The Lord Jesus Christ’s dialogue with Nicodemus.

(John 3:1-21).

The driving out of merchants from the temple and the miracles performed by the Lord in Jerusalem, reacted so strongly on the Jews that one of the “princes” — or leaders of the Jews — Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, came to see Jesus. Apparently, wanting very much to hear His teachings, but fearing to incur the wrath of his associates that were hostile toward the Lord, he arrived at night. Nicodemus calls the Lord “Rabbi,” ie. teacher and thus acknowledging His right to teach, which, in the view of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus had no right to do — not having finished the Rabbinic school. This already shows Nicodemus’ disposition toward Christ. Later, he calls Him “a Teacher come from God,” acknowledging that He performs miracles with the inherent Divine power within Him. Nicodemus speaks not only in his own name but those of all Jews that have believed in the Lord, and perhaps even in the name of some members of the Sanhedrin — although the bulk of them were hostile toward the Lord.

The whole of the following discourse is remarkable in that it is directed at destroying the false Pharisee outlook on the Kingdom of Heaven, and the conditions under which a human can enter this Kingdom. This conversation is divided into 3 parts: Spiritual rebirth as a basic demand for entry into God’s Kingdom; Redemption of humanity through the sufferings of the Son of God, without which, mankind would not be able to inherit God’s Kingdom; Nature of the judgment of people that have not believed in the Son of God.

The kind of Pharisee at that time was one who embodied the most narrow and fanatical, distinguishing nationalism: they regarded themselves completely distinct from the rest of the people. They thought that just being a Jew, particularly being a Pharisee, meant that they were certain and worthiest members of the glorious Messiah’s Kingdom. According to their belief, the Messiah Himself must be like them, Who will free the Jews from their foreign yoke and establish a world dominion, in which they, the Jews, will occupy commanding positions. Apparently Nicodemus, in sharing these common opinions of the Pharisees, possibly deep down in his heart felt that they were false. He consequently came to Jesus — the remarkable personage about Whom there was such an extensive spread of rumours — to find out, was He the expected Messiah? That is why he decided to personally come to the Lord so as to substantiate this. With His opening words of His conversation, the Lord destroys the false pretensions of being the chosen ones: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Or, in other words, it is insufficient to be a Jew by birth. There must be a complete moral rebirth, which is given to a person from above, from God, and there must be a need akin to be born again, become a new being (which is the essence of Christianity). As The Pharisees imagined the Messiah’s Kingdom as being a physical and earthly kingdom, there is nothing remarkable in that Nicodemus also took the Lord’s words in a physical sense, ie. in order to enter the Messiah’s Kingdom, it is necessary to be born a second time in the flesh. With this in mind, he expressed his bafflement, emphasising the absurdity of such a demand: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus then explains that the conversation is not of physical birth, but of a special spiritual birth, which is distinguished from the flesh both in purpose and resultant fruits.

This birth is “of water and the Spirit.” Water is the means or weapon, and the Holy Spirit — Power, which brings about the new birth and the Cause of the new being: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,” — when a person is born from earthly parents, he inherits from them the primal sin of Adam, nesting in the flesh, himself thinking according to the flesh and gratifying his physical vices and lusts. These physical deficiencies can be corrected through a spiritual birth: “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” He who accepted the rebirth from the Spirit, himself enters into a spiritual life that is higher than anything carnal or sensual. Seeing that Nicodemus still doesn’t understand, the Lord begins to explain what this birth is made up of, comparing the means of this birth with the wind: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone born of the Spirit.” In other words, in a spiritual rebirth, a person has access to observe the change only that takes place within him, but the power of rebirth and method through which it acts, as well as the path by which it arrives — all this is hidden and cannot be grasped by a human. The effect of the Holy Spirit that gives us rebirth is akin to this: evident and sensory, yet enigmatic and unexplainable.

However, Nicodemus continues to remain in a state of incomprehension, and his next question “How can these things be?” are expressed (to the words of Christ) with mistrust and Pharisee pride, that has pretensions of knowing and being able to explain everything. It is this high sophistry that the Lord destroys with His response, and with such power, that Nicodemus is unable to reply — and in his state of self-humiliation, begins to prepare in his heart grounds on which the Lord will later sow His seeds of redemptive teachings: “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” The Lord’s words not only accuse Nicodemus but also the high-minded Pharisee teachings, which, in securing the key of knowledge about the mystery of God’s Kingdom, neither entered it themselves nor allowed others to do so. How is it that the Pharisees did not know the teachings on the necessity for a spiritual rebirth, when in the Old Testament you often encounter thoughts on the essentiality for a human to regenerate, on the gift by God of a heart of flesh and not one of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). Even King David prayed: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10-11).

Turning to the revelations of the higher mysteries of Himself and of His Kingdom, the Lord remarks to Nicodemus in a form of a prologue that in opposition to the teachings of the Pharisees, He Himself and His Disciples are proclaiming a new teaching, which is based directly on knowledge and in beholding the truth: “We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive our witness,” — that is, Pharisees - are self-opinionated teachers of Israel.

In these further words: “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you Heavenly things?” under “earthly,” the Lord is thinking of the teachings on rebirth — as a need of rebirth and the aftermath that takes place within a person, which is recognised through his inner experience. While in speaking about the “Heavenly,” Jesus had in mind the elevated mysteries of God, which are higher than any human observation or knowledge: about the eternal unity of the Triad-God, about accepting as the Son of God, the redeeming act for mankind’s salvation, about conjoining in this act God’s love with God’s justice. Perhaps, about what happens within a person and with a person, may be known by an individual. But what human can gain entry to heaven and penetrate into the mysterious domain of Godly life? Nobody, except the Son of God, Who in descending to earth, did not abandon the heavens: “No one has ascended to Heaven but He Who came down from Heaven, that is, the Son of Man Who is in Heaven.” These words from the Lord, reveal the mystery of His incarnation, convincing him in that He — is greater than an ordinary messenger of God, akin to the ancient Prophets (which Nicodemus regards Him as such): that His appearance on earth in the form of Son of Man is a reduction from a higher state to a lower, denigrating one, because His genuine, eternal being is not on earth, but in Heaven.

Whereupon, the Lord reveals the mystery of His redeeming act to Nicodemus: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Why is it that the Son of Man had to be raised on the cross? This is exactly what is heavenly, which is impossible to comprehend with an earthly mind. As a symbol of His great deed on the cross, the Lord points to the brass snake that Moses raised in the wilderness. Moses raised this brass snake in front of the Israelites, so that they, struck by snakes, would receive a cure by looking at it. Likewise, the whole human race, living in flesh and stricken with ulcerous sin, receives its cure by looking upon Christ with faith, Who had come down in the form of sinful flesh (Rom. 8:3). The basis for the Son of God’s great deed of crucifixion lies in God’s love of mankind: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Eternal life is established in a person by the grace of the Holy Spirit, while the access to the altar of grace (Heb. 4:16), is received by people through the redeeming death of Jesus Christ.

The Pharisees thought that Christ’s pursuit would be to sit in judgment of peoples of other faiths. The Lord explains that He was currently sent to save the world, and not to judge. The unbelievers will condemn themselves, because of their disbelief, their love of darkness and hatred of light - brought about by their love of dark deeds. Those who render truth, the honest and moral souls, proceed toward the light themselves, not fearing the exposure of their deeds.