"Jesus answered"

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:5,6 ESV

photo  ©2011  Ken and Nyetta, Flickr

Here we are, early on in the gospel of John and his introduction of Jesus and his teachings and Jesus is sharing some very important information with Nicodemus concerning the coming kingdom. In his teachings on being born again Jesus is making it clear that the kingdom is going to be a spiritual one. He makes it clear one must be born of water and the Spirit in order to enter into that kingdom. Jesus then goes on to make the distinctions between being born of the flesh and being born of the Spirit. This further indicates that the kingdom to come is not a fleshly, but a spiritual kingdom. Entrance into this kingdom is conditional. One must be reborn in order to enter in.

One thing we must remember is that the kingdom that Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about has not come into existence yet, Jesus is speaking about the kingdom to come. The conversation that John recorded was happening while the old covenant was still in effect. Jesus hadn’t gone to the cross yet. John shares this conversation in his gospel to show his readers that Jesus had taught about how one enters into the kingdom of God. The kingdom doesn’t come, until the day of Pentecost after Jesus ascended to heaven.

So, as we read the gospel we can see that Jesus was preparing hearts for what they needed to know when His Kingdom was established. Even after this conversation Nicodemus walks away with information about the kingdom, but he is not a member of it yet. No one was born again until the day of Pentecost when those that heard Peter’s gospel message responded to it. Then they were born of the water and the Spirit.

As we read the Gospel of John today we see that Jesus was setting everything in place so that when the need for rebirth came, there would be a firm understanding of what was meant by it.

© 2013 leo J. Woodman