DEVOTION – DAY 320

John 3:1-3 “Born Again”

John 3:1-3 “Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 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 you.” Jesus replies, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

Nicodemus was a Pharisee. In ancient times, Pharisees were an elite group of religious people who had vowed before witnesses that they would spend their entire lives keeping God’s laws. Their numbers would not exceed 6,000. To ensure that they kept God’s laws, they also try to keep many rules and interpretations of God’s laws that covered aspects of daily life. Nicodemus was also a member of the ruling council, a group of 70 men responsible for the religious authority of the Jews. Now, Nicodemus and many of his fellow Pharisees had heard about Jesus and His miracles. He was convinced that Jesus had come from God. After all, despite their religious behavior, no Pharisee had ever performed a miracle. Nicodemus came to Jesus because he wanted to know if his attempts to keep God’s law was good enough. And if there was anything else he needed to know or to do so God’s favor was upon him. He sought Jesus out as a Rabbi, a teacher, from whom he may learn what else he should be doing. 

Nicodemus is like many people today. Many people also think that if they keep good moral standards, commit no major crimes, do good deeds from time to time and be a generally “good” person, they should be acceptable to God. But these same people are never sure if their good deeds are sufficient for them to be accepted by God. They know that different people have different standards about what makes a person good in the first place. So, they are not certain that they can get to heaven. That is a big problem.

Jesus knew Nicodemus’ problem and He went straight to the heart of the matter in John 3:3 “No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Jesus was telling Nicodemus and also us, that all the things people think would help them get into heaven, trying to be “good,” observing a set of moral conducts, keeping religious practices like not eating certain kinds of food, going vegetarian, praying regularly, doing penance etc will not get anyone into heaven. To see the kingdom of God, they must be “born again”. It means that they must have a fresh start that only God can give them through Jesus Christ, the Son.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your Son to die on the cross for our sins and that salvation is given freely to everyone who confess and repent of their sins and belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior. We humbly pray that many people will put their faith and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. We ask this by the Holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Questions

1. Read John 3:5 and 3:16-17. Have you received God’s gift of salvation by repenting of your sins and believing that Jesus is your Lord and Savior?
2. What are some ways that people today try to work their way into heaven?
3. Why do people try to get to heaven by doing good deeds and observing religious practices? Discuss.
4. Why is belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior critical for everyone’s salvation? Discuss.