Thoughts on the Gospel of John (28) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?
John 3: 7 - 10.

Thoughts on the Gospel of John (28)
Let us imagine a Pharisee who endeavoured to keep and teach God's commandments. He was waiting for the promised Messiah, who would free the people of Israel from the occupying Roman army and then establish His kingdom, in which the nation would then have a part. This Pharisee, Nicodemus, was then confronted with the need of the new birth. He had to learn that neither good works nor a religious upbringing gave him the right to enter the kingdom of God. Something new must come into being in his soul: a new nature, life from God.

Nicodemus learned that the new birth is completely and exclusively from God: it is a sovereign act of the Holy Spirit, like the wind that does not blow through man's command. We cannot tell where it comes from or which direction it will take, nor can we explain the Holy Spirit's sovereign action in someone's soul. It remains a mystery, but the effect is clearly visible: new life has arisen that originated in God and thinks and feels as God does.

This still puzzled Nicodemus, although he should have known something of this truth. Had not the prophet Ezekiel spoken of "water" and the "spirit"? God wished to cleanse the Israelites of their defilement and .

(to be continued next Sunday)

Today‘s reading: Numbers 18: 1 - 19 · Matthew 12: 1 - 14