Lesson objective: To understand that Jesus stands at the new covenant threshold of salvation and is now the sole life-giving source of all who enter the kingdom of God in this age and in the age to come.

Introduction: The Pharisees were a religious sect of great influence that developed during the intertestamental period. Originally, the first seeds of this sect can be seen in the development of a scribal system during and after the Babylonian Exile. Israel’s Exile was understood to have been their punishment for having violated the Mosaic covenant-law (Torah). Israel, then, turned more diligently toward that covenant-law and founded a scribal system to safeguard its violation.

At the time of Jesus, the scribes who were considered experts in the interpretation of the Torah and the Oral Tradition populated the Pharisaic party. It is estimated that in the time of Jesus there were some 6,000 Pharisees in Israel, most of them being scribes, and thousands more who looked to them for religious leadership. The Pharisaic party had influential members in the Sanhedrin, Israel’s ruling elite, although most of the Sanhedrin members were Sadducees (the priestly class).

Nicodemus was a Pharisee and privileged to belong to Israel’s ruling class of elders, the Sanhedrin. Our passage (3:1-18) indicates that Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus took place at night. The reason is not given, but we can surmise that Nicodemus does not want to be seen fraternizing with Jesus in public, probably fearing rebuke from his own party members. Nicodemus does not come with deception, that is, to test or trap Jesus in order to hold some accusation against him—he has come with a sincere desire to know!

It is fitting that this meeting takes place at night, because Nicodemus cannot see (understand) what Jesus reveals to him, although the "true light" and the "light of the world" is right in front of him! Very few, if any, unregenerate persons have understood the meaning of this passage. Some may be able to come to know the passage intellectually, but only by faith can one come to understand it both intellectually and spiritually.

The messianic age has dawned in the person and work of Jesus, and with it, the kingdom of God has arrived! However, it is visible only to those with spiritual eyes of faith. The old Mosaic covenant-law has come to an end, and is now entirely fulfilled and no longer obligatory for believers. The new covenant takes its place and now stands at the threshold of salvation’s door, which is Jesus Christ. He is now the life-giving source of God’s Spirit and, like water that gives life to organic matter, so Jesus gives new spiritual life to whosoever believes in him!

In the new covenant, salvation is equivalent to belief in Jesus. Nicodemus could not see because he was still focused on Moses, when Moses is pointing to Jesus! To be born again is to experience new spiritual life in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

There are many like Nicodemus today who only look for a future kingdom of God, which in its time will surely come. But Jesus invites whoever will believe to enter his kingdom in the here and now! Those who enter spiritually by faith today will be granted the privilege to enter it in glorious, transformed bodies tomorrow.

John 3:16-18

Conclusion: Nicodemus, as hard-pressed as he was to understand Jesus, mercifully, finally saw the light (John 19:38-39). Many of us also stumbled in the night, until we encountered Jesus and were spiritually "born again" in him.