John 3:1 17
Do you ever watch talk shows on TV? There are many of them you know. And they're extremely popular. Oprah Winfrey, Jay Leno, Ellen, Steven Colbert, Jon Stewart... I could go on and on. I'm told the same is true everywhere in the world. It's really pretty amazing that talk shows, phone in programs, and interviews are so popular in our day. We're a generation weaned on high-energy, high tech entertainment. I ask myself why we find mere conversation to be so entertaining.
I think it must have something to do with our desire to get to know famous people. It seems that fame and publicity often conceal a person's true identity even in the process of making them "well known." What do we really know about well known people? You develop impressions of them or their media image or what they've tweeted or intentionally placed on Facebook. But the people themselves are often quite different.
But a few moments of personal conversation often reveal aspects of humanity that we wouldn't have imagined by merely watching them at work. Conversation has the power to expose to us a person's heart and thoughts in a way speeches and deeds never can. That is not only true of the 21st Century celebrities, but also of great men of the past a man like Jesus for instance.
That brings me to a series of messages we will be hearing this fall do from John's Gospel. John told us at the very beginning of his Gospel that no one has ever seen God. How then can we ever know God? John says, "The one and only Son has made Him known." But how can we in the 21st Century know Jesus, whom we haven't seen? Well, we have a number of His speeches and miracles recorded in the Bible. However, if we're really going to know Jesus, we need to see more than His signs and speeches. We need to hear Him in His private conversations. Jesus would always remain a distant, more remote person to us unless somehow we could listen in to His discussions.
And that is one of the great pluses of John's Gospel. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us mainly of Jesus' actions and miracles in public places. But John is different. John wants us to meet Jesus in an intimate way. And that means conversation. John recorded a number of them. I find that they open up to us the heart of Jesus. And what is remarkable is that when we see Jesus "up close and personal," we find that He is both more fully human and more fully divine than we otherwise might have grasped." Today, you may find his talk with a religious leader to be very different than most people, even church people, might expect.
The First Conversation: With one who looks very much like your pastor (3:1-2)
I don't think it's just coincidental that the first conversation John records is of a man who looks very much like a pastor would look to many people today. Vv. 1 2. This man named Nicodemus had witnessed Jesus' public life, had seen the works, and had been impressed. In fact, it seems that many of the religious leaders were impressed with what Jesus had done. So, if Nicodemus were alive today, how would he have looked to us?
*A respected man – well educated, experienced, older, successful in some people's eyes. He was one who taught others how to live. Most in his society looked at him as one who had "arrived". Nicodemus would have been a man of very high moral standards. He kept the Sabbath. He would have been generous to help the poor in his legalistic sort of way. He would have been modest in his dress. Especially, in his approach to the Bible, he would have been a conservative. Pharisees reverenced the Scriptures not just every word, but every letter. And, he was a member of the ruling council!
In our world, Nicodemus looked like what most people think a born again Christian looks like... but he wasn't. Interestingly, different from most other leaders, Nicodemus was fairy positive about Jesus. In fact, it seems that Nicodemus wanted to offer Jesus the wonderful honor of becoming a part of the inner circle of Israel's teachers.
The Unexpected Response: One that seems to be unusually confrontational (3:3-14)
There is an abrupt change from v. 2 to v. 3. We might expect Jesus to pat Nicodemus on the back and congratulate him for his theological conservatism, his moral zeal. But the shock is that Jesus doesn't deal with Nicodemus that way. Unmistakably, Jesus draws a clear line of separation between them. Jesus blatantly and forcefully challenges this man – in a way very much different from the gentle way Jesus dealt with tax collectors and outcast people. Some think Jesus changes the subject in v. 3 in his first words to Nicodemus. But, that's not the case at all. Essentially, Jesus says, "If you think I'm only a teacher, you will never see God." Nicodemus says, "You've come from God to be a teacher..." Jesus breaks in and says, "You think I've come from God! Well, you're right. V. 11 – I used to live in heaven."
And then, Jesus goes on to the heart of the matter. It's an "in-your-face" encounter. What did Jesus see when he saw Nicodemus?
1. He was dead to God (v. 3) – People like Nicodemus might think they can teach about God but he cannot even see God's rule. Basically, Jesus lets him know he's not alive to the eternal god.
2. He was filled with a poison (v. 14) – Jesus took a story that this man would have known well from Numbers 21 when God's people had sinned and God' sent snakes to call people back to him. The people were dying and filled with venom but God had a bronze snake erected. He said to go and look at it. You must trust me enough to obey me and when you do, I will heal you. Jesus is saying, "Nicodemus, you're filled with the poison of your sin in spite of the way you are perceived by those around you. You must look to me in order to be healed."
3. He needed to be rescued as much as anyone else in the world (3:16-17) – Jesus says he has come to rescue perishing people – like Nicodemus must acknowledge he is. But, on his own, Nicodemus is in trouble. His eternal soul is in peril.
4. He was nonetheless a man with hope – hope only because of Jesus.
You see it, don't you? Jesus is not coming to a person who is incredibly good to say, "You've done well with all your good works and great learning. You've come a long, long way on your own. Now, I'll take you the rest of the way, Nicodemus." No, Jesus says, "You haven't even started with God. Not a thing you've done up to now will get you to God. You want me to join the teachers? You don't need a teacher, Nicodemus. You need a rescuer. You must be born again. YOU must!"
What Jesus is saying is that kids in gangs, people on the streets addicted to drugs, Fuller and APU professors, and LAC pastors start in the very same place spiritually. We're dead and need to be born. We cannot give birth to ourselves. And it's harder for a person like Nicodemus to accept that for a person like the one we meet next week – the woman at the well. She will know she needs to start again. She will be overjoyed that she has the chance to start again. But, Nicodemus can hardly believe what Jesus is saying. This is why Jesus would tell religious leaders, "Prostitutes and sinners will see the kingdom of God before you." It's not that they are better than those who look successful and upright but they are more willing to honestly acknowledge their need of being rescued. Jesus came for the sick and lost. And that's all of us. But, if we won't see it and acknowledge it, we will never look to him in faith.
Make note of this: Jesus loved Nicodemus enough to speak truth directly and forcefully to him. He knew how hard it would be for people like him – and for most of us – to say, "I have no hope apart from the grace of God."
The Offer: To become one of the "born agains" (3:3, 15)
Notice that John is careful to record that the came "at night." Some say that this is a mere historical reminiscence written to set the stage that is has no other significance. Some suggest that because he was a well known Jewish clergyman, Nicodemus didn't want anyone to know he was interested in Jesus. So he came when no one would see him.
But I'm quite sure that the reason John recorded the lateness of the hour is because he saw symbolic significance in it. At the end of this conversation, in 3:18 21, Jesus says that many do not come to the light because they love darkness. And here in vv. 1 2, when Nicodemus meets Jesus, he not only came at night, he was also, in a real sense, a man living in the darkness. And the question this conversation ultimately poses is this: Does he love that darkness or is he willing to come to the light?
I've often wondered whether Nicodemus came to Jesus not just to make him a part of his circle of teachers – but also because he knew deep down that something was missing in his life. I've rarely seen positive change happen in a person's life until they are will to start that sort of search. We have to be willing to say, "There's something missing. What must I do to really live?" Nicodemus was in darkness and, I'm guessing, he knew it – deep down, he knew it.
Here I want to highlight that Nicodemus came to the right place. He might have gone to a bar to drink it away though it's hard to imagine a Pharisee doing that. He may have continued trying to find meaning through being religious and faking that he was alive to God. He might have even tried some major change in his life a new hobby, a new occupation, a new possession. But he comes instead to Jesus.
And, Jesus tells him, "Nicodemus, I can help you but it will involve change. You must be born again. Yes, you and your religious friends; in fact, everybody! You must be born again."
And with that phrase, Jesus sets Himself apart from the Pharisees and from every philosophy and religion in the world. The answer to our deepest human quest cannot be found through human effort. Embrace a new philosophy, buy a new home, find a new girlfriend, and you'll still be empty.
In Jesus' offer to Nicodemus, what we have is what we would have called in the 80s a "paradigm shift." Nicodemus is going to have to learn to think in a whole new way about religion. He had always thought about it in terms of what he had to do and he had done a lot of good things. But you see, we are separated from God and His Kingdom by more than a lack of effort. We are separated from God by what we are. We are sinners. We all have an undeniable tendency within us to pride, to evil -- and that tendency frustrates us when we try to make ourselves and our world a better place. No amount of good deeds, education, or personal dedication can ever eliminate that basic element of evil in the human heart. So Jesus says this to Nicodemus. "Here is my offer to you":
1. You can be made alive to God (3:3, 15-16)).
2. You can have an antidote for the poison of your sin (3:14-15).
3. You can come out of this darkness and into the light (19-21).
"But, for any of that to happen, you must be born again."
For a highly respected teacher of religion, this is a hard pill to swallow. No wonder Nicodemus is flabbergasted! "Born again, born again! Me? How can a man be born when he's old? Surely he can't enter his mother's womb a second time!"
Now Nicodemus was no dummy. I don't think he's seriously suggesting that Jesus is asking for a physical rebirth, for some sort of gynecological miracle. Nicodemus is saying, "Me a baby. I'm a teacher, a spiritual leader, not a new convert! Jesus I've lashed out against worldliness. I've lived a separated life. I've preached to pagans. You mean, I'm the one who has to be reborn? How can I start over again?"
So what do you do when you show up at church not as a child but as an adult – and as one who has tried to live a good life for a long time but you know something is missing? Hopefully, I can make the same offer to you that Jesus made to Nicodemus. You know that you don't know God but you also don't want to feel like an infant again. People look up to you. People have a certain impression of you and now this beautiful offer comes but you are told you have to be born again.
That's how Nicodemus felt. So he said, "It's impossible! I can't be reborn."
The Way to Eternal Life: The Solution (3:5 8, 15-16)
"Not so," replies Jesus. "It can happen. It may lie outside the range of human possibility. But it's not outside the range of God's. I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. The issue is not 'Can it happen?' The issue is, 'Will you trust me?'" V. 5 7.
I know there is a lot of debate about what Jesus means by saying we must be born by water and the spirit "water and Spirit". But, I think the context makes it clear – he's saying we must be born both physically (water) and spiritually (spirit).
This new birth is God's work. This physical life will not on its own grow into the eternal life God can give and that all people long for. But the Spirit of God has the power to transform us to make us alive Spiritually. So to be born again is possible because of the work of a supernatural God.
But Nicodemus still was confused. So Jesus uses an illustration of wind in v. 8. The point of the verse, which is lost to the English language, is that the word for wind in Hebrew, or Aramaic, or Greek is the same word as for Spirit. Nicodemus complains he can't understand this new birth. Jesus replies, "You understand the wind, don't you?" "Well of course not no one does." "But," Jesus says, "You believe in it anyway." There is something mysterious about this work of God's wind God's Spirit. You can't fully fathom how He operates. You can't see this new life with your physical eyes the way you can see a new baby in its mother's arms but it's real, as real as the wind. What you have to do is look to Jesus and believe.
To Nicodemus, Jesus says, "It's not only an immoral Samaritan like we'll meet in ch. 4 or a blind man thought to have caused his own blindness as in ch. 9 or a tax collector or a beggar but you, Nicodemus. You must fall in faith and rely on the grace of God. You must – or you will never live. And that message has never changed. Jesus is declaring, "What is impossible for people is possible for God." John 3:16-17.
The Lessons: To know Him and make Him known
*To know Him – This conversation with Jesus reinforces something most of us know, i.e., that Jesus' love is for all. But, we see something else that few talk about: The love of Jesus is not always gentle. It cannot be. Jesus loves us enough to confront us when we're thickheaded – as Nicodemus had become. Jesus loved him too much to let him pretend all was fine when Jesus knew Nicodemus' eternal soul was in danger. He said, "You must listen, Nicodemus. Or, you will never live." The Jesus we meet in conversation is one who is committed to making sure the opportunity to come alive to God is made available to all.
We often think the ones in greatest peril in the eyes of God are the well-known sinners. But, according to the Bible, usually, those in greatest peril often look like good people – maybe like churchgoers. But, Jesus loves us too. He came to save us too. Jesus' conversations let us know that this message of hope must often come in different ways to different kinds of people. But what is the same is that all – each one – must be born again. And all – even a Nicodemus – can be born again because that is why Jesus came.
*To make Him known – We carry this good news to those whose lives intersect with ours. For us to carry it well, we must own our own need to be born again. When we grasp this message that Jesus gave to Nicodemus, it will transform our own service, our ways of dealing with people, and ultimately the kind of community our church will become. Can you imagine a church family in which every one of us here is transparent enough to say, "Can you believe God forgave me and made me alive? I was so hardheaded – and self-centered. God brought me in anyway."
And, I believe that we may need the wisdom of Jesus to know who must be gently encouraged and who (like Nicodemus) must have a trumpet blown in the face in order to hear, "Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life."
What Happened to Nicodemus? The rest of the story
We meet Nicodemus two more times in John's Gospel. In 7:51, the religious rulers are wanting to seize Jesus and condemn him. But, this same Nicodemus stands up for him saying: "Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?" And he gets criticized for defending Jesus. At that point, it's clear that, at the least, Nicodemus is still open to faith in Jesus.
But the clincher comes in 19:38-42 when Nicodemus and another older and wealthy man named Joseph are reported to have carried the body of Jesus from the cross and cared for it. This is shocking. Touching dead bodies was considered defilement. It was slaves work – and usually male slaves wouldn't do it. Nicodemus had changed. I'm sure Nicodemus told his testimony countless times in church. "I went to Jesus at night – and came out into the light. I came to Jesus as a dead man – and now I live. I had to be born again. And you... you must be born again."
Greg Waybright • Copyright 2010, Lake Avenue Church