June 2025: The Sprinkling Spiritual Rebirth

Published on 06/01/2025 by Dr-Shirley-Cheng.

What does it take for a righteous person to make enemies?

Though his ministry had just begun, Jesus started making enemies, as we saw that the Jews in Jerusalem questioned his authority, just as they had questioned John's authority. How could the purely sinless Son of God make any enemy, let alone so quickly and so easily? The reason lies in the fact that he is purely sinless, as ironic as it may sound.

We may think that it's easy to make enemies when we have done wrong to others or don't behave in a proper way. While this may be true, we fail to understand that it is even easier for a righteous person to make enemies. This is because righteousness and wickedness clash, wickedness cannot endure righteousness, and because the wicked overwhelmingly outnumber the righteous in the world. Simply for a righteous person to exist is an eyesore to the wicked. Since Jesus is not only righteous but sinless, then it's no wonder that he made many enemies so easily.

In the Tanakh (Old Testament), Israelites hated God's prophets with great passion. Why? Because the prophets were righteous and they pointed out the sins of the wicked people. Thus, when John and later Jesus rebuked people for their sins, they became hated. John was imprisoned and killed for his righteousness, and soon, Jesus would be, too, for the same reason.

The main enemies of Jesus were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribes. The Pharisees and Sadducees were John's as well, as we studied. The Pharisees and Sadducees were Jewish sects formed after the Babylonian captivity, and they took root in the exile community in Judah. To learn more about these three groups of people, read the Q&A section below this lesson.

Why were these three groups of people antagonistic toward Jesus? They became Jesus' enemies because Jesus rebuked them for their self-righteousness and hypocrisy. The Pharisees and scribes were especially guilty for putting on a show of righteousness by praying long prayers publicly to gain the praise of onlookers. They enforced difficult ordinances based on their oral traditions that contradicted the Torah and made the lives of people difficult, and we will see specific examples of how they did so as we progress in the Gospels.

The Sadducees condoned ungodly behavior and were ruffled when Jesus stepped over their authority. The Jews who confronted Jesus when he turned over the tables of the moneychangers and cast out the sellers of sacrificial animals were likely Sadducees, since they were the authority of the temple. They viewed Jesus' action as a challenge to their authority, and it was, since Jesus' God-given authority was higher than theirs.

However, not every Pharisee, Sadducee or scribe was an enemy of Jesus. It's incorrect to believe every person in these three groups was hostile toward Jesus. It's incorrect to believe so because not every Pharisee or scribe was a hypocrite. Many Pharisees were true worshippers of God, even though they held erroneous beliefs in the oral traditions. They were simply misguided, just as many Christians today are. We can be sincere believers in falsehoods. After Jesus' ascension back to heaven, many Pharisees accepted him as their long-awaited Messiah. The most well known of them was the apostle Paul.

In this lesson, we will study the account of one Pharisee who came to embrace Jesus. His coming to accept Jesus was a gradual one that began with a meeting at night. It's one of two meetings the apostle John recorded that Jesus had with two individuals that would change the course of their lives forever.

Meeting with a Confused Teacher

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to him by night, and said to him, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.'" (John 3:1-2, WEB)

While Jesus was in Jerusalem, a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus went to see him one night, perhaps secretly, not wanting his fellow Pharisees to question his meeting. He was a ruler or spiritual leader of the people and a teacher of the Tanakh. He might be a member of the Sanhedrin, the High Court of Israel that was comprised of seventy members plus the high priest. He witnessed the marvelous works that Jesus performed in the city during the week-long feasts, and wanted to find out for himself who this Jesus truly was. Respectfully, he said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him." (John 3:2) By what he witnessed, he correctly determined that Jesus must be a teacher whom God appointed and empowered. Surely, how could anyone do his signs if God wasn't with him?

While Nicodemus was right to think of Jesus as a teacher from God, Jesus wasn't merely a teacher but the Messiah, and this was what he needed to learn and accept. Jesus would reveal himself to him as the Messiah. His words would be something for Nicodemus to carefully consider and mull over after their meeting concluded.

The Spiritual Rebirth by the Sprinkling Spirit

When Nicodemus went to him, Jesus went straight to the point: "Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can't see the Kingdom of God." (John 3:3) The Kingdom of God was what's on everyone's mind in those days, and he knew that it was on Nicodemus' mind when he sought him. Everyone wanted to enter that Kingdom, but most, if not all, people didn't understand how to enter or be part of the Kingdom. Thus, Jesus taught Nicodemus that one must be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Without this rebirth, no one would see the Kingdom. He prefaced this statement with, "Most certainly, I tell you," which implied what he was about to say was of utmost importance. Many Bible versions translate such words as "Verily, verily, I tell you." Jesus always said this before stating something that his audience must heed. So whenever we run across these words, we must pay close attention to the proceeding words.

Jesus' statement confused Nicodemus, who took his words as literal, rather than figurative. He thought that Jesus was telling him that a person had to be physically born again, and so he asked him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?" (John 3:4)

Jesus repeated the truth he told the Pharisee in John 3:3 but reworded it: "Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can't enter into the Kingdom of God!" (John 3:5) To be "born again or born anew" and "be born of Spirit and water" mean the same thing. Jesus here clarified that he was speaking of a spiritual rebirth rather than a physical rebirth: the rebirth of Spirit and water. The Spirit refers to the Holy Spirit, and the water points to the Spirit as well. In the Tanakh, the Spirit is represented by water. Just as water cleanses something of impurity, so the Spirit cleanses someone of their sins.

Jesus expounded on his words by explaining, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don't marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don't know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:6-8)

Jesus pointed out that a person who is born naturally is flesh. This is the first birth that every person goes through. It's how we all have entered the world as flesh-and-blood human beings. As fleshly humans, we have the sin nature in us that makes us sin against God. People with such sin nature cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Since every person has this sin nature, then no one can enter the Kingdom of God. If anyone wants to be part of the Kingdom, they must be born again, spiritually. They must be born of Spirit and water, for the Spirit to cleanse them of the sin nature. Once cleansed, the born-again person is of the Spirit--a child or product of the Spirit. They become a new creation. However, the cleansing comes in stages, and we will study this in the future.

Jesus compared the working of the Spirit to the effects of the wind. "Spirit" and "wind" are both translated from the Greek word "pneuma," which also means "breath." Like the wind, the Spirit is invisible to the human eye. Like the wind, the Spirit works unseen but the fruit of its work can be clearly seen, just as the work of the wind can be seen by the rustling of the leaves even though the wind itself is invisible. When someone is born again spiritually, their manner of life changes; they live more righteously. This is the visible fruit of the work of the invisible Spirit.

Despite Jesus' explanation, Nicodemus was still scratching his head. In bewilderment, he asked the Teacher, "How can these things be?" (John 3:9)

Nicodemus couldn't understand what Jesus was teaching him at all, even though he was the teacher of the Tanakh, as Jesus chided him: "Are you the teacher of Israel, and don't understand these things?" (John 3:10) As the teacher of Israel, Nicodemus should have understood what Jesus was telling him because he wasn't teaching him anything new. What he taught him was first taught in the Tanakh, the very Word of God that Nicodemus himself taught Israel.

Indeed, in several passages of the Tanakh, Yahweh told Israel their need to be cleansed by the "water." However, God never described it as a "rebirth," so this was probably why Nicodemus couldn't connect what Jesus said with what God formerly said. The Father and Son didn't use the exact same terms, but their teachings are the same, and as an educated Pharisee, Nicodemus should have figured it out.

Throughout the Bible, water metaphors are used to describe the cleansing power of the Spirit and of the Spirit itself. In the Tanakh, Yahweh had long ago promised to "pour out" His Spirit on His people like water:

"For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
and streams on the dry ground.
I will pour my Spirit on your seed,
and my blessing on your offspring" (Isaiah 44:3)

"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them." (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

"Until the Spirit is poured on us from on high,
and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is considered a forest.
Then justice will dwell in the wilderness;
and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field." (Isaiah 32:15-16)

Jesus rebuked Nicodemus further by saying, "Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don't receive our witness. If I told you earthly things and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" (John 3:11-12)

By "we," Jesus was speaking of himself and his true disciples; by "you," he was speaking of anyone who was spiritually blind to divine truths, including Nicodemus who couldn't grasp the truth at that time. Jesus and all those who had the truth bore witness of the truth but people wouldn't receive their testimony. If Jesus explained to them of earthly truths and they couldn't understand, then how could they understand the harder spiritual truths that he taught them? He had used the invisible wind (an earthly truth) to illustrate the effects of the unseen Spirit (a spiritual truth), but Nicodemus still couldn't comprehend his simple teaching.

From Jesus' rebuke, we see that Nicodemus didn't only not understand but his fault lied in disbelief. Yes, even though he knew that Jesus was a teacher from God, he did not believe in what Jesus taught, in spite of the fact that God taught the same thing. His disbelief stems from his initial shallow belief in who Jesus was. He thought of Jesus as merely a teacher from God, thus he believed Jesus could make mistakes. He didn't yet believe that Jesus is the Messiah. If he had, he wouldn't have doubted in his words even if he didn't entirely comprehend them. Thus, what Nicodemus should do was to carefully think over who Jesus is truly and then mull over Jesus' words after their meeting ended. There was much Nicodemus needed to learn about Jesus and from Jesus.

The Perfectly Reliable Teacher

Jesus said to Nicodemus, "No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, [who is in heaven]." (John 3:13) The words I put in brackets are not found in the earliest existing manuscripts, so they are likely added by man.

The truth that Jesus told Nicodemus is that no one has ever gone up to heaven, only the son of man--himself. He is the only human being who has ever gone into heaven, for he is the only one who has descended from heaven. Every other person who has walked the face of Earth never saw heaven; this includes David, Elijah, and Moses.

Since Jesus is the only person who has lived in heaven, only he knows heavenly truths and only he can teach those truths to humanity. He has firsthand knowledge of heaven, whereas prophets only has limited divine knowledge from God. This makes Jesus' knowledge and teaching entirely reliable.

In light of Jesus being the perfectly reliable teacher who's the only human being who has ever been in heaven, how will you respond to his teaching? If you haven't yet, will you trust in his words to be born again of Spirit and water?

But how do we go about being reborn? We'll get the answer in our next lesson, so stay tuned!


~*~ Q&A with Dr. Shirley ~*~

Question: Who were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribes?

Answer: "Pharisees" means "separate ones." The aim of a Pharisee was to live a "separate" or sanctified life that conforms to the Torah (God's Law or Instruction). From a young age, Pharisees were trained in the Torah so that they could obey the Torah stringently throughout their lifetime.

In addition to the Torah, the Pharisees also observed oral traditions. "Oral traditions" were teachings that the Jews passed down orally from generation to generation. These teachings were additional laws outside the Torah. The Pharisees viewed these teachings on the same level as the Torah, as they believed that Moses received them from Yahweh on Mt. Sinai at the same time that he received the Torah but Moses never wrote them down. So the sanctified life that the Pharisees lived was based on the Torah and the oral traditions.

Pharisees accepted the entire Tanakh plus the oral traditions as the Word of God. Due to their knowledge of the Scriptures and their practice of righteousness, they were highly esteemed in their community. All Rabbis were Pharisees, and all Rabbis taught in the synagogues, so Pharisees controlled all the synagogues.



"Sadducees" means "righteous ones." Unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees only accepted the Torah as the Word of God. They did not accept the rest of the Tanakh or any oral traditions. They did not believe in spirits or angels, even though the Torah speaks of angels. They also did not believe in the resurrection.

The Sadducees were both a religious and political group. They governed the temple and the Sanhedrin (the supreme court), as the priests and Roman-appointed high priests were Sadducees. Because the high priestly office was determined by the Romans, the Sadducees maintained a good relationship with the Romans, whereas the Pharisees despised the Roman domination over Israel and longed for the Messiah to deliver Israel out of all gentile rule. For this reason, Pharisees and Sadducees were not friends.

Scribes were scholars of the Tanakh. They were literate in the Hebrew language, and were able to read and write, something that an average Jew did not know. They taught the Jews the Tanakh, and were highly esteemed for their intellect.

Do you have Bible questions and want answers? Contact Dr. Shirley and she'll be happy to answer your questions by the grace of God.

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