Nicodemus was no ordinary guy. He was a ruler among the Jews, a member of the Sanhedrin—kind of like being on the Supreme Court of his day. But unlike some of his colleagues, he didn’t come to Jesus looking for a fight or trying to trip Him up. He came sincerely, maybe a little scared of what others would think, but genuinely curious.
The Pharisees, of which Nicodemus was one, were known for their strict religious practices, following over 600 laws to the letter.
They believed that getting into God’s good graces was all about following these rules perfectly. Yet, when Nicodemus finally met Jesus, he was in for a surprise. Jesus didn’t commend him for his dedication to the law; instead, He confronted Nicodemus with a truth that rocked his world—being religious isn’t enough. Jesus talked about being born again, a concept that completely baffled Nicodemus. All his life, he had believed that salvation was something you earned by being good, by following the rules. But here was Jesus, telling him that none of that would get him into the Kingdom of God. Instead, what was needed was something Nicodemus couldn’t do for himself—a spiritual rebirth.
You see, Nicodemus didn’t misunderstand Jesus when he asked how a grown man could be born again. He wasn’t thinking literally; he was wrestling with the spiritual implications of what Jesus was saying. “How can I start over?” he was essentially asking. “I’ve spent my whole life building my religious résumé. Is it too late for me?” Jesus’ answer was as clear as it was challenging: unless you’re born of water and the Spirit, you can’t enter the Kingdom. What Jesus was really saying was, “Nicodemus, all your religious efforts, all your good deeds—they’re not enough. You need something more, something only God can give—a new heart, a new spirit.” This wasn’t a call to add another ritual or law to the mix; it was a call to abandon the idea that religion alone could save him. Nicodemus had to face the fact that his lifelong pursuit of righteousness through the law was futile when it came to gaining eternal life. Jesus was inviting him to a new kind of relationship with God, one based not on what Nicodemus could do, but on what God was ready to do in him.
Now, let’s dive a bit deeper into what Jesus meant by being born of water and the Spirit. Some people might think Jesus was talking about literal water here, maybe even baptism. But that’s not the case. If salvation required baptism, then Jesus, who didn’t baptize anyone according to John 4:2, would have been doing a lot of baptizing! Instead, Jesus was using water symbolically, something Nicodemus, a scholar of the Old Testament, would have understood. In the Old Testament, water often symbolized purification. In Ezekiel 36:25-27, God promises to cleanse His people with water and give them a new heart and spirit. This was the promise of a new covenant, where God would do the work of purification and renewal, not through human effort but through His Spirit. Jesus was telling Nicodemus that he needed this kind of spiritual cleansing, this new birth that could only come from God’s Spirit.
To put it plainly, what Jesus was offering Nicodemus—and what He offers us—is not a new set of religious rules to follow, but a new life, a spiritual rebirth that cleanses us from sin and fills us with God’s Spirit.
This isn’t something we can achieve by our own efforts, no matter how religious we are. It’s a gift from God, received by faith. The message to Nicodemus, and to us, is clear: being religious isn’t enough. We need to be made new by God’s Spirit. This challenges us to rethink where we place our trust. Are we relying on our own efforts, our own “goodness,” to earn favor with God? Or are we trusting in the new life that only Jesus can give?
So, where does this leave us? It leaves us with a choice—will we cling to our own efforts, our own religiousness, or will we surrender to the transformative work of the Holy Spirit? This is the heart of the Christian faith: acknowledging that we can’t save ourselves and placing our trust entirely in Jesus. It’s not about what we can do; it’s about what He’s already done. Nicodemus had to face this truth, and so do we. The challenge is to let go of our pride, our self-sufficiency, and to allow God to do what only He can do—give us new life through His Spirit.
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