07 Nicodemus: You must be born again (John 3:1-13)

Krisan Marotta: Welcome back to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. I'm Krisan Marotta, and this is my podcast about what the Bible means and how we know. Today is the seventh talk in our series on the Gospel of John. We will be studying John chapter 3, verses 1 through 13. Thanks so much for listening. We are continuing our big picture study on the Gospel of John today. I have been arguing that the fundamental assertion in the book of John is that eternal life comes to those who believe the testimony that Jesus is the Christ. But belief is not simple and straightforward, and John explores the set of issues that surround belief. As we've talked about, John's Gospel focuses on three related themes. First, the importance of testimony. We believe today because of the testimony of those who experienced Jesus firsthand when he was on earth. Two, believing in Jesus is the only way to receive eternal life. And three, the necessity of being born again or baptized with the Spirit. John contrasts those who believe with those who do not believe, and the difference between them is the activity of the Spirit of God. Up till now in the Gospel of John, we've seen a fairly simple picture of belief in Christ. John the Baptist testified that as a prophet, God told him how he would recognize the Messiah, and he saw that miraculous sign come true when he baptized Jesus of Nazareth. The first disciples, the ones who will become the apostles, believe Jesus is the Christ, primarily based on John the Baptist's testimony. Then they see a couple of miraculous signs for themselves, and that furthers their belief. John has presented this picture that belief results from testimony and experience. The combination of John the Baptist's testimony and their own experience led the disciples to believe that Jesus is the Christ. That's the right response, that's the appropriate response. God uses miracles as a witness and a sign that Jesus is in fact the Christ, the Messiah. Author John is showing us how the apostles came to be completely convinced that Jesus is in fact the Messiah. And so far we've seen testimony and firsthand experience of a miraculous event. But belief can be subtle and complicated. The connection between seeing a miracle and believing is not automatic. It's not as simple as see evidence, believe results. Belief is not always straightforward. Sometimes belief is not genuine and it's not what it appears to be. I think a big part of John's purpose in this gospel is to explore the complex nature of belief and unbelief. And the story we're looking at today begins to venture into that territory to explore the more complex nature of belief. And I think this story makes a profound contribution to our understanding of the dynamic of faith. Last week we ended with the final verses of chapter two. Let me just review those. This is John chapter two verses twenty-three through twenty-five. Now when he was in Jerusalem, the he is Jesus, now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people, and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. In these verses, author John introduces a note of caution here. Up until now we've seen this pattern of testimony and experience lead to belief. But questions remained. What kind of belief is it? Is belief guaranteed? Why do some people hear the testimony, experience the signs, and yet fail to believe? It would be easy for Jesus to get excited at this point in his ministry because so many people have started believing in him. But notice John says Jesus did not entrust himself to them. He didn't assume that all belief was genuine. He knows human nature, he knows how fickle we can be. People can get excited by seeing a miracle and then ultimately lose interest. In the story we're looking at today, author John introduces the third major theme of his gospel, the nature of belief. As we'll see, sincere committed faith takes more than being impressed by a couple of miracles. Now I am going to break the pattern today. I'm going to spend a bit more time with Nicodemus because this is one of my favorite passages, and I couldn't just give it a quick overview. Let's start with chapter 3, verses 1 and 2. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. These verses echo the verses we just read at the end of chapter 2. Author John tells us people were believing because of the signs Jesus was doing. Now here comes Nicodemus who says, Well, we know you're a teacher from God because you're doing all these signs. Nicodemus is one of those people who have seen the signs and responded positively to them. But Nicodemus could also be one of those people that Jesus is not entrusting himself to. They formed this brotherhood to teach each other the law and to hold each other accountable. John also describes Nicodemus as a ruler of the Jews. That means he's a member of the Sanhedrin. The nation of Israel at this point was under Roman rule. The Sanhedrin was like their supreme court for religious affairs. It was led by the high priest, but it functioned under the authority of Rome. Most of the rabbis who were members of the Sanhedrin were also Pharisees, although there were some Sadducees on the Sanhedrin. The Jews got special treatment from Rome. When Rome conquered a pantheistic nation, the Romans either assimilated their gods into the Roman pantheon, or if they saw this new religion as a threat, they just disallowed it. They forbid the conquered nation to worship their gods. But when the Romans conquered the Jews, they discovered the Jews were so recalcitrant and stubborn that the Romans found it more politically expedient to let them continue practicing their religion rather than trying to stamp it out or force them to worship the Roman gods. The Jews had a special dispensation from Rome. Instead of sacrificing to Caesar, they were required to make a daily offering to their god on behalf of Caesar. That was their compromise with the Roman government. The Sanhedrin still had some power over the nation of Israel, but it had to function under Roman authority. John tells us that Nicodemus is one of these people. He's a Pharisee and he's a member of the Sanhedrin, and he comes to Jesus by night. As you might imagine, Jesus was not very popular with the ruling class of Israel. He made them incredibly nervous. John will tell us later in his gospel that these are the very people that end up crucifying Jesus because they don't want Rome to come and take their power away. They had a good deal going under Rome and they didn't want to lose it, and Jesus was a threat to them because he might bring the anger of Rome down on them. Nicodemus is an exception. He is responding positively to Jesus and he appears to be a believer when we meet him later in the gospel. But for now, he comes to Jesus by night because he wants to come in secret. He doesn't want the other Pharisees or members of the Sanhedrin to know that he's interested in what this Jesus fellow has to say. At face value, Nicodemus appears to be expressing belief. You might think that Jesus would be encouraged that such an important leader in Jerusalem is expressing interest in him. But no, Jesus challenges Nicodemus and questions his interest. The dialogue that John relates is in response to the initial statement Nicodemus makes. Nicodemus opens the conversation with, We've seen your signs, we know you're a teacher from God. In response, Jesus confronts Nicodemus with four challenges. We're going to look at the first of the challenges this week, and we will look at the last three in the next podcast. But before we look at the first challenge, I want to read three verses one through ten, then focus on what Jesus says in 3.10, because I think that statement gives us perspective to understand the rest of what Jesus says in this first challenge. This is John chapter 3, verses 1 through 10. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water in the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered him, Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? So I want to start with this last statement Jesus makes. Are you a teacher of Israel and you don't understand these things? Jesus says, if Nicodemus had a profound grasp of the scriptures that he taught, he wouldn't be surprised at what Jesus is saying. In other words, Jesus isn't saying anything different than what the Old Testament has already said. Now, as a Bible student, whenever Jesus says something like this, whenever he says, Well, you should know this from the Old Testament, we want to go and figure out how do we know that from the Old Testament? That's where we're gonna start. If you look back at Old Testament history, it quickly becomes obvious that history is not filled with miracles from one moment to the next. We find these great big long periods of history where God doesn't do anything particularly striking or miraculous from our perspective. But there are a few times in history when he really makes himself known. And one of those times was during the period of the Exodus when Israel was captive in Egypt. God spoke to Moses through a burning bush, he called Moses to free his people from slavery in Egypt. God sent miraculous plagues on Egypt, including the final plague, which of course is the Passover. He parted the Red Sea to help them escape, he gave them manna in the wilderness to sustain them. He sent water gushing from the rock. He gave Moses the law at Mount Sinai. While Israel was journeying from Egypt to the Promised Land, God did miracle after miracle after miracle to support them and to teach them and to make himself known to them. Yet during the Exodus we see this repeated pattern. After a few weeks or days, Israel would forget the last miracle, they would start grumbling about their current situation, doubting and mistrusting God. God would hear their complaints, God would do another miracle, they'd repent, but a few days later they'd start grumbling and doubting God again. Finally, at the end of their journey, they're standing on the brink of the Promised Land, and despite everything they've seen, all the miracles they've seen, they say, let's kill Moses and go back to Egypt. Well, that kind of history teaches us that seeing God perform miracles is not enough to create trust and belief in the heart of human beings. One of the great lessons of the story of the Exodus is that even when God pulls out all the stops and shows us who he really is and what he can do, we still don't trust him. In response to all this, the prophets of Israel start telling Israel, look, you have a problem, and ultimately God is the one who's going to have to solve it. God needs to change you on the inside so that you are no longer rebels against him. There are three very important passages in the Old Testament that teach this concept. The first one is Deuteronomy 30 verses four through eight. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it, and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you, and you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. This is Moses speaking. As they were ready to enter the promised land, Moses gave them this great sermon, and he said to them, One day God is going to gather you from far and wide, and he's going to circumcise your hearts so that you will love God and find life. You'll keep rejecting him until he does something to your heart on the inside. Moses is looking ahead. In this sermon, he predicts the exile from the land because of their disobedience. They haven't even entered the land yet, but Moses predicts the time when they will be conquered and taken into captivity. But he also tells them, The time will come when God will gather you back to the land and circumcise your hearts so that you love him. He will cut away the rebellion and the hostility you have toward him and make you a people who love him instead. And the result is you will be people who love God and you will live and prosper in the land. This is a life or death choice. The result of turning away from God is judgment and death. The result of following Him is life and prosperity. If God is going to save them from His judgment, God is going to have to change their hearts. And the result of their changed hearts is they will live. The second passage comes from Jeremiah. Jeremiah speaks of this very same kind of restoration to the land, and he announces the new covenant. This is Jeremiah 31, verses 31 through 34. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor, and each his brother saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. Jeremiah is speaking about the same thing that Moses spoke about, this restoration from captivity and the coming of a new kind of covenant. And what is that new covenant? God is going to write the law in their hearts, and the result is God will be their God and they will be his people. Right now they have hearts that turn away from God, which results in judgment. To rescue them from judgment, God has to change their hearts. He has to give them new hearts that seek after him rather than hearts that rebel. The third passage comes from the prophet Ezekiel, and he basically says the same thing. This is Ezekiel chapter thirty six verses twenty two to twenty seven. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God, it is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them, and the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you, and I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Here we see Ezekiel talking about the same thing we saw in Moses and the same thing we saw in Jeremiah. Once again, Israel has been taken into captivity and exile because of their sin and rebellion. Now God is going to resolve that situation not only by bringing them back to the land, but also by changing their hearts. And the result of having changed hearts is that they will follow him, they will walk in his statutes. Because they become people who walk with God in faithfulness, they will be established in the land as his people. Ezekiel uses very evocative language. God will replace their heart of stone with a heart of flesh. God will give them a new spirit. What is this new spirit? Ezekiel says, I will put my spirit in you. All of these passages say the same sort of thing. We look at the history of Israel, we see God make Himself known, the people initially respond, but then they rebel and turn back to unbelief. They don't find life and blessing from God because they're rebellious. The only way they can find life and blessing is if God changes their hearts, if his spirit goes to work on the inside. And just to be clear, the nation of Israel is no different than the rest of us. We are all like that. We all have the same problem with doubting and rejecting God, and we all need God to change us from the inside out. This is why Jesus can say to Nicodemus, how can you teach the Old Testament and not know this stuff? It's in there, it's in the prophets. You will not enter the kingdom of God, you will not find life and blessing in God's promised kingdom unless the Spirit of God gives you a new birth, a new heart circumcises your heart. Today we often think of that as a New Testament concept, but we see this idea that God's Spirit will transform his people is also an important theme in the Old Testament. The prophets talked about this need for a new heart, the need to be cleansed and receive a new spirit. And Jesus says look, as a teacher of the Old Testament, Nicodemus, you shouldn't be surprised when I come. Along and say the same thing. With that as background, then let's look at the first way that Jesus challenges Nicodemus. Nicodemus presents himself as someone who is seeking God. That's implicit in what he says. He has seen the signs and he concludes God must be with Jesus. Nicodemus portrays himself as what we might call a truth seeker. He acknowledges God's doing something through Jesus. However, Jesus reminds him that only those who have been spiritually transformed will receive life and blessing from God. Seeking the truth is not enough. Let's look at John 3, verse 3 through 6. Jesus answered him, Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water in the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Jesus uses two profound images or analogies here. The first one is this imagery of birth. I think the way to think about this metaphor is to connect it not with the physical drama of being born, but to think about the issue of having a birthright. Unless you have a birthright, you have no place in the kingdom of God. What birthright gives you a place in the kingdom of God? Well, it's not the birthright that Nicodemus thinks. It's not being born Jewish and keeping the law, it's something else. In our initial birth, we were given birth to by flesh. Our mother and father were made of flesh and blood, we're made of flesh and blood, we have the same sort of earthly, fleshy existence that our parents had, and this earthly, fleshy inheritance that we get from our parents is corrupt. We are sinful, we are trapped in our sins, we are not what we should be. Unless the Spirit of God intervenes, we will continue to have the same natural, human, sinful, fleshly existence that we inherit from our parents. But by the grace of God, some of us are born from above by the Spirit. It is as if the Spirit of God has given birth to us. We have a new birthright. We have a new kind of existence. Just like our physical birth reflected our physical parents, this new existence reflects the spiritual nature of our spiritual parent, the Holy Spirit. We have a new kind of spiritual life. This new birthright, this new spiritual kind of life is essential to getting into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says we can't enter the kingdom of heaven without having been born of the Spirit. A Pharisee like Nicodemus would understand the seriousness of what Jesus is saying. Nicodemus had this hope that he would be resurrected to eternal life in the kingdom of God ruled over by the Messiah. The Jews looked forward to the day when the Messiah, the coming Davidic king, would rule over them in righteousness. Nicodemus may have thought that the Messiah's rule would start as a political reality that would get rid of Roman rule, but I think Jesus means what we would call eternal life. The kingdom of God is that historical and political reality when Jesus is installed as King of kings and Lord of Lords, and every last person recognizes him as such. I think that comes about when Jesus returns, vanquishes his enemies, rights every wrong, and establishes God's righteous rule over God's righteous people. In other words, the kingdom of God is the new age when Jesus defeats and conquers death, vanquishes sin, and grants his people eternal life. Now Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one has any hope of gaining a place in that kingdom ruled over by the Messiah unless he is born from above. Unless he has this spiritual rebirth that Jesus is talking about, he doesn't have the right birthright, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Or as we might say today, if we don't receive a new birth by the Spirit of God, we will not be saved. We have to be given a new birth by the Holy Spirit working in us. Now all of that seems pretty clear, except Jesus throws in this cryptic phrase, born of water and spirit, in 3-5. A lot of ink has been spilled over how to understand that phrase, and we could spend the entire session talking about all the interpretive debates that surround that little phrase. I'm not going to go into all that here. I will just tell you quickly what I think it means, but I'm not going to go into detail. Just know there's a whole lot of debate over it. First of all, we have to know coming to a phrase like this that all of us bring something to it. It is not obvious what Jesus means. He is intentionally cryptic. He drops this phrase in born of water and spirit. He doesn't say anything else about it. He offers no explanation. We have to supply some sort of understanding and association. So no matter how you understand this phrase, you are bringing something to the table to figure it out. As I said, there's a lot of debate about this verse. For brevity's sake, I'm just going to jump to my conclusions. But you should know this isn't the only way to understand it, and you might want to explore some commentaries to see what else might be going on. But in my opinion, I understand it this way. In the scriptures, water is often used as a symbol of cleansing. It's a very natural association. Baptism itself counts on this idea of the symbolic cleansing that comes from water. We just saw another example in the Ezekiel passage I read. When God talks about transforming the children of Israel, he says, I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean, and I will put my spirit within you. That passage connects water with cleansing and purifying, and then the spirit which renews and transforms. I think that's the kind of thing Jesus is talking about. We need to be cleansed and reborn. We need to be cleansed of our rebellion and we need to be given a new birth by the Spirit. So I think the water and the spirit is a reference to repentance and the activity of the Holy Spirit. This born of water and spirits is a reference back to the birthright that comes from having repented of your sins and sought the mercy of God by the power of the Spirit. Now there's a lot of debate about that. Feel free to explore the commentaries and see what else might be going on. The second analogy Jesus uses is this analogy between the spirit and the wind. In 3, 7 and 8 he says, Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. In Hebrew, as in Greek, the word for wind and the word for spirit are the same word. The Greek word here is pneuma. He says the pneuma blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from. So it is with everyone who is born of the pneuma. So you get this very rich play on words here. Now think about your experience with wind. You sit outside, there's no sound or movement, everything is still and quiet, and all of a sudden you hear the rushing sound, the tree branches begin to sway and dance, and you feel something blowing your hair or ruffling your clothes. You can't see the wind, but you can see the branches swaying. You can't see what's making the sound, but you can hear it. You can't see what's making the branches move, you can't control it, you can't stop it, and you can't make it go where you want it to go. You don't know when the next gust of wind is coming. You couldn't stop it if you wanted to. You can't control it, you can't analyze it, you can't quantify it. But you can experience the results, you can see the changes that it makes. You know the wind is there because you experience the effects of it. You see the branches moving, you feel it on your face, you feel it in your hair. I think that's what's essential to his analogy. The wind is invisible to us, it is out of our control, but we experience its effects, and that's how we know it's there. The Spirit of God at work in a person is like the wind. We can't control it, we can't control the activity of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit does what he wishes. We can't see the Holy Spirit, he's invisible to us by his very nature, but we can see the changes that he brings about. As we observe the life of a person who is born again, who is born from above, we see the metaphorical branches moving, we see the metaphorical leaves swaying, we see the changes in that person's values, choices, attitudes, so we can see the effects of the spiritual rebirth through the changes that result in a person's life. Now I think we could spend a lot of time on that. That's worth stopping and thinking about. Because in our culture, we are enamored with the idea that we can make anything happen if we just learn the proper technique. Give me a paint by number and I can paint like Rembrandt. That's our mentality. Tell me the steps, the twelve steps, the five steps, whatever they are, and I will get it done. And I think even our Christian culture is full of that attitude today. And I suspect it was prevalent among the Pharisees like Nicodemus. Just explain to me exactly what the law means and I'll keep it. Today we have seminars on how to grow our faith, how to evangelize more effectively, five steps to a better prayer life, three steps to being more generous. It strikes me that American Christians in particular are often asking the question, how do we do Christianity right? But if I understand what Jesus is saying, Christianity is not done by technique. We don't bring it about, we don't cause it, it's the work of the Spirit of God. If I explain the gospel to my neighbor and she shrugs it off, it's not a given that I did something wrong. If I hold a Bible study and only one person comes, that's not necessarily a sign of failure. If I have a prodigal child, it doesn't necessarily mean I failed. The Spirit blows where he wills and he works in his way and his time. Our job, as Paul says in Ephesians, is to be faithful and leave the results to God and his spirit. In this analogy, Jesus is saying the Spirit transforms you and He blows through your life as He wishes. Now you can fake it for a while, but real lasting change in your life comes from the Holy Spirit. The transformation that counts comes by him working in your life. Any transformation that comes through techniques and disciplines out of your own self-effort, that's temporal, that's external. We don't get to control the spirit. We can't manipulate him into transforming us on our timeline and our schedule. It's not like the Spirit's hands are tied and he can't help us until we pray the right prayer. He's the wind that blows when and where he wants to blow to bring about the changes when and where he wants to bring those changes in order to implement the plans and purposes of God. Now think about how that addresses Nicodemus. Nicodemus was probably confused and frightened by Jesus' words, because if being born Jewish, being a descendant of Abraham, and making a good faith effort to keep the law isn't good enough, then how can anyone be saved? How can anyone find life in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus is telling him something he can't do. And Jesus' answer is, look, it's not up to you. It's a gift of God. It's not up to you to keep the law perfectly. It's up to God to give you his spirit. This rebirth thing is not something you can physically do or physically see. It's like the wind. You can't control the wind. The wind blows where it wills. You don't see the wind, but you know it's been there by the changes that take place. Well, the same is true of people. You can't see when a person is born again, but you know that spiritual rebirth has happened by the changes that result in that person's life. It's invisible, but there is an effect. Something changes. It may not be dramatic or strikingly supernatural, but we see the effects just like we hear the wind rustling in the leaves. We see the impact, the change in the way we live our lives, the things that we believe and value and choose, and so forth. Now at this point, Jesus has not really explained why spiritual rebirth is necessary or what it looks like, but he is saying it is necessary. You will not see the kingdom of God without this new birth happening in you, and it comes from the Spirit of God. Now we can get a clue as to why this is necessary if we think back to the Old Testament passages we read. All of those examples were talking about the need for God to cut out the rebellion and unbelief from our hearts so that we might learn to love and trust Him again and find life. I think that is in essence the same thing Jesus is talking about here. These Old Testament passages are very helpful. They teach us that our hearts by nature don't want to turn to God, and left to our own devices, we will continue to rebel and mistrust and doubt him. But God, in his loving kindness, reaches out to us and does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Through his Spirit, because of the blood of Jesus Christ, he changes our hearts so that we learn to love him and we can find mercy and life. The Spirit opens our eyes, and with open eyes we turn to God, seek his mercy, and God forgives us and gives us life. Spiritual renewal, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, is the only road to life. And I would argue that both the Old and New Testament understand what it means to be born again in the same way. In the Old Testament, we see language like God gives you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear. God circumcises your heart to love him so that you might live. God writes the law in your heart so that he might be your God and you may be his people. God gives you a new heart, a new spirit. God removes your heart of stone, gives you a heart of flesh. God puts his spirit within you and causes you to walk in his statues. Each of those phrases that we find in the Old Testament reflects the same sort of thing the New Testament talks about: a work done inside us by the Spirit of God to make us people who love God and are no longer rebellious to Him. Jesus speaks of being born of the Spirit or born from above. I think that's the same idea we just saw in all those Old Testament phrases. The Old Testament says God needs to work in your heart so that you might live. Jesus says you have to be born of the Spirit to enter the kingdom of heaven. That's the same thing. For Israel, the issue is whether they would take God's covenant seriously. For us, the issue is whether we will take the gospel of Jesus Christ seriously. The problem is the same and the solution is the same. In order to respond to God, our hearts must be changed, and Scripture tells us that is the work of the Holy Spirit. Now before we end, I want to quickly defend Nicodemus. It is true that Jesus is telling Nicodemus you don't get it. And when we go through the next three challenges in the next podcast, we'll learn a lot more ways Nicodemus doesn't get it. But I wouldn't say that Jesus treats Nicodemus as an enemy or as an unbeliever. Jesus challenges him, but as we'll see, Jesus talks to practically everybody that way. He challenges most everyone he talks to in one way or another. If you follow Nicodemus through the Gospels, I think it's encouraging. It appears that by the end of the story, Nicodemus has come to faith. When the Jewish leaders consider arresting Jesus, Nicodemus courageously stands up in the Sanhedrin and says, wait a minute, I think you're moving too fast, and he stops them. Then after the crucifixion, Nicodemus helps Joseph of Arimathea prepare Jesus' body and put it in the tomb, which is another courageous thing to do. Jesus had just been executed at the desire of the Sanhedrin, and yet here are two members of the Sanhedrin taking care of Jesus' body, providing a tomb and anointing it. I think the indicators are good that Jesus was getting through to Nicodemus, and eventually Nicodemus does come to genuinely believe. But at this point, where we meet him in chapter 3, he's still fairly naive as to what it means to believe in Jesus, and we'll look at the rest of that in the next podcast. But for now we can see that Jesus is trying to show him it's not enough to see a few miracles and think, oh, God must have sent you. There's a lot more truth you need to come to grips with. Thank you for listening to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. My mission is to explain not only what a passage means but how we figure it out. The blog version of this episode is on the link below the podcast. You can also find it by going to wednesdayintheword.com slash John 7. If you've been blessed by this podcast, please support the show by subscribing and leave a positive rating or review wherever you listen to your podcast. But most importantly, tell a friend what you learned and where you learned it. Our theme music is graciously provided by Reggie Coates. You can find his music on heartfeltmusic.org. If you want to find out more or hear all the episodes in this series, please go to wednesdayintheword.com. Thanks so much for listening today. I'm Krisan Marotta, and I'll see you next week at Wednesday in the Word.