Possible

A man named Nicodemus came to Jesus after dark, and the significance of this visit says a lot about how little the religious leaders and Pharisees knew about the Spirit of God. John 3: 1There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. ² After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” ³ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”⁵ Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. There are some interesting insights we can get from the exchange between Nicodemus and Jesus.

1. Nicodemus was a VERY religious man in conviction and position. When you knew Nicodemus, you knew he was 'highly' esteemed by the community of religious people, and he had a lot of religious power, being also a Pharisee.

2. Nicodemus was searching, and even though he thought Jesus was just a good teacher, or Rabbi, he was curious about where the miracles were coming from.

3. Jesus got right to the point by saying John 3:³ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” No religious debate and not messing around, because Jesus got right to the point to deal with this religious man's lack of spiritual understanding.

4. Nicodemus was startled at the statement by Jesus and said, "What do you mean? How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?" which means Nicodemus was talking about himself.

5. Jesus then gives the ultimatum that all who come to Him have to address, where He says the following in John 3: 5: “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

6. Nicodemus asked how this is all possible, as any person has to deal with when thinking about spiritual things.

7. Jesus said, "You are a RESPECTED Jewish teacher, and yet you do not understand these things? This exposed the lack of his understanding of the spiritual world. Jesus exposed the reliance of Nicodemus on things that can only be seen, which is believed by faith, but Jesus calls each of us to a 'greater faith.' In John 20:29, Jesus called out Thomas, saying that he needed this greater faith. John 20: ⁹ Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

The question we must ask ourselves is 'Do I believe in Jesus, and is my faith firm in all the Word of God, or do I have apprehension because it doesn't seem humanly possible to be born again?" So many, like doubting Thomas at times, worry about the 'proof' with doubt, like Nicodemus. Instead of being all in, they hold back and keep their faith walk compromised because of a lack of total faith. Jesus also said in Matthew 19: 26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” The rich young ruler missed the point of the 'camel through the eye of a needle' made by Jesus. If we do not step into the spiritual part of salvation, we will always look at it with human reasoning and miss the point, which is, 'the whole process is a spiritual change for each one who comes to Christ. Without the Spirit, we do not have Jesus, which means we do not have this precious salvation He has offered. Everything is possible with God, even the Spiritual part, so have the better faith, and see your faith walk come alive!!

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren