, it is lovingly and graciously settled for him.

You see, if you ask most people “What comes first, faith or regeneration? Belief or being born again?” most will say that you first believe, and after you believe, because you believe, you then are born again. But as Jesus points out in our readding for today, it’s actually the other way around. I don’t become born again because I believe, but rather, I believe because God has first caused me to be born again.

A man cannot see the kingdom of God, man cannot be made righteous and declared righteous unless God has first caused that man to be born again from above.

This is the message that Jesus proclaimed to Nicodemus, informing him of the very basics; that man must be reborn. And this rebirth must be accomplished by the grace of God, for there is no other way that it could possibly be accomplished.

And beloved, we as the bearers of good news to a lost and dying world must bear that same message, the message that man is lost in sin. The message that man is completely undone, that he is spiritually dead and in need of the spiritual rebirth.

And beloved, you can be assured that if God intends for the ones that we preach to, to be born again, they most certainly will be. He will be sure of that!

Therefore, beloved, may we be faithful in our endeavors with spiritually dead men, to tell them, that they will not see the kingdom of God unless they be born again!

Amen?

*Communion