Only The Born Again Will See God's Kingdom
A study of John 3:1-3
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.""
John 3:1-3 ESV
Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:
-Pharisees: "Pharisaios", "Φαρισαῖος"; masculine noun - A leading Jewish sect started after the return from exile. They sought for distinction and praise by the observance of external rites and by the outward forms of piety, such as ablutions, fastings, prayers, and alms-giving; and, comparatively negligent of genuine piety, they prided themselves on their fancied good works. They held strenuously to a belief in the existence of good and evil angels, and to the expectation of a Messiah; and they cherished the hope that the dead, after a preliminary experience either of reward or of penalty in Hades, would be recalled to life by him and be requited each according to his individual deeds. In opposition to the usurped dominion of the Herods and the rule of the Romans, they stoutly upheld the theocracy and their country's cause, and possessed great influence with the common people. According to Josephus (Antiquities 17, 2, 4) they numbered more than 6,000. They were bitter enemies of Jesus and his cause; and were in turn severely rebuked by him for their avarice, ambition, hollow reliance on outward works, and affectation of piety in order to gain notoriety (Thayer's Greek Lexicon).
-Nicodemus: "Nikodēmos", "Νικόδημος"; proper masculine name - Nicodemus = 'conqueror'; A member of the Sanhedrin who took the part of Jesus.
-A Ruler: "archōn", "ἄρχων"; masculine noun - a ruler, commander, chief, leader; Of the members of the Jewish Sanhedrin.
-Came: "erchomai", "ἔρχομαι"; verb - to come from one place to another.
-Rabbi: "Rabbi", "ῥαββί"; masculine noun - a title used by the Jews to address their teachers (and also honor them when not addressing them).
-We Know: "eidō", "εἴδω"; verb - it is well known, acknowledged.
-From: "apo", "ἀπό"; preposition - of origin, of the place whence anything is, comes, befalls, is taken.
-God: "Theos", "θεός"; masculine noun - spoken of the only and true God.
-A Teacher: "didaskalos", "διδάσκαλος"; masculine noun - of those who by their great power as teachers drew crowds about them: of Jesus.
-With: "meta", "μετά"; preposition - the phrase is used of God, if he is present to guide and help one.
-Said: "legō", "λέγω"; verb - to speak to one.
-Answered: "apokrinomai", "ἀποκρίνομαι"; verb - to give an answer to a question proposed.
-Truly: "amēn", "ἀμήν"; particle indeclinable - An adverb by which something is asserted or confirmed; at the beginning of a discourse, surely, of a truth, truly; so frequent in the discourses of Christ in the gospels. The repetition of the word (ἀμὴν ἀμήν), employed by John alone in his Gospel (twenty-five times), has the force of a superlative, most assuredly.
-Is Born: "gennaō", "γεννάω"; verb - metaphorically: peculiarly, in the Gospel and First Epistle of John, of God conferring upon men the nature and disposition of his sons, imparting to them spiritual life, i. e. by his own holy power prompting and persuading souls to put faith in Christ and live a new life consecrated to himself.
-Again: "anōthen", "ἄνωθεν"; adverb - anew, over again, indicating repetition. Also, "from above", of things which come from heaven or God.
-He Cannot: "dynamai", "δύναμαι"; verb - to be able, have power.
-Kingdom: "basileia", "βασιλεία"; feminine noun - Jesus employed the phrase Kingdom of God or of heaven to indicate that perfect order of things which he was about to establish, in which all those of every nation who should believe in him were to be gathered together into one society, dedicated and intimately united to God, and made partakers of eternal salvation.
Observation/Summary(short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):
A man named Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and Jewish leader, came to Jesus at night to speak with Him. He told Jesus "we" know you are a teacher that has come from God because only someone sent by God and who had God with them, could do the miraculous signs Jesus was doing. Jesus answered Him by saying no one who is not born again can see the Kingdom of God.
Implication (what does this mean to us):
In the first chapter of John we read of multiple ways in which people came to Jesus or invited others to, and now we read of another way. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night. He did not have people in his life who invited him to "come and see" Jesus. He heard about Him, and came to see Jesus by himself and in secret. Nicodemus was not only a Pharisee, he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the theocratic, ruling group of Jewish elders. Although he was Jewish, the name Nicodemus is Greek, and this indicates he was also well educated, which is not surprising for a wealthy, ruling Pharisee. He was a man of education, wealth and influence, but he came to speak to Jesus at night and in secret. We do not know exactly why he came in secret at night, but the events leading up to this provide some clues.
John the Baptist had been declaring the coming of the Lamb of God, and people had started to follow Jesus, declaring Him to be the Son of God. Then Jesus, after performing the miracle at the wedding in Cana, went to Jerusalem for Passover where He cleansed the temple of the greedy merchants and money changers, driving them out with a whip made of rope. After being confronted by representatives from the ruling Jewish leaders and being asked for a sign of His authority to do so, He told them if they destroyed the temple, that is, His body, He would raise it back up in three days, and then He did perform many miraculous signs while in the city. As a result of these signs and His teaching many people were believing in Him.
All of this would have caused quite a stir among the people and therefore among the ruling Sanhedrin as well. Because of verses like John 12:42 which say, "...many even of the authorities believed in Him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it...", there is a possibility Nicodemus came to Jesus by night because he was afraid of the ire of his fellow Jewish leaders who were by and large already pitting themselves against Jesus. But it is also possible he simply wanted a quiet, uninterrupted conversation with Jesus.
Keeping in mind the narrative of John's gospel as a whole, the wording of this first verse in chapter three is also interesting as it follows the wording of John 2:25 where we read Jesus did not entrust Himself to man because He knows what is in man. Now, we read of this "man" of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This is the best and brightest of all men, who Jesus did not entrust Himself to, coming to Jesus by night and in secret. I think as we read this we are meant to understand a few things:
1. Jesus knows what is in the heart and mind of all men, or in other words, all people. 2. Nicodemus is a wise, learned and powerful man who studied God's Word his whole life.
3. Whatever Jesus says to this representative, or we might say this exemplar of the best of the people, is what we need to hear too, because Jesus knows what is in man.
Before Nicodemus can even ask a question, we will see Jesus answering his unvoiced thoughts and speaking to his greatest need; the same greatest need shared by all mankind. If a man as great as Nicodemus needs to hear what Jesus says next, so do we.
First, Nicodemus says to Jesus "we know" you are a teacher come from God. By "we" it is unclear if He is referring to the Sanhedrin or the people of Jerusalem as a whole. Likely, He is referring to what had become common knowledge at the time among the people, because we know from verses like John 7:48 that most of the Sanhedrin did not believe in Jesus. Nicodemus was one of the few exceptions. Those with the most material power and wealth, often have the hardest time seeing their spiritual poverty and need for salvation (Matthew 19:23-24). Whatever the case, he says they knew Jesus was a teacher from God because no one could have done the miraculous signs Jesus had been doing unless God was with Him. John gives detailed accounts of 7 different miracles in this gospel, but we know from verses like this one and John 20:30 that Jesus performed many miracles not recorded in the gospels. An exhaustive list would be fascinating to read through for sure, but we have what we need. Let us be careful not to demand more signs, like the leading Jews in the temple, when God has already provided us with what we need to know who He is.
Something Nicodemus said is not entirely true though, and we need to be aware of this. He said that because of the miracles Jesus performed, he knew Jesus came from God. Miracles are one proof a messenger is from God, but it must also be accompanied by the Truth of God. God, in His infinite wisdom, allows those not from Him to perform miraculous signs too. We are warned in passages like 2 Thessalonians 2:9, and Revelation 13:13-14 that Satan and other false prophets can sometimes perform miraculous signs in order to deceive people. Any miracle done by someone who also contradicts the truth of God's Word with either their words or actions is not to be listened to or followed.
However, Jesus is fully God and fully man, who came to us in this world full of grace and truth, and miraculous signs are one way He confirmed to us His identity. The other, perhaps even more important ways are by the truth He shared, much like He would share with Nicodemus in His response to Him. None of the miraculous signs of healing that Jesus performed saved people from their sin. Sin is our biggest problem, not disease or sorrow or pain, as bad as those things are. Sin leads to eternal sorrow, death and suffering so Jesus did not come just to tell people to be nice to each other and perform a few healing miracles. He came to save us from our sin for eternity through faith in Him and His redemptive work on the cross. This is the real miracle Jesus came to perform, and if we want to be a part of His miraculous salvation, we must concern ourselves with the Truth of His Words, and submit to Him.
By his opening statement and because of the manner in which he came to Jesus by night, Nicodemus clearly had questions. In many of the confrontations or conversations Jesus has with people in the gospel, we see Him answering questions they did not ask out loud. Jesus, the all-knowing God who knows "what is in man" (John 2:25), demonstrates His knowledge of the content of people's hearts and minds by speaking to their unexpressed thoughts. Before Nicodemus could voice his unspoken thoughts and questions, Jesus seems to cut straight to the heart of what Nicodemus wanted or needed to know most by telling him the nature of those who will see God's Kingdom.
Here we read the first of 25 "Truly, truly I say to you..." statements of Jesus in John's gospel account. "Truly" is translated from the Ancient Greek word, "amen" that we often use today to affirm truth we hear or to express the sincerity of our requests to God in prayer. When we say "amen" today, we are essentially saying, "It is so" or "Let it be so." The repetition of, "Truly, truly" in the gospels is Jesus' way of emphasizing that we should really listen to what He is about to say because it is both true, important and it will be so. Everything Jesus says is true and will absolutely come to pass.
What He says is confusing though. Jesus answered Nicodemus' unspoken thoughts by telling him that unless a person is "born again" they cannot see the Kingdom of God. This was no less perplexing for us than it was for Nicodemus, and the rest of this conversation will entail Jesus explaining this concept. What Jesus does in saying this is waste no time at all in dismantling Nicodemus's wrong understanding of sin and salvation. Nicodemus, and all of Israel for that matter, thought they were saved and set apart for God simply because they had been born Israelites. They attributed their place in God's Kingdom to the ethnicity they had been born into. But Jesus is saying, no, your first birth and your ethnicity do you no good. To see God's Kingdom you must be born again. Like the water Jesus turned into wine, everyone must be completely transformed by Him.
The understanding and knowledge of the people at the time the Bible was written is worth close examination because it helps our understanding of what has been recorded in the Bible. In other words, understanding the cultural and academic context of the time will help us to better understand the words of Jesus and the other New Testament writers. With that said, here are a few more bullet points about the ancient Jewish understanding of salvation. Many Jewish Rabbis at this time taught that everyone descended from Abraham, meaning all Israelites, were guaranteed a place in heaven because of their ethnicity. There were even some who taught that Abraham stood at the gate of hell to make sure none of his descendants entered there. Because of this understanding many Jewish people expected the Messiah to come and establish a new kingdom on earth with Israel at the center. They expected a conquering general king who would bring material wealth and prosperity to the nation. They did not have any concept of their need for spiritual salvation. They thought they were all good. But Jesus the Messiah came as a Lamb to be sacrificed for sin, and to give eternal life. Everyone needs to be born again to new life in Jesus, Jewish people included. These wrong understandings are what Jesus wastes no time in cutting through in this conversation with Nicodemus.
Lastly for this passage though, what does "born again" actually mean? "Born" means exactly what we think it means except in a spiritual sense, but the ancient Greek word for "again" is worth closer examination. "Anothen" is the word translated as again, but it also can mean "from above". John even uses "anothen" in John 3:31 and 19:11 to mean exactly that. Now, I think Jesus did mean "again" by His use of the word, but both meanings are true because it is also true that to be "born again" to new life in Jesus also means to be born "from above". Everyone who trusts in Christ is born again of heaven, in other words, God's Kingdom, and that is where we find our new identity in Christ. No matter what ethnicity or nation we have been born into in this world, having been born again, our ultimate identity is that of children of God. Our eternal citizenship is in God's Kingdom.
This being "born again" means new life right now. Everyone is born spiritually dead in sin. We do not become sinners when we commit our first sin. We come into this world sinning because we are sinners. Fish swim, birds fly, and sinners sin. It is just who we are. To be saved from our sin requires that we obtain completely new natures. We must be reborn to new life in Christ. When we repent of our sin and place our faith in Christ this new birth takes place instantaneously by His power. It is something that happens only by God's grace through placing our faith in Christ. There is nothing we can do to make this happen. After all, who can cause themselves to be born except for God Himself? Jesus has done everything. We must simply come to Him and receive.
If you are reading this, have you been born again to a new life in Jesus? You can be. This gift of new and eternal life in God's Kingdom where there is no crying, pain or death, but instead life, joy and pleasure forever is freely available to everyone who repents of their sin and trusts in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If you want to accept this free gift, Romans 10:9-10 says, "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."
Please do not hesitate to reach out via message or comment if you have any question about the free gift of salvation available to everyone by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Application (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):
From this passage we learn that to see the Kingdom of God requires rebirth. We must be born again of the Spirit of God by repenting of our sin, asking Him to forgive us, and surrendering our heart and life to Jesus as our one and only Lord and Savior. Anyone who does not do this "cannot see the Kingdom of God." But the good news is this gift is offered freely to everyone no matter who they are, where they were born, or what they have done. Jesus paid for the sin of the whole world on the cross, and His desire is for us to come to Him to receive mercy and grace.
Self Reflection:
Do I understand that neither what I have done, where I am from or where I have been can keep me from God's free gift of salvation?
Do I understand that I have been born dead in sin, and I need to be born again to new life in Jesus?
Have I accepted this free gift of eternal life and been born again? How does that affect how I live now?
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