Jesus, Our Savior

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, a member of the Sanhedrin Council, and a religious teacher in the community. He was a godly man and respected among many. He was curious enough about Jesus to visit him one evening but brought no one with him. Perhaps he wanted to have a private conversation with him. He might have felt that he and Jesus had much in common – aside from Jesus being able to perform miracles, that is! After all, Nicodemus was a deeply religious man who loved God and believed that the way to God was to obey the law. He greeted Jesus respectfully saying, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”¹

But Jesus foregoes the social civility, gets right to the issue at hand, and tells him quite bluntly, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”² His words must have startled Nicodemus for Nicodemus believed in his heart that he would, indeed, see God’s kingdom one day. So, Nicodemus countered with “How can a man be born when he is old?”³ Jesus explained to him that he was talking about a spiritual rebirth. But he was also telling him to forget everything he had ever learned about God and start over. Nicodemus was confused. He asked Jesus, “How can these things be?”⁴ Jesus spoke a little more about being “born of the Spirit,”⁵ and accepting God’s Son (who Jesus claimed to be), but Nicodemus walked away without understanding.

The passage reminds me of the late great Robert Redford who died at 89 in September of this year. In an interview with Playboy magazine in 2007, he was asked about his religious beliefs, and he said this: “I’ve explored every religion, some very deeply, enough to know there’s not one philosophy that can satisfy me. Problems can’t be solved with one way of thinking.” It seems that Redford, like Nicodemus, was looking for a religion that made sense to him – “How can a man be born when he is old?” Or a philosophy that could satisfy him –“How can these things be?” But Jesus is neither of those two things—a sensible religion or a satisfying philosophy. Jesus is our Savior.

Until people realize that they need a Savior, Jesus will seem irrelevant. After all, many adults think they have life all figured out and do not need to be “saved” from anything. That kind of philosophy is common amongst successful people and rich people (like Nicodemus), and celebrities—who are often successful and rich (like Robert Redford). Jesus understood that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”⁶

The end of Nicodemus’ story is a good one. He defended Jesus at his arrest and after his crucifixion came to his tomb to assist with the burial. It seems he might have realized he needed a Savior and had a spiritual rebirth and discovered how to be born again. I can only hope that Robert Redford did, too.

¹John 3:2   ²John 3:3   ³John 3:4   ⁴John 3:9   ⁵John 3:8   ⁶Matthew 19:24