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Aaron tells us: One of my favourite stories in the Bible comes from the Gospel of John. In the third chapter we have the account of a religious leader coming to Jesus. The man’s name is Nicodemus, and we are told that he is a ruler of the Jews. Of all the people in Israel who should have understood and recognized Jesus as the true Messiah, few compare to Nicodemus. He was supposedly an expert in the Law of Moses, and would have been familiar with all of the prophets. Unlike many of his peers, Nicodemus was not hostile towards Jesus, for he perceived that the signs that Jesus demonstrated indicated He must have been sent from God. We are told that he came to see Jesus by night, for while he was not hostile towards Jesus, he was also not wanting to ruin his reputation among his peers by openly following and supporting Jesus either. So why did he come? We get some insight from Jesus, who jumps right to to the heart of matter. You see, at the centre of the Jews' worldview was the idea of the Kingdom. In their minds, the Messiah would restore the Kingdom of God and it would be like the glory days when David reigned, and his son Solomon after him. Surprisingly, Jesus did not entertain this notion of the Kingdom, but shocks Nicodemus with the statement, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (3:3). This is very puzzling to the leader of the Jews. What is Jesus taking about? He responds with the bizarre notion that Jesus is suggesting that we must somehow reenter our mothers womb and be born, in a physical way, all over again! Jesus rebukes him for his ignorance and asks, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” (3:9). You see, Jesus was not talking about a physical birth at all. He was talking about a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. A work that we refer to as regeneration. To be raised from death to life by the power of God through the gospel of God. Jesus is essentially saying that in order to even properly perceive the Kingdom of God in all its beauty and power, we have to be raised up to new life by the Spirit. Nicodemus thought he was waiting for a warrior King to return and deal with the oppressive Romans, when in fact Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and to offer his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). Our main problem is not merely external, but internal. We are born into Adam’s rebellion and blindness, and it is Christ who comes as our new Adam, obeying the Father perfectly, offering His own life as a sacrifice for sin, rising on the third day and then ascending back to heaven where He is now praying for us and continually bringing new life by His Spirit. The invitation is open to all: turn from the brokenness and rebellion of Adam, and look to Christ our perfect Saviour and King! For one day, He is coming again to establish a new heaven and new earth and there, all who have placed their faith in Him will live forever. “But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.” Romans 5:15 |