Are We There Yet?

Jesus said, “Unless you’ve been born from above…”

This article is based on a sermon I presented in October 2022 at Kuna Church of the Nazarene. You can watch this video here (the message begins at minute 22:42) or keep scrolling to read the article.

Returning to the womb…wait, what?

In the Gospel of John, we find Jesus talking to a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who seems genuinely interested in hearing what Jesus has to say. Nicodemus, it seems, is seriously considering who Jesus is. At some point in their conversation, which occurs late at night, Jesus tells him:

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again they cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3 ESV)

Nicodemus, seemingly confused, asks how a person can return to the womb and be born again. The thought of a grown human being re-entering the womb to be birthed again is not a thought any of us want to entertain for long, right?

Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, seems to be a sincere Jewish ruler who comes to Jesus out of pure motives to hear what Jesus has to say. In our contemporary understanding, Pharisees often get a bad rap, sometimes unfairly. As a Pharisee, Nicodemus had done…