Can We Be Reborn?

John 3:1-17

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ²This 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.” ³Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴Nicodemus 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?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Throughout the Gospels we witness the on-going verbal battle between Jesus and the Pharisees. (Well, it’s mostly verbal. There would be that scene in the Temple where Jesus tosses a few tables and uses a handmade whip. And then there’s the scourging and crucifixion of Jesus. Those two things weren’t exactly verbal.) Those two events aside, it is a verbal beating that the Pharisees take from Jesus on every occasion: except for one; Jesus’ late-night conversation with Nicodemus.

We don’t know exactly why Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. Most scholars seem to believe it was because he was acting outside of what would be approved by his fellow Pharisees. He comes to Jesus with what appears to be a genuine desire to know the truth. He comes with an open heart and an open mind. And he’s no fool. This is a learned man who truly wants answers. Instead of being angry and reactionary to Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God, Nicodemus looks at the “signs” Jesus has performed and believes there may be truth to the claim. Then Jesus throws the big challenge into the conversation.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Now Nicodemus has something to chew on and he is immediately confused. He is stuck on the physical. It is ludicrous to think that one can experience a physical rebirth. And he’s not wrong. But of course, this is not what Jesus is suggesting. Jesus is pointing to the truth that every believer must experience two births; flesh is born of flesh and spirit is born of Spirit. We know this rebirth happens in our Baptism.

One of my favorite Old Testament passages (I know – the usage of the word “favorite” is way too common for me) is found in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 36:24–27

²⁴I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. ²⁵I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

When you read these words through the lens of Jesus’ words to Nicodemus they take on a whole new life and Nicodemus would have been intimately acquainted with these words. He was an Old Testament scholar. When we were washed with the waters of Baptism and the name of the True and Living God was spoken over us, we were “born from above.” It’s done! We belong to God through His calling and His work. If I could make the words from the Ezekiel passage flash for you on this page – I would! Read them again!

I was incredibly blessed (and I didn’t know the extent of that blessing until much later in life) to have a church and parents who together made sure I learned the stories in the Bible starting at a very young age. As a result, I’m a big believer in teaching children the stories and letting God’s Word work in their hearts. But I confess that there were a few of those stories that were confusing for me as a kid, one of them being the story of the snakes biting the Children of Israel and the bronze snake on the stake. That was one of those moments when God didn’t make much sense to me at all. Now, a few decades later, I get it.

I know that you’re wondering what the bronze snake and Nicodemus have to do with one another but hang in there. Let’s review the story from Numbers. The Children of Israel were not treating God like He is God. They were grousing about the manna that God provided for them daily, saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” (Numbers 21:5) So, God sent snakes to bite them. The poison from these snakes brought death. Disobedience has a consequence. Suddenly, they are repentant. They ask Moses to pray for them. God commands Moses to craft a bronze snake and hang it from a pole.

Numbers 21:8-9

⁸And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” ⁹So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

The people had to look up to that bronze snake to be saved. What I didn’t understand as a kid was that the bronze snake was a “type” of Christ. Now, we look up to the cross to see the Savior who has died for our sins. It isn’t because we looked up but because He died that we are saved. The bite of sin has been taken care of by His blood. Nicodemus would have known this story well (and quite probably have been able to quote the passage) and been able to make an instant connection. This Jesus, too whom he spoke, would become as the bronze snake, with the power to save. Jesus confirms Nicodemus’ (and I’m speculating here) new understanding by speaking the words the from one of the most famous passages in all of Scripture, John 3:16.

¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Nicodemus does indeed become a believer in Jesus as the Messiah and helps Joseph of Arimathea (another believing Pharisee) remove Jesus' body from the cross and bury Him after His death. He brings a substantial amount of myrrh and aloe to the experience of caring for Jesus’ body. His late-night visit to the Lord proved to be the event that saved his eternal soul.