John 3:4-5

⁴ 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?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

            In the previous passage Jesus spoke to the question that Nicodemus really wanted answered and not just to what he asked. He told him he must be born again to see the kingdom of God. There are a couple pieces to note from the previous passage in order to understand this one. First, this is the continuation of a conversation from the last passage. Second, note how Jesus previously said that Nicodemus must be born again to see the kingdom of God. He restated this after Nicodemus’s further questions, but then it was to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus was building up the argument to what must happen to enter the kingdom of God and He was taking His time doing this so that Nicodemus could follow along. Jesus wanted Nicodemus to understand because He was not talking in parables but talking about new ideas and getting deeper into the theology than when He called His disciples in chapter 1.

            In the first verse we see that Nicodemus was having trouble understanding. I am sure that he did not really think someone needed to be physically born again. This statement means closer to, “What do you mean?” We also see in this verse, however, a desire to truly understand. This was not meant to be disrespectful. It showed a longing to be clear what Jesus was talking about. I see this as more Nicodemus saying, “If you want me to, I would climb back into my mother’s womb to see the kingdom of God.” John was showing someone who had a true desire to know if Jesus was the Messiah for whom they were waiting.

            Jesus clarified even more in the next verse. He told Nicodemus that one has to be not only born of the water but also the Spirit. Here Jesus was splitting up the physical birth from the spiritual rebirth. Jesus was not talking about going back into a mother’s womb but experiencing a rebirth of the spirit. When we take “rebirth” here to the logical conclusion, we see Jesus is talking about making someone spiritually new like a newborn baby. Then He brought in the second aspect of the kingdom. Not only will someone who is spiritually reborn see the kingdom, if they are not reborn in the Spirit, they cannot enter the kingdom of God. This was a promise from Jesus to Nicodemus that if he could be spiritually reborn then he would see the kingdom of God right away but also a future promise to be able to enter the kingdom of God.

            As Christians, we have access to the kingdom of God by being born again. We must never lose sight of this because we have a different perspective and a promise. We must act like we do; we must hold tight to this truth when the walls start to close in around us and the temptation to fall back into old habits arises. Hold on to this promise, read deeper into the word having this promise in mind, and most importantly pray looking towards the future in the Kingdom of God with God Himself, and the Holy Spirit will help to make those temptations to flee.

            For non-Christians, this is the basis for what it means to be a Christian. Like Nicodemus, you can never hope to see God’s kingdom without being born again. You cannot work or get better yourself so that you will be good enough to enter into the kingdom of God. You must have a rebirth and that rebirth comes through Jesus, His death, and resurrection. That is how you can be reborn into real life.