by Don Hooton<\/p>\n
When Nicodemus came to Jesus, the chat was pretty brief. Nicodemus: “You must be from God because of the signs!” Jesus: “Seriously, you cannot…” Tilting the religious world upside down, Jesus said that some cannot. In our world, where possibilities are said to be behind every impossibility, we sometimes imagine wrongly that Jesus did not mean “cannot” here (see Matthew 7:13-14).<\/p>\n
Most cannot see<\/strong> the kingdom of God (John 3:3) because they are blinded by their own eyes. They want to see what they want to be instead of yielding to the King who rules. Jewish leaders had this problem, and modern leaders do, too. But to Nicodemus, Jesus is clear-you cannot see.<\/p>\n Most cannot enter<\/strong> the kingdom of God (John 3:5) because they are bound to the rule that enslaved them to their sin: self. Jewish leaders were in love with their traditions (Mark 6:8) or wealth (Luke 16:14). His persistent rebuke to them. Modern leaders listen. How do you expect to enter His Kingdom if you do not yield to the King?<\/p>\n In fact, Jesus says, “unless<\/strong>.” No exception. Under any other circumstance, there is no way to see or enter the kingdom. While people tinker with their machinations of Christianity, it is Christ’s way to be clear here.<\/p>\n Except what? Nicodemus and all of us must be born again of water and the Spirit.\u00a0Just as the Ephesians were cleansed “with the washing of water by the word<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:26) and Titus was taught “through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit<\/em>” (Titus 2:5), all Christians overcame the cannot with this “can.”<\/p>\n How? Peter: “Repent and be baptized, each of you <\/em>[to] be saved from this corrupt generation!<\/em>” (Acts 2:38-40). Ananias: “Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name<\/em>” (Acts 22:16). And Paul: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household<\/em>… And they spoke the word of the Lord to him<\/em> [and] took them the same hour of the night and he and all his family were baptized<\/em>” (Acts 16:33-34).<\/p>\n It is impossible if you will not listen to the King. But if you do, you can be saved when you believe, repent and are baptized. Why wait… if you really want to see <\/b>and enter <\/b>the kingdom?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Don Hooton When Nicodemus came to Jesus, the chat was pretty brief. Nicodemus: “You must be from God because of the signs!” Jesus: “Seriously, you cannot…” Tilting the religious world upside down, Jesus said that some cannot. In our world, where possibilities are said to be behind every impossibility, we sometimes imagine wrongly that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-70622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33862,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faces-surrounding-calvary-joseph-of-arimathea-and-nicodemus\/","url_meta":{"origin":70622,"position":0},"title":"Faces Surrounding Calvary: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dave Hart We are given very little insight as to the lives and characters of these two men, but there are some things we know about them which are worthy of our attention. Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man, a member of the council or what was otherwise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16109,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-was-jesus-point-about-being-lifted-up-for-men-to-see\/","url_meta":{"origin":70622,"position":1},"title":"What was Jesus’ point about being lifted up for men to see?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In John 3:14, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus and speaks of Moses lifting up the serpent. Is this the bronze serpent Moses made? And how does this relate to Jesus and what is Jesus trying to tell Nicodemus? I understand the part about believing and eternal life, but I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5310,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-must-be-born-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":70622,"position":2},"title":"You Must Be Born Again","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 3:1-22 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I had a fellow ask me if I had been born again. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In particular, he wanted to know how I came to believe such a thing. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When I replied with I John 2:3-6; 4:6; 5:2-3, he became quite upset \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He wanted to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":79216,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-didnt-jesus-mention-baptism-to-nicodemus\/","url_meta":{"origin":70622,"position":3},"title":"Why didn’t Jesus mention baptism to Nicodemus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why didn't Jesus mention baptism to Nicodemus in the gospel of John when he asked? Answer: Great question. I love Nicodemus's story, and I believe it can help us understand the need for water baptism. Firstly, I would like to say we don't see the whole story of Nicodemus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35868,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-seeing-the-kingdom-and-entering-the-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":70622,"position":4},"title":"What is the difference between seeing the kingdom and entering the kingdom?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In John 3:3-5 Jesus first answered Nicodemus by saying no one could not see the kingdom unless being born in John 3:4. In John 3:5 Jesus said one could not enter the kingdom unless being born again. I understand what \"enter the kingdom\" means. I do not understand what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94982,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-not-sure-jesus-is-talking-about-actual-water-in-john-35\/","url_meta":{"origin":70622,"position":5},"title":"I’m not sure Jesus is talking about actual water in John 3:5","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I just had some questions about John 3:5. I am not sure whether Jesus is referring to literal water here. The reason I say that is that later in the book of John, Jesus attributes the Holy Spirit and calls it \"Living Water\" when talking to the woman\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70622\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}