For God So Loved (John 3:1-18)

Today's scripture: John 3:1-18

Today, we're looking at one of the best-known passages in the Bible. There's so much richness, encouragement, and affirmation in these words, and the most wonderful of promises in a verse many of us memorized as children.

Picture the scene:

A Pharisee, a member of a group that despised Jesus and wanted nothing more than get rid of Him, comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness. Nicodemus knows his fellow Pharisees would be furious if they knew, but something compels him to seek out this upstart, Jesus of Nazareth.

"I know You must be of God," Nicodemus says," because You do signs and wonders."

Jesus' response is interesting. He doesn't acknowledge Nicodemus' opening line. Instead, He makes what seems to be a totally unrelated statement: "In order to see the Kingdom of God, you must be born again."

Born again? Nicodemus then asks what many of us would. "How can I go back into my mother's womb to be born again? This doesn't make sense."

Jesus explains that a person must be born of the Spirit. In other words, it's not a physical rebirth; rather, it's a spiritual rebirth. It's a surrendering of the old self and taking on the new self, cleansed and pure.

Nicodemus still doesn't get it, though. I can't say I blame him. The concept of spiritual rebirth isn't always easy to grasp. But Jesus' next words certainly are. He says that we are loved. We are so loved, in fact, that God, the Creator of all things, sent His Son—a part of Himself—to earth to pay the penalty for our sins. We are saved through Him.

We don't know how Nicodemus immediately responded. We can infer, however, that he came to believe in Jesus and His message. How? Because after Jesus' death, he was with Joseph of Arimathea to collect Jesus' body for burial (John 19:38-40).

We all have a chance to meet with Jesus, whether under the cover of darkness because of fear or shame or in the bright light of day. We can all listen to His assurance of forgiveness and eternal life.

Have you meet Jesus? He's waiting to share hope and truth with you. Just ask Him.