Tag: discipleship

What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?

In the bustling streets of ancient Jerusalem, amidst the miracles of Jesus, a prominent Jewish leader sought a private audience with him. His name was Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, a man of authority and intellect. Yet, despite his religious standing, he came to Jesus at night, perhaps out of a mix of caution and genuine curiosity. His opening statement, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him,” revealed a glimmer of faith, a recognition of Jesus’s divine authority. But Jesus, seeing beyond the man’s intellectual assent, immediately went to the heart of the matter, challenging Nicodemus with a profound and transformative truth: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
This statement, seemingly a riddle to Nicodemus, is the core of Jesus’s message. It moves beyond external piety and ritual to the absolute necessity of a fundamental inner change. To be “born again” is to experience a new spiritual birth, a complete renewal of one’s nature, principles, and desires. It’s a transition from a life rooted in the “flesh”—our natural, corrupt human state—to a life animated by the “Spirit.” This is not a process a person can initiate on their own; it is a mysterious and powerful work of the Holy Spirit, much like the wind that blows where it wishes, with an unseen source but a clearly felt effect.

The Earthly Versus the Heavenly.

Nicodemus, struggling to grasp this spiritual concept, posed a logical but flawed question: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus’s response highlights the chasm between human understanding and divine truth. He explains that “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Our physical birth, no matter how distinguished, produces only a corrupt, earthly nature. A genuine change requires a new origin—a birth “from above,” from God himself.
Jesus gently rebukes Nicodemus for his ignorance, despite his position as a “master in Israel.” This highlights a timeless truth: those who are deeply entrenched in the forms and rituals of religion can sometimes miss its spiritual essence. Jesus asserts that he speaks what he knows and has seen from heaven, and yet Nicodemus struggles to believe even when the truths are presented in simple, “earthly” analogies. What hope, then, is there for those who refuse to believe? Jesus makes it clear that he alone, as the Son of Man who came down from heaven and is in heaven, can truly reveal these divine, heavenly things to humanity.

The Brazen Serpent and the Lifted-Up Son.

To further explain the purpose of this new birth, Jesus turns to a powerful Old Testament image: the brazen serpent in the wilderness. During the Exodus, when the Israelites were bitten by venomous, “fiery” serpents as punishment for their complaining, Moses was instructed by God to lift up a bronze serpent on a pole. Anyone who looked at it in faith, no matter how severe their wound, was healed.
This seemingly strange act was a foreshadowing of Jesus’s purpose. The venomous serpent represents the destructive power of sin and the fiery wrath of God. The raised serpent, with its life-giving properties, points directly to Jesus. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” This was a prophecy of his crucifixion—a brutal, public act that would serve as the ultimate remedy for the spiritual sickness of humanity. Just as the bitten Israelites were saved by a simple act of faith (looking), so too are all who look upon Jesus with belief saved from eternal perishing.

A Tale of Two Destinies: Belief and Unbelief.

This conversation culminates in one of the most famous and concise summaries of the gospel: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Here we see two contrasting outcomes based on one’s response to Jesus.

• Those who believe: “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life.” The moment a person puts their faith in Jesus, they receive the gift of salvation. It is not a future reward but a present reality. They are not under condemnation because they are united with the very source of life.
• Those who do not believe: “He that does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Unbelief is not merely an intellectual disagreement; it is a rejection of God’s love and the very solution he provided for humanity’s deepest problem. Because they refuse the pardon offered in Christ, they remain under the original sentence of sin.

The tragedy of unbelief is that it is often a deliberate choice. People love darkness more than light “because their deeds are evil.” The light of the gospel exposes their sinfulness and demands a radical change that they are unwilling to make. In contrast, those who “do the truth” and live with integrity are drawn to the light. They are willing to have their lives and actions examined, because they have nothing to hide.

John the Baptist’s Testimony: The Friend of the Bridegroom

Following Jesus’s discourse with Nicodemus, another significant event unfolds. Jesus’s ministry and baptism begin to draw larger crowds, leading to a complaint from John the Baptist’s disciples. They voice their concern: “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are coming to him.” They saw Jesus as a rival, a threat to their master’s popularity.
John’s response, however, demonstrates profound humility and wisdom. He clarifies his role, stating that his purpose was to be a “friend of the bridegroom.” Christ is the bridegroom, the one to whom the people belong. John’s joy was to prepare the way for Jesus and to see him receive the honour and attention that was rightfully his. John’s mission was always temporary, a preparatory step. He summarizes his role with a beautiful and selfless statement: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The flourishing of Jesus’s ministry was not a sign of John’s failure, but the fulfilment of his purpose.
John’s final words on the matter reinforce Jesus’s ultimate authority: “He who comes from above is above all… For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.” Jesus is not just another prophet; he is the beloved Son of God, to whom the Father has given all things.

Further Reading.

• Numbers 21:4-9: The story of the brazen serpent in the Old Testament, the type of which Christ is the anti-type.
• 1 Corinthians 15:47-49: An exploration of the “first man, who is of the earth” and the “second man, who is from heaven.”

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From Weary Traveler to Living Water.

The Gospel of John, chapter 4, presents a remarkable and intimate portrait of Jesus Christ. It opens not with a grand sermon or a public miracle, but with a simple journey. As Jesus travels from Judea back to his home region of Galilee, he passes through Samaria, a land and a people often at odds with the Jews. This seemingly routine event sets the stage for a profound encounter that reveals the heart of Christ’s mission: to seek out and save the lost, regardless of their background or status.
In this chapter, we witness Jesus as a true man, weary from his travels and humble in his approach, yet he is also revealed as the divine Lord, possessing an intimate knowledge of the human heart and offering a gift far greater than anything the world can provide. From a water-well side conversation to a miraculous healing, we see the power of Christ’s word to transform individuals and entire communities.

The Compassionate Journey.

The chapter begins with Jesus leaving Judea and heading for Galilee. He did so not out of fear, but out of wisdom. The Pharisees, already vexed by the success of his ministry, were keeping a watchful eye on him. As the Lord of all, Jesus was not constrained by human limitations, yet he chose to act in a way that provides an example for his followers: to avoid unnecessary confrontation and to flee from persecution, when possible, without compromising his mission.
This journey led him directly through Samaria, a land the Jews typically avoided. The animosity between the two peoples ran deep, with a long history of division rooted in both blood and religion. The Samaritans were a “mongrel” people in Jewish eyes, mixing Israelite heritage with foreign customs and establishing their own temple on Mount Gerizim in opposition to the one in Jerusalem. This deeply ingrained prejudice meant that for a Jew to travel through Samaria was highly unusual.
However, Jesus “must needs go through Samaria.” This wasn’t just a geographical necessity; it was a spiritual one. His heart was fixed on the divine work he was to accomplish there—to find a single, lost soul and offer her salvation. This deliberate choice highlights the indiscriminate nature of God’s love. Christ does not bypass the “unclean” or the outcast; instead, he goes directly to them, seeking to save those whom others would scorn.

The Well of Living Water.

Arriving at the city of Sychar, Jesus, weary from his journey, sat by a well that tradition held was dug by Jacob. His disciples went into the city to buy food, leaving him alone. It was here that he met a Samaritan woman who came to draw water.
Jesus, a Jew, initiated the conversation by asking her for a drink. The woman’s surprise was immediate, as she knew that “the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” This simple request for a cup of water served as a bridge, breaking down the social and religious barriers that had separated them.
Jesus then shifts the conversation from physical water to spiritual truth. He tells her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman, thinking literally, objects that he has no bucket and the well is deep, questioning if he could be greater than their ancestor Jacob who gave them this well.
Jesus’s answer reveals a profound truth: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.” He explains that this living water will become in a person “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” The water of this world, whether from Jacob’s well or any other source, provides only temporary satisfaction. It must be continually sought. But the “living water” that Christ offers—the Holy Spirit and the grace of the Gospel—provides a permanent, internal spring of life that satisfies the soul forever.

Confronting Truth and Finding Faith.

The woman, perhaps out of a mix of ignorance and a weak desire for ease, asks for this water “that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” Jesus, recognizing that she is not yet truly ready to receive this spiritual gift, shifts the conversation again, this time to a painful, convicting topic: her personal life.
“Go, call your husband and come here,” he instructs. The woman’s response is a transparent evasion: “I have no husband.” Jesus, in a gentle but powerful rebuke, reveals his divine knowledge of her past and present: “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband.”
This moment serves as a powerful demonstration of Jesus’s prophetic authority. He did not need to perform a miracle to prove his identity; he simply spoke the truth of her life. Rather than becoming angry, the woman’s reaction is one of awe: “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.” Her conscience, now awakened, leads her to ask about a central point of contention between Jews and Samaritans—the correct place of worship.
Jesus answers this theological dispute by lifting the discussion above a mere geographical argument. He declares that a new era is at hand: “The hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.” He then explains what truly matters: “The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
The key to acceptable worship is not location, but sincere devotion from the heart. It is a worship that is genuine (“in truth”) and driven by the Spirit (“in spirit”), not by outward ritual alone. This was an entirely new and revolutionary concept for the woman. Her response shows the depth of her understanding and the faith that was blossoming in her heart: “I know that Messiah is coming… when He comes, He will tell us all things.”
With this, Jesus, in one of the most direct declarations in the entire Gospel, reveals his identity to her: “I who speak to you am He.”

From Individual Faith to Community Revival.

The encounter at the well had a dramatic ripple effect. The woman, so transformed by the conversation, immediately left her water pot and hurried back to the city. Her worldly task was forgotten; her mind was completely absorbed by the good news she had found. She became a messenger, proclaiming to her neighbours, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
Her testimony, though from a person of low repute, was compelling. The people of the city, driven by curiosity, went out to meet Jesus. This willingness to investigate for themselves shows their openness to the truth. When they met him, they were so moved that they begged him to stay longer. Jesus, who had initially planned to pass through, willingly stayed for two days, ministering to them and deepening their understanding.
As a result, “many more believed because of His own word.” The Samaritans who had initially believed on the testimony of the woman now had a deeper, more personal faith. They declared, “Now we believe, not because of your saying, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
Their faith was no longer second-hand; it was a firm conviction rooted in a personal encounter with Jesus. They came to know him not just as a prophet but as the “Savior of the world,” a title that recognized his mission extended far beyond the boundaries of Judaism to encompass even them, the outcasts.

The Faith of a Nobleman.

The chapter concludes by recounting another miracle that further demonstrates the power of Christ’s word. Jesus, having left Samaria and returned to Galilee, was in Cana when a nobleman from Capernaum approached him. His son was at death’s door. The nobleman’s request was filled with urgency: “Sir, come down before my son dies.”
Jesus’s response challenges the nobleman’s limited faith. “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” The nobleman, however, persists, his heart fixed on his son’s survival.
Christ’s final words to him are simple and powerful: “Go your way; your son lives.” The nobleman did not question or hesitate; he believed Jesus’s word and began his journey home. The next day, he was met by his servants with the joyful news that his son was alive. He inquired about the exact time the fever left him and discovered it was the very hour Jesus had spoken the word.
This final miracle confirms the authority of Christ’s word, which operates without physical proximity. It also highlights the different ways people come to faith. The Samaritans, with no prior exposure to his miracles, believed on the basis of his teaching and personal revelation. The nobleman, on the other hand, required a visible sign and a direct experience of Christ’s power before his faith was fully confirmed. In both cases, the result was the same: personal and family salvation.

Further Reading.

• The Gospel of John, Chapter 4: The original source text is the best place to start for a deeper study of this passage.
• A Survey of the Old Testament by Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton: A resource for understanding the historical and cultural context of the Jewish-Samaritan relationship.