January 15
Bible Reading: John 3:1-3
John 3:1, “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.”
John 3:12, “Jesus answered him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?”
My coworker was a man of much ambition and many vices. We were talking one day about Christian matters, when I asked him if he had ever trusted in Jesus. His response was telling. He said he had taken care of that, having been baptized long before when he was a teenager. But a man’s religious deeds, no matter how impressive, are no substitute for being born again.
Nicodemus was a religious man with exemplary religious credentials. As a Pharisee, he lived an extremely regimented life according to the countless Pharisaic rules that governed nearly every aspect of his daily experience. He was a man who would have fasted, prayed, gave alms, read the Scriptures, attended synagogue, etc. As a “ruler of the Jews” he was a leader amongst the Pharisees, overseeing various aspects of the Pharisaic cult that governed religious life in those days. He was “the teacher of Israel,” well-schooled in the Scriptures and various Pharisaic laws. But none of that worked to save him! Jesus told him he needed to start all over with a spiritual re-birth (John 3:7).
The birth of a child is a fitting analogy to what happens in the spiritual rebirth of a person. A newborn child is a passive participant in the process whereby he enters this world. He expends no effort and can take no credit for it. Likewise, to be born again, a person must “be born of the Spirit with live from above into God’s family divine.” He must receive Jesus to be given “the right to become” a child of God (John 1:12). It is a work of the Spirit alone (John 3:5-8).
We cannot know for sure, but it seems likely that Nicodemus was, at some point, born again. Later, when the officers of the chief priests were sent to bring Jesus, Nicodemus defended Jesus. He advised his colleagues to hear and investigate Jesus’ claims before making a final judgment (John 7:45-52). At Jesus’ burial, Nicodemus brought a costly mixture of myrrh and aloes for the embalming of His body (John 19:39). According to church tradition, Nicodemus embraced the faith and eventually met martyrdom for his beliefs. But it all started when Nicodemus went to meet with Jesus! The preeminent word Jesus had for him is the same He has for each of us: “You must be born again!” Have you been born again?
“Except a man be born again, he will wish one day he had never been born at all.” -J. C. Ryle
ROCK OF AGES
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save me from its guilt and power.
Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All could never sin erase,
Thou must save, and save by grace.
Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress,
Helpless, look to Thee for grace:
Foul, I to the fountain fly,
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
LookingtoJesus 