I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! A time to remember not only things to be thankful for now but for all the things that God has done for us. I do not understand how people can celebrate “Thanksgiving” and never think about God and what He has done for all of us. Without Him, we would be nothing.

In John 3, we find a man named Nicodemus who was a ruler of the Jews. This meant that he was most likely a member of the Sanhedrin and a student of the law. He’s familiar with what Jesus has been teaching and doing as he confesses to Christ “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.” It’s then that Jesus says to him “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus of course struggles with this, and Jesus teaches him that one must be born of water and the spirit and because of Nicodemus’s struggle with this Jesus gently rebukes him because Nicodemus should be someone who should see the connection. Many ask today, “Is baptism a part of this discussion?” There’s no doubt it is as Jesus references being born of water and the spirit. But I also believe that Nicodemus is struggling with what the kingdom of God is and who it’s for.

We readily know from scripture that a major hang-up for the Jews, not only while Christ was here but even for many after the establishment of the church, was the kingdom of God being a spiritual kingdom and not a physical one. Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about what it takes to enter the kingdom of God in contrast to Nicodemus’s perspective that only those who are born in the lineage of Abraham are kingdom citizens. Jesus continues to teach Nicodemus when he explains to him that kingdom citizenship is for all who believe in Him and who come to the light.