Daily Devotionals

I tell you that unless a person is born again from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3).

According to the rabbis, there are different ways of being born again. In various places, the Talmud says that one can be born again when he comes of age, when he is married, when he undergoes semikhah (ordination), and when he becomes the head of a rabbinic academy.

As a ruler in Israel, Nakdimon (Nicodemus) had experienced all these "new births." But this is not the new birth that Yeshua spoke of. The new birth Yeshua spoke of was not the mark of some passage of time or change of life. Rather it was descriptive of an entirely new life.

Eventually, Nakdimon was born again through belief in Yeshua. At first he had been proud and skeptical, but God changed his heart. It was Nakdimon who called on the chief priests to hear Yeshua before they judged him (John 7:51). It was Nakdimon who brought myrrh and aloes to anoint the body of Yeshua for burial (John 19:39). Finally, we learn in the Talmud (Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 43:1) that Nakdimon was openly identified as a follower of Yeshua. As a result, he lost his considerable wealth and standing within the Jewish community. Nakdimon may have been the first rabbi to be truly born again.

What about you? Have you experienced the new birth that Rabbi Nakdimon experienced? Have you told others of the new birth that Rabbi Yeshua offers those who believe in him?

...stand with Rabbi Nakdimon and other Jews who have received new birth in Yeshua the Messiah. I will look for ways to live my life so that others can experience this new birth as well.

DB