John 3:1-8
Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. This was probably to keep it hush-hush. Jesus was quite a celebrity at the moment and the Pharisees were very interested in who He was and what He was going to do next. Nicodemus was a pharisee and possibly one of the top pharisees in the ruling counsel. He was the man selected to go to Jesus privately and find out what he could about Him.
The word "pharisee" means to separate or distinguish. It is clear that the Pharisees that are mentioned in the gospels were very influential in both national policy (under Roman rule), in local politics, and in religious matters throughout Israel. The Pharisees held the scriptures as how God expressed His will to the people. They believed people could and should make moral and life choices by applying the scriptures. This is not a bad thing, but they lost the meaning and relationship with God along the way.
The Pharisees had a particular problem with Jesus because He taught by His own authority, not only from the scriptures. Although Jesus taught by His own authority, the Pharisees were never able to prove how his teachings were contradictory to scripture. Jesus had a huge problem with the Pharisees because they were the teachers of the people, yet they missed the point of it all. They preached laws over relationship. Jesus preached relationship above all else.
I really love how Jesus always confounds the Pharisees and this is no exception. They ask leading questions and he traps them with their own words by looking into their hearts. In defense of Nicodemus, he isn't trying to trap Jesus, he just wants to know more about Him.
Knowing Nicodemus and the Pharisees, he began by confusing Nicodemus by giving him a simple "instruction" - that we must be born again. Nicodemus began immediately searching for a "formula" or set of rules that he could glean from Jesus' words. He was simply doing what he always did - taking scriptures and memorizing the "rules". He wasn't sure how someone could follow this rule, but he was willing to give it a shot. "But how can anyone be born when he is already old? Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?", he asks.
Jesus goes on the explain that we must be born of water and spirit or we will never enter the kingdom of God. Being born represents new life. We were all born once. We must be made new again. Water is used here as a symbol of renewal and being made clean. He is also discussing the importance of becoming new or reborn through spiritual renewal. Baptism is a symbol and sign of our renewal in Jesus Christ. The Pharisees were very interested in baptism and send a group to see what John the Baptist was up to with his baptism and talk of repentance. Jesus knows this. He gets right to the point and explains that we must go ever further - past repentance to renewal. He explains how to reach the kingdom of God, we must take our rebirth to completion with a complete renewal. The old self passes away and the new man is born of the spirit. This is only possible through Jesus.
Question: Jesus challenged Nicodemus to look at things through different eyes. Nicodemus was used to taking the scriptures and turning them into a set of rules to follow. He may have had good intentions, but the Pharisees lost the meaning along the way. How has God challenged you to see something in your life through new eyes? Have you ever asked Jesus a leading question and been confounded by the answer?
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