There once lived an accomplished religious leader who had questions about the signs and wonders he saw Jesus Christ do. Apostle John shared the account of his interaction with Jesus Christ in John chapter 3. It was unheard of, unacceptable for a high-ranking religious leader as Nicodemus to interact with a man who equated himself with the God of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob. It was abominable to be seen with a man who said He can forgive the sins of mankind, how dare he! Yet, Nicodemus was drawn to Jesus Christ, he just could not shake it off. He needed to know and perhaps learn the power behind this man Jesus Christ. Hence, he paid our Lord Jesus Christ a visit at night – at night when he could go in and out easily unnoticed by the people he taught and governed. Because Godforbid they saw him go into the house of a “blasphemer”.
Nicodemus was drawn to Jesus Christ, and I love that he sought answers to his curiosity and did it wisely. Instead of barging in on Jesus Christ with Questions, he came with honor. These were his words to my dearest Jesus Christ,
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with Him”
John 3:2
In my view, this esteemed and well-recognized Rabbi honored Jesus Christ with words of praise, likely intending to prompt Him to reveal the source of His power. After all, a common way to encourage someone to speak about themselves is by offering them words of admiration. However, Jesus Christ must have thrown him off with His response because Jesus made little or no effort to address what he came for. However, Jesus responded, saying,
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God"
John 3:3.
You know, recently as I studied this chapter, I pondered to myself, “why did Jesus Christ respond to Nicodemus in this manner?” “ki la gbe? kinni Jesu ju?” Nicodemus was drawn to Jesus Christ because of His power, but Jesus Christ was not about to indulge him in that conversation. He would rather speak to him about weightier things, things that had more relevance and eternal value to his life – the Kingdom of God!
Jesus Christ had proximity to this great teacher of the law, and he needed to hear that all that mattered after he must have lived on earth was to see the kingdom of God. Oh! How great to see the great works of Jehovah!, How wonderful it is to experience the miracles, signs, wonders, provisions and so on by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, to see the kingdom of God is the greatest thing that could happen to any human being. This is the sole reason Jesus Christ came to lay down His life for us. He came to reconcile us back to our dearest father. He came so we would not be condemned to the lake of fire which was designed for the devil and his cohort. Jesus Christ had to communicate this message to Nicodemus ASAP! Oh! I am so glad that Nicodemus caught on to it so quickly because instead of taking Jesus back to his initial question, Nicodemus asked more questions about seeing God’s Kingdom. What did Jesus mean that one has to be “born again”? How does one become born again? And of course, my dear Jesus responded to these questions although it sounded mystical. Jesus had and still has one message to us all –
You must be born again
John 3:7
More often than not, many of us are drawn to our Lord Jesus Christ because of the things we want or could receive from Him. Often we are drawn in by the crumbs of miracles or goodies that we can receive from Jesus, are the things that draw us to Him, and for others, they may just be curious like Nicodemus. Whatever it is that may have drawn us to the Lord Jesus Christ, He wants us to stay, to see the kingdom of God, wants us to reign with Him forever in God’s kingdom. This is only possible when we become born again; born again of the spirit of God and water – then can we see and enter God’s Kingdom – John 3:5.
What does it mean to be born again by the Spirit, you may ask? In my own words, it means to receive the new life of Jesus Christ into a spirit that may have been dead to sin. Ever wondered how easy it is for certain people to do radically evil things and not flinch? It is because their spirit, body, and soul, which should beat for the good Lord, has died to sin and is governed by the devil, who is the father of all things evil. The bible tells us in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death; it sure means it, physically, and spiritually. Aside from the lack of conscience and morality, a life that is subdued in sin is dead and unable to communicate with the living God, who is Spirit. That was the death that occurred in Eden, that is the death God described when He told Adam not to eat of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. The death was a severance from sweet communion and fellowship with God. Therefore, to be born again means to confess the sins of one’s past life, decide to live brand new and to receive the new life Jesus Christ offers by confession – Romans 10:9.
To you my dear friend who may be drawn to Jesus Christ for whatsoever reason, I hope that you take heed to Jesus’ word in John chapter 3. I encourage you to read from verse 1 down to verse 20 because it goes ahead to speak about God’s love for you. God so loved you that He gave the life of His only begotten son so that you may live forever, so that you may see and live in His kingdom forever. My dear, choose life today, choose to enter into God’s kingdom instead of staying at the gate to only receive the crumbs from His throne.