There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  (John 3:1-3)

What Nicodemus Learned

Nicodemus was a Jewish rabbi mentioned only three times in scripture. Along with Joseph of Arimathea, he took the body of Jesus and buried the Lord in the tomb of Joseph. He served as part of the ruling party of Pharisees seeking to arrest Jesus, but Nicodemus believed Jesus to be the promised Messiah. John first introduces scripture to Nicodemus when the Jewish leader came to Jesus by night to talk of the ministry of the man from Nazareth. He believed God sent Jesus because of His teachings and the power of His miracles. Nicodemus knew no man could teach and do what Jesus did without the authority of God.

When Nicodemus came to Jesus, the Lord began by telling the ruler that one must be born again to see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus was unaccustomed to the metaphorical teaching of Jesus, inquiring how it was possible to be born twice from a woman’s womb. Jesus immediately directs the attention of Nicodemus to the spiritual application of the new birth, showing him a man must be born of the water and the spirit to enter the kingdom of God. Still, Nicodemus did not understand what the new birth was all about. One of the problems of Jewish doctrine in the days of Jesus was the inability of the teachers of the law to make spiritual applications to the principles of godliness and truth. Nicodemus should have understood the teaching of Jesus, but he could not.

Jesus appeals to the story of Moses and the fiery serpents sent by God to punish His people. When Israel cried out for deliverance, Moses made a bronze serpent so those bitten by the serpents could look upon the bronze serpent and be saved. Jesus would also be raised up so that sinful men could come to the cross and find eternal life. When a serpent bit a man, he had to believe that coming to the bronze serpent would save his life. If he disbelieved, he would die. God’s grace saved the Jews when the wrath of God sent the serpents. Sin can only be removed through the grace of God, and that is why God’s love sent His only begotten Son to die for the world.

Many of Israel died when God sent the serpents among them. Jesus tells Nicodemus the Son of God came to save all men, but the world would reject the grace of God. Salvation could only come through Jesus Christ and Him alone. If a man believes in Jesus, he is not condemned. But those who refuse to believe Jesus is the Christ are condemned because they will not accept that Jesus is the Son of God. The problem with sinful man is he loves the darkness of his sin. Jesus tells Nicodemus God has made every provision man needs to be saved, but most will not believe. The reason is that most men want to stay in their sin and die in darkness. Men love darkness rather than light. They believe what they do in the darkness is unseen, and they know if they come to the light, their sinful deeds will be exposed. Everyone who practices evil hates the light and will not come to Jesus for the cleansing blood, lest their deeds of wickedness are exposed.

Jesus tells Nicodemus salvation is found in believing God sent His Son into the world to save men from the darkness. Most people will remain in the darkness. Only a few will come to the light. God so loved the world, and man so hated God. To be born again is to be washed in the waters of baptism, where the gift of the Holy Spirit is given. Most people, including most religious people, remain in the darkness of rebellion, refusing to accept that baptism has anything to do with salvation. Many who think they are “born again Christians” have never been born of the water and the spirit. They remain in the darkness of sin. When a man obeys the truth, they will come to the Father, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.