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Nicodemus Comes To Jesus At Night (John 3:1-15)

 Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, because it's not a popular thing among the leadership to see Jesus. Some mix of curiosity and flattery causes Nicodemus to say that he knows Jesus is a teacher who came from God. Jesus takes this as an invitation to teach him something, then. That "truly, truly" is a way to say that something with authority is coming next, something new that hasn't been heard before.

Jesus says we have to be born anew, or born from above, depending on the translation. That reminds us of what we read earlier in John 1:11-13. Drawing near to God in Jesus has nothing to do with where you come from, or who your parents are.

Nicodemus doesn't get it. He doesn't realize Jesus is speaking spiritually here, and so he asks, "how can a man go back into his mother's womb to be born again?" What Jesus does say reminds us that we can't please God by our own efforts; the Holy Spirit must give us the power to do what God asks of us. The reference to "water and the Spirit" is a reference to baptism, in which sins are forgiven, and the person baptized is given the gift of the Holy Spirit, who indwells him or her.

The wind blows where it wants to, and so it is with the Spirit, Jesus says. In fact, the Hebrew word for "spirit" also means "wind." Nicodemus still doesn't get it, which surprises Jesus, since Nicodemus is supposed to be one of the great teachers of Israel. But in fairness, God has a new thing going on. Jesus also says in so many words that he came down from heaven, and just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so he also must be lifted up. By that he means the Cross. In context, (Numbers 21:8) Moses made the serpent as God commanded, and those who looked at it were cured of the poison from the snake bites. Therefore, believing in Jesus is the way to be saved from the poison and the sickness of sin, and to be rescued from death.

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