Nicodemus had everything going for him in the world. As a scholar, a political leader, and a faithful Jew, he succeeded in all he did. Most likely he knew all the Scriptures by heart and was diligently obedient to the whole law of the Lord, doing all he could to attain the righteousness of Heaven. He was both a great man and a good man. So imagine his reaction when in a conversation with Jesus, Jesus jumped straight in by telling him the one thing he was most afraid to hear, that all of his success was insufficient to get him to God!
In fairness, the idea of having to be born again is a little jarring and confusing at first. But implied in Jesus’ words here is the reminder the we human beings are members of two different realities simultaneously. We are both body and soul; we are members of both the physical realm and the spiritual realm. But all that we can sense with our physical bodies is the physical, and on top of that, sin blinds our minds from being aware of the spiritual realm. But it is no less real than the matter around me! In fact, the spiritual is eternal and imperishable and somehow even more beautifully real than the physical. If we are to be whole and complete humans, we cannot ignore that other half of our own existence.
But our world is fragmented, and so for us to be whole, we must be born a second time—we must take on a second life utterly different from the one we already know! Consider the incredible fact that practically all the life you normally live—the normal ways you think, the way you sense your surroundings and respond to your senses, even the basics of your ethics, identity, and joy—are rooted in the flesh. But there is also a wisdom that comes to the mind from God, there is a joy that comes from his invisible presence, and there is a life that thrives without decaying and without needing a material body. Flesh on its own cannot attain those spiritual things—fleshly success on its own accomplishes nothing. But the kingdom of Heaven is for those who live and walk in the Spirit as well as in flesh.
At this point, if you’re confused about what in the world being born of the Spirit actually means, don’t worry—so was Nicodemus! Jesus will go on to answer those questions, so stay tuned! But the importance of the matter had to be nailed down first. These eight verses were the favorite preaching passage of the great George Whitefield, and someone eventually asked him why he just kept preaching that you must be born again. His answer? Because you must be born again! Even today this remains the most urgent call for every living human being. Are you living only according to the flesh? Heed the urgency of Jesus’ reminder. You must be born again!
