In his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, neurologist Oliver Sacks tells about Virgil, a man who had been blind from early childhood. When he was 50, Virgil underwent surgery and was given the gift of sight. But as he and Dr. Sacks found out, having the physical capacity for sight is not the same as seeing. Virgil's first experiences with sight were confusing. He was able to make out colors and movements, but arranging them into a coherent picture was more difficult. Over time he learned to identify various objects, but his habits--his behaviors--were still those of a blind man. Dr. Sacks asserts, "One must die as a blind person to be born again as a seeing person. It is the interim, the limbo . . . that is so terrible."
During Jesus’ time there was a group of people who thought that they understood matters concerning God, but they didn’t realize that they were spiritually blind. Jesus didn’t have many good words to say of them; he called them, “blind guides, blind fools” In the gospel of John 3rd chapter there was the story of a man named Nicodemus. He was a very learned man and a respected leader in his community. He had read and heard about Jesus and even saw a few miracles performed by Jesus, but he failed to see Jesus as the Savior of the world let alone his own Savior.
Similarly, we may have heard and read about Christ, come to Church and seen him perform miracles in our lives yet we don’t see him as the Savior of our lives. What does it take to truly see Jesus and understand his truth? To truly see Jesus and understand his truth means more than observing what he did or said, it means a change of identity. Let’s see how Christ changed the identity of Nicodemus who came in search of the Truth.
I. WHO WAS NICODEMUS?
When last time did you hear the name Nicodemus? No one names their boys Nicodemus these days? But it was a fairly common Greek name during Jesus’ time. It has beautiful meanings. From Hebrew it means “victory, Innocent blood” In Greek it meant “conqueror of the people” What do we know about Nicodemus? There isn’t a whole lot written about him in the Bible except for a few references in the gospel of John. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin who probably became a disciple of Jesus. He was described by Jesus as “the teacher of Israel, implying he was well trained in Old Testament law and tradition. He was also a member of the Jewish ruling council. From the outside he seemed to be having everything but on the inside he was lost and searching for the truth.
II. WHY DID NICODEMUS COME TO JESUS?
Why did Nicodemus come to see Jesus at night? The scripture doesn’t give us specific reasons why. He chose to come at night perhaps because he may have been afraid of the ridicule from his fellow Jewish council members He may have come to clarify with Jesus, questions he had regarding the miracles he had heard and seen or he may have come to have a long dialogue about his teachings. In the same way Christians come to Church for all kinds of reasons. Some come to meet friends, others to make friends, some come because of the music, others come because they like the preaching and still others come because they want to have fellowship. Whatever may be the reason why Nicodemus came to Jesus did he get what he wanted or what he needed?
Nicodemus took time to come and see Jesus. These days people are so busy that they can’t find time to be with God. When he came he said to Jesus Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” It looks like he acknowledged that Christ was performing the supernatural miracles by the help of God. Christ was not flattered by that statement; neither did he give an explanation. In reply he said, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is “BORN AGAIN.” What does it mean to be born again?
III. WHY NON CHRISTIANS REJECT JESUS AND THE BIBLE?
I grew up all my life in a Christian home, went to Church regularly, read the Bible, but never accepted Christ as my Savior until the age of seventeen. When I look back I wonder why it took me seventeen years before I made a commitment to follow Christ.
We live in an age where we have an overload of information. There is no scarcity of preachers, books, TV programs, music CD’s, Christian websites and blogs through which the message of the gospel is being preached 24/7. Inspite of all that one wonders, why people reject Christ and the claims of the Bible? Remember when Peter confessed you are the Christ the Son of the living God, Jesus said to him in Matthew 16:17,"Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, was because of divine disclosure, divine revelation. 1 Cor12: 3 which says, "No man can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit of God." The conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus reveals that no one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again or regenerated.
When Jesus said you must be born again, Nicodemus had no clue what Jesus was talking about and how one can be born again. He asked, “how can a man be born when he is old? Surely he can’t enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born. We often hear preachers saying you must be born again.
What is it, to be born again? The Greek adverb translated “again” can also mean “from the beginning) suggesting a new creation and “from above” that is from God. In other words, Jesus told Nicodemus that physical birth was not enough, nor could his descent from the line of Abraham enable him to be saved. Only as a person has a spiritual regeneration-(a spiritual birth) from above will he be able to see the Kingdom of God.
Why is it important that we all must be born again or spiritually regenerated? Paul gives a reason why a natural man can not understand the things of God. I Cor 2:14, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” In other words an un-generated man can not understand the things of God. No wonder why so many people though they hear the gospel over and over again are not able to make any sense of it. Martin Luther put it this way, "Man is like a pillar of salt, like Lot's wife, yea like a log, or a stone, like a lifeless statue which uses neither eyes nor mouth, neither sense nor heart, until he is enlightened, converted and regenerated by the Holy Spirit." A natural man can not understand God unless he is enlightened by the power of the Holy Spirit. One of the works of the Holy Spirit is to convict people of their sins and lead them to all the truth.
IV. WHAT MUST ONE DO TO GET SAVED?
Traditionally there have been two ways by which people looked for salvation. I Cor 1:22, “Jews demand miraculous signs, and the Greeks look for wisdom.” The Jews looked for signs, wait a minute didn’t Christ gave them sign after sign after sign? Yes but they were looking for the biggest sign, they were looking for a Messiah who could topple the Roman Empire and sets up his own Kingdom. For the Jews Christ dying at the hands of the Romans was unthinkable. That’s why even today most Jews reject Christ as the Messiah. Just like the Jews we too have seen so many signs of God and yet some fail to accept Christ as their Savior. On the other hand the Greeks searched for wisdom. What does that mean? They sought intricate, complicated, profound, complex philosophies. They laughed at the simplicity of the Gospel and the unbelievable idea of a crucified God who was to be worshipped.
The message of the cross is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to Greeks but to those who are being saved it is the power of God. In other words, you may have all the evidences one can ever have or all the wisdom that one could ever acquire, none of these is going to save you. If seeking for signs and searching for wisdom can not save us then how else can we be saved?
The Bible makes it very clear that all of us no matter who we are have sinned against God and have missed the mark. Christ came into this world to restore the lost sinners back to God through his death and his resurrection. You may be asking, what must I do in order to be saved? That is the whole point, you don’t have to do anything to earn your salvation because Christ did it all for us. All you need to do is to believe in the one who died for you.
According to Romans 8:9-10, “That is you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. Your will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” These verses give me the assurance of salvation. When I confess that Jesus is LORD with my mouth and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead I am saved. What does that mean? It means that God treats me as if I have never sinned in my life. Now I can stand in his presence justified and being made righteous by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In other words my old life has passed away and now I become a new person. My spirit has been regenerated so now I can understand God and his truth.
Nicodemus thought he could understand God through his wisdom. He came searching for the truth but in the end he received more than what he bargained for. He became born again. In other words he was transformed. He became a sincere disciple of Christ. Two more times we hear of Nicodemus. In John: 7:50 we read how he tried to defend Jesus from the hands of those who were trying to kill him. The next time we hear of him was only after the crucifixion. John 19:38-39, “Later, Joseph of Armathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus…He was accompanied by Nicodemus the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh, and aloes, about seventy five pounds (a very large amount, such as was used in royal burials.) What a fitting tribute to Jesus from these two followers. When all his close disciples ran away these two gave Jesus a royal burial. Nicodemus came as an intellectual skeptic but transformed by the Love of Christ and remained as a loyal follower of Christ till the end.
I hear some of you saying, oh great it is good for him, but I have other things to do, I am too young I have much more life in front of me to enjoy. I don’t have time to worry about this God stuff, I will think about it when I become old. If that’s what you are going through, let me warn you, you may be sorry in the end because you never know when your life will come to an end. Studies tell us it is harder for older people to accept Christ as their savior. Listen to these statistics, “Nineteenth century Scottish preacher Horatius Bonar asked 253 Christian friends at what ages they were converted. Here's what he discovered:
Under 20 years of age - 138
Between 20 and 30 - 85
Between 30 and 40 - 22
Between 40 and 50 - 4
Between 50 and 60 - 3
Between 60 and 70 - 1
Over 70 – 0
This is not to say that older people can never get saved, it only means that the older you grow the harder it becomes. That’s why the preacher exhorted the young people with these words. In Ecc 12: 1-2, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come.” This great gift of salvation is for people of all ages, genders and races. Listen to these famous words of Jesus in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The only way you can have true joy, peace, freedom from sin and enjoy meaningful relationships and enter into eternal life with God after you die is by believing in Jesus Christ. If you are searching for the truth, and never made a decision in your life to follow Christ don’t put it of to another day it may be too late. Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.Psalm 95:8. Now is the day of salvation.
