Chapter 3 – The Religious Environment

What is the kingdom of God? Why do men resist it? Who was Nicodemus, and why could he not see it? How can we rightly understand phrases like born again or born of water? In this chapter, scripture will shed light on these issues and more.

Of the Truth

Jesus said, "every one that is of the truth heareth my voice" (Fourth gospel 18:37). So, the religious leaders who resisted him were not "of the truth," and this had been revealed before Jesus arrived on the scene, as their response to John the Baptist proves.

"The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him [John]" (Lk 7:30). John was "sent from God" (Fourth gospel 1:6), yet the leaders would not submit to his message. Furthermore, Jesus compared his own reception to the reception of John the Baptist:

"whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children" (Mt 11:16-19).

[Note: the phrase "Son of man" refers to Jesus himself (cf. Mt 8:20).]

God's authority was being rejected. It did not matter if it came via John or Jesus. Those who resist the truth are not inclined to be truthful, so they will not admit they do not want the truth. Instead, when they reject the truth, they give themselves reasons as to why they are right to do so. The process of self-justification is what was being pictured by Jesus in the passage above. When the truth is rejected any reason will do. The justification does not need to make sense, but it will always be portrayed as a righteous excuse.

Justified of Her Children?

Paul called Timothy his "beloved son" (1Cor 4:17). This did not refer to physical lineage, for Paul was "a Jew" (Acts 21:39) and Timothy's father was "a Greek" (Acts 16:1). It was a picture of how Timothy came to believe in Jesus and Paul made this clear when he said Timothy was his "son in the faith" (1Ti 1:2) (i.e., the word of God gave new life to Timothy and Paul had delivered this lifegiving seed). Similarly, Paul called Titus his "own son after the common faith" (Titus 1:4). He also called the brethren in Corinth "my beloved sons" (1Cor 4:14) and said, "though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel" (v. 15). What is the difference between an instructor in Christ and a father? One has information to share about Christ, the other produces children.

The picture here is men are "begotten" by the things they believe! This idea is also seen in Jesus' rebuke of the missionary work of the scribes and Pharisees. He told them, "ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte [convert], and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves" (Mt 23:15).

When ideas are believed they produce behaviors that follow from those ideas. Those missionaries were children of hell, so this is all they could produce. If a child of hell teaches others to believe as he does, those who are begotten by those ideas will find it twice as hard to break free from the bondage of those beliefs. Why? Because they will have to acknowledge their own blindness and the blindness of the people whom they had put confidence in – and doing both of these things is doubly hard. Jesus could say, "wisdom is justified of her children" because people are a product of the ideas they believe and self-justification knows no limits.

Notice what Jesus said right before he said those words:

"whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, we have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented" (Mt 11:16-17).

Both John and Jesus taught ideas that challenged the teachings of their generation. So, men in that generation found reasons to justify disrespecting them, as Jesus went on to note:

"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children" (Mt 11:18-19).

John and Jesus both rebuked the religious groups of their day for not honoring God's authority. That is not two different messages. It is the same message, delivered by two different messengers. Those who they criticized could either admit the error of their ways or find a reason for rejecting the message. But eating and drinking do not determine if a message is true or not. Thus, the excuses were bogus. Moreover, since the purpose was to justify rejecting Jesus and John, it did not matter if the reasons for doing so were total opposites. When the intent is to avoid the truth, any reason will do, it does not have to make sense.

The purpose of attacking the messenger is to avoid having to deal with the message, so even contrary objections could be used as the basis for attacking the messenger's character. The goal was to find a righteous-sounding excuse for dismissing God's authority (as this was the foundation of the message of Jesus and John).

"There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord" (Prv 21:30). When people are opposing the Lord, this reveals they lack wisdom, understanding, and counsel. So, why did Jesus use the word "wisdom" about the people who opposed him and John? Because like other gifts including life, wisdom can be used for good or ill. Many people will read a positive connotation into the word "wisdom," but scripture lets us know not to do so.

"The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God" (1Cor 3:19), thus, such wisdom is not good. Wisdom must be judged according to God's perspective. Those who use the measure of this world will come to one conclusion, while those who judge according to what is right in the sight of God, will see things very differently.

Consider the words "wisdom is justified of her children" (Mt 11:19). Here is an example of how we can benefit when we stop and ask, how does it follow? Jesus noted the contradictory reasoning that was used to denigrate himself and John (both of whom were sent by God). At that point, he said, "wisdom is justified of her children." How would this follow? We can see how this follows when we let God's word show us how to identify those children and the wisdom that begat them. It was not the wisdom of God; it was the wisdom of the world because their foolish excuses make this clear.

Religious Leaders Versus God's Counsel

The message of John was called "the counsel of God" by Jesus. He said those who were baptized by John "justified God" (Lk 7:29), and said, "the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him [John]" (Lk 7:30).

Jesus used the words "hypocrite," "hypocrites," and "hypocrisy" about members of the educated religious elite in many verses (Mt 16:3, et al.). Their practice of promoting the teachings of men made the word of God void (cf. Mk 7:13) and Jesus rebuked this practice. His many miracles did not change men who were inclined to resist God's truth. Conversely, if a lack of miracles was a just cause for doubting someone, this argument would have been raised against John the Baptist, for "John did no miracle" (Fourth gospel 10:41).

What did the scholars do after eyewitnesses told them Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead? The chief priests and Pharisees met and said, "what do we? for this man doeth many miracles" (Fourth gospel 11:47). They knew of the many miracles he had done. Did this change them? No. "From that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death" (Fourth gospel 11:53). What led them to react this way? "Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (Fourth gospel 3:19).

Trying to kill Jesus was surely evil. But what about other people in that era? What about those who rejected the counsel of God or those who spread the rumor that claimed John had a devil (Mt 11:18) and gossiped about Jesus by saying he was gluttonous, and a winebibber? (Mt 11:19) They were denying God's authority.

Scripture had warned them to "keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil" (Ecc 5:1). Fools do not see they do evil when they give a sacrifice to God.

The leaders of that day did not want to hear, but they still offered sacrifices to God. When men think sacrificing without repentance will work, their standard of right and wrong is not scripture, it is their own opinion. Such blindness is why many men could not see the kingdom of God, even as it was being brought near to them.

Missing the Kingdom of God

Jesus once appointed seventy "and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come" (Lk 10:1). He told them:

"into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you" (Lk 10:8-11).

Notice, their message brought the kingdom of God near to people, whether the messengers were received or not. When Jesus sent out the twelve, he told them something similar; "as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 10:7). The message of God and miracles give people a taste of his kingdom because he is represented in both of these. Yet, while physical eyes can see a miracle, insight is needed for one to receive the message. The Pharisees could not see the kingdom and Jesus had to tell them, "the kingdom of God cometh not with observation" (Lk 17:20).

Once a scribe responded to Jesus by citing scripture. Jesus said he was "not far from the kingdom of God" (Mk 12:34). What brought him near to God's kingdom was the truth, not a miracle or a sign.

When Jesus sent out the seventy, he told them, "he that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me" (Lk 10:16). He also applied this principle when he sent out the twelve. He told them, "he that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me" (Mt 10:40). Moreover, he later told his disciples, "he that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me" (Fourth gospel 13:20). In each of these statements, Jesus taught the principle of delegated authority.

A failure to hear the message of the disciples was not merely about rejecting them. It is about rejecting Jesus and the one who sent him. Rejecting the witness of God's messengers led people to miss the kingdom of God and people did this to Jesus himself as occurred in this notable episode:

"he [Jesus] was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you" (Lk 11:14-20).

God's authority was behind what happened, thus, a manifestation of God's kingdom had occurred. But instead of acknowledging this and submitting to God's authority, those men justified themselves with excuses for not doing so. Some called Jesus' good deed evil by saying he did it through the power of Beelzebub. Others asked him for "a sign from heaven," which was a slam on Jesus because this implied they knew how to recognize "a sign from heaven" and what he had done did not qualify in their eyes.

A man who asks for a sign but shuts his eyes when God gives it is divided against himself. Jesus knew their thoughts, so he taught a lesson on why mutually exclusive efforts must always end up in self-destruction. He asked a question that put them on the spot:

"If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges" (Lk 11:18-19).

They admitted Jesus had "cast out devils," but to avoid having to submit to the truth of what this meant, they said he did it "through Beelzebub." However, he did not let them get off that easily and he asked, "if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out?"

Did they raise sons who would be walking in the power of God? Certainly not. This is what Jesus exposed with his question. If they or their sons had cast out devils, they would have thrown that in Jesus' face. Jesus learned from his Father and did cast out devils. Their sons learned from them and had no power. Therefore, the answer that should have pricked their conscience was "by" no one! Their sons did not cast out any devils. This is why Jesus was able to cite their sons as evidence against them – "therefore shall they be your judges" (Lk 11:19).

When people resist the truth, they judge it to be not of God. Thus, they resist his authority. "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (Fourth gospel 7:24) was Jesus' counsel regarding making right judgments. To judge rightly, our measure needs to be what is right in the sight of the Lord and not merely our own opinion. Human judgments are affected by many things and appearance is a judgment call, for it depends on how a person or thing is perceived. If we judge according to the appearance, our own opinion is our standard of judgment.

In the episode above, those who saw Jesus cast out devils did not "judge righteous judgment." Jesus said, "the kingdom of God" had come upon them, but those accusers could not see it.

Nicodemus

Another who could not see the kingdom of God was Nicodemus, even though what he said to Jesus shows he presumptuously thought he could. He was a top religious leader, as was noted in the passage that tells us of the night he went to speak with Jesus:

"¹There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: ²The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. ³Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. ⁴Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? ⁵Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. ⁸The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. ⁹Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? ¹⁰Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? ¹¹Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. ¹²If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?" (Fourth gospel 3:1-12)

Was Nicodemus on a quest for truth when he went to meet Jesus? If we assume this was his motive, we will see the passage from this perspective and we may make inferences based on this view.

For example, because it says he went "by night," many insist he did this so his fellow religious leaders would not know about his meeting with Jesus, and they feel free to infer this even though scripture never said any such thing. Is this inference justified?

Hear the Words of Jesus

All inferences rely on assumptions. If one of them is wrong, then the inference will be too. What if instead of making inferences, our practice was to conform our view to the data we see in scripture? What would be the result? Is the view of Nicodemus coming as an honest truth-seeker contrary to the evidence? Yes! For starters, consider what Jesus said to him: "we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness" (v. 11). Since Nicodemus did not receive the "witness" of Jesus, what was he seeking on that night?

Consider two statements of Jesus: "my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (Fourth gospel 10:27) and "he that is of God heareth God's words" (Fourth gospel 8:47). Do these words describe Nicodemus? No, for he would not receive the "witness" of Jesus. Also, Jesus told him, "if I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not… " (Fourth gospel 3:12), so Nicodemus did not even believe the things Jesus told him on that night. But to grasp the depth of his resistance to the truth, it is important to realize the witness he rejected was not limited to the words he heard Jesus speak on that night.

Nicodemus referred to miracles Jesus had done. Miracles would also bear profound witness to Jesus' authority. So, what miracles did Nicodemus have in mind when he mentioned Jesus' miracles?

What Provoked Nicodemus' Visit?

Nicodemus said, "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him" (Fourth gospel 3:2). This has to be viewed in light of the details that are recorded at the end of the prior chapter:

"when he [Jesus] was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man" (Fourth gospel 2:23-25).

Those miracles caused many to believe in Jesus' name, but not Nicodemus! He claimed to know God was with Jesus because of the miracles, yet Jesus' words show Nicodemus did not receive the witness of those miracles.

Prior to doing those miracles, Jesus cast the merchants out of the temple (Fourth gospel 2:13-22). This disturbed the religious status quo, much like John the Baptist had done. John was also sent by God, and his witness was also rejected by the Pharisees (cf. Lk 7:30), and Nicodemus was a Pharisee. But miracles would make it harder to deal with Jesus because John did no miracles (cf. Fourth gospel 10:31). Jesus' deeds and teachings were making the religious leaders look bad. If they could not convince Jesus to play ball with them, they would either have to discredit him or get rid of him.

Who Was Nicodemus Speaking For?

In the KJV, the words "thee," "thou," "thy," and "thine" are all singular. "Ye," "you," "your," and "yours" are plural. This was done to allow Bible readers to distinguish between the singular and plural pronouns that were used when the scriptures were written in Hebrew and Greek. These distinctions are in God's word but are ignored by translations of the Bible which use a single word ("you") to translate both the singular and the plural pronouns. However, the conversation in question provides a good example of why these distinctions are important.

When Jesus said, "ye receive not our witness" he was not only speaking against Nicodemus and the word "ye" lets us see this. Who did Jesus include along with Nicodemus in this indictment? Nicodemus was not there on his own behalf. He claimed to speak for his fellow religious leaders. He said, "we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him" (Fourth gospel 3:2).

Nicodemus was speaking for a group and he claimed they knew that Jesus had "come from God." But Jesus explicitly rejected this claim of knowledge when he said, "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (Fourth gospel 3:3). Ask yourself, how does this follow?

When sequential statements seem unconnected, it is good to ask, how does it follow? This causes us to look to scripture to help us understand what was being said. Jesus' reply should prompt us to wonder, how is Jesus' statement a fitting response to the claim Nicodemus had made on behalf of the Pharisees?

How Does It Follow?

Jesus' reply to "we know that thou art a teacher come from God" was "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." So, how does it follow? It follows because he was refuting their claim! Nicodemus boldly claimed he and his group perceived the authority of God in the works of Jesus. The response of Jesus proved their claim was false. Those men could not possibly see what they claimed to see, because they had not met the condition ("except a man be born again").

Fleshly eyes do not give us the ability to see the kingdom of God. Jesus noted the difference between eyesight and perceiving truth when he said, "by hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive" (Mt 13:14). So, what kind of sight was Jesus referring to in his reply to Nicodemus?

"We know that thou art a teacher come from God" is a claim of insight. Nicodemus asserted he and his fellow Pharisees knew this based on their assessment of Jesus' miracles. But their claim to perceive the hand of God at work is at odds with Jesus' words, "ye receive not our witness".

Notice the Words of Nicodemus

Nicodemus' words are similar to this – "Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly" (Lk 20:21). Yet, this statement was not spoken in truth. Here is the context:

"the chief priests and the scribes… sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his [Jesus'] words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor" (Lk 20:19-20).

Those spies spoke nice words to Jesus, but had an ulterior motive for saying them. Since Nicodemus was representing other leaders when he met with Jesus, is it possible he had an ulterior motive? The religious leaders rejected John the Baptist before Jesus and just prior to Nicodemus' visit, Jesus threw the merchants out of the temple. This made those leaders look bad because they had not done this. For Nicodemus to say the Pharisees believed Jesus was "a teacher come from God" was dishonest. Jesus said a man "cannot see the kingdom of God" unless he is "born again." So, this is a necessary condition for a man to see the kingdom of God. To counter Jesus, Nicodemus said, "how can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" (Fourth gospel 3:4) What are we to make of his question?

Nicodemus did not stick to Jesus' words; he put it in his own words and, in doing so, he mischaracterized what Jesus said. His phrase "the second time" translates a Greek word which means second. But in the phrase "born again," Jesus used a different Greek word with a different meaning. When Nicodemus changed Jesus' word, Nicodemus linked the term "born again" to a man's physical birth (i.e., another of the same kind). However, a different kind of birth is what was indicated by Jesus' words.

How to Verify the Meaning of a Word

Our English Bible is a translation of the Hebrew and Greek words used by the writers of scripture. Their use of words can keep our understanding of scripture on track if we will look at other verses where they used the same word and we let their word choices teach us how to view the words. This may sound difficult, but it is surprisingly easy thanks to a tool called Strong's Concordance, that assigned numbers to each of the Greek and Hebrew words. This lets us see how those words were translated and it tells us every verse where the original Hebrew or Greek word was used. The Strong's numbers show when one English word was used to translate multiple original words or when multiple English words were used to translate a single original Hebrew or Greek word. The word numbers also let us confirm the meaning of the words in our English Bible since these word numbers allow us to find all the other verses where the same Hebrew or Greek word appears.

Looking to see how the writers of scripture used a word can help us to confirm their intended use of a word. Free online tools make it very easy to correlate their words using these word numbers. [The format ^G#### will be used to make it easy for the reader to follow the Strong's number of the Greek word being discussed.]

From Above

Greek word number ^G509 was used in the term born "again ^G509" and this talks about the source or start of a thing. This indicates another source of birth and the term "from above" that translates this word elsewhere helps to show this.

We find this word a few verses later in the phrase "he that cometh from above ^G509" (Fourth gospel 3:31). Moreover, Jesus told Pilate, "thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above ^G509" (Fourth gospel 19:11).

It was also translated this way three times in the Book of James:

• "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above ^G509" (Jas 1:17),
• "if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above ^G509" (Jas 3:14-15),
• "the wisdom that is from above ^G509 is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy" (Jas 3:17).

Adam's descendants have all been born physically. Thus, being born "again ^G509" would be a subsequent birth. But in substituting a word that only means second for a word that refers to beginning or source, Nicodemus discounted the idea of another type of birth. He implied Jesus was talking about a second physical birth, but since scripture teaches resurrection, not reincarnation, he should have known better. On the other hand, Jesus' words perfectly fit with the idea of a resurrection. Also, as will be shown, Nicodemus should have already known people had to be born from above to see the kingdom of God because scripture taught this all along.

Two Distinct Conditions

Being able to see a walled city like Jericho did not mean you could enter it. Those are two different thresholds. Seeing a kingdom or a city does not guarantee entry. Jesus' reply to Nicodemus shows being born again is not the ultimate goal, because he also said, "except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (Fourth gospel 3:5). The contrast of "see" and "enter" shows us Jesus spoke of two things. The first is required to see the kingdom of God, but the second is needed to enter it. "Every word of God is pure" (Prv 30:5). This is why we need to heed the word choices in scripture.

The following gives us Jesus' response to Nicodemus' question:

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (Fourth gospel 3:5-8).

This prompted Nicodemus to ask, "how can these things be?" (v. 9) Jesus then marveled at the ignorance of this esteemed teacher:

"Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? (Fourth gospel 3:10-12).

This was a striking rebuke of Nicodemus. It noted his ignorance, and this episode also provides us with an important lesson.

In our day, Nicodemus would be called a scholar. He was deemed a master of Israel, which suggests he had been studying for many years. He undoubtedly knew the words of scripture. But knowing the words is not the same as knowing what the words mean.

Jesus' words prove a person who knew scripture should have known this. Yet, Nicodemus was blind to the fact "these things" were taught in God's word. What were those things? They were the things Jesus had said to him earlier in their conversation:

• "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (Fourth gospel 3:3),
• "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (Fourth gospel 3:5-8).

If Nicodemus could know these things, this tells us we can look to the Old Testament to learn more about these topics (cf. Eze 36:25 & 37:9, et al.). We know "born again" or "born of water and of the Spirit" are ideas that were taught in the Old Testament, for Jesus' words show this is so. Moreover, he told Nicodemus, "if I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?" (Fourth gospel 3:12) What does this teach us?

His words teach us a principle. Those who will not believe when the truth is revealed about things that can be seen, are unable to believe the truth about things that cannot be seen and that cannot be perceived without a foundation of truth.

Also, Jesus said he told Nicodemus "earthly things." On that night, he told him about being "born again" and being "born of water and of the Spirit," so these topics are in the category of earthly things.

A Kingdom Founded on Truth

After Jesus rose from the dead, over the next forty days he taught the disciples about "the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3). If the focus of Jesus in the days following his resurrection was teaching about "the kingdom of God," then this subject is worthy of our attention.

God is "a God of truth" (Dt 32:4) and this quality is linked to God throughout scripture (Gen 24:27, Ex 34:6, Ps 31:5, Isa 65:16, et al.). Therefore, it follows that the kingdom of God must be founded on the truth (and people cannot both resist the truth and see things according to God's perspective at the same time).

Paul told the Thessalonians, "when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe" (1Th 2:13). Nicodemus lied to Jesus, for he and his fellow leaders did not receive Jesus' words as the word of God. They could not see the kingdom of God because regard for the kingdom and respect for the king's authority go hand in hand. While they claimed to "know ^G1492" Jesus came from God, Jesus used the same Greek word to refute their claim and tell them why they could not "see ^G1492 the kingdom of God" (cf. Fourth gospel 3:2 & 3).

Jesus told the Jewish leaders who had rigged a trial against him, "hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (Mt 26:64). Since they were not born again, they could not see the kingdom of God, yet they could see these things. What is the difference? It depends on how we perceive things. If we submit to God's authority, we will see his judgment as righteous. Those who resist it, will judge God with a false standard and they will experience a different outcome. [This explains why different Greek words were used in the terms "see ^G3700 the Son of man" and "see ^G1492 the kingdom of God" (cf. Mt 26:64 & Fourth gospel 3:3). To investigate the word pictures "sitting on the right hand of power" and "coming in the clouds of heaven," the reader should search for other passages that use these terms.]

Born of Water

What did Jesus mean by "born of water and of the Spirit?" Some people assume "born of water" refers to physical birth, because the sac in the womb breaks in the birth process. Yet, the Bible never uses "born of water" to refer to physical birth. It uses terms like "born of a woman" (Job 14:1), "born of women" (Mt 11:11), or just "born" (Gen 4:18) to refer to this birth. Scripture does use the word "water" of H₂O, but this word was also used to picture God's word.

The Lord is called "the fountain of living waters" (Jer 2:13), and the word of the Lord is pictured as something people thirst for:

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord" (Amos 8:11-13).

Job said, "I have esteemed the words of his [God's] mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12). The consumption of the words of the Lord was also described this way, "thy words were found, and I did eat them" (Jer 15:16). So, is God's word as critical to life as food and water? ["If any would not work, neither should he eat" (2Th 3:10) is usually taken to be about physical food. But might this also apply to the eating of the word of God (i.e., "our daily bread" (Mt 6:11)) as we see pictured in scripture? (cf. Eze 2:8 & 3:1-3, Rev 10:9-10)]

Questions to Consider

"The washing of water by the word" is used by Jesus to "sanctify and cleanse" the church (Eph 5:26). The brethren are "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God" (1Pt 1:23). So, the word of God produces regeneration and "water" was used to portray God's word. Since the birth that is produced by God's word is non-physical, the phrase "born of water" is likely portraying being begotten (i.e., regenerated) by the word of God. In light of this, consider the implications of the following passage:

"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them" (Eze 36:25-27).

Was the term "born of water" describing this sort of change? It is left to the reader to weigh the rest of what was said between Jesus and Nicodemus. [Verses like Galatians 4:28-31, where the terms "born after the flesh" and "after the Spirit" were used to describe Old Testament events, can shed more light on this topic.]

As you study this topic further, here are some other questions that emerge when we consider how the words of scripture fit together:

• The picture of birth is presented in "born again" and "born of water and of the Spirit" (Fourth gospel 3:3 & 5-8). So, would a birthright be included in this, since the birthright is a key concept in scripture? If so, then the warning to not be like "Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright" (Heb 12:16) that was directed to the brethren also needs to be weighed when we are evaluating these word pictures.
• What can we learn about the difference between seeing and entering the kingdom of God from other passages?
• Why did Nicodemus speak flattering words to Jesus on behalf of the Pharisees, even though they did not submit to John the Baptist and they did not receive the witness of Jesus? Jesus threw the merchants out of the temple and was working miracles. Surely, this made the Jewish religious leaders look bad. So, did Nicodemus visit Jesus to see if he could cozy up to him and get him to play ball with the Pharisees?
• Scripture presents us with the following identifying mark, "everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him [God]" (1Jo 2:29). Still, some say, 'if you feel bad when you sin, this proves you are born again/are a child of God.' If someone presents an idea like this we can either judge their words by the written word of God or we can let their words shape our view of scripture.
• If we want to get more insight into the topic of "born again" and/or "born of water and of the Spirit," what do we do? Since these phrases do not occur in the Old Testament, we need to look for the subject matter, not just the words.

Jesus said, "not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Mt 7:21). Nicodemus and his fellow religious leaders did not receive the witness of Jesus, so they were not doing God's will. Thus, if they did not change, they were not going to enter this kingdom and unless Jesus' words applied only in that era, his words are still a standard for us today.