People always thought that the Lord’s intention was to teach them or save them in an outward way. They knew the Lord outwardly and knew Him according to His outward doings. According to what the Lord was outwardly, Nicodemus regarded Him as a rabbi who came from God as a teacher to teach us. Many who saw the Lord casting out demons and healing the sick thought that He was the One who came particularly to heal them physically. Many who saw the Lord feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish thought that He came to do miracles to sustain them physically. The disciples who followed the Lord knew Him only outwardly as the Savior and the Christ; they did not know Him inwardly as God and the Father. They only knew and appreciated the fact that the Lord was with them outwardly. They did not know that the Lord wanted to enter into them and be with them. All their contacts with the Lord in those days were outward. They did not know that the Lord’s intention was to enter into them that they might have a subjective and more intimate contact with the Lord within them. They hoped only that they would have the Lord’s salvation and presence outwardly. They did not know that the Lord wanted to enter into them as the Spirit to be their salvation and to be with them. They knew Him only as a Savior outside of man; they did not know that He wanted to enter into man to be a Savior within man.
People always knew the Lord outwardly, thinking that the Lord’s intention was merely to teach them, save them, heal them, and be with them outwardly as a Savior outside of them. People had this kind of understanding and consideration because they thought that their problems were merely outward. Nicodemus thought that his problem was that he lacked better teachings for his outward conduct, his outward behavior. Those who came to the Lord for healing thought that their problem was only their physical sickness. Those who came to the Lord to be fed with bread thought that their problem was their physical livelihood. The disciples who followed the Lord thought that their problem was that the Lord was going to leave them outwardly and that they were about to lose His outward presence, the presence of a visible Lord outwardly.
In the early days, all those who contacted the Lord and followed Him thought that man’s problems are all outside of man. They thought that man needs to be taught, saved, healed, and cared for outwardly. They did not know that the problems of man are within him. Man needs to be saved and healed within. Nicodemus saw that his outward manner of life and his behavior were not good, but he did not realize that the life and the spirit within him were not good. Those who came to ask the Lord for healing saw that their outward body was sick, but they did not see that the spirit within them was deadened. Those who came to be fed with bread saw the need of their body outwardly, but they did not see the need of their spirit within. In those days the disciples saw the need for Christ outwardly; they did not see that they needed a Savior within them.
Therefore, the Lord spent a considerable amount of effort to lead those who contacted Him and followed Him in those days to realize the problem and the need within them. The Lord showed Nicodemus that what he needed was not to be taught or corrected regarding his outward conduct or behavior, but to be born again in his spirit. No matter how much he was taught and corrected in his outward conduct or behavior, he still could not be saved inwardly. Only by being regenerated in his spirit could the spirit within him be made alive. His spirit was deadened, and he was living according to his soul and his flesh; his conduct and his behavior all were of his soul and his flesh. Since this was the case, no matter how he could be taught regarding his outward conduct and how he could be corrected in his outward behavior, his conduct and behavior would still be of the soul and the flesh. No matter how he could be taught and corrected, his spirit within him could not be enlivened within him, nor could his conduct or behavior be turned into a conduct or a behavior that is of the spirit. Therefore, the Lord showed Nicodemus that he needed to be regenerated in his spirit, that he needed to allow the Spirit to enter into his spirit that his spirit might be made alive. Then he could be of the spirit, could understand the spiritual things of God, and could participate in the kingdom of God.
The Lord expressed His distrust and displeasure with the crowds who came to Him for healing. They came to Him outwardly for the healing only of their body. They did not have the intention to receive Him within to be their Savior so that the spirit within them might be healed and saved. The Lord came that man might have the life of God and the Spirit of God so that the spirit of man might be made alive and man might be saved from within. Even when man came to Him outwardly and was healed physically, if he did not receive Him inwardly so that his spirit was made alive, then he still could live only in the flesh and not in the spirit, and he could live only according to the flesh and not according to the spirit, because his spirit was still dead. Therefore, if one only hopes to be healed outwardly and does not want to be saved inwardly, then the Lord cannot entrust Himself to him or be pleased with him.
To those who came to Him to eat of the bread and be filled, the Lord said, “Work not for the food which perishes, but for the food which abides unto eternal life” (John 6:27). He showed them that the food which perishes could sustain only their flesh but could not give life to their deadened spirit and make it alive. Only the words of life which He spoke to them were able to give life to their spirit and make it alive. They paid attention to nourishing and sustaining their outward flesh. However, the Lord told them that “the flesh profits nothing” (v. 63), that only the Spirit can give life to man and make man alive, and that the words of life which He spoke to them are spirit and are life. If they only outwardly received from Him the food for the body and did not inwardly receive His spiritual words of life, then the deadened spirit within them still did not have His life and was not made alive. The real need which they had and which the Lord would supply was not the outward food of the flesh but the inward spiritual life. The real problem which they had and which the Lord would solve for them was not how to sustain their outward flesh but how to enliven their inner spirit.
Furthermore, to the disciples who followed Him, the Lord showed them how He would enter into them as the Spirit that they might live with Him. Previously, while He was with them outwardly, they were able to receive some teachings, help, and consolation from Him outwardly, yet even more they needed to receive life and salvation within them. Therefore, He had to enter into them as the Spirit to be their life and salvation.