Suggested reading: John chapter 3 verses 1-17.

During our previous meditation we discovered that one of the greatest men in the East did not have the answer to the difficult questions that confronted him. Today we meet Nicodemus, one of the religious rulers of the Jews, who was faced with equally challenging questions to which he was unable to provide the answers, even though he was a well-educated and highly intelligent man.

He met Jesus at night, who taught him that ‘unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’, verse 3. This statement mystified him and led him to ask Jesus, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’, verse 4. Naturally speaking, his questions were unanswerable. Initially, he failed to see that Jesus was not speaking about natural birth or an earthly kingdom. Indeed, natural birth only makes it possible to be part of the physical world but spiritual birth is necessary to be part of Christ’s kingdom.

Jesus went on to say something equally strange to Nicodemus: ‘Unless one is born of WATER and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’, verse 5. In the Bible, water is a picture of the Word of God; therefore, spiritual (new) birth is produced by the Spirit of God using the Word of God to change the heart and life of an unbeliever to please God.

We cannot give ourselves physical life – only God can do this! Neither can we give ourselves spiritual life – only God can do this! ‘Salvation is of the Lord’, Jonah chapter 2 verse 9. Clearly, Nicodemus took on board the answers Jesus gave to his questions and embraced the new birth that came from God. After the crucifixion and death of Jesus, he brought a considerable amount of myrrh and aloes and, along with others, anointed and buried the body of Jesus in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea!