John 3:1-21

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:  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.

It is interesting that Nicodemus came at night.  He could be nervous about being seen with the controversial Jesus.  On the other hand, a night time visit without the crowds could permit greater conversation without the distractions.

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. 

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?

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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 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.

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

I wonder what else was in the mind of Nicodemus at this point.  He either didn't understand Jesus or he understood but didn't accept Jesus' ideas.

I would guess that Nicodemus as an upstanding Pharisee and ruler of the Jews (probably part of the Sanhedrin, the leadership body of the Jews of the time) thought he would be able to see and enter the kingdom of God.  In particular, he might think, "I'm born Jewish in a long line of Jewish ancestors and we are the chosen people.  What do you mean I have to be born of some other way to enter the kingdom?!"

Aside from believing he was born of the right people to see the kingdom, he had very specific views on how God works in the world.   The Pharisees were big on obedience to the law.  The Sadducees were the keepers of the Temple.  The Zealots wanted to restore Israel by getting rid of the Romans.  The Essenes wanted to restore Israel by separating themselves from everybody who wasn't one of them.  Put in "contemporary" terms, you might say the Pharisees were the populists while the Sadducees were the elites; the Zealots the revolutionaries while the Essenes were the isolationists.

And so, Nicodemus probably had a point-of-view on how God wanted things done.  Thus, Jesus talking about "born again" and "born of water and Spirit" would fly in the face of his expectations of what was needed.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Jesus perked up Nicodemus ears with "born again," "water," "spirit" and "wind."  But now, he shifted back to something he would definitely recognize:  the story of the healing of the people when Moses raised up a serpent on a standard.  The healing was from God but the requirement was for the people believe and follow the instructions to look at the serpent on the pole.  To see the story go to Numbers 21:4-9.

John then steps into the narrator role and launches into an explanation and summary of what has just taken place.  He starts this mini sermon with perhaps the most famous verse in the Christian Scriptures, John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.  
(KJV)

Belief isn't a blind leap into the dark.  It is more like trust.  In the dramatic moment in an adventure film, one character says to the other that is about to fall to their death, give me your hand and the hearer of that offer must decide, do I trust?  Is the outreached hand accompanied with a snarling face? Or is the outreached hand extended with love in the eyes?

God has reached out to humanity, to you and to me, through Jesus the Christ.

Lord, thank you for your mercy in reaching out to us, to me.  Out of your love, you were not content to let us die in sin and darkness.  Instead, you sent Jesus to bring light, life and a way back to a right relationship with You, with others and with ourselves.  Thank you.  Amen.