That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)
Story of Nicodemus
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, the most dedicated and religious of all the Jewish people. In today’s world, we might call him a good Catholic or a good Christian. Nicodemus was circumcised on the eighth day, just as our good Christian was baptized as an infant. His parents took him to synagogue and temple, as the parents of our good Christian went to Sunday school and church. He had his bar mitzvah at age 12. Our good Christian was confirmed at about the same age. As an adult, he continued to go to synagogue and temple and was sure to say his prayers. So too, our good Christian went weekly to church, said the prayers, and received communion whenever it was offered. Both Nicodemus and our good Christian gave tithes of all they earned and took care of the poor and needy who lived among them.
But Nicodemus and our good Christian have not yet had an encounter with God. John Wesley called such, almost Christians. They have done everything their church has called them to do. They are good people in the ordinary sense, as the world sees things. They are expecting to enter heaven because they have done all the right things. By their good works, they believe that they deserve to spend eternity in heaven with God. But all our good works will not earn us a place in heaven. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3) Nothing we do can make us born again. To be born again is an act of God, an act of his mercy and grace.
Nicodemus went to Jesus to find out more about what our Lord was teaching. What happened is that he had an encounter with God. He began his encounter with a very honorable greeting, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. (John 3:2) Jesus knew that the ruler of the Jews was there to test Him. But Jesus looked into the man’s soul to discover what he really needed. He did not need more information about Jesus. He did not need to know more about Jesus. Nicodemus needed to know God, intimately, completely, and fully. Not just in religious practices but in his innermost being. Nicodemus needed to be born again.
Nicodemus certainly believed that converts to Judaism needed a change of heart. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 11:19) The ritual Jewish bath given to new believers signaled this change of heart. But Nicodemus was a Jew from birth. He did not a change of heart. He believed he had inherited the pure heart of Abraham. It is not so much that Nicodemus did not know about the change of heart taught in the Old Testament. It was that he did not realize it applied to him. Just so, those baptized as infants think of themselves as already set aside for God. Nothing more needs to be accomplished but to follow the rules and be good. Jesus clearly says it is not so.
No doubt Nicodemus missed the point, so Jesus put it ever more clearly Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:5-6) Even so, Nicodemus still does not understand. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? (John 3:9-10) The prophet Ezekiel was clear about it. This was one of the greatest promises God had made in the Hebrew Scriptures. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Ezekiel goes on in the next chapter to tell his story of the dry bones. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. (Ezekiel 37:1) Those dry bones represent the hard hearts of a people who refused to hear God. What Nicodemus could not grasp, good Pharisee as he was, is that Jesus was telling him he was one of those who had a hard heart and was dry bones. The Pharisees saw others as in need of redemption but not themselves. So too for our good (almost) Christian who says, “I cannot be in need of a change of heart. I have done all that is required of me to get into heaven. I have been baptized, confirmed, and take part in worship every Sunday. I give to the poor and my tithe to the church.”
There he was, standing in front of the incarnate God Himself. Did he hear? Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:4) Do we hear the word of the Lord? Ezekiel could do nothing about the dry bones but he could prophesy over them. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. (Ezekiel 37:5) You shall live says the Lord. You were once flesh but have become nothing but dry bones. I will cause breath to enter you and you will be born again. This is what Jesus was teaching Nicodemus. This is what Jesus is teaching our almost Christian. This is what the Lord is saying to us. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. (Ezekiel 37:10)
This was the great Messianic promise to Israel and to us. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Ezekiel 37:26-27) We should not fault Nicodemus for wondering at what Jesus was telling him. It was so different from what he had long believed. His encounter with God in Christ opened his eyes to the truth. Later in the Gospel of John, we find Nicodemus defending Jesus in front of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews. After his death, he brought spices to embalm the body of Jesus after his crucifixion. Clearly, he had become a believer.
Maybe we, like Nicodemus, have not been looking at the Gospel in quite the right light. We might see ourselves as good Christians because we have done all the right things. But Jesus tells us we must be born again. Like Nicodemus, we may have doubts about this message. It may sound strange to us. We have been told our entire lives that it is all about being a good Christian who follows the rules and goes to church and gives to the poor. But have we had an encounter with the living God? Do we truly believe in Him? Have we given our life to Christ? My prayer is that we now and in this place allow Him to transform our lives, to give us a new heart and life to our dead bones. Let us be born again of the very Spirit of God.
Theologians prefer a fancy Latin word for the strong Anglo-Saxon born again (Old English, boren). They call it regeneration (from regeneratio, being born again, or regenerare, to make over). The word occurs once in the Bible, in the same context Jesus meant it here, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. (Titus 3:5) However, the term carries the suggestion that there might be something we can do to cause us to be born again. No more can we be born again of our own efforts than we were born the first time of our mothers. Regeneration is something God does in us.
If you look up how to be born again using the magic of AI, it will likely lead you through a long process popularized by Billy Graham. “Admit your wrong-doings, turn away from sin, believe in Jesus, ask for forgiveness, accept Jesus as Lord.” Surely, we need to repent. But is this what Jesus told Nicodemus? And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:14-16) Being lifted up refers to Jesus on the cross, so the believing refers to Christ crucified. We are to believe in Him Who suffered death for us that we might have new life. Our part is to believe. God’s part is to give new life in the spirit.
