One night, a leader of the Pharisees named Nicodemus visited Jesus. Nicodemus knew of the miracles that Jesus had performed and had heard of the wonderful things Jesus taught, and he wanted to learn more.

Jesus explained to Nicodemus that if someone wants to see the kingdom of God, he must be born again (John 3:3). Being a full-grown mature man, Nicodemus wondered how he could be born a second time, and he asked Jesus to explain. Jesus told Nicodemus that He was speaking about the importance of a person having a spiritual birth—when a person comes to know Jesus and begins to follow His teachings—in addition to the physical birth.

Jesus also explained to Nicodemus why God had sent Him to live on earth. He told him: "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NLT). This helped Nicodemus understand that believing and accepting Jesus as the Savior was the way we receive God’s gift of salvation and begin our spiritual walk with Jesus.

You can read the full story in John 3:3–21. And in John 19:39, you can read about how after Jesus was crucified, Nicodemus brought spices for Jesus’ burial.