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1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." ~ John 3:1-3
Nicodemus was one of the 600 Pharisees in Israel who were religious fanatics. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the council of 70 men who ran the religious affairs of the nation of Israel. The Pharisees spent their lives studying and applying the Old Testament law to situations of life for those who wanted to know and live God's culture.
Nicodemus began his conversation with the Lord Jesus with: "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him." Notice the word "we": "we know that you are a teacher."
Nicodemus is probably speaking for the rest of the Sanhedrin, or at least for a majority of the members, and he is admitting that the Pharisees, who were rabid opposers to the freedom and liberty that Jesus represented, knew in their hearts that He really was a man from God.
Nicodemus regarded Jesus as a successful teacher, because God put his seal of approval on Him by doing miracles through Him. Many say that Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus at night to disguise the fact that he was meeting with the Lord Jesus. I differ with this perspective. I believe Nicodemus came with a great deal of respect for Jesus, wanting time alone with Him so that he could have a meaningful conversation.
The Lord Jesus cuts right into Nicodemus' religious heart by saying said to him, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." The Lord Jesus knew that Nicodemus had really bad theology which caused him to believe that he earned God's favor. Nicodemus did not understand that he could not be good enough, therefore the Lord Jesus tells him that he had to be "born again."
The Apostle John uses a very interesting word here that is translated "again." It is the Greek word, anothen, which has three meanings: It means again to do it a second time; it also means a new beginning; and it also means from above. God must do this.
To "see the kingdom of God" is to be under the influence of God's way of thinking and living. In Luke 17:20-21, the Lord Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
When the Lord Jesus came to earth, the Jews were looking for the Messiah to come and elevate the Jewish nation to prominence. Instead of hearing a message of repentance, they anticipated a Political Deliverer who would lead them in a successful liberation of their nation.
“The kingdom” is mentioned 126 times in the Gospels. “Kingdom” is mentioned only 34 times in the rest of the New Testament. "Kingdom" is mentioned approximately 55 times in Matthew, 20 times in Mark, 46 times in Luke, and only 5 times in John. Matthew used the phrase "kingdom of heaven" while the other gospels mostly use "kingdom of God."The Pharisees failed to discern the spiritual kingdom because not having experienced the new birth, they were dead and blind to it.
In 1 Corinthians 2:14, the Apostle Paul wrote, "A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." Those who fail to recognize the King cannot see His kingdom.
The statement that “the kingdom of God is in your midst” is quite instructive. Entos (midst) literally means “inside.” In its only other appearance in the New Testament, entos refers to the inside of a cup (Matthew 23:26). The Lord Jesus was reinforcing the point that the spiritual kingdom is internal, a matter of the heart, and not manifested by observable signs as the Jews expected.
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