Week 39 John
Nicodemus came to the Lord privately. He knew that the Lord was special, but maybe wasn’t sure how, why, or in what way.
The first thing the Lord said was: unless you are born again, you can never see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus hadn’t asked about the kingdom of God, and when he was told about being reborn he didn’t get it at all. He thought-out-loud, wondering if it was a kind of reincarnation scheme where you’re born and then die, and then get born once again. Is that it?
The Lord said no: humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven.
Even if I could be reborn a hundred or a thousand times in a material world each time my spirit would stay just as dead.
Nicodemus still didn’t get it and the Lord went on for another twelve not-so-simple verses. But he did say this: as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so I, the Son of Man, must be lifted up…so that everyone who believes in me will have eternal life.
Birth #2 is a more-than physical birth that begins a life that keeps on going.
And how does that happen? The Lord says it happens when I believe in him.
Note: quotes from John 3:3, 6, 14-15 (NLT). The bronze snake story is in Numbers 21:4-9.