Nicodemus
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Whatโs something you look at or rely on daily? Why is it important to you?
โข Have you ever revealed a secret that you were supposed to keep? What happened?
โข Share about a time when you felt like you needed a fresh start. How were you able to move forward?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ข ๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ช, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.โ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฏ:๐ญโ๐ฏ
(Read also ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฏ:๐ฐโ๐ฎ๐ญ.)
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a prominent religious figure of high stature and teacher among the people. He was considered righteous by those around him. But one night, he visited Jesus in secret and sought His teaching. Nicodemus learned that he needed something from Jesusโsomething that transformed and renewed him. This was being born again in the spirit. Today, letโs look at what we can learn from Nicodemusโs encounter with Jesus.
๐ญ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.โ . . . ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ, โ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.โย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฏ:๐ฏ, ๐ฑ
This is the Scripture where we get the term โborn again.โ We are all born once from our mothersโ wombs, but to enter Godโs kingdom, we need to be born of the Spirit. This is because we were all spiritually dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1โ3) and will eventually lead to eternal death in hell unless we experience spiritual rebirth. The kingdom of heaven is spiritual in nature and only those who are spiritually alive can enter.
๐ฎ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ.
โ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ.โย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฏ:๐ญ๐ฐโ๐ญ๐ฑ
While talking to Nicodemus, Jesus foretold His own death. Like the bronze snake of Moses (Numbers 21:9), Jesus said, the Son of Man must be lifted up on a pole, and whoever looks to Him will be saved. This directly foreshadowed Jesus being lifted on the cross, and until today, whoever looks to Him in faith is saved. The one who believes in Jesus has been born again and has eternal life. When did you begin believing? Would you say you look to Jesus daily? How certain are you that you have eternal life?
๐ฏ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฑโ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐.
โ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฏ:๐ฎ๐ญ
The transforming work of God is evident in the lives of those who come to the light of Jesus, put their faith in Him, and experience spiritual rebirth. John 3:8 likens one born of the Spirit to windโalthough it cannot be seen, its presence can be felt. So it was with Nicodemus. He eventually moved from darkness (secret meetings at night) to light. Though we donโt know exactly when he put his faith in Christ, he began to speak publicly in favor of Jesusโno more hiding. At a time when Jesus was attracting the wrong sort of attention from the authorities, Nicodemus took His side, risking revealing himself as a follower of Christ (John 7:45โ52). His encounter with Jesus had caused this transformation. What are some visible changes in your life, when you experienced the new birth?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Reflect on how Jesus has transformed your life since you encountered Him. What is one way you could respond to what the Holy Spirit is doing in you this week?
โข Looking to Jesus daily has a great impact on the choices we make. How does this play out in your life? Are there ways you can be more mindful in looking to Him daily?
โข How can you allow Jesusโ work in you to be brought to light and visible to others? Pray for the courage to live out your transformation openly.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for your life-changing encounter with Jesus that gives you new life and hope through the Spirit.
โข Ask God to deepen your faith, trusting Him fully for your salvation and sanctification.
โข Pray for a heart that courageously reflects the transformation Jesus has begun in you, so others may see Godโs work and be drawn to Him.