Must Have JesusSample

A Confusing Conversation

Scripture:

1 There 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, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." 4 "What do you mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. "How 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. 7 So don't be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit." John 3:1-8 NLT

These verses set the scene for a conversation that took place between Jesus and a pharisee named Nicodemus. And Jesus comes out swinging. What was He saying to Nicodemus then? What is He saying to us now?

Observation:

Jesus’ response to Nicodemus’ opening statement feels weird, doesn’t it? Instead of saying, “Thanks, dude. Glad you see God is with me. Why did you come to talk to me tonight?” Jesus launches into a teaching on how to see the Kingdom of God.

And how can we see the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus was bringing to earth? Well, what Jesus explains to Nicodemus is that we have to be born again. How can we be born again? By receiving the Holy Spirit. And how do we receive the Holy Spirit? We place our trust in Jesus. We choose to trust His words even more than what we can see in the moment. That’s tough. Trusting someone even when we don’t know the whole plan and following someone when we can’t yet see all of who they are. But that’s why this thing we are invited into requires faith.

But having faith doesn’t mean not having questions. It means bringing our questions to God, processing our doubts with people we trust, and choosing to follow Jesus anyways.

In this passage, Jesus honors Nicodemus for his willingness to approach Him with his questions. Nicodemus calls Jesus “rabbi” or “teacher.” It’s almost as if Jesus is saying, “Cool, you know that I am here to teach? Let me teach you something right now!” Jesus isn’t being random; He is honoring Nicodemus’ curiosity. And perhaps trying to redirect his attention. Nicodemus saw the miraculous signs as evidence that Jesus was sent by God but He didn't yet understand the fullness of who Jesus was. He sees Jesus as just a teacher. But Jesus is so much more than that. He is the Son of God who came to save us from our sins and bring us back to God. And in order for Nicodemus to grasp all of that, he would need to be born again.

Application:

So, in order to see who Jesus is and what He is really up to in the world, we have to be born again. And in order to be born again, we have to receive the Holy Spirit into our lives and let Him change us from the inside out. What kick starts that process is choosing to place our faith in Jesus. Believing in Him comes before seeing the Kingdom.

Will you choose to trust Jesus, today, even when you can’t fully see all of who He is and what He’s up to?

Prayer:

Jesus, thank you for always wanting to teach us something. Would you continue to change me from the inside out today? I trust you and I will keep on trusting you, even though I don’t see the full picture. Amen.