Daily Devotions
January 29th, 2015 by Pastor SolleyJohn 3:1-7 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Jesus saves! The hated, the hopeless, the indifferent, and not the best of people, Jesus saves. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a religious leader of Israel, and by all accounts a good Pharisee, yet a lost man. The Pharisees were held in high esteem by the people, but not all of them should have been. Many, if not most of them used the Law of Moses to bind the people and make a profit for themselves. But Nicodemus was not of that kind, he was a man with a conscious, a man I believe concerned with the people he taught. I saw this because he did go to see Jesus and also because of his actions after the cross, him being one of the two that took the body of Jesus and cared for it. But here is this religious man, this sincere man, this man who kept the Law as best he could and served the people as best he could, here is this man coming to Jesus. Notice what Jesus said to him. (John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.) Even the best of people, the most religious of people need Jesus. Many times each year when talking to people about the Lord they will tell me all the good they do and all the bad they don’t. They go to church, have been baptized, take communion, don’t drink, don’t smoke, love and help people as much as they can, they are good people. But good people still need the Lord, good people still need to be saved. Nicodemus is the model of a good religious man, a man who needed Jesus, a man who needed to be saved. Jesus saves even those who are so good and religious it doesn’t appear they need Him.