March 1, 2026
Were you ever surprised by someone doing something nice for you? Once when we were travelling through western Pennsylvania, we stopped at a gas station, and I went in and got coffee. I went to the cashier to pay, and a man with a big smile said, “For you, it’s free!” I thought, there’s no reason for this free coffee. I stood there for a moment. “Really?” He said, “No charge!” WHAAAT??? My brain had trouble taking it in. But I took my free coffee! It made a big impression on me. Then I told Kevin that I got free coffee, and he had to go in and get some too!
Today we’re talking about Nicodemus, a man who comes to ask questions of Jesus, to understand him better. Jesus blows his mind! Nicodemus was a Pharisee, which is a leader in a religious sect of Judaism. But he was nice to Jesus—there were nice religious leaders! Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, which was both the parliament and the supreme court. He was a very important person. Nicodemus liked Jesus, but he was confused: Jesus was doing things differently than the religious leaders.
Jesus came to introduce a new covenant, and a new movement. The crowds loved Jesus. Most people at the time thought he was the continuation of the way things always were. But there was a group that understood Jesus is a disrupter. The temple was controlled by religious leaders. They saw what the crowds didn’t see. Once Jesus and his disciples walk through a field, and the disciples pick grain and eat it. The religious leaders think it is terrible: by picking grain Jesus’ disciples are working on the Sabbath! They are violating the commandment about keeping the Sabbath holy. Jesus answers the religious leaders’ complaints saying, “Something greater than the temple is here.” That is a mind-blowing statement! For the religious leaders the temple is everything! There is only one temple! The Torah, or Scripture is there, it’s where God lives, where you make sacrifices to God, and where priests serve. Jesus is saying something greater than the temple is here! Why? Because God is leaving the temple! He will live in the hearts and minds and consciences of your friends, your family, your co-workers: in the hearts and minds of all who put their trust in Him!
Most people thought Jesus would march to Jerusalem and proclaim himself king, and then they would overthrow the Roman empire and be a sovereign nation again. But there were some who thought maybe something different was going on. Jesus spoke with authority, but he refused to take charge and he refused a crown. Jesus didn’t use the power and influence he had for himself. Some people could see he wasn’t interested in becoming king. But then, what was Jesus doing?
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and on the Sanhedrin, the ruling council. Many of the Sanhedrin hated Jesus. But not Nicodemus! He was trying to understand who Jesus was. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. Maybe he is too busy during the day to come. But probably Nicodemus just doesn’t want anyone to see him having a discussion with Jesus, since many of those in the Sanhedrin consider Jesus a “troublemaker.”
Nicodemus says to Jesus, “We know you are a teacher that comes from God, no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” We think of Jesus working miracles. Nicodemus calls them signs. Because the miracles Jesus did: multiplying the loaves and fishes to feed 5000, or healing people: they were more than miracles. They were signs, pointing to something else. Nicodemus said, “No one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” Then Jesus says to Nicodemus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a person is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus is saying you have to be born anew, born again, from above, in order to see what God is doing!
Nicodemus asks, How in the world can I come out of my mother’s womb a second time? Jesus replies, not only can you not see the kingdom of God if you’re not born from above, but you can’t enter it, unless you’re born anew. Jesus is talking about something brand new. It’s a spiritual birth, by water and the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s not something you achieve by doing good things or by being part of a nation. It’s something God does when you take the step to trust him.
John 3:6-8 says, “Jesus replied, flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So, it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Jesus is saying that, yes, God made a covenant with Abraham to make of his descendants a mighty nation. And God made an exclusive covenant with Moses and the people of Israel. But God is not exclusive. He is like the wind, like the spirit. God is a mobile God. God does not live only inside the temple. The kingdom of Israel was the sole part of God’s covenant in the past. But God’s covenant will be with the entire world. God’s invitation is to everyone. And to enter God’s kingdom, you need a second spiritual birth.
Nicodemus asks, “How can this be?” How did I miss this? He’s trying, but it’s hard to comprehend this.
Jesus says remember when the people of Israel were travelling through the desert where there were a lot of snakes? The snakes bit the people, and many died! God told Moses to put a bronze serpent on a pole, and the people who were bit, if they looked at the bronze serpent they didn’t die! Jesus says just so, the Son of Man must be lifted up so everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. Nicodemus knows when someone says, “the Son of Man,” it means the Messiah. Nicodemus wonders, why would the Messiah, God’s chosen one, be put on top of a pole? Wouldn’t that be a curse, or a punishment?
This is where the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus ends. John, the gospel writer, steps in here to tell us what all this means. Nicodemus didn’t quite understand his conversation with Jesus. But nobody did at that point, even John who wrote this gospel didn’t. Nobody thought Jesus would die on a cross or rise from the dead. Nobody understood until after Jesus rose from the dead. That’s when John finally understood. So, he tells us about Jesus and Nicodemus’ conversation, then he adds the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, so we will understand what Jesus was talking about. John says,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in, whoever trusts in him shall not perish but will have eternal life.
John wrote these words not in the language spoken by the religious leaders or spoken by Jesus and his disciples. They are written in Greek, the language of the Roman Empire, because it’s a message for the whole world. Because God so loved the world! The whole New Testament was written in Greek, so the message would go out to the world. God loves the world!
Then another very important verse follows, because for Nicodemus, his understanding of God, is that one day, when the Messiah comes, God will help us throw all the invaders out. John is saying, no. Here’s 3:17: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
God didn’t come into the world as Jesus, to condemn or judge the world. He didn’t come to punish; he came to help. He came to save. He didn’t come to lecture those who are beaten down, who are tired, or hurt. He didn’t come to tell people what’s wrong with them. Jesus came that the world might be saved through him.
The good news is that God so loved us, God gave us the gift of Jesus. So that when we trust in him, we will receive salvation and eternal life. The simple explanation of John 3:16 is God so loved that God gave. We believe, we receive. My challenge to you is to make your commitment to God, believe and put your trust in Jesus your Savior, or to renew your promise to believe.
When Jesus hung on the cross, Nicodemus must have seen him there, then remembered Jesus talked about the Son of Man being lifted up on a pole. After Jesus died, two people took Jesus body down and put him in the tomb. The two men were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Our guy. Our guy with the questions. The member of the Sanhedrin. He believed. He received!
Let us pray, God, it’s hard to understand your love for us and Jesus’ love, freely given. It’s hard to comprehend that Jesus gave his life to save the world! Thank you for the offer of new life! We give our hearts now to you. We trust that your way is best. Help us to follow you and share your good news with the world. Amen.
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 