You Must Be Born Again

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”  John 3:7

Nicodemus was a Pharisee which indicated that he held a position of leadership over the Jews.  As most of you know, the Pharisees and other religious leaders had no use whatsoever for Jesus.  They were envious of the attention that He was receiving from the common folks and also fearful of losing their prestigious positions over the people of Israel.  However, Nicodemus was curious about this Man from Galilee.  He knew of Jesus’ miracles and realized that no one could do what Jesus was doing unless He was from God.  We have all heard that “curiosity killed the cat”, but in Nicodemus’ case, it brought him new life.

Because he did not want any of his Pharisaical associates to know what he was up to, Nicodemus came to see Jesus after dark.  Had he been bold enough to go to Jesus in the daytime, there’s no telling what consequences would have ensued for him.  (Later he was not afraid of what others thought when he openly provided spices for Jesus’ burial).  I suppose the other religious leaders would have been insulted had they known that Nicodemus went to Jesus to ask questions that they believed he should have asked them.  I can just hear them now:  “Why did you go to that Man?  We have all the answers.  You should have come to us”.  However, they were just as in the dark about spiritual matters as Nicodemus.  At least he had the guts to find out the truth.

When Nicodemus found Jesus, his questions were already on Jesus’ mind.  Jesus knew that Nicodemus was aware that there was more to a relationship with God than works and self-righteousness, and thus Jesus answered his question before he even asked it.  Jesus said, “Verily verily (truly, truly) I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  That’s one thing about Jesus: He didn’t beat around the bush.  He just “cut to the chase”.  I am certainly not the smartest person around, but this is clear to me that all who claim to believe on Christ must be born again.

Of course, Nicodemus was puzzled at this because he was only thinking about a physical birth when he asked how one could return to his mother’s womb and experience another birth.  Jesus explained to him that He was speaking of a spiritual birth.  Until a person is convicted of his or her sin by the Holy Spirit, repents, and gives his or her life to Christ, his or her spirit is “dead as a doornail”.  Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good; He came to make the dead in spirit alive in Christ.  Jesus went on to say that being born again is like the wind.  You don’t know where it came from, and you don’t know where it goes, but you know it has been there because you feel the effects of it.  Being born again is one of God’s great mysteries, and one of His greatest miracles.  What we can understand of it is only known in experiencing it.  You must be born again.