John 3:4

0:00 Good evening church. It is a joy to be with you. As Justin just said, our text this evening is to be found in John chapter 3 verse 4. I think it is on page 888 in those few Bibles if you want to turn there. So many of you, like me, have probably had the experience in life of talking to somebody and you're having this conversation, you're trying to get your point across, but they seem to be having a different conversation and you're just kind of passing by each other when this is happening. This happens a ton in parenting. So a couple years ago, we were sitting at our dinner table, and the food was served, and Eden, my oldest daughter, she's playing with her food, and I say, Eden, you know, you need to eat your food, and she looks at her food, she plays with it, she looks at me, she goes, but dad, I don't like this food. And I say, okay, Eden, I'm sorry, I don't really care. Your mother made the food, and I'm telling you to eat the food, so you need to eat the food.

0:55 And Eden plays with it a little bit more, and she says, But Dad, I really don't like this food. And I said, Eden, I don't like this food either. But no, I'm just kidding. I did not say that. I love everything my wife makes. I said, Eden, it doesn't matter. This is the food that your mother has made. You need to eat it, right? So she's having a conversation about her desires. I'm having a conversation about thankfulness and authority. And I'm happy to announce that I won that conversation, and she ate her food. Well, in a similar way, this evening we have a conversation where two people are talking and one guy is just not getting it.

1:31 Nicodemus is just not getting it in our text. But the reason, the reason behind why he is not getting it plunges us to some of the deepest truths of salvation in the Bible. And that's what we're going to be looking at tonight. So let's dive into this text. I'm going to read the first four verses of John chapter 3. 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 come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

2:05 Jesus answered him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And then our verse, 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? The main idea I want to explore with you tonight around this text is this. The unregenerate mind, you could say the unregenerate soul, man, person. The unregenerate mind cannot understand the glory of the gospel apart from a work of the spirit.

2:42 The unregenerate mind cannot understand the glory of the gospel apart from a work of the spirit. two points underneath that. First, just looking at the story, we're going to look at an unregenerate man's question. An unregenerate man's question. And then the second point, most gloriously, God regenerates unregenerate men. God regenerates unregenerate men. Point number one, an unregenerate man's question. So our story started, as you saw there, with a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus coming to Jesus at nighttime. Now, nighttime there in the book of John, night and day are opposed to each other light and darkness. This is not just talking about physical nighttime, although it is.

3:19 It's talking about a spiritual darkness. Nicodemus is in a spiritually dark place. He comes at night to Jesus. And he starts out with a statement affirming that Jesus comes from God. And it seems that God is on his side. So he comes to Jesus and he says this. And Jesus responds, you saw, with what seems like a non-sequitur. It doesn't seem to follow from what Nicodemus just said, Nicodemus says, we know you're from God. Jesus says, no one can see the kingdom unless born again. Doesn't seem like we're talking about the same thing necessarily. Well, even though it might not seem related at first, Jesus actually is doing something here. He's actually pressing the conversation to a deeper level. See, Nicodemus doesn't really understand who Jesus is, and Jesus is picking up on it. He's saying, look, you're not actually confused about who I am, Nicodemus.

4:09 you're actually blind to who I am. You can't see who I am. You can't understand who I am because you actually haven't yet been born again. That's the problem. And your initial statement even shows that you do not yet have the spiritual sight. That brings us to our verse and Nicodemus' question that he brings up to Jesus. He takes what Jesus says and on the face asks what seems to be kind of a strange question, right? Can a man, you know, re-enter into the mother's womb and be born again? Kind of strange question. Now, to be fair to Nicodemus for just a second, there is no passage in the Old Testament that uses the language of new birth or birth by the Spirit. The closest you get is actually Ezekiel chapter 36, and it'd be a great thing for you to look at John 3 and Ezekiel 36 and compare those. It's clearly in the background of John chapter 3, but the explicit language of new birth is not in the Old Testament. So we'll give him some credit there. But Jesus still picks

5:10 on him in verse 10 and says, you're a teacher of Israel and you don't understand these things, so he should have known. So okay, let's be fair for a second, but the two questions that Nicodemus asks still come off as somewhat strange. Now there isn't a ton of agreement about how Nicodemus is asking this question. Is he incredulous? Is he angry? Is he dismissive or even mocking? Is he literally taking Jesus literally? Is he's like, are you actually saying a man has to re-enter into his mother's womb to be born again? I don't think it's any of those things, okay? I think that he understands that Jesus is trying to communicate something beyond what he actually understands.

5:53 He's not asking a literal question here. I think he's asking a on-its-face ridiculous question on the surface just to push the conversation forward. Basically, I think he's saying something like this. Jesus, I'm pretty sure that you're not saying that a man has to reenter his mother's womb to inherit the kingdom. At least I hope not. So what are you saying, Jesus? I think that's what he brings up here. And that's, I think, what he's asking.

6:23 Now, two things about that question, those questions. These two questions, probably completely unwittingly from Nicodemus, are actually some of the deepest questions that can be asked in all of history, in all of the world. If Jesus is saying that the new birth is essential, well, the good question is, how does the new birth happen? How can it happen? in fact the answer to that question is basically the solution to almost all the riddles of the bible how does somebody who is born in the realm of death come to life how are they born again or in similar way what we saw from ezekiel 37 this morning god comes to ezekiel he said you know the valley of dry bones and he says can these can these bones come to life can these bones live and ezekiel you know says like you know i don't know you know lord right that scene there in that scene, we have God asking a man the question, can life come here? And in this scene, we have a man who has come to the Son of God and is basically asking the same thing. How can a man be born again?

7:25 You see, these questions are linked. In a world of death, is there resurrection? In a world devoid of life, is there new birth? How does it work? How? Can dead bones be made into an army? Can an old man be born again? Probably unwitting, but still a huge question. Secondly, these questions are the illustration in John 3, in the story of John 3, of the whole point of John 3. The new birth is essential to understanding the truth. And the reason that Nicodemus doesn't understand and he asks these questions is because he has not been born again. He does not understand. And it's not because Nicodemus is dumb. Nicodemus has a spiritual problem, not an intellectual one.

8:15 You know, this idea of new birth in this text is in the same breath one of the most glorious things that you can think about, and at the same time one of the most offensive truths to human pride that exists in the Bible. It's glorious because, I mean, think about physical birth. You hold a physical baby, it's exciting, it's great. I think our home group is going to give birth to five babies in one year so it's a it's an exciting time in our home group we got babies everywhere they're just they're happening and every time you know they come and you get get all this new baby and and it's like the future is sitting there and your hopes and your dreams everything is it's a new baby it's incredible and how much more so then with spiritual new birth how much more exciting i mean the angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner who's saved how exciting is birth It's glorious.

9:03 And yet for all the glory, the new birth is also deeply offensive to human pride. Because when you think again about your physical birth, you didn't have anything to contribute. I mean, I had no role in my physical birth. I was kind of the obstacle, really. I didn't choose my parents. They didn't really choose me either. I didn't choose where I would be born, my ethnicity, my nation, my country, my town. I didn't choose to be male or female. thought I was going to be a female. My name was supposed to be Emily. I was born. Dad said, that is no Emily. Took a couple days, got Christopher. You know, I don't remember the first few years of my life. I contributed nothing to my birth. My whole being and existence is basically unchosen. And if that is true of physical birth, how much more true is it of the new birth, of spiritual birth, of birth by the Spirit. It's an act of God to rebirth somebody by the Spirit. And therefore, the reason that Nicodemus doesn't get it is simply that he just

10:09 is not yet alive by the Spirit and in a spiritual way. Jesus says so as much in verse 8, the wind blows where it wants, and so it is with the Spirit. He brings life where he desires. Not you, Nicodemus, and quite frankly, none of us in this room. None of us had control here. His very question then, Nicodemus' very question then, illustrates the point of the whole passage. He can't see because he's not alive. Let me apply this.

10:39 Let me address you this evening. If you are here, like Nicodemus, and you're curious about Christianity, you're asking questions. Some of them may be ridiculous questions and you know it just to move the conversation forward. And yet you still don't see. You still don't embrace. You still don't love Jesus. You still haven't repented and turned. Look, this text teaches that the reason that you don't embrace Christ is not merely intellectual. It's spiritual. You are not spiritually alive.

11:13 In other words, Jesus is looking at you and he's saying, don't overestimate your ability to see when you aren't spiritually alive. Now, on its face, that sounds offensive. You might say, hey, that's pretty offensive. And the response is, yeah, it is offensive. It's offensive to you. It's offensive to me. Jesus is offensive to human pride. The gospel is offensive to human pride. You are not in control. This doctrine of the new birth is intended to humble you, to cause you to fall on your knees and beg God to see, to know, and to savor the glory of Jesus Christ. Some of you need to be done asking questions and start being humble before the majesty of a holy God. Look, I'm not saying that questions are bad, but at the end of the day, no one can point to their intellect as the reason they entered the kingdom of God. You

12:13 enter it by being born again. But Nicodemus' question still stands. Can that happen? Can a man be born again? Well, that brings me to the second point. God regenerates unregenerate men. All right, so let's answer Nicodemus' question straight on. Can a man be born again when he is old? And the answer is yes, gloriously not by re-entering his mother's womb, but by being born by the Spirit. This is exactly what Jesus will teach over the next few verses, but instead of opening up what Jesus says there, which I encourage you to go and check out on your own, I just want to show you what happens to this night-visiting Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus throughout the rest of the book of John. Nicodemus shows up two more times in this book. In chapter seven, Jesus is at the temple on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, and he claims, he stands up and he says, I'm the living

13:17 water, which is linked to the ritual being performed at the moment. Jesus is basically saying to the crowd, I am God. Well, obviously this upsets the Pharisees. The Pharisees are completely incensed by this, and as they're grumbling and angry with each other and talking about it, Nicodemus, who's a Pharisee with them, says, wait, does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? The Pharisees at this point turn their wrath now on Nicodemus. They're angry at Nicodemus. Are you from Galilee too? Basically, are you a follower of Jesus? So they're picking on him now. Look, his question doesn't necessarily teach us that Nicodemus was at that point on Jesus' side.

14:04 But it definitely teaches us that he wasn't on the Pharisee's side. He's open to who Jesus could be, and he's like, look, I don't think we should kill the guy apart from first at least asking a few questions. He's still open, but he's not yet there. Where the story of Nicodemus really lands, though, is in chapter 19 of the book of John. Jesus, the Son of God, has been falsely accused condemned tortured and crucified and the response of the disciples is to scatter to abandon like lights turned on and the cockroaches go that's the disciples at the death of Jesus in the book of Mark there's even a guy who's trying to get away so bad and somebody's so badly and somebody's holding on to his cloak and he just lets the cloak fall and he runs off like naked to leave Jesus is to leave everything. The disciples have abandoned and scattered. The next scene in John 19, a man by the name of Joseph of Arimathea comes to Pilate secretly and asks for the body of the Lord of

15:10 glory so that he might bury it. That's a risky move. That's a risky move in his relationship to Rome and to the Jews. Jesus was killed for insurrection. Above his head said, the king of the Jews. The charge was, we have no king but Caesar. This guy claims to be a king. Jesus was crucified for insurrection. So for Joseph to go to Pilate and say, can I have the body? I want to honor this man. It's for him to choose sides. It's an incredibly risky thing for him to do. And then the text tells us that Nicodemus of all men, Nicodemus, a man who started the story at night in the shadow, makes at least a half defense of Jesus in John 7, shows up at this point to help bury the body of Christ. He's coming into the light. He shows up with 75 pounds of spices for the burial of Jesus. 75 pounds is a lot of spices. It's a massive amount. It's actually the

16:15 historical amount that you would anoint a king with in his burial. There's no other way to read this than that Nicodemus saw the glory of Christ and was born again. When the disciples that knew and loved Jesus fled, Nicodemus comes. When there wasn't anyone present to care for the broken body of Jesus, Nicodemus and Joseph, two wildly minor characters in the story, risked their necks to care for it. Massive risk and massive cost went into his burial. Their concern, even as Jews, to not be unclean for Passover, it was Passover week, and to touch a dead body would make you unclean. That concern was put off to the side as they touched and buried the dead body of Jesus. You see the point, Nicodemus believed what Jesus had said to him in John 3, that the Son of Man must be lifted up on a tree as a curse. He saw it, and he believed it, and it changed his life. It changed his life

17:24 because he was now alive. He was breathing spiritual air. He was seeing spiritual truths. He knew Christ, and he saw his glory, and he acted on it. He buried his Lord as a king. It didn't matter if Rome knew. His reputation as a Pharisee would be in shambles, but who cares for the sake of Christ? You know, that is always the result of the new birth. You see things differently.

17:55 It changes you, and it comes to dominate every aspect of your life. Your work, for example, suddenly is approached not just for money or reputation or merit, but for the glory of the name of Jesus Christ. I often tell other men in this church that being a Christian in the workplace is doubly hard compared to non-Christians because you don't only have to deal with all the problems that come at you every single day, and there's a lot of them, but you also have to deal with your own sinful heart and how it wants to respond to those problems every single day. Every Christian who works a single shift is actually working a double shift. He's working for his earthly master.

18:35 he's working for his Lord Jesus Christ. And that is glorious because he's alive. He's alive in the spiritual world and he sees things that others don't see. The mother is no longer just trying to survive and keep her child alive. She's desperate for her children to know and love Jesus Christ. Her Lord has claimed her life. She is alive by the Spirit and she can't help but want her children to know him. She struggles and labors over her children's sin and rebellion in hope against hope that her words, her instruction, her love for her Savior would somehow, in God's providence, prod her children to Christ. She's alive, and she's alive by the Spirit, and it changes everything. Look, life is no longer about safety and comfort, reputation and wealth. No longer about being in the right crowd. No longer about power. No longer about indulging sinful desire.

19:36 No longer about fighting for number one. The new birth places you, like Nicodemus, risking even laying down everything for the sake of the kingdom of Christ, for the sake of his name, which is a great subtitle for the book of Ezekiel as we saw this morning. He did it for his name, for his kingdom and his purpose now is everything to you, Christian, if you are born again. You are a child in his family and by the Spirit you desire new things. You see the world in a whole new way. As Ezekiel 36 even says, and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and obey my rules. You are a totally new creation in Christ. Nicodemus starts at the beginning of John in darkness.

20:25 He asks the question, is it possible for an old man to be born again? Well, yes, it is possible, Nicodemus. Look at your life. You were born again. And now, even now, today, the Spirit is still at work, regenerating, making new, sanctifying, and bringing glory to Christ through a new people being born by the Spirit. Christian, Nicodemus' story is your story. So go live the new life you have been given by grace, loving God, proclaiming his name, turning from sin, loving the church, even at times, like Nicodemus, at great cost. You have been born again by the Spirit, and it changes everything. Let's pray.

21:10 Father, we thank you for this text. We thank you that Christ's words about the new birth, about being born again, strike our minds and just help us, Father, to see the glory of what the Spirit does to us, to bring us new life. Father, we thank you even for our brother Nicodemus, who's a picture in the Bible of new birth. God, we want, we're asking that this church would be a church that is led by your Spirit as we are made alive by him, that we would lay down our sins, that we would lay down our pride, and that we would love Jesus Christ, and that we would tell the whole world that he is king of all.

21:48 Father, we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.