A Radical Idea

 Read John 3:1-21

This is one of my favorite chapters in John. I guess because often I identify with Nicodemus and am convicted when I read this passage, asking myself, "would I feel the same way as him? Would I come to him in the same way?"

Just a little background to get a better grasp on the chapter....

Christ has just cleansed the temple of the money changers and animal sellers. It is the spring of A.D. 29 and it is around the time of Passover.

Nicodemus is an interesting character. He was a member of the Sanhedrin ("a ruler of the Jews"). When he comes to Christ, he displays both cowardice and courage. We see his cowardice in the way that he comes to Christ at night. He came to Christ in secret because he didn't want anyone else to recognize him. He had a lot to lose if he was caught talking to Christ. He could lose his place on the Sanhedrin (a group of 70 of the best and brightest Jewish rulers of Israel), he could lose his financial wealth, and he could lost his place of honor among his peers. Not to make excuses for him, but I can see where he was coming from.

We see Nicodemus's courage by the fact that he still became a follower of Christ despite what he would have to overcome. If you jump to John 7, we see Nicodemus defending Christ to the Sanhedrin. And in John 19, he helped to publicly ask for and bury the body of Christ. These show us just how much salvation in Christ and change a person and their values. But more on that later.

So, Nicodemus comes to Christ and says that he recognizes that Christ's miracles show that he comes from God. Christ's miracles were radically different from anything they had ever seen before. Maybe Nicodemus was recalling the passages of Scripture that he knew so well and recognizing them coming true in Christ.

 However, obviously Christ knows Nicodemus still doesn't quite believe, because he gives Nicodemus this line about being "born again," referencing why he, Christ, was on earth. You can imagine what went through Nicodemus's head at this point. "Huh? Maybe this guy has lost it."

Well, we can see the importance of Christ's use of this phrase in this passage in three ways, and eventually, Nicodemus gets it too:

1. This was the first message that Christ discussed publicly, i.e. not with his disciples.

2. Jesus uses the phrase "truly, truly" to emphasize the importance of what was said.

3. Jesus is giving the answer for how to get to heaven.

So, what's the nature of this "new birth"? Well, it is not a physical birth. That's what Nicodemus thought Christ meant at first. Which is why Christ follows up with this phrase about being born of water and then of the Spirit (and yes, we have now managed to bring the subject of "birth" up in our blog as well). Water represents the physical (I'm not going to go into the details) and Spirit is spiritual. This can be tied to Romans 8:8, which tells us that the flesh cannot please God and we HAVE to have this new birth of the spirit to be with God.

This birth is NECESSARY. There is no other way to heaven! Not only that, but it is IMPERATIVE. Christ doesn't say, "if you want to" or "if you feel like it." He says "You MUST be born again." However, Christ does provide for this new birth. 3:14-18 explains that Christ would die on the cross for man's sin so that man can be born again. And the best part, there's only one requirement. We have to believe in Christ. "To believe" literally means "to trust, to rely upon, to commit oneself to totally." That's it! Simple, right?

And of course, we have the most known and "googled" verse in this passage that makes it clear that this message is for everyone (John 3:16). All they have to do is "be born again."

               

A few final questions:

1. Have you been like Nicodemus before this passage, or after? Have you been courageous or cowardly about Christ?

2. Practically, what would being courageous for Christ look like today?

3. How often do we let our knowledge of the Bible and Christianity get in the way of the simple fact that all we have to do is be "born again"?

4. If you were in Nicodemus's shoes, how would you have approached him? How would you have reacted to this radical idea of being "born again"?