A Tale of Two Men-Part 2

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemis, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a Teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with Him.”  John 3:1-2

Nicodemis and the rich young man in Matthew’s account, posted in Part 1, had a lot in common.  They were both rulers in Israel, and both were wealthy.  I would venture to say that the religious rulers were likely the wealthiest men around.  If they were not rich when they entered their offices, they likely were when they left office, you know, like many of our politicians today.  They both recognized Jesus as an exceptional teacher.  Nicodemis even went so far as to admit that Jesus’ wisdom and intelligence came directly from God.  Also, they both had the same concern about the afterlife, even though it is not recorded that Nicodemis directly asked about eternal life as did the rich young ruler.

Jesus, in His divine nature, knew the exact reason for Nicodemis’ visit to Him, and gave him a direct, straightforward, yet mysterious statement:  “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).  I imagine the look on Nicodemis’ face was one of incredulity.  He might have thought, “Where did that come from?”  He was certainly intrigued, though.  He began to think how impossible it would be for a grown man to re-experience physical birth and expressed his disbelief to Jesus.  Jesus knew that Nicodemis didn’t understand the “new birth”.  (I was born again many years ago, and I still don’t fully understand the new birth, but I know that it is real.)

To help Nicodemis come to terms with the necessity of the new birth, Jesus said that a man must be born of water and of the Spirit in order to become part of God’s family.  When Jesus stated that one must be born of water, did He mean a physical birth?  He could have.  It’s just logical that one must have physical life in order to experience a spiritual birth.  However, it is also possible that “water” is used here metaphorically to express the cleansing from sin which is provided by the grace of God to make one fit for the kingdom of God.  A man cannot cleanse himself of sin.  One must be cleansed by the power of God and receive the Holy Spirit to become a part of God’s kingdom.

All people are physically born with a sin nature, or what scripture refers to as the “flesh”.  Man’s flesh is alienated from His Creator.  Even if one could be physically born again, he would still have a sin nature.  All people are also born with a soul, the thinking and emotional entity of a person that determines one’s behavior.  In other words, the soul is who the person is, his or her personality, likes, dislikes, and manner of living.  The soul will never die.  It controls the flesh.  All sin originates in the thought life.  A more simple way to say this is that sinners sin because we are sinners; it is our nature.

All humans are made up of body, soul, and spirit, yet, the spirit of those who have not experienced the new birth is described in scripture as being “dead”.  Blaise Pascal, the French physicist and theologian, wrote hundreds of years ago: “…there is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”  When an individual repents and places faith in Christ, his or her spirit is “quickened”, or made alive in Christ (Colossians 2:13) and is filled with the Holy Spirit of God, who seals one’s new identity as a child of God (Ephesians 1:13).

Jesus continued speaking to Nicodemis and told him not to be surprised that one must be born again.  He then described the Holy Spirit by comparing Him to the wind.  Scientists tell us that wind is caused by the heating and cooling of the earth’s atmosphere.  A warm front that brings rain followed by a cold front will usually cause the wind to blow, sometimes very strongly.  If I am standing outside in the wind, I don’t know where it comes from nor do I know where it is going, but I feel the effects of it.  I know that it is wind.  In the same manner, we don’t know where the Holy Sprit has been nor do we know where He will go next, but we know He has been present with us because we feel the effects of His presence.

Like the wind, the Holy Spirit is also very powerful.  He can awaken an evil sin-infested heart and lead it to the purifying blood of Christ which is the only thing that can remove the stain of sin and wash us whiter than snow, giving us a second chance, a clean slate.  The new birth is a gift from God the Father.  It can’t be thoroughly explained by human reasoning.  We can’t see the Holy Spirit coming, but we know He has been with us.  Even those who reject Him know that He has visited them because they feel His convicting Spirit.

Jesus continued His conversation with Nicodemis.  Scripture doesn’t record Nicodemis’ response to Jesus, but I believe that the convicting Spirit of Christ penetrated his heart, and he became a believer because of the evidence that he presented when Jesus was crucified.  He brought 100 pounds of spices with which to anoint Jesus’ body for burial.  The first time he came to Jesus, he came after dark so as not to be seen by his fellow Pharisees, but now he was not afraid or ashamed to show his love and respect for Jesus upon his death.  Nicodemis put his faith into action.

There was quite a difference of the response to Christ between the two men.  One rejected Him for worldly wealth only to eventually die, leaving his wealth all behind and as far as we know, spending all eternity in a devil’s hell forever separated from the One of whom he desired no relationship.  Perhaps he came to a saving knowledge of Christ, but it is more likely that he did not because of his hardened heart.  On the other hand, Nicodemis will always be grateful for Jesus’ words: “Ye must be born again.”

Born again, the Savior said, Born again for us He bled, Born again, O happy day, Born again, the only way.