JUST JESUS
Week 4 — Born Again: The Necessity of the New Birth
John 3:1–21 (ESV)
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Yard Sale Fundraiser - March 7
INTRODUCTION — WHEN GOOD STILL ISN’T ENOUGH
There are moments in life when nothing is obviously wrong —
but nothing is deeply right either.
You’re functioning.
You’re responsible.
You’re respected.
You’ve built a good life.
And yet, something inside you knows:
This isn’t it.
Not broken enough to panic.
Not empty enough to cry out.
Just… untouched.
That’s where John takes us next.
Not to a crowd.
Not to a miracle.
But to a conversation - quiet, personal, searching.
Between Jesus and a man who had done almost everything right.
JOHN 3:1–2 — NICODEMUS COMES AT NIGHT
“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night…”
John never wastes details.
Nicodemus comes at night — and it’s not just about privacy.
In this Gospel, darkness is symbolic.
Nicodemus is not ignorant.
He’s educated.
He’s respected.
He’s moral.
But he’s in the dark.
Why does he come at night?
Because night is where you go when:
• you don’t want to be seen
• you’re afraid of what questions might expose
• you’re respected publicly but restless privately
Lifeless religion will always leave you out in the dark.
THE BEST OF US — AND STILL NOT ENOUGH
Nicodemus is introduced carefully.
He’s:
• a Pharisee (serious about holiness)
• a ruler (trusted leadership)
• a teacher (deep biblical knowledge)
If Nicodemus attended your church, you’d admire him.
And he opens respectfully:
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God…”
He’s affirming Jesus.
But Jesus doesn’t accept the compliment.
He goes straight to the heart.
JOHN 3:3 — JESUS DOESN’T ADJUST… HE RESETS
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus doesn’t say:
“You need a little more insight.”
“You need better discipline.”
“You need to tighten a few things up.”
He says:
You need new life.
That’s jarring.
Because Nicodemus didn’t come asking for rebirth.
He came asking for confirmation.
Jesus tells him:
You don’t need improvement — you need regeneration.
JOHN 3:4 — CONFUSION FROM A GOOD MAN
“How can a man be born when he is old?”
This isn’t sarcasm.
It’s shock.
Nicodemus is realizing that everything he’s relied on —
morality, discipline, religious effort —
has not brought him life.
And Jesus doesn’t mock him.
He keeps going.
JOHN 3:5–8 — WHY EFFORT CAN’T PRODUCE LIFE
Jesus contrasts flesh and Spirit.
Flesh can only produce flesh.
Effort can only produce effort.
Religion can only produce behavior.
But life comes from the Spirit.
And then Jesus uses the wind.
You can’t see it.
You can’t control it.
You can’t manufacture it.
But you can see the results.
Birth isn’t something you do.
It’s something you receive.
That’s why Jesus says:
“You must be born again.”
JOHN 3:9–10 — RELIGION WITHOUT LIFE IS POSSIBLE
“Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?”
This is sobering.
You can:
• know Scripture
• teach Scripture
• defend doctrine
And still be spiritually lifeless.
Jesus isn’t condemning Nicodemus.
He’s rescuing him from a lie —
the lie that goodness equals life.
JOHN 3:14–15 — THE SERPENT IN THE WILDERNESS (WHY JESUS TELLS THIS STORY)
Then Jesus reaches back into Israel’s history.
In the wilderness, the people were dying.
They were bitten.
Poisoned.
Helpless.
God didn’t tell them to fix themselves.
He didn’t tell them to prove sincerity.
He told Moses to lift up a serpent.
And anyone who looked — lived.
Not the strongest.
Not the best.
Not the most obedient.
The ones who looked.
Jesus says:
“So must the Son of Man be lifted up.”
This is the heart of the Gospel.
Life doesn’t come through striving.
It comes through trusting.
Not achieving.
Looking.
Nicodemus would later see Jesus lifted up on a cross —
and realize what Jesus meant that night.
JOHN 3:16–17 — WHY JESUS CAME
We quote John 3:16 often — and we should.
But we rarely linger on verse 17.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Jesus is not here to shame Nicodemus.
He’s not here to expose him publicly.
He’s not here to tear him down.
He’s here to give life.
Condemnation isn’t Jesus’ mission.
Rescue is.
Light doesn’t come to humiliate —
it comes to heal.
JOHN 19:38-42 — REVISITING NICODEMUS
John never tells us what Nicodemus felt when he stood beneath the cross.
But John does tell us something else.
Years earlier, under cover of night, on a rooftop conversation filled with questions, Jesus said something that must have lodged deep in Nicodemus’ heart:
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”
At the time, it sounded mysterious.
Symbolic.
Almost unsettling.
But now there is nothing symbolic about it.
Nicodemus looks up—and the Son of Man is lifted up.
Not in glory.
Not on a throne.
But on a cross.
The body is lifeless.
The breath is gone.
The work is finished.
And if Nicodemus remembered that conversation—and how could he not?—this is the moment when the puzzle pieces finally lock into place.
This is what Jesus meant.
This is what being “lifted up” looks like.
This is how salvation comes—not by climbing upward, but by looking up.
And something changes.
The man who once came at night now steps into the daylight.
The cautious teacher becomes a public disciple.
John tells us Nicodemus goes with Joseph of Arimathea and petitions Pilate for the body of Jesus.
That is not a small act.
That is not safe.
That is not quiet faith.
That is allegiance.
Nicodemus brings a costly mixture of myrrh and aloes—an amount fit for a king.
Not to save Jesus.
Not to improve the outcome.
But to honor the One who had already done the saving.
The same man who once asked, “How can these things be?”
Now understands.
He looked.
He believed.
And grace brought him into the light.
THIS IS ABOUT LIFE
This conversation isn’t about being bad or good.
It’s about being alive.
You can be:
• successful
• disciplined
• respected
And still need new birth.
Jesus isn’t saying, “Try harder.”
He’s saying, “Let Me give you life.”
And that invitation is still gentle.
Still patient.
Still open.
Jesus did not come to condemn you.
He came to save you.
To bring life.
From above.