THE ENCOUNTER WITH NICODEMUS

Jesus declared 'I tell you the truth, that no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.

Nicodemus is a supreme example of a sincere example of a seeker after truth. If only there were more Nicodemuses in the world today-men and women who are prepered to lay aside apathy,
prejudice, and fear and seek the truth with an honest and humble spirit. 'Seek and you will find,' Jesus promised. (Matt 7:7)

Jesus must have startled Nicodemus by telling him that he must be born again. What did he mean?

Obviously he was not referring to a second physical birth or an act of self reformation. Nor can Jesus have been alluding to Christian Baptism, since it was not instituted until after the resurrection. To be sure baptism is the sign or ordinance which seals the evidence of new birth, but we must not confuse the outward sign with the inward thing signified. Baptism is a visible public dramatisation of the new birth, which is itself an invisible and secret work of God, by which he gives us new life, a new beginning.

Moreover ( Jesus said ) we must be born again. Without the new birth we can neither see nor enter God's kingdom. Nicodemus was religious, moral, educated, respectable and courteous. He even believed in the divine origin of Jesus. But all this was not enough. He still needed to be born again.

So how does this new birth take place ? From one point of view, it is entirely a work of God. No one has ever given birth to himself. So the new birth is a birth, 'from above,' a birth of the 'Holy Spirit'. But from our side we have both to repent and to believe. Nicodemus could not bypass John's baptism of repentance. This surely was what Jesus meant by being born 'of water' Then he must believe putting his trust in Jesus the Messiah, who was the Saviour he needed.

Notes from 'Through the Bible through the Year' John Stott.

Yours Aye

Roy