"Yet you do not understand"

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? John 3:9,10 ESV

In this interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus, Jesus addresses that fact that as a teacher of Israel, Nicodemus cannot grasp this concept of rebirth. The reason for this is that Nicodemus thinks in very human terms and not spiritual ways that Jesus is revealing to him.

What Jesus is getting at is that as a spiritual teacher, Nicodemus should grasp spiritual concepts. Nicodemus would have been a highly educated man, yet his education stands in the way of understanding of the spiritual.

We too can be like this. We can be highly educated in the word of God and yet not see the spiritual implications of the knowledge we have. This was a chronic problem among the Pharisees that Jesus encountered. Although highly educated in the word of God, they didn’t understand the message in the word of God. They were more about the letter of the law than the heart of the law. This was their undoing.

So today, we must be careful as well. We don’t want to found as highly educated in the word of God, and blind to the spiritual implications of the word. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 ESV

© 2013 Leo J. Woodman