Nicodemus! We all know the story!

Nicodemus! We all know the story!

Or do we?

I've spent the last week looking at Jesus' interview with Nicodemus. There is so much to understand. I'll try to summarize it.

The Nicodemus interview is very important.

It not only shows that Nicodemus, a high ranking and most learned Pharisaic Jew didn't know what God required to enter his kingdom! But Jesus said he should have known!

Jesus reiterates what is required, the simple rebirth from God. It is not heredity from Jacob, nor the keeping of the Law. It is a new heart which can only come from God. And Nicodemus should have known this. The heart condition has always been what was important to our Holy God, and it's all through the Old Testament. One of the many verses in the Old Testament that confirms this is Isaiah 29:13.

An salvation is only of God.

Further, Jesus said he would be lifted up, as Moses lifted up the brass snake in the wilderness.
The event is a direct preview of what would be the work of the Son of God.

1. The Israelites were guilty of disobedience, grumbling, unthankfulness. (sin).
2. They were under condemnation of God, being punished.
3. The object raised up was the image of their judgment.
4. They were not able to rescue themselves.
5. The poison of the snakes was deadly; there was no antidote for it.
6. They were told to look at the brass serpent that was raised up in order to receive life.

The wilderness must have looked a lot like the southern parts of Israel today. It is barren, dry, full of rocks.

Jesus would be lifted up. He would be humiliated and he would be exalted. How oxymoronic is that? God of Love, servant, El Shaddai. Can we possibly understand?

The simple statement before the most well known verse in the New Testament says it all:

...so that everyone who believes in me will have eternal life.
(John 3:15 NLT)

Entry into the Kingdom can only come from a new spiritual life from God though personal faith in Jesus, himself, who had come from God.

Jesus just gave Nicodemus the Gospel, the very good news.