Jesus and Nicodemus

John 3 continues with a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. Though he was a learned Pharisee, Nicodemus did not have a clue as to what Jesus meant. Jesus had told him that he needed to get born again of the spirit, not the flesh, but his eyes were too darkened to see.

9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

John 3:9-13, King James Version

John 3 continues with a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. Poor Nicodemus; he was clueless as to the understanding of Christ's words. Jesus had told him that he needed to get born again of the spirit, not the flesh, but his eyes were too darkened to see. After chiding him for being a leader in Israel, yet lacking the understanding of Christ's words, Jesus stated in plain truth, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

Christ could not have stated it more plainly or obviously. We speak what we know. (NKJV)

It was a startling thing, was it not? Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a man learned in the Scriptures, and yet when Jesus said he needed to be born again, he did not have a clue what Jesus meant. The truth was, none of the religious leaders took Jesus seriously.

Jesus stated, “We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.”

In other words Jesus simply told Nicodemus that no man but me has ascended to heaven. I am the one who came down from heaven, the Son of man, and the Son of God, and I will return to heaven.

Jesus was right in chiding Nicodemus, for Jesus came to earth as God’s representative (as God, Himself), proclaiming the truth to the people, yet the religious leaders refused to listen to His words.

Jesus will expand on this in the following verses, but let us take a moment and think about today's Bible passage. Nicodemus is not the only person being confronted by these words of Christ; Christ is speaking to each and every person in our world today. This message has been proclaimed over and over for more than 2,000 years.

The real question we must ask ourselves, when we think of this conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, is this. How do I respond to these words? Who is this Christ? Is He truly the Son of man and the Son of God? Unfortunately our world is so blinded by worldliness and the sins of our age, that the majority of people respond just as Nicodemus did.

As true Christians, the words above bring great joy to our hearts, and we can speak with Christ in saying, "We speak what we know."

What about you? If these words are hard to spiritually comprehend, then fall before the Lord Jesus Christ, and cry out to have Him open your eyes so that you, too, may see!

Next: God So Loved the World - verses 13-17