Born Again

Date: Thursday, August 20, 2026

Nicodemus was no fool. He was a respected teacher of Israel, a Pharisee, a man who had the Torah memorized. Yet he comes to Jesus at night, half in the dark, both literally and spiritually. He’s seeking truth. His posture is genuine, unlike many of his colleagues. Then Jesus tells him that he must be “born again” of water and Spirit. Jesus compares the Spirit to the wind: you can’t see it, chart it, or command it, but you can see and feel its effects. Many things about God will always exceed our ability to describe them. It’s a reminder that we must make room for sacred mystery.

Today’s chapter also carries the verse most of us memorized before we even understood it: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” The whole world, indiscriminately loved, offered a spiritual new birth that has nothing to do with religious pedigree and everything to do with grace received as a gift.

Psalm 43 pleads, “Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me.” That’s Nicodemus’s prayer before he even knew to pray for it. The biblical record suggests that Nicodemus eventually became a follower of Christ, later helping to give Jesus a proper Jewish burial at great reputational cost to himself. Ancient church tradition claims he was eventually baptized by Peter or John, suffered persecution, and was ostrasized and killed for his faith. Being “born again” took Nicodemus from a cautious nighttime seeker of truth, to a defender of truth, grace, and understanding who no longer needed to sneak around at night. His new life in the Spirit led him to an understanding of the abudant life available in the present, not just a promise of the life to come.

Devotional Prompts:

What parts of your faith journey have felt more like a slow dawning than a sudden flash?
How does John 3:16’s “whole world” language challenge the “us / them” mentality that is so rampant in today’s headlines?

Prayer: Father, send out Your light and truth to lead us, as You led Nicodemus from darkness into open day. Thank You for loving the whole world, including me, without condition. Amen.