John 3:2-6 (NKJV) 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 and said to him, “Most assuredly, 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, “Most assuredly, 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.
Yesterday I began sharing a fictionalized account of an encounter between Jesus and a Pharisee named Nicodemus taken from John chapter 3. My attention was drawn to this very famous bible story by a wedding at our church. A couple who had been divorced were remarried. They both had encounters with the lord that led to their being “born again” as Jesus coined the phrase in John 3. They were so different inside that God revealed to me that, although they had been married before, they deserved a completely new ceremony.
The new birth is the most radical change any person can undergo. It is not a philosophical or emotional change. It is the rebirth of the inner man. It is the joining of the human spirit to the God himself. It is the complete cleansing of the inner man of sin and its influence. Paul tells us that the outward transformation can only be completed as the mind is renewed but the inward change is immediate. (Romans 12:1-3)
Join me as we hear these words from Jesus through the ears of Nicodemus. Yesterday we walked with the Pharisees as they tried to find out about this new “prophet.” They were not interested in his message but in what kind of threat he could be to their power. As we left them they were about to hear this new prophet for themselves. Let us listen with Nicodemus and the others as they experience Jesus’ public ministry.
First Encounter (Cont.)
They had arrived at the place he was to speak early in the morning. It was a hillside outside of the town. They were surprised to find that there were already thousands of people waiting. Many were obviously sick or crippled. Some were blind and others seemed to be deaf. There were men, women and even children. Some exhibited the strange behavior of the deranged or demon possessed.
Many simply sat waiting to hear his words. Nicodemus felt sorry for them. How many times had the poor and sick been given false hope by some new teacher or prophet claiming to hear from God and have supernatural powers? It made him a little angry and he wondered how much money this one would collect from those who had the least.
Soon a commotion arose in the crowd. He heard whispers around him, “I think he’s coming.” Then the whispers became shouts, “There he is! It’s the Rabbi!” He saw him for the first time. He was not overly impressive to look at. He was just another man, and yet all these people had come for something. He began to speak and the commotion immediately turned to a startling silence. No babies cried, no children stirred and there was not a sound but his voice.
After the meeting, more like a spectacle, was over, they began to discuss Jesus amongst themselves. Some of his Pharisee brethren were convinced that he was a threat to them and to the nation. Others, like Nicodemus, heard nothing seditious in what he said. There had been reports of healings after he finished speaking. They had seen people who came on crutches running with no help. They heard some cry out, “I can see, I can see!” Others were rejoicing that the pain they had been living with was finally gone. Those who had exhibited the signs of possession by evil spirits seemed to be in their right mind. These things could have been fakes and emotional excesses. What Nicodemus could not escape were his words.
Nicodemus remembered that he had never heard…..no that wasn’t right. He had never felt such words in his life. They seemed to deposit something in him that he could not define nor fully understand, but he felt it nonetheless. The teacher had not spoken in “deep mysteries” as so many of his own acquaintances did. Mostly he told stories. Simple stories about everyday life but in those stories Nicodemus recognized truths drawn from the Psalms and Proverbs. The message of the prophets seemed to come alive in the simple things he spoke.
Nicodemus and his Pharisee brethren debated endlessly the fine points of the Law of Moses, but this man seemed to capture the true essence of the Law in terms everyone could understand. Yet with all his simplicity, Nicodemus knew that this young teacher’s words carried even more profound meaning. Truths he could not quite grasp and yet he knew they were there. It was then that he decided he must find a way to talk with this extraordinary young man personally. Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel and he must find out what this man knew that he did not.
Tomorrow we will continue as Nicodemus finally meets Jesus personally. He was not yet the Messiah as we know him today. He was a young man of thirty years. However, Nicodemus, a mature Pharisee, could not escape something in what Jesus said. As we follow through with the encounter we will see what Nicodemus saw. I hope you will feel what Nicodemus felt.
If you have never accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, let me encourage you to read the biblical account of this encounter. Let me direct you to Romans 10:9-10 as well.
Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV) 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Jesus wants to bring this radical change for the better into your life. It comes as you do what Nicodemus did. Open your heart to Jesus and ask him to forgive your sin. Not every sin you have committed. Ask him to forgive you for them all. He will.
Accept the fact that his death, burial and resurrection was the payment for your life personally. Then give yourself to him and accept his lordship over your life. You give him your life and he gets yours. That is the deal and it is a good exchange.
You may say you do not understand what I am saying. You do not have to. Just accept the truth of what the bible is saying and you can be “born again.” All the bad that you were will be done away with. Inside you will be a “New Creature.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21) You will begin a journey that will make you a better person and will secure your eternity in the presence of God.
We will continue with our story tomorrow.
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