Jesus and Nicodemus
Text: John 3:5
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Identify who Nicodemus was — his credentials, his standing, and what he believed — and explain why his coming to Jesus "by night" is significant.
- State why the insists it takes more than faith only, using Nicodemus himself as the demonstration.
- Refute the natural-birth interpretation of "born of water" and explain why it introduces an impossible second birth rather than resolving the question.
- Refute the resurrection interpretation of "born of the Spirit" on the same grounds.
- State the positive argument: "born of water and of the Spirit" names a single event — the obedient response to the gospel that enters a person into the kingdom.
Thesis
"Born of water and of the Spirit" is not a theological puzzle to be decoded — it is the single answer Jesus gives to the question of how to enter the kingdom. The theories that split it into two separate events either multiply births beyond what the text requires or contradict it outright. There is one birth from above; it involves both water and the Spirit; and it is the only way to enter the kingdom.
Burden
The outline notes at the outset that there is "too much confusion" about this passage — and the confusion has not diminished since his time. The sermon exists to cut through that confusion by making three moves: identifying who Nicodemus was (and why his credentials make the point sharper), answering the objections that have generated the confusion, and stating Nicodemus's actual condition and Christ's actual answer. The clarity the sermon aims for is not theological novelty — it is recovery of the plain meaning of what Jesus said to a man who came by night looking for the answer Nicodemus knew he did not yet have.
Introduction
"Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God'" (John 3:5). The statement is absolute: one way in, one requirement, no exceptions. The translations that render the opening word as "born anew," "born from above," "born again," or "born of water and the Spirit" are all rendering the same Greek event — a radical new beginning that Jesus says is the only entry point for the kingdom.
The context is a private night visit from one of the most credentialed men in Israel. Understanding who Nicodemus was makes Christ's answer more weighty, not less.
I. Who Was Nicodemus?
Nicodemus was a Pharisee — a member of the sect most rigorous about Torah observance and most respected for its religious seriousness. He was a ruler of the Jews — a member of the Sanhedrin, the seventy-man ruling council that constituted the highest judicial and religious authority in Israel. He was a teacher of Israel (John 3:10), which means Jesus could reasonably expect him to know the Scriptures. He was not an outsider looking in; he was the institutional center of Second Temple Judaism.
He came by night. Why? The outline notes this as the difference between faith and opinion. Nicodemus believed enough to come — "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him" (John 3:2) — but he came when he could not be observed. He had a conviction he was not yet willing to act on publicly. That gap between private conviction and public confession is the gap faith bridges; until it is bridged, what a person has is opinion about Jesus, not yet faith in Jesus.
He believed Christ was the Son of God — yet he had to be born again. This is the central exhibit in the argument that it takes more than faith only. Nicodemus had more doctrinal conviction about Jesus than most people hearing this sermon — he came to Jesus, addressed him as a teacher from God, and attributed his signs to divine authorization. He had faith. He was not in the kingdom. The conclusion is unavoidable: what he had, though genuine, was not sufficient. "It takes more than faith only."
He later took Jesus' part in the Sanhedrin (John 7:50-51) and helped to bury him (John 19:39) — evidence that this nocturnal conversation had a lasting effect. But the sermon begins at the beginning, with a man whose credentials could not get him into the kingdom.
II. Objections Answered
Two theories have been advanced to interpret "born of water" in ways that avoid connecting it to baptism:
Theory One: "born of water" means natural birth. On this reading, Jesus is drawing a distinction between physical birth (water) and spiritual rebirth (Spirit). The objection is that this interpretation generates two births — natural and spiritual — but one of them (the natural birth) is entirely out of Nicodemus's control and already accomplished. Jesus would be saying "you must be born again" while defining the first birth as something Nicodemus already experienced at his mother's delivery. Nicodemus himself raises this objection: "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" (John 3:4). The natural-birth reading makes Jesus's answer no answer at all — it simply restates what Nicodemus already knows he has done. Moreover, it is against God's word: the text says "unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter" — the condition is the conjunction "water and Spirit," not natural birth separately from spiritual rebirth.
Theory Two: "born of the Spirit" means resurrection. On this reading, the Spirit-birth is the resurrection from the dead. But this reading generates the same problem: two births, neither of them a single unified act of new creation. Jesus says "water and Spirit" as a unified requirement; splitting them into baptism at one end of life and resurrection at the other destroys the unity of the statement. "John 3:8 has reference to 'the one' and not the process of birth" — the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound; so it is with everyone born of the Spirit (John 3:8). The singular "everyone born of the Spirit" refers to a person who has undergone the new birth, not to a process that extends across a lifetime.
Both theories fail on the same ground: they multiply the birth. Jesus says one birth. Both theories require two. The plain reading — that "born of water and of the Spirit" names a single transforming event in which water and Spirit act together — is the reading that honors the unity of the text.
III. Nicodemus's Condition
Jesus knew his heart (John 2:25) — he had already demonstrated this in Jerusalem by knowing what was in men without being told. So he anticipated Nicodemus's actual question before it was articulated and answered his heart: "You want to enter the kingdom. Here is the only way in."
Nicodemus wanted to enter the kingdom, and he wanted to enter it the way his credentials would qualify him — by Jewish birth, by covenant standing, by the righteousness of a Pharisee. He came to Jesus at night not to question whether the kingdom existed but to find out if his path into it was secure. Jesus's answer removes that assumption entirely: "unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Jewish birth does not qualify. Sanhedrin membership does not qualify. Torah observance does not qualify. There is one entrance, and it is this birth.
"Except" — this is the only way. The absolute language of John 3:5 is Jesus's own. He does not say "this is one way" or "this is the best way." He says "unless" — the conditional that closes off every alternative. John the Baptist taught the same (Matt. 3:9-12): "Do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham."
There is such a radical change involved that it is called a birth. This is the explanatory point. Jesus does not reach for the word "birth" because it is a pleasant metaphor — he reaches for it because it accurately describes what happens. A birth is a beginning, not an improvement; it produces a new creature, not an upgraded version of the old one. The person who has been born of water and the Spirit has not had his life improved; he has been given a new life. That is why Jewish birth could not serve as the entry point — you cannot enter the kingdom on the basis of what you already are; you must become what you have not yet been.
Application
The encounter is a mirror. The hearer who has religious credentials — who was raised in the church, who knows the Bible, who has strong opinions about Jesus, who has been coming to services for years — is in Nicodemus's position if he has not yet been born of water and the Spirit. Religious knowledge and sincere conviction are not the kingdom. They are what brought Nicodemus to the conversation; they did not get him through the door.
The one who has been born of water and the Spirit should examine whether the new birth has produced what it is supposed to produce: a life that no longer belongs to the old pattern, a heart turned toward the God who gave it new life, a public confession rather than a secret conviction.
Conclusion
Nicodemus came by night and left — as far as the text of John 3 tells us — with the answer he needed but had not acted on. He reappears at the burial of Jesus (John 19:39), bringing a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes to the one he had visited in secret years before. The nighttime uncertainty gave way to a daylight testimony — a public act of honor for the crucified one, in the presence of everyone who knew what it meant to be associated with Jesus at that moment.
That movement — from secret conviction to public testimony, from "we know you have come from God" to "I will publicly attend to your burial" — is the journey the new birth makes possible. It is not a journey you make on the strength of your credentials. It is a journey you make through the door: "unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter."
Invitation
The argument of the sermon closes at the invitation. Nicodemus came to Jesus with credentials that would have impressed any audience in Israel. Jesus told him they were not enough. The gospel makes the same claim to every hearer: whatever you have brought — your religious history, your family's faithfulness, your sincere conviction — it is not the kingdom. The kingdom is entered one way.
Believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Repent of the life organized around what you can provide for yourself. Confess his name. Be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38) — born of water and of the Spirit, made a new creature, entered into the kingdom by the only door there is.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born again" / "born from above | genēthē anōthen | anōthen means both "again" and "from above" | anōthen means both "again" and "from above" | the double meaning is probably intentional; Nicodemus hears "again" (hence his question about the womb); Jesus means "from above"; the birth is simultaneously a new beginning and one that originates in God rather than in man. | John 3:3 |
| Water and the Spirit | hydatos kai pneumatos | the Greek construction joins water and Spirit under a single preposition (ek), indicating a unified origin, not two separate sources; the birth is one event with two dimensions | the Greek construction joins water and Spirit under a single preposition (ek), indicating a unified origin, not two se | water and Spirit acting together, not sequentially. | John 3:5 |
| Cannot enter | ou dynatai eiselthein | strong impossibility | strong impossibility | ou dynatai means is not able, lacks the capacity to; not "should not enter" or "will be judged for entering" but literally cannot do it; the new birth is not a moral improvement but an ontological requirement for kingdom membership. | John 3:5 |
| Faith only | "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" | "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" | Nicodemus's case demonstrates the same point: he had faith (pistis) about Jesus ("we know that you have come from God") and was not yet in the kingdom; something more than faith only was required. | the phrase, reflecting James 2:24 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Nicodemus: Pharisee, ruler, Sanhedrin member | I | John 3:1 |
| "Came by night" — faith vs. opinion | I | John 3:2 |
| Believed Christ was from God — yet not in the kingdom | I | John 3:2; John 2:25 |
| Took Jesus' part; helped bury him — evidence of new birth | I | John 7:50; John 19:39 |
| Natural birth theory generates two births — against God's word | II | John 3:4 |
| "Born of water and Spirit" — unified birth, not two processes | II | John 3:5, 8 |
| Jesus knew his heart — anticipated his question | III | John 2:25 |
| "Except" — one entrance, no alternatives | III | John 3:5 |
| John the Baptist taught the same — no birth privilege from Abraham | III | Matt. 3:9-12 |
| So radical a change it is called a birth | III | John 3:6-7 |
| Baptism for remission of sins — the obedient response | Invit. | Acts 2:38 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 106. Primary text: John 3:5 (stated by Boles). OCR corrections: "Qohn" → "John" (multiple instances — OCR misread capital J as Q). Doctrinal audit: "faith only" is explicitly insufficient — Nicodemus is the demonstration; both the natural-birth theory and the resurrection theory refuted on the same ground (they multiply the birth); "born of water and the Spirit" retained as a single unified event naming water baptism and the Spirit's work together; invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38); no Calvinist softening of the requirement.
