Encounter with a Religious Leader

On one occasion, Jesus told Nicodemus, a prominent religious leader, that he needed to experience a spiritual birth to enter God's kingdom.

The Passover, the highlight of the Jewish calendar, had come, and Nicodemus should have been pleased and excited. After all, this would be one more opportunity to secure his good standing with God—and he was well on his way. He believed, as all good Pharisees did that the two requirements for God’s acceptance were to be born into a Jewish family (or convert to Judaism) and to keep the Law and traditions. He was not only a Jew, but as part of the Sanhedrin, he was a ruler of the Jews! And Passover—one more chance to gain favor with God—had arrived. So why was he troubled?

It was this new teacher, Jesus. Nicodemus was intrigued by Him. Could He be the Messiah? But some things just didn’t seem to make sense, like when his colleagues asked Jesus for a sign. Jesus’ answer was confusing: “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up.” Nicodemus had watched the building of the temple for 46 years—nearly his entire life—and this man would raise it in three days?

People flocked to Him at the Passover Feast, “believing” in Him because of His miracles. And yet Jesus remained aloof. It’s as if He could see their hearts as if He knew they were simply amazed at the signs but were not truly placing their trust in Him.

Nicodemus had to see Jesus; he had to have his questions answered: Are you the Messiah? Are we missing something? How does one truly get into the kingdom of God? But he couldn’t be seen with Jesus, not as a member of the Sanhedrin. So he met Jesus at night.

“Teacher, we know that You come from God, or else You couldn’t do these signs.”

Even though Nicodemus didn’t ask the questions rolling around in his mind, Jesus addressed them.

“This is the truth: to see God’s kingdom, you need to experience a second birth.”

“How can I, a grown man, get into my mother’s womb again to be born?”

Nicodemus was still caught up with belief that he had to be physically born into a Jewish family, to be connected through the Mosaic Covenant. But Jesus was talking about the New Covenant, about God giving mankind a new heart and a new spirit. Nicodemus didn’t get it.

Jesus continued. “Even you, a teacher of Israel, don’t understand these things. People only talk about what they know; they tell others what they see and understand. I know what I’m talking about, but you people don’t believe me. I explain heavenly truths with earthly illustrations, and you don’t understand. What else can I do? I have come from Heaven to make this truth clear:

“Just like Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up so that those who believe in Him may live. God loved the world so much that He gave His unique Son so that those who believe won’t be lost but will have eternal life. God didn’t send His Son into the world to condemn people; He sent Him to save them through Him. But while anyone who does not believe is already condemned, those who believe are saved from condemnation.”

That night, Nicodemus learned that it is not physical birth or keeping the Law that guarantees entrance into God’s kingdom. Instead, he needed to believe what God said about the one lifted up, to look and be delivered from certain death, to look to the one who could give him a new heart and a new spirit.