I imagine Nicodemus, a well-respected Pharisee and member of the Jews’ ruling council, still felt nervous about his meeting with Jesus in John 3. People were speculating this Jesus might be the Christ, and you couldn’t really deny that God was with Him. Yet as impressive as the stories coming out of Galilee were, it didn’t change the fact that Jesus wasn’t one of them. He hadn’t trained at their feet or been sent out on their authority. So, Nicodemus had to be careful. People talked. If they saw him meeting with Jesus, it might be mistaken as an endorsement by the authorities, and they couldn’t have that. So, Nicodemus wanted to check things out – but quietly, going to Him by night.
If he’s like me, Nicodemus probably had expectations for how their conversation could go. Jesus might want something from him: people were always looking for the council’s influence to help with this or that. Maybe He would even recognize the benefit of networking with someone of Nicodemus’ stature: without a rabbi of his own, it would be good for Jesus to have Nicodemus on His side. Whatever he thought Jesus might say that night, it wasn’t, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).
Uh…what? What does being “born again” even mean…and why would Nicodemus want to do it? It took him a long time and a lot of hard work to reach this point. The respect and influence he had earned…surely Jesus wasn’t suggesting starting all over? Except He kind of was: “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:5). No matter who you are in the world or what your standing is in it, the simple fact is that the world is broken, ruined by sin and awaiting condemnation. Yet God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son to save us from perishing (cf. Jn. 3:16-17). To receive that, we need to make a break with the world and its darkness. We need a fresh start. A rebirth.
No matter who you are. Because some of us are like Nicodemus. Raised in the church. Good morals. Maybe we even were baptized, being “born of water and the Spirit”. Praise God! Yet with that must also come the total change in perspective Jesus sought to help Nicodemus make. Even if you’ve been an upstanding person with lots of accomplishments as an “instructor of the foolish” and “teacher of children”, to really see the reign of God requires a true change of heart (cf. Rom. 2:17-29). The sin that lurks in all of us means we need a complete renovation to experience the abundant life God wants for us. That is why God sent Jesus. It is why the Christian life begins with being “born again.” We all need change; and if anyone can help us achieve that, it is Jesus.