Born again? (John 1:1-15)

Scripture reading:
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

10"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life


Observations:
(1) We should not make assumptions about god.

In this passage, we see Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council, make assumptions about Jesus. He comes to Jesus and says “We know you….who has come from god …”(v2).

Essentially, he was saying two things. Firstly, that they knew who Jesus was, and secondly, that they knew about the kingdom of god.

Little did he know, his false assumptions were about to be exposed. The response of Jesus took him by surprise. He was clearly on the back foot for the remainder of the conversation.

We must be very careful about the assumptions we make about god. Sometimes, I think that we try to contain god into a little box in our understanding. Our pre-conceived notions can block our hearts from being open to a fuller understanding of the nature of the lord.

Rather than making assumptions about god, we must allow him to speak to us, both through his word and through his spirit. Our hearts must be open to hearing him. We must be open to a greater understanding his true glory and honor.


(2) We cannot hope to understand god unless we have been born again.

How do we come to understand about god?

Formal study, whilst helpful, is not the answer. It would by quite possible to complete a Masters Degree in Theology and yet still not comprehend the unlimited justice, power, integrity, mercy and love of our magnificent creator.

Studying the bible is a wonderful way to gain a greater appreciation of the glorious character of our lord. But it is possible to undertake extensive bible study and still not comprehend the wonderful gift of our lord on the cross.

After all, Nicodemus, a member of the ruling Jewish council, was no doubt well versed in scripture. But his poor understanding of the role of Jesus as savior was exposed wide open in this encounter.

The greatness of the kingdom of the lord cannot be learned through academic comprehension.

The true power, glory, justice, mercy and love of the lord can only be learned through experience – the experience of being born again through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus on the cross.

What does it mean to be born again? How does one become born again?

Essentially, it means to experience complete forgiveness of sins through Jesus.

The bible says that the death of Christ on the cross is sufficient to cover the entire costs of all of our sins. Anyone who turns to god receives full forgiveness for their sins because of Jesus and his death on the cross.

Those who are forgiven through Christ receive a spiritual re-birth. Jesus died and was raised again three days later. In a similar manner, those who are forgiven through Jesus receive a spiritual re-birth. Physically, we remain in our regular state, but spiritually speaking, our old self dies and we are raised into a new spiritual life.

This is not a physical transformation, it’s a spiritual one. Spiritually speaking, we are born again, except that this time, we are born into the spirit of god, truly as one of his children. Spiritually speaking, we are born and raised into a new family and a new household, the kingdom of god.

The only way to truly know god is to experience him. This means experiencing the process of being forgiven for your sins and being spiritually raised into a new life through Jesus.

The greatness of god cannot be understood or comprehended without this experience.


(3) Status is worthless before god.

Within the world of the Jews, Nicodemus looked pretty good. As a member of the ruling Jewish council, he held a very respectable position.

He was the man. He had status, honor and apparently, a sound comprehension of the Old Testament. As a teacher of Israel, many looked up to him.

But did Nicodemus believe the word of god?

Apparently not, according to Jesus. Jesus said “I have spoken to you of earthly things, and you do not believe. How then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” (v12)

Moreover, in verse 3, Jesus implies that Nicodemus has not been ‘born again,’ and does not properly understand the kingdom of god.

It is possible that I am taking this passage out of context. It is also possible, given Jesus’ reference to ‘you people,’ (v10) that Jesus was not referring to Nicodemus personally, but either to the Jewish council or to the broader Jewish population within Jerusalem. However, Jesus does appear to accuse Nicodemus of not believing the word of god.

The point I am driving at is this – your worldly status does not matter when you stand before god. The only thing that matters when you stand before god is whether or not you believe in
Christ as your savior.

This applies for any man, woman or child. When it comes to standing before god, your earthly status does not count, whether you are a street beggar, prisioner, company owner, president, pastor or even the pope. The only thing that counts is whether your sins have been forgiven.

And, as we’ll see in the next passage, the only way that can happen is through belief in Jesus or savior.


(4) Jesus came from heaven.

“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven.” (v15)

This says a ton about Jesus and why does not compare to any other man.

Each of us originated from the womb of another human. No matter how loving our parents may have been, they were imperfect human beings. We all originated from earthly beings and by nature, belong to the earth.

Jesus is different. He came from heaven - from god’s eternal heavenly kingdom.

His roots are different from ours. He came down to earth, but, unlike us, he was not really part of the world.

He is, and has always been, part of god’s great kingdom in heaven.


Prayer:
Lord, forgive us for the times when our hearts are not open to hearing about you and your word.

Forgive us for times when we assume in our ignorance to know things about you, even if those assumptions are not supported by your word.

Lord, we cannot comprehend the great height and depth of your incomparable justice, mercy and love unless we experience your great mercy through the forgiveness of our sins on the cross.

Lord, each of us is accountable to you and you only. Status before men does not matter if we are not right before you. So, let our hearts be set on honoring you, and let us all seek forgiveness from you for our sins through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus on the cross.

Lord Jesus, you are not one of us. We are from the earth, you are from heaven. We came from within a dirty, sinful, broken world. You are from a wonderful and perfect heaven.

In your great name,

Amen

What's in a Man? (John 2:23-25)

Scripture reading:
23Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.


Observations:
(1) I have to admit that I do not understand this passage.

It seems clear that Jesus displayed the power of the lord by performing at least some miracles.

It is also clear that the crowd believed in his name because of what they had witnessed.

The point I do not understand is that about Jesus not entrusting himself to them.

What does this mean? Why was Jesus so particular about not trusting these specific people? I don’t know.

The context and location may provide some ideas. The location was Jerusalem – the same town of the crucifixion. This was also the same town where, before his death, Jesus arrived to a mass welcoming - only to have many demand his crucifixion shortly after.

Knowing what would later come, Jesus was doubtless wary of this crowd in particular. Jesus probably saw their belief as being shallow and fickle, especially given how quickly many turned against him at his crucifixion. This is the most likely explanation for Jesus’ distrust.

Furthermore, consider the context. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem to find that traders had turned the temple into a marketplace – not a great impression. If things like this were allowed to occur, it would be fair to say that the faith in Jerusalem was not strong.

Likewise, it was in Jerusalem that Judas was to betray Jesus into the hands of the Jewish leaders. This could also be a factor in Jesus’ response.

What is clear is that there was something different about the people of Jerusalem, some particular reason why Jesus had no trust in them.

But, as stated above, I do not understand the meaning of this passage.


Prayer:
Lord, when we put our trust in you, let our faith always be strong. Do not let our hearts change easily, but let us hold steadfast in good times and bad like a tree with strong roots. Let us stand strong, in solid ground, and never deviate from faith in Jesus.

In your great name I pray,

Amen.