Born Again
“Who are you, really, Jesus?” seems to be what Nicodemus is trying to find out in the 3rd Chapter of the Gospel of John. Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council, comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness out of curiosity about Jesus. He was a respected teacher and authority on the Hebrew scripture, yet he didn’t know what to think of Jesus. He was shaken to the core by Jesus’ miracles and the words that He spoke. Nicodemus began to seek the truth although he thought that he already had a firm grasp on it through his understanding of the scriptures.
Jesus confronted him right away by suggesting that anyone who wants to see the Kingdom of God would have to be born again. Nicodemus was perplexed. How could that happen to someone who was already an adult? Jesus assured him that one must experience both a physical birth and a spiritual birth in order to have eternal life.
Nicodemus left that night without making a commitment to Jesus. Little would be said about him until after Jesus’ crucifixion when we see Nicodemus once again. He who had been so timid and noncommittal now carried the body of Jesus to his grave in the moments before the Passover would begin at sunset. This act would make him ritually unclean for the celebration of the Passover, which was a big deal to a member of the Sanhedrin.
It appears that Nicodemus had come to realize the real truth about Jesus and he wasn’t about to be uncommitted anymore. He would be willing to risk his own safety and security in order to live out his faith as a follower in Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus tells us in Luke 11; “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” He goes on to say, “how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Here is the key to being born again and I believe that Nicodemus found the answer through saving faith in Jesus Christ. I pray that you, too, have found the truth about Jesus and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through a committed faith in the Son of God who loves you and gave Himself for you.
