Why didn’t Jesus mention baptism to Nicodemus in the gospel of John when he asked?<\/p>\n\t
Great question. I love Nicodemus’s story, and I believe it can help us understand the need for water baptism.<\/p>\n
Firstly, I would like to say we don’t see the whole story of Nicodemus played out. All we see here is this conversation. I presume much more happened after this conversation, as we see Nicodemus later in John 7:50 and 19:39, but we never really see any definitive declaration of Nicodemus’ faith here.<\/p>\n
Also, to get the complete picture of a topic, we cannot always look at one story and get the whole picture. I think if someone read this text without a background in the Scriptures, they would be very confused. So we have to always harmonize the Scriptures, and after investigating what Jesus says here, it’s clear to me that Jesus is advocating baptism.<\/p>\n
Jesus tells Nicodemus that “no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again<\/em>” and “they must be born of water and the Spirit.” What do these mean?<\/p>\n Just after this conversation with Nicodemus, we find, “After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized<\/em>” (John 3:22). It even got to the point that “Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John<\/em>” (John 4:1). The baptism was in water. Paul explains this “new birth” analogy very well in Romans 6:4, which says, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.<\/em>” This verse highlights that baptism allows us to be born again as we die and are raised in Christ.<\/p>\n As far as being born of the Spirit, in John 3 again, John explained why Jesus would become greater. “What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him<\/em>” (John 3:32-36). The word used for “does not obey” is interesting because it combines the idea of disbelief and disobedience into one word. However, notice the need to receive Jesus’ testimony because Jesus speaks the words of God, and those words give the Spirit. Therefore, we have the idea similar to the one presented in I Peter 1:22-25 that Christians are born of the word of God. Or, as James stated, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls<\/em>” (James 1:21). James then follows this with the urging to obey the word and not merely listen to it (James 1:22-25).<\/p>\n These same two elements are found in combination in Titus too, “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life<\/em>” (Titus 3:4-7). Here I believe “regeneration” is just another word for being born again and “washing” is a reference to baptism in water. “Renewal” refers to the transformation of the person (Romans 12:2), which is what being born again is all about.<\/p>\n Andy Belknap<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 played out. All we see…<\/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":[20],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-79216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","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":79216,"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":70622,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/cannot\/","url_meta":{"origin":79216,"position":1},"title":"Cannot!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026\" Tilting the religious world upside down, Jesus said that some cannot. In our world, where possibilities are said to be behind every impossibility,\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":28066,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-receiving-the-holy-spirit-mean-baptism-in-water-is-unnecessary\/","url_meta":{"origin":79216,"position":2},"title":"Does receiving the Holy Spirit mean baptism in water is unnecessary?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have another friend that believes you don't need water baptism because once you believe that's when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and that's when you're baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. She gave me theses Scriptures: Acts 11:14-16, Acts 11:47-48, Matthew 3:11-15, Acts 10:44-48, Titus 3:5,\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":16109,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-was-jesus-point-about-being-lifted-up-for-men-to-see\/","url_meta":{"origin":79216,"position":3},"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":69994,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-thought-exercise-on-john-38\/","url_meta":{"origin":79216,"position":4},"title":"A Thought Exercise on John 3:8","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall John 3 is commonly known for teaching about being born again. One segment has always baffled me, so we have this Thought Exercise: That segment is John 3:8, \"The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from\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":5310,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-must-be-born-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":79216,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79216","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=79216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}