Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. “ That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Jesus said something even more challenging: He said, “ Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” That alone must have stumped Nicodemus pretty badly, as there was nothing in the Old Testament that could have taught him this truth. He said “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot go back into his mother’s womb and be born, can he? Nicodemus dropped the small talk too, and protested the physical impossibility of going back and being born over again.
Jesus went on to say, “ Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” He began by flattering Jesus a little, saying, “We know you are a teacher sent by God, because no one could do the miracles you have been doing unless God is with him.” Jesus wasted no time with small talk: He said, “ Verily, verily, I say unto you…” That is Jesus’s preface to uncomfortable revelation: It means, “ Listen! this is the rock-solid truth, friend: ” I think, because it does not say “ …he came over one evening…” as if it was just an evening visit, we can at least surmise that it was a visit “under cover of darkness.”
He came to Jesus by night, apparently not wanting his fellow Pharisees to know about his visit…or possibly he didn’t want anyone to know: maybe he felt it would damage his credibility as a teacher and a ruler, if he was seen to be consorting with this “odd street-preacher from Galilee.” I don’t know his exact motive. At any rate, he was well educated in the scriptures, and was looked up to as a teacher, (v. Some have declared him to be a member of the Sanhedrin, but the scripture does not actually make that clear, though there is some evidence to that effect.
We are only told a few things about Nicodemus: He was a member of the sect of the Pharisees, and a “ruler” of the Jews. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen and ye receive not our witness. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. At any rate, we can see that His fame was already beginning to build, and He was wary of the people, knowing how unstable they were, so, He did not commit Himself to them.ġ There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto 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. Evidently some things had happened beside just the clearing of the temple and the miracle of the wine, that John simply did not tell us. It is worth noting, that, at the tail end of chapter two, there were a great number of people who believed in Him, because of miracles (plural) that He did. But now we are going to hear the first of His private teaching…not in secret, by any means, but the individual to whom this teaching was directed came to Him privately, by night, so, evidently, Jesus gave him a private audience…or, at least, perhaps just His disciples were there. We have learned Who He is, and a little of Why He came, and a tiny bit of What He can do. We have been studying through the Gospel of John, and, so far, we have heard very little of the teaching of Jesus.
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