November 17th, 2025
By: Amanda Allums
Many of you have heard the story of the Pharisee named Nicodemus. He was a leader of the Jews and was very curious about Jesus. He had so many questions but was a very literal man as many of the Pharisees were. You know the type: People who don’t have much of a sense of humor and take everything literally and everything is either black or white. Nicodemus was one of those types of people, and sometimes, it is difficult for such people to understand the oracles of God and the parables of Jesus. This was the case when Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be “born again” in John chapter 3. Nicodemus asked Jesus “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”. Most of us know that part of the story very well, but the part of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus in John chapter 3 that I want to focus on are verses 10-12.
10 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” John 3:10-12
I love how Jesus pokes at Nicodemus for not knowing what He is talking about even though he is a teacher. Even Jesus had to say (if I put it in today’s language) “bruh come on, you should know these things!”. Jesus knew that Nicodemus had not received the teachings of Jesus and would not fully understand until he was born again. He also knew that scholars like Nicodemus pride themselves on knowledge, so if Jesus could get him to see that knowledge isn’t how you become like Jesus, then He could open his eyes and heart a little further.
To apply this scripture to ourselves, we need to ask ourselves if we are guilty of the same thing Nicodemus was. Do we have a hard time believing other fellow believers when they testify? Do we believe everything that the Holy Bible says? How can we believe what we turn a blind eye or deaf ear to? How can we believe something we don’t take time to understand?
Being a true follower of Christ is much more than talk and it’s even much more than action. We can say and do great things for people or even the church and God. But, if we aren’t taking the personal time to fall on our face in worship, dig deep in prayer for repentance, family member’s salvation, etc., and if we don’t take time to read scripture, contemplate what it means, apply it, and allow it to penetrate deep in our hearts to make us who Jesus has called us to be, then what is the reason we are doing anything else in the first place? Your personal relationship with Jesus Christ trumps anything else He asks of us.
Like Jesus said in verse 12 “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” Do you remember the first time you believed? Do you remember when your eyes were opened and you realized that you could not do life without Jesus? Do you remember your first love? Sometimes we have to get back to the basics in order for our eyes to be able to see the heavenly things.
We are in a spiritual battle and the spiritual realms are real. Satan will do anything he can to distract us from reality. The reality is we have to be able to see heavenly things to fight the earthly attacks, and the only way to have the strength and the wisdom to do that is to put your personal relationship with Jesus above everything else.
Many of you have heard the story of the Pharisee named Nicodemus. He was a leader of the Jews and was very curious about Jesus. He had so many questions but was a very literal man as many of the Pharisees were. You know the type: People who don’t have much of a sense of humor and take everything literally and everything is either black or white. Nicodemus was one of those types of people, and sometimes, it is difficult for such people to understand the oracles of God and the parables of Jesus. This was the case when Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be “born again” in John chapter 3. Nicodemus asked Jesus “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”. Most of us know that part of the story very well, but the part of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus in John chapter 3 that I want to focus on are verses 10-12.
10 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” John 3:10-12
I love how Jesus pokes at Nicodemus for not knowing what He is talking about even though he is a teacher. Even Jesus had to say (if I put it in today’s language) “bruh come on, you should know these things!”. Jesus knew that Nicodemus had not received the teachings of Jesus and would not fully understand until he was born again. He also knew that scholars like Nicodemus pride themselves on knowledge, so if Jesus could get him to see that knowledge isn’t how you become like Jesus, then He could open his eyes and heart a little further.
To apply this scripture to ourselves, we need to ask ourselves if we are guilty of the same thing Nicodemus was. Do we have a hard time believing other fellow believers when they testify? Do we believe everything that the Holy Bible says? How can we believe what we turn a blind eye or deaf ear to? How can we believe something we don’t take time to understand?
Being a true follower of Christ is much more than talk and it’s even much more than action. We can say and do great things for people or even the church and God. But, if we aren’t taking the personal time to fall on our face in worship, dig deep in prayer for repentance, family member’s salvation, etc., and if we don’t take time to read scripture, contemplate what it means, apply it, and allow it to penetrate deep in our hearts to make us who Jesus has called us to be, then what is the reason we are doing anything else in the first place? Your personal relationship with Jesus Christ trumps anything else He asks of us.
Like Jesus said in verse 12 “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” Do you remember the first time you believed? Do you remember when your eyes were opened and you realized that you could not do life without Jesus? Do you remember your first love? Sometimes we have to get back to the basics in order for our eyes to be able to see the heavenly things.
We are in a spiritual battle and the spiritual realms are real. Satan will do anything he can to distract us from reality. The reality is we have to be able to see heavenly things to fight the earthly attacks, and the only way to have the strength and the wisdom to do that is to put your personal relationship with Jesus above everything else.
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