Human Nature Cannot Be Trusted

John 2:23-25 says, “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed into His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus Himself did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all men. And because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.” The Lord knows our nature. He knows what is in man. He knows how you are. He knows your weaknesses. He knows your virtues. He knows your nature and He knows my nature. But here He says, “But Jesus Himself did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all men.” This portion at the end of chapter 2 shows us that the Lord cannot trust human nature. Human nature is unstable. Human nature cannot be trusted.

In chapter 3 there is a person called Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He was a master, an elder, someone with human experience. He had a high position in religion. He was highly esteemed because he was also a Pharisee. Humanly speaking Nicodemus was the top. He was on the top, the best. This is the kind of son that every father would like to have. Nicodemus was successful, with a high morality and high position. He knew a lot. He was a great person.

Such a person came to look for the Lord and speak to the Lord. He came to talk to the Lord one night. There was something bothering him. He went at night. Why? So that no one could see him. He was afraid that others would see him. The fact that he took a chance that someone would find out he met with Jesus means that something was bothering him. So he went to talk to the Lord. I think he thought that the Lord would talk to him about the highest truths. What do you think the Lord should have spoken to Nicodemus? He was such a capable, educated and polite person. To such a person, Jesus could speak about anything. He could speak about the highest revelations because He was speaking with someone who knew the word of God very well. I think this was Nicodemus’ hope. Look at what he said, “We know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do God unless God is with him” (v. 2). He was ready for a high conversation.

You Must Be Born Anew

“Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3). To Nicodemus, this was like a kick in the stomach. What is this? “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” (v. 4). What is this? He expected such a high conversation but the Lord said to him, “You must be born anew.” This was something he had never heard before. “What is this? Be born anew?”

“Jesus answered, Truly, truly I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (v. 5). Here the Lord was establishing a principle. I can only trust in my life, the life of God. This means that our only way is to be born anew. Nicodemus had an earthly, human vision. He had a philosophical and religious vision but he did not have a heavenly vision. He lived in the realm of the knowledge of the law. When the Lord told him he must be born anew he did not understand. What is this?

Actually, the Lord was telling Nicodemus that if you want to speak about the kingdom of God, you must speak about the kingdom of a life, the life of God. It is the kingdom of the Spirit. You can only enter into it by being born into it. I will give you an example. Get a monkey and train it to imitate man. It is still a monkey, no matter how well trained it is. But if the monkey says, “I want to be a man. I am going to take a course on becoming a man. I am going to enter college to be a man. I am going to sign up to be a man.” It won’t work. You can be a man only through birth. How did you become a man? By birth. How can you enter the kingdom of God? By birth. The things concerning life you can only enter into through birth, not by knowledge but by birth.

The Lord knew human nature and He was saying, “Nicodemus, you may be capable but you are not trustworthy. You must be born anew.” The Lord showed the importance of this when He said, “Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born anew.” When He spoke about being born anew, He spoke about seeing the kingdom and about entering into the kingdom. The first three gospels spoke a lot about the kingdom but the gospel of John shows us the way to enter into it. The way is by being born of God through believing.

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