John 3:1–3 – 1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus knew. Of course Nicodemus knew. Nicodemus, after all, was thought of as the teacher of Israel. He was brilliant. He studied. He saw and evaluated the evidence. Nicodemus knew.
That Nicodemus understood that Jesus had a connection to God was obvious. Jesus was doing things that ordinary men do not do. Jesus had healed people and turned water to wine by the time Nicodemus met the Savior. As a man who understood the basics of the Scripture, the prominent Pharisee had no trouble putting two and two together to get four.
How interesting, then, that Jesus, in verse 3, shows us that Nicodemus was not there yet. No matter how intellectual Nicodemus was, no matter how brilliant, something else had to come to bear in order for Nicodemus to go from knowing a few facts to being a child of God. Nicodemus needed to be born again. He needed a supernatural move of the Spirit of God to save his soul.
Sometimes we act as though the force of basic human intellect is what we need to see people saved. And I’m surely not opposed to people learning and strengthening their evangelistic and apologetic arguments. But the truth is, salvation is a work of God on the human soul. Salvation is bringing a helpless baby to birth. Salvation involves more than a grasp of and belief in mere facts. Salvation is a soul-changing trust in the person and work of the Savior that changes us from enemies of God to those who desire to please him.
Are you considering Jesus? Learn the facts. But ultimately, let go and trust. Believe with your brain, but believe beyond your brain; believe in your very soul. Put your whole trust for your whole eternity in the Savior who lived, died, and rose again to justify people who could never earn the favor of God on our own. Nicodemus knew the facts. But only the hand of God and the mysterious movement of the Spirit and a faith beyond mere intellect could save his soul.
Pastor Travis Peterson 