Nicodemus Comes at Night

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16

There was an important man called Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee, one of the strict teachers of God’s law, and he was a leader of the Jewish people. Everyone respected him.

Nicodemus had heard about Jesus and the amazing things He was doing. He wanted to talk to Him. But he came to see Jesus at night, when nobody would see him.

“Teacher,” said Nicodemus, “we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. Nobody could do the signs You are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

Nicodemus was puzzled. “How can a man be born when he is old?” he asked. “He can’t go back inside his mother and be born a second time!”

“I tell you the truth,” said Jesus, “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. People give birth to people. But the Spirit gives birth to spirit. Don’t be surprised when I say you must be born again.”

Jesus was talking about a new start, from the inside out. Not being born as a baby again, but having a brand-new heart and a new life, made by God’s Holy Spirit.

“The wind blows wherever it wants,” said Jesus. “You hear its sound, but you can’t tell where it comes from or where it’s going. It’s like that with everyone born of the Spirit.” You can’t see the wind, but you can see what it does: the trees moving, the leaves flying. You can’t see the Spirit either, but you can see what He does when He changes someone’s life.

“How can this be?” asked Nicodemus.

Then Jesus told him about something that had happened long ago. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,” He said, “so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”

Do you remember the story of the bronze snake on the pole? Anyone who had been bitten could look at it and live. Jesus was saying that one day He would be lifted up too, on a cross. And anyone who looks to Him and trusts Him will be saved.

Then Jesus said some of the most famous words in the whole Bible: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Nicodemus went away with a lot to think about. But he didn’t forget. Later in the Bible, we see him again. He stood up for Jesus when the other leaders were against Him. And after Jesus died, Nicodemus helped to bury Him with great love and care.

The promise kept: Jesus Himself pointed back to the bronze snake (John 3:14). What Moses did in the wilderness was a picture, given hundreds of years before, of what Jesus would do on the cross.

Read it in your Bible: John 3:1–21

Dear God, thank you that you love the whole world so much that you gave your Son, Jesus. Please give me a new heart by your Holy Spirit. I believe in Jesus. Amen.