John 3:1-21

This is one of the most famous passages in the Bible. We see Jesus having a conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Pharisees are people who lived by the strictest Jewish code. They considered themselves to be holier than the common people. They even wore special garments to make sure people knew who they were.

Nicodemus wanted to talk with Jesus at night. Maybe he didn’t want people to see him talking to Jesus. A teacher of the law talking to a “radical” would be in a lot of trouble. (Maybe but not the only reason.) But it was mostly for a time of quiet and alone time with Jesus. Nicodemus want to just sit and talk with Jesus because he had heard of the miraculous things Jesus had done.

Jesus then talked about the need to be born again. Jesus was not talking to a physical birth but spiritual birth. Nicodemus was struggling to understand what Jesus was talking about. Something that we have talked about today is baptism. Now, people today think of only one kind of baptism, but there are actually two.

The famous one is water baptism. This does not save you. There is no amount of water that can save you. The one that saves you is the spiritual baptism. This is the moment when one accepts Jesus into their hearts. This is when one is born again.

Now, if we claim that we need water baptism in order to be saved, then there are several people who cannot enter into heaven. For example, the thief on the cross. The one who said that Jesus was innocent and asked Jesus to remember him and Jesus told the thief that he will be with him in paradise.

God sent His Son to save the world!!! If you believe in the Son, then you will not be condemned (judged) But if you do not believe in the Son, then you will be condemned. The word believe means, “to have confidence in” or “be fully persuaded about.” Now, one of the problems in the English language is that the word “believe” does not have the same weight as we see in Greek or Hebrew. In English, someone who would say, “I believe in Jesus” is similar to saying, “I believe in Santa Claus.”

But we see in the book of John that we need to have full confidence, full trust in Jesus. To have faith in Jesus.