It seems to me that Nicodemus reveals his heart in John 3:9, because, rather than defend his position, he continues to seek the truth behind what Jesus claims. He isn’t argumentative, as his colleagues showed themselves to be on a number of occasions (John 2:18; Matthew 16:1; Mark 8:11). Although he is a ruler, he is teachable. He may be a Pharisee, who is ready to violently overthrow the current Roman government in his homeland, but he is ready to understand a better way, if it is available. Therefore, he continues to question Jesus: “How can these things be?” (John 3:9). How can the spirit (life), which is in me now, experience a new birth? What would that look like? Would I continue to be me, or would I become someone else (cp. Job 19:27)? How would a different spirit change me, vis-à-vis the one who is living in this body of flesh at this moment? “How can these things be?” (John 3:9).
Jesus responded to Nicodemus, but we need to keep in mind that red-letter bibles, which presume to offer us Jesus’ words in red, may usually be helpful, but not always. They are not inspired in what they say are Jesus’ words. My point is this. Nicodemus was having trouble understanding spiritual matters. Does it make sense that Jesus would inundate him with information about spiritual matters, including his mission as the Messiah? In my opinion much of what we see in red at this point is commentary offered us by the author of the Gospel of John. I don’t think Jesus’ sayings should go beyond verse-12.
In John 3:10 Jesus chided his nighttime visitor, implying that, as a teacher of Israel, he should have understood the things Jesus was telling him. As a teacher of the word of God, how difficult would it be to understand that something in man died, when Adam rebelled from God and partook of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6-7; cp. 2:17). Something occurred after the rebellion, because they felt the need to cover themselves (Genesis 3:7), but whatever occurred wasn’t readily observable. In other words, it couldn’t be seen with one’s eyes. Their lives changed, because it was a spiritual matter, and the spirit has power over the flesh. Therefore, Nicodemus shouldn’t be troubled over how one is born again, because such things are matters of the spirit, and they aren’t observable to the eyes of the flesh (cp. John 3:7). Nevertheless, they should be believed, because what Jesus was saying was directly derived from the word of God.
It appears that Nicodemus represented the Jewish authorities, even though he did so without their consent (cp. John 3:1-2). Apparently, they had discussed Jesus’ words and deeds among themselves, because Nicodemus admitted that **We** know Jesus was a teacher sent from God. Yet, they didn’t believe him (John 3:11-12; cp. 2:18). Jesus had told them earthly things (John 3:12), that is, he told them things that had already been revealed to them (Deuteronomy 29:29). In other words, the Jewish authorities should have understood what Jesus meant about destroying the Temple of his body (John 2:19, 21; cp. Isaiah 8:14). Instead, they wavered and demanded a sign. Nicodemus should have understood from the Genesis account of Adam’s rebellion that the spirit of man was dead to the Lord, vis-à-vis men’s lives were darkened and without light (cp. John 1:9), having no spiritual understanding. They needed a spiritual rebirth, but Nicodemus failed to perceive Jesus’ point that the Kingdom of God had no borders. All things were physical to their mind’s eye, so how would it be possible for the Lord to reveal the secret things that belong to God (the heavenly things of John 3:12)? The whole inquiry was an immature event comparable to a child asking his parent how he came to be alive, and where he was prior to his birth!
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