John
3:1-8
1
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2
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.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is
born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can
a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb
and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born
of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is
born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7
Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again. ’ 8 The wind blows
where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes
from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Food
for thought!
Today,
we begin a series of lessons. Very difficult lessons, on being born again.
Jesus is urging us all to be born again; to start all over again. The real
difficult is this: how can a grown up man or woman like you, with your age,
with your strongly held habits, convictions, and ways of doing things, ever
start again? Why does Jesus call upon group people to leave our comfort zones?
This is what bothers Nicodemus: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he
enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?”
Did
you notice that the class is at night, under the cover of darkness? It is
always night when we come to Jesus; it is always day when we leave Jesus, after
being instructed. Nicodemus has received a lot of criticism for approaching
Jesus at night. Some people have suggested that he came at night because he was
ashamed and was trying to hide what he was doing. I don’t think that was the
case at all! I think he came at night because he was, like many of us, a busy
man and he knew that Jesus was also a busy man. I think he came at night because
he wanted some uninterrupted time with Jesus! Night time, when all are sleeping
in your house and neighbourhood, is the best time to earnestly pray because
there is not much distractions. Try it.
He
came with some serious questions, but I dare say that he did not expect the
answer he received. Sometimes Jesus does not give us the answers we
expect. Jesus told him, “You must be born again!” Surely, Nicodemus must have
thought this was a mistake. After all, if you looked at this man and at all
that he had going for him, you would never expect him to need to be born again!
Not Nicodemus! Maybe some other man, some other woman needs to be born again,
may be my spouse, my friend, my neighbour, but not me. Not someone like
Nicodemus, who apparently has everything he needs. He has all the plusses and
none of the minuses, from a human perspective.
It
is exactly to Nicodemus (and by extension to you and me) that the divine
teacher is saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you must be born again.”
Whatever this means. None of us truly understands fully what being born again
really means. It is still a mystery. However, don’t let the fact that it is a
mystery cause you to avoid it altogether! You don’t let the mystery of
electricity to cause you to sit in the dark do you? You don’t let the
mystery of how a black cow can eat green grass and give yellow butter and white
milk stop you from enjoying butter, milk and ice cream do you? There are
many things that we do not understand in life, but we still believe in
them.
Jesus
tells Nicodemus that just as the wind can be felt, it can be measured and the
effects of it can be seen; where it came from and where it went, remains a
mystery. The new birth is the same way. You cannot see God do His work in a
human heart. But, you can see the effects of the wind of the Spirit in a life!
When you see a drunkard leave his bottle, you know God has been working! When
you see two enemies reconciled, you know God has been at work. When you see an
unfaithful spouse turning faithful, you know God has passed by. When you see a
wicked, hateful person turn into a sweet, loving, holy saint, you know the wind
of the Spirit has been blowing in his or her soul. It is a mystery because we
do not see it happen. But, there is no denying the effects of the power of God
when He works in the human heart. That is new birth. That's being born again.
Now
you see that all of us need a new birth, in some area. We all have to begin all
over again. We have to start anew. (More on this tomorrow).
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