A Study of John's Gospel

John 3:5-8: You Must Be Born Again

Implication (what does this mean to us):

Nicodemus, likely for fear of the other ruling Pharisees, of which he was one, came to Jesus by night for a private conversation. Although he timidly came to Jesus by night and in secret, Jesus welcomed him into conversation. Even timid and weak faith in Jesus is welcome when it is sincere. All who come to Him in weakness will receive His strength. While a ruler like Nicodemus may have had many pressing matters on his mind, Jesus speaks to the most important issue of all: the need to be born again. Jesus is not talking to Nicodemus about reformation or growth. He is describing the complete transformation required for a person to enter God's Kingdom. Nicodemus thought that as a Jew and a Pharisee he was already born into God's Kingdom, but Jesus shatters that illusion here.

In response to Nicodemus's question in verse 4 about how it could be possible for a person to be reborn physically, Jesus makes it abundantly clear he is talking about Spiritual rebirth. And this rebirth is required for even the leading religious class in Israel, Nicodemus included. Jesus prefaces His statement with the familiar words, "Truly, truly, I say to you...". "Truly, truly," is a statement that tells the listener what is about to be said has deep meaning and significance, and "I say to you," carries the implication of an authoritative statement to follow. The statement is: unless someone is born of water and the Spirit they cannot enter God's Kingdom. In verse 3 Jesus told Nicodemus unless one is born again they cannot "see" the Kingdom of God and now He states they cannot "enter" unless born again. With this repetition Jesus is making it abundantly clear that only those born again of the Spirit can see or enter God's Kingdom.

This communicates our utter helplessness. No amount of behavior modification, personal growth, prayer or religious ritual will grant a person citizenship in heaven. No one can cause themselves to be born the first time (of water), let alone again (of the Spirit). Only those who receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior can be born of God, and this is what Jesus came to give us (John 1:12-13).

There is some disagreement about what exactly it means to be born "of water." Keeping in mind Jesus was speaking to a Jewish religious leader who knew the Old Testament very well, there may have been prophecies Jesus referred to such as Ezekiel 36:25-28. In this passage a cleansing by water under the New Covenant is foretold when God says He will cleanse people from idols, give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them. It is possible Jesus referred to this passage. It is also possible to be "born of water" refers to physical birth because we are born from a sack of water in the womb. This makes sense because in verse 6 Jesus plainly says, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh," so we know He is clearly defining the difference between physical and Spiritual birth. But it is also possible verse 6 is a supplemental explanation given in addition to OT prophetic references in verse 5. Whatever the case, what is important for us to understand from verses 5-6 is that physical birth and Spiritual birth are two different things, and to enter God's Kingdom we must be born of the Spirit of God.

Next, in verse 7 Jesus tells Nicodemus, "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'" Jesus also says "Do not marvel" in John 5:28 where He spoke of His authority as the Son of God. Here though, He tells Nicodemus not to marvel, or in other words not to be so amazed as to doubt the truth of what He just said. Nicodemus did marvel at what Jesus said because He and all of Israel thought they had already been born into a covenant relationship with God. They thought it was the rest of the world that needed to be reborn like them. But Jesus is telling Nicodemus something offensive that he must understand and believe in order to enter God's Kingdom. This is the same statement Jesus greets all of us with when we hear the gospel. It is offensive to hear we are born into hopeless, sinful depravity, and our nature is so contrary to God's that we must be completely reborn and transformed in order to enter into relationship with Him in His Kingdom. This fundamental truth must not be so amazing or offensive to us that we doubt and refuse to believe it. Because Jesus loves Nicodemus and us, He wants us not to marvel at and doubt the truth of our need to be born again. He wants us to take hold of this truth by faith and cling to it, or rather, cling to Him.