John 3:1-5 Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This 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."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus 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?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."

(1)  There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  Nicodemus was a Pharisee and was also a member of the Jewish ruling council known as the Sanhedrin.  The Jewish religious party of the Pharisees believed in the books of the Law and the writings of the Prophets.  The Pharisees also believed in the unseen spiritual realm and recognized the existence of angels and life after death.

 

Nicodemus - William Brassey Hole

(2)  This 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."  Here we must reflect back to the previous verses and recall that many people had believed in Jesus because of the miracles He had performed during the Passover.  Nicodemus began this conversation with a somewhat pretentious statement; claiming, "We know that You are a teacher come from God."  Whereas in truth, the Jewish leaders were thus far decidedly skeptical that Jesus was acting as an agent of God.  The fact that Nicodemus came to Jesus privately instead of addressing Him in public at the Temple reveals that Nicodemus sought to form his own opinion of Jesus apart from the consensus of his colleagues.

Nicodemus might have more honestly confessed, "Even though You have been officially rejected by the religious leaders of Jerusalem, the miracles You have performed incline me to believe that You may very well be the Christ."  When Nicodemus stated, "No one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him," he was probably voicing his honest resolve.  But the logic of this statement is flawed by the fact that signs are not reliable proofs of God's handiwork.

 

Pharaoh's magicians were able to replicate several of the miracles performed by Moses.  And later in Jesus' ministry the Jewish rulers would assert that Jesus was casting out demons by the hand of Satan.  The Apostle Paul wrote that in the last days a deceiver would come performing signs and lying wonders:

 

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. - 2nd Thessalonians 2:9-12

 

We are, however, given the impression by his opening remarks that Nicodemus had already been persuaded (to the extent that the empirical evidence provided by signs could persuade him) that Jesus was in fact the Christ.  But philosophical and religious beliefs are never fully founded upon physical evidence.  Something more, something higher, was involved in the formation of Nicodemus' bent toward believing that Jesus was the true Son of God.

(3)  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."   "Verily, Verily, I say to you . . "  Jesus instructs Nicodemus that beyond all doubt and without exception the kingdom of God cannot be detected through the physical senses.  Fallen mortal man is simple incapable of spiritual discernment.  An entirely new creature with a new mode of perception must come into to being in order to recognize the things of God. 

"The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." - Luke 17:20,21  Jesus does not indicate that people are the gods of their own subjective reality; but that the ability to see God's kingdom is not based upon physical sight, but upon spiritual vision.

 

In Paul's words; ". . the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  And again Paul writes; "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  But as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit." - Excerpts from 1st Corinthians 2

(4)  Nicodemus 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?"  Nicodemus asked a very reasonable question.  The idea of being born again is a foreign and unnatural concept to the human mind.  How can a person be regenerated and re-formed?  And how similar is spiritual birth to the physical birth process?

(5)  Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  Being born of water and the Spirit has two traditional interpretations.  In both cases the Spirit obviously refers to being conceived and brought forth by the Holy Spirit.  But what does the water represent?  Based solely on the text, in which Jesus is speaking of the distinction between natural and spiritual birth; the water would intuitively represent the mother's water in the womb which is broken at birth.

 

The second assumption regarding the water is that Jesus was meaning the water of Baptism.  Although nearly all of the verses in the New Testament which mention salvation are associated with personal faith, belief, and trust in Jesus; several verses associate salvation with baptism.  But then in order to distinguish between natural and spiritual birth, verse five would need to read; unless one is [RE-]born of water and the Spirit . . ;" because the water in this case would refer to the second birth.

 

Without dispute, the critical concept that Jesus is conveying is that both, the ability to identify the true Kingdom of God, and the ability to enter His Kingdom, require the supernatural work of His Holy Spirit.  Salvation is not naturally achieved.  It is not possible for natural-born man to "figure God out."  Faith is required.  But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. - Hebrews 11:6  The good news is, that God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. - Romans 12:3c