Encounters With Jesus That Change Our LivesSample

Day 1 — The Encounter That Awakens the Soul: Nicodemus at Night

There are nights when you can’t sleep—not because of noise or fatigue, but because something inside you is unsettled. Nicodemus, a respected Pharisee, teacher of the law, and leader among the Jews, had one of those nights. He knew a lot about religion, but he still didn’t know Jesus personally. So he decided to look for him. “He came to Jesus at night” (John 3:2a NIV). Maybe because he didn’t want to be seen, or because his soul needed answers religion had not been able to give him.

Jesus didn’t start with niceties. He went straight to Nicodemus’s heart:

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3 NIV).

Nicodemus was confused. He was thinking in human terms—of going back into his mother’s womb—but Jesus was speaking of a spiritual new birth, a transformation that comes from the Holy Spirit, not from human effort. “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5 NIV).

This dialogue reveals something essential about encounters with Jesus: he doesn’t aim to improve the old, but to make all things new. He didn’t come to reform our behavior, but to raise what is dead. Ephesians 2:4–5 NIV puts it this way:

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved!”

Nicodemus represents many modern believers: good, moral people, informed about religious matters, but without a real experience of new birth. Faith is not just knowing about Jesus; it is knowing him personally. As John 1:12–13 NIV says:

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

New birth changes how we think, feel, and live. It is a work of the Spirit that transforms from the inside out. That’s why Paul writes, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2a NIV).

Nicodemus came by night, but he ended with the light of the gospel shining in his heart. Jesus revealed the most glorious truth of all:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV).

That nighttime encounter began a quiet transformation. Years later, when everyone else fled, Nicodemus defended Jesus (John 7:50–51) and eventually took part in his burial (John 19:39). The man who once sought him at night no longer feared being seen in the light of day.

When Jesus enters our lives, religion becomes relationship. What used to be routine becomes communion. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV says:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

The Holy Spirit is still doing today what he did with Nicodemus: awakening sleeping souls, giving new life where there was only effort and emptiness. Being born again is not a one-off event; it’s the beginning of a life of daily surrender. Jesus is not looking for admirers, but for sons and daughters who live in the freedom of the Spirit (Titus 3:5).

Practical reflection

• Am I living an informed faith or a transformed faith?
• What areas of my life need a new birth by the Spirit?
• Have I had my personal encounter with Jesus, or do I only know him secondhand?

Suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, like Nicodemus I come to you with my questions and emptiness. I want to know you beyond theory. Make me born again by your Spirit, change my heart, and teach me to live from your life in me. Amen.