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.” 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?” Jesus
answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water
and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be
born again.’ 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.” Nicodemus
said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered
him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand
these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak
of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do
not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things
and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly
things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended
from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that
whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in
him should not perish but have eternal life. For God
did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order
that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in
him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And
this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people
loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were
evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not
come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But
whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be
clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” John 3:1-21 ESV
Like the Butterfly--you can have a new life.
Be Born Again!
This
is a long passage. What do we learn from it? Nicodemus is a Pharisee—a Jewish
leader and teacher—who approaches Jesus at night. Is he afraid of what his
fellow Pharisees will think of him…or do to him? He must have made an
appointment with Jesus—and snuck out so others didn’t know just who he went to
see. It is an interesting interchange that Nicodemus and Jesus have—starting off
with Nicodemus acknowledging that Jesus is a great teacher. He has seen or
heard of the miracles that Jesus was doing. Did he know that Jesus turned water
into wine? Who instantly does that? Who heals the sick, the blind, and lame? Yes,
Jesus had already done all that, so Nicodemus knew His power. Jesus teaches
Nicodemus the concept of being “born again” illustrating the basic concept of
Christianity. You must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God. It is a
spiritual rebirth. Jesus emphasized this when He said… that
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. God is a spiritual being. Jesus goes on to say…The
wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not
know where it comes from or where it goes. Like the wind, we don’t see the
Spirit, but the Spirit is real.
Born
again. The disciple Peter later writes about this in the book he authored. He
learned about this from Jesus, and passes that knowledge on to encourage other
Christians. They have been born again.
- All praise to God, the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again,
because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great
expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance--an inheritance that is kept
in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 1 Peter 1:3-4
- For you have been born again, but not to a life
that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from
the eternal, living word of God. 1 Peter 1:23
Jesus
confronts Nicodemus with being a Jewish teacher, but not understanding this
concept. He states that we teach what we know—so how can Nicodemus teach about
heavenly, spiritual things without understanding them? What a great challenge!
Jesus goes on to discuss more concepts that Nicodemus and all those seeking
knowledge about God need to understand. We’ll look at those for a couple more
days this week. For now, reflect on just what it means to be born again.
Prayer
– Lord Jesus, I have been “born again” just as You told Nicodemus. The Holy
Spirit lives within me and reminds me of the truths that You taught. I’m so
glad we have the Bible—Your living Word—to teach us and remind us how we should
live—loving God and loving others. You have been so gracious and merciful to
have given Your life—so that we might live forever with You. Thank you!
Verse
of Salvation ~ You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do
not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible
joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. This
salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they
prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 1 Peter 1:8-10
What do
we learn about Jesus from these scripture passages?
© 2026 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®),
© 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
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