1 There was a man named Nicodemus who was one of the Pharisees and an important Jewish leader. 2 One night Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know you are a teacher sent from God, because no one can do the miracles you do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot be in God’s kingdom.”
4 Nicodemus said, “But if a person is already old, how can he be born again? He cannot enter his mother’s womb again. So how can a person be born a second time?”
5 But Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God’s kingdom. 6 Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit. 7 Don’t be surprised when I tell you, ‘You must all be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus asked, “How can this happen?”
10 Jesus said, “You are an important teacher in Israel, and you don’t understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we talk about what we know, and we tell about what we have seen, but you don’t accept what we tell you. 12 I have told you about things here on earth, and you do not believe me. So you will not believe me if I tell you about things of heaven. 13 The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man.
14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, the Son of Man must also be lifted up. 15 So that everyone who believes can have eternal life in him.
16 “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. 18 People who believe in God’s Son are not judged guilty. Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty, because they have not believed in God’s one and only Son. 19 They are judged by this fact: The Light has come into the world, but they did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil things. 20 All who do evil hate the light and will not come to the light, because it will show all the evil things they do. 21 But those who follow the true way come to the light, and it shows that the things they do were done through God.”
22 After this, Jesus and his followers went into the area of Judea, where he stayed with his followers and baptized people.
Read John 3:1-22 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
During a late night secret meeting, a Pharisee, named Nicodemus, found Jesus because he wanted to have a conversation with Him. Perhaps Nicodemus had some questions of his own, or maybe he had been chosen by a group of Pharisees to go and find out what Jesus was all about. We don’t know which, but what we do know is that because this meeting happened at night, Nicodemus wanted this meeting to be kept confidential.
In their short discussion, Jesus makes an incredibly simple but profound comparison that emphasizes an important spiritual truth. Early on in the conversation, Jesus tells Nicodemus: “Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.” (v. 6)
When stated out loud or in writing, it sounds so simple, but think about it for a minute or two and it will become profound. Our parents gave us human life, but only God can give us spiritual life.
In the holistic and dualistic world we live in, we are tempted to think that we have complete control over our spiritual lives. If we go to certain places, say certain phrases, rest in certain ways, or do certain things, we are tempted to believe this will automatically make us more spiritual.
But according to Jesus, that idea is flawed because only the Spirit (i.e. The Holy Spirit) can give/grow a person’s spiritual life. This means that any control we have is minimal when compared with the Holy Spirit’s role. If we do have any control, it is in seeking out ways to meet and work with the Holy Spirit. The rest is entirely up to Him.
The rituals, habits, and actions that we often associate with spirituality are not necessarily all bad – but if any of it directs a person anywhere but towards Jesus, then it is a distraction and not truly a way of growing your spirituality. The Holy Spirit grows one’s spiritual life, and the Holy Spirit’s role is to point people towards Jesus.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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