NICODEMUS IN CONTEXT
Cecil Hook

After attempting to be “a teacher in Israel” for more than half a century, I finally considered the conversation of Nicodemus and Jesus in its context. And it has brought new meaning to me.

We who believe that baptism is essential and those who do not have turned to Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus for support of our positions. We have generally approached John 3:1-15 to find the answer to “What must I do to be saved?” while ignoring the context. While admitting that Jesus’ statements ultimately relate to salvation let us look to learn more completely what he and Nicodemus were talking about.

John the Baptist had come announcing that the kingdom of God was near. He called for repentance and baptism as a public commitment to that kingdom even though he did not call it a new birth. Although baptism comes to us suddenly without explanation in John’s ministry, historians tell us that the Jews were familiar with baptism. We are told that Gentiles who became Jewish proselytes made their commitment known publicly by a ceremony of baptism. Baptism signified their entrance into the hopes and claims of fleshly, national Israel.

While John proclaimed the nearness of the kingdom, he also pointed to the one who would come after him. John then identified Jesus as the Lamb of God. Andrew went to Peter and exclaimed, “We have found the Messiah!” Philip declared that they had found the one whom Moses and the prophets wrote about. And Nathanael answered Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Word gets around. A devout ruler named Nicodemus hears these rumors about the Messiah, the king, and the kingdom. He decides to check them out. He comes to Jesus with thoughts of cashing in on his birthright as a Jew which would entitle him to all the benefits, promises, and prerogatives of the restored kingdom. As a ruler he would have special interest because he might be given some seat of power in the restored kingdom.

The recorded conversation is abrupt, but surely they had talked at length about what was on Nicodemus’ mind, or at least Jesus knew Nicodemus’ thoughts. So Jesus explains to him, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” In effect he is saying, “Nicodemus, if the approaching kingdom were a restoration of the nationalistic kingdom of Israel, your citizenship in it would be assured. But I am speaking of a spiritual kingdom. You must abandon Jewish nationalism with its hope and expectation and be proselyted into a different kingdom. You must undergo a proselyte baptism declaring your change and giving public commitment to a spiritual reign of God. This will demand such an abrupt and complete change that it will be like a new birth. Metaphorically, it will be a new birth of the water of proselyte baptism and the working of the Spirit of God within you. You will no longer be counted as a Jew nor will your Jewishness any longer offer special blessings. Being a Jewish ruler will give you no special prerogatives in the kingdom of God.”

Whereas, in the claims of national Israel, the birth of an Israelite was fully visible and could be as invisible as the wind. Even as the effects of the wind are visible, though, the affected fruits of the Spirit could be seen and attested to. It would be a circumcision of the heart.

The question “What must I do to be saved?” was not the topic of the conversation. Nicodemus was already a devout Pharisee. Although Jesus chided him for his lack of understanding and slowness in believing, he did not reprimand him for any sin or unrighteousness. If he had died the previous night, he would have become one of those under the law whom Christ redeemed (Gal. 4:4).

To use this metaphor to support the necessity of baptism for the remission of sins is to give it a meaning based upon later revelation on the subject. Nicodemus did not have those teaching but would understand Jesus’ words in the context of his inquiry about the kingdom. He wasn’t inquiring about membership in the church, either.

Years later, Paul alludes to this metaphor in speaking of our transition from any fleshly hopes to the spiritual. By means of a similar proselyte baptism. “He delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col. 1:13). In the birth of water and the Spirit our allegiance from the fleshly to the spiritual is committed.

And those today who are still hoping for places in a restored nationalistic kingdom of Israel should be reminded: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Nicodemus looks different in context, doesn’t he? —1350 Huisache, New Braunfels, Tx. 78130