Introduction: Most of us…especially us men…don’t like to admit it when we can’t accomplish something. This doesn’t apply to everything, but it certainly does apply to some things…especially those things that we believe we can do. Perhaps we have trained our whole lives to do something. Run a marathon, play the guitar, write a book, etc. Maybe it’s something we have made our life’s work and we have devoted ourselves to it; in my case preparing and presenting a sermon. And when we have given so much of ourselves to a task at hand and when we have dedicated ourselves to it and we have worked at it and we have sacrificed and struggled and poured ourselves into it…only to discover that we really can’t do it very well…we have a hard time admitting that.
We have a hard time humbling ourselves and recognizing that we can’t do it on our own and that we need to have someone else come along side us and help us. This is especially true when the person who comes along side us and “does it better” is untrained.
It’s a difficult thing to acknowledge that we’re unable to do what we’ve poured ourselves into without the help of another. That’s the very situation Nicodemus finds himself in as he talks to Jesus late one night.
We’re continuing our compelling portrait series today and we’re going to be in the book of John once again. Open your Bibles to John chapter 3. We’re looking at this compelling portrait of Jesus…this picture of what He was really like and we’re holding that picture up and then we’re looking in the mirror at ourselves and we’re seeing where we need to be remade so that we match the image of Christ in how we live our lives.
Today we’re going focus less on what Jesus did, although that too is important, and more on what he taught. There is a lot to unpack today so lets jump in and get started right away. Let me read our passage, John 3:1-15 and then we’ll begin pealing back the layers and exploring just exactly what it is that John is revealing to us about Christ in this passage.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!"
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ’You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
"You are Israel’s teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
I cannot fully express just how much this passage is packed with truth that can and will transform our lives. But to begin to understand that truth, we have to have a good understanding of some key concepts that are present in this story.
Key Concepts:
NICODEMUS – A PHARISEE: The first thing we need to take a look at is who and what Nicodemus was. John tells us that, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.
Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews. He was a man of influence and authority. And, we are told, he was a Pharisee. Who were the Pharisees?
The Pharisees were kind of a hybrid between religious leaders and a political party. They came into existence in response to external attacks on the Jewish faith from the Greeks and the Romans.
The existed to uphold the Written and Oral Torah. They believed in the law of Moses…the Torah…and they believed in the “fence laws” that had been made a part of Jewish culture as a means of making certain that people stayed within the bounds of the Torah.
They were righteous, religious, GOOD PEOPLE…for the most part. They existed to protect the Jewish faith from false teaching and immoral, liberal influences of the Greeks and Romans.
The Pharisee’s lived to bring about the Kingdom of God. They’re goal was to make it a reality.
But there was a problem, they (the Pharisees) tended to focus on how their religion LOOKED rather than on how much of an impact it had on their culture and community. They loved to focus on the laws and on making people obey the religious laws but they didn’t always follow them themselves…
(Much like the leadership of the religious right…Ted Haggard, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, etc.)
They were concerned with the image of religion…it was important that they look good. This may have a lot to do with why Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. It wouldn’t look good for a Pharisee…an educated leader of the people of Israel…to come and learn from this uneducated rabbi.
RABBI: Nicodemus approaches Jesus and calls him “rabbi.” This would have been an honoring title. He then backs up the honor he has just bestowed upon Jesus by acknowledging that He (Jesus) must have come from God, otherwise he couldn’t perform the miracles that He was performing. A rabbi was a teacher of Jewish law and custom.
KINGDOM OF GOD: The Kingdom of God is a huge concept and we could spend several weeks on this one concept alone…so for the sake of time I’m going to give you a VERY abbreviated explanation of this concept, knowing that I won’t truly do it justice in the time we have.
First of all we need to know that Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven (often used interchangeably) was the central theme of Jesus’ teachings and ministry. He was all about making the Kingdom of God a present reality in the world in which he lived and ministered. In this he and the Pharisees were on the same page.
But we tend to be very narrow in our understanding of the Kingdom of God…not unlike many of the Jews in Jesus’ day. We have a tendency to think of the Kingdom of God as a reign of God here on earth where Jesus will sit on a throne and for 1,000 years there will be peace as Christ and his church rule the world. This is based on a misinterpretation of much of what is read in Daniel and Revelation.
Others have a tendency to view the Kingdom of God as an eternal reality only. When we die and enter God’s presence we’ll be a part of the Kingdom of God.
Still others view it as simply God’s rule within the individual heart of the believer.
All of these are partially right, but taken individually they’re all wrong.
The Kingdom of God was a concept that would have been very familiar to Nicodemus. For the Pharisee and the Jewish teachers of his day, the Kingdom of God was dynamic in nature. It wasn’t so much geographical or point in time (although it did have components of both) but it was more a matter of Where God has his rule right here, right now…where the Torah was observed fully as God intended it to be wherever right here and right now were.
You see, the Jews had centered their worship of God in the temple and it was closely tied to the Davidic dynasty…the rule of the Kingdom of God was associated with the rule of King David. But once the Jewish people were taken into exile..slavery…and their kingdom dismantled and the temple destroyed the idea of God’s Kingdom began to be redefined in terms of the spiritual life of those who chose to believe in God and follow his law.
So for the Pharisee, the ability to live out the Torah and to bring peace, and comfort and healing to the poor and oppresses was what the Kingdom of God was all about. Jesus understood this concept and honestly, his teaching was very much in line with what the Pharisee’s taught.
But there was a key difference. The Pharisees believed that by being dedicated enough and by following enough of the customs, regulations and rituals found in the Torah and the surrounding commentary and law that they could make the Kingdom of God a present reality. They believed that if they could be good enough and if they could make enough other people be good enough then the kingdom of God would become reality on earth. The problem was that no matter how hard they tried to be good they couldn’t be good enough and not matter how much they attempted to force other people to be good they couldn’t make other people be good enough. They could change most of the actions but not all of them and that’s because not matter how much they worked at it, they couldn’t change the hearts of men.
BORN AGAIN:
After Nicodemus approaches Jesus and honors him with the title Rabbi, Jesus doesn’t mess around with the pleasantries but jumps right in to the heart of the matter. Nicodemus never actually asks his question, but Jesus new what he wanted. Nicodemus wants to know what it takes to enter…or bring about… the Kingdom of God.
What Jesus has to say to him is both a powerful and a painful truth. Jesus tells Nicodemus…"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
Born again. What does that even mean? We use that term a lot in Christian circles. We talk about being “born again.” We say things like, “I’m a born again” believer. But I don’t think we fully grasp all that being born again entails.
The actual Greek word that we translate “again” is the word anothen {an’-o-then} and it is literally translated, “from above” or “from God.” However, it also carried the meaning “again” so the translation, “born again” isn’t off the mark it just doesn’t give the fullness of what Jesus is saying. Perhaps the better way to translate Jesus’ words would be to say, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again…from above.”
What Jesus is saying is that in order for anyone to see the kingdom of God…to actually live out the law and will of God in a way that honors God and blesses those around you, you will have to experience a recreation of who you are. You can’t make it on your own! You must experience a complete transformation, being born from God. Because who and what you are now is so far from what God designed, because what God intended for you to be has been so eroded by sin that only God remaking us into his image will allow us to enter the Kingdom of God…making it a reality in our lives and brining its benefits to the lives of those we encounter.
This is what must have really hit Nicodemus in the gut. He has spent his whole life working to be “good enough” and trying to make others be “good enough” to bring about the Kingdom of God and now this young teacher from Galilee, this uneducated carpenter who clearly has God’s blessing upon his ministry…he heals the sick and casts out demons and even has the courage to purge the temple…this young teacher tells him that all of his striving, all of his doing is not enough for him to even see the Kingdom of God, much less make it a reality here and now. It will take something more…it will take a new birth, being made all over again by God…being born again, being born from above.
And Nicodemus responds with a question that seems so obviously ridiculous that we wonder how such an educated man and leader of the Jews could misunderstand Jesus so strongly.
Nicodemus asks, "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!"
How could this teacher of the law have taken Jesus so literally as to think that he was calling for him to become an infant again and reenter his mother’s womb so that he may again experience birth? I don’t think he misunderstood Jesus at all. Jesus doesn’t correct his thinking when he responds, but he rather emphasizes his point further. So what was going on with Nicodemus here?
I think he got quiet, maybe somewhat thoughtful and contemplative. And I think that his question was more hypothetical. I think he was asking the hard, hard question of HOW, HOW CAN A MAN START OVER?
IF ONLY I COULD GO BACK AND BEGIN AGAIN AS A CHILD. IF ONLY I COULD GO BACK AND START WITH A CLEAN SLATE, A FRESH LIFE. IF I COULD BE BORN AGAIN…AS A CHILD FROM MY MOTHER…AND DO LIFE DIFFERENTLY, MAYBE THEN I COULD BRING THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO FRUITION.
As Nicodemus thinks about the possibility…or rather the impossibility of a fresh start of being born again…born from above Jesus presses him further
Jesus tells Nicodemus "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”
This little passage has also caused a lot of debate among religious scholars. Did Jesus mean baptism? Was he talking about natural, physical birth? Or what? What we have to remember here is that John writes in layers…remember the story behind the story? John has layer after layer of meaning in the words he chooses.
It is unlikely that he mean Christian baptism because this wasn’t a practice that would be a part of the faith for several more years.
It’s very likely that John intended us to understand two key ideas here.
Idea 1: Natural birth. It’s foreign to us, but to the Jewish and Greek readers that John was addressing in the first century the idea of being born of water as an allusion to natural birth was not uncommon.
Idea 2: The idea of purity. Water was associated with cleansing from sin. This would have had a special significance for a Pharisee who prided himself on following the ceremonial laws of the Jews…many of which involved cleansing rituals involving water. A man committed to the pursuit of the Torah, a man committed to living such a righteous life that he might help bring about the kingdom of God would be well acquainted with the concept of water representing purity.
Jesus is telling Nicodemus that a man has to be a man of the Book…the Torah…a man who is willing to commit himself to the law of God…but that’s not enough…for that to happen a man must experience a remaking…a rebirth from above.
He finishes his point by emphasizing that flesh only gives birth to flesh. A man is only the result of his parents DNA until he is reborn from above by a work of the Spirit in his life.
In essence, Jesus is saying “Nicodemus, you’re a righteous man but that isn’t enough. If you want to live the Kingdom of God, if you want the Kingdom to be a reality in the here and now, if you want to enter that kingdom, then you must be reborn…made new…from above. You can’t live the law…the Torah…the commands of God on your own…You can’t make it on your own…you need more. You need the Father.”
SO HOW DOES IT ALL WORK?:
How does this new birth happen? How does a man, born of water, become a man born of the Spirit? Jesus, alludes to a story that Nicodemus would be well acquainted with to bring this point home.
In the Old Testament book of Numbers there is an interesting story…
[Retell story of Israelites complaining against Moses, Aaron and God…and the bronze snake on the pole] NUMBERS 21:4-9
When the people were bitten by the snakes…they didn’t have to die. If they had the faith to look upon the bronze snake lifted up on a pole they would be healed…clearly an event used by God to point to the crucifixion of Christ.
Jesus reminds Nicodemus of this story and then adds….? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
The Israelites couldn’t save themselves from the deadly poison…only by having faith to look towards God’s provision could they live. So Nicodemus…the only way to have this new birth…this birth from above and to experience the Kingdom of God is to have faith in God’s provision…the Son of Man (A term Jesus used to describe himself) lifted up in crucifixion.
It only works…we only get to experience this new birth, this birth from above, when we have faith enough to look upon Jesus and let him make us new through his spirit.
So What?
I realize that I’ve really thrown a lot at you today. I realize that there has been a lot to get your head around and a lot to chew on so let me break this down into two small parts that I want us all to walk out of here with.
1. Jesus’ Patience Towards Nicodemus Jesus was willing to take the time and patiently teach a man who was seeking. Nicodemus was a part of the group that opposed Jesus. He was a member of the group that eventually pushed for his execution. Nicodemus was a member of the group that was, in many ways, the antithesis of all that Jesus taught…and yet he took the time to teach this man with love and patience.
We need to have that attitude of Christ. No one is beyond his reach. No one is outside the realm of grace and we need to be willing to reach out to them and love them and teach them patiently. In the case of Nicodemus it had tremendous results. At Christ’s death his disciples ran and hid but a man named Nicodemus was there to claim the body and help burry him.
2. You Can’t Make It On Your Own. This is the key point. This is what I really want you to walk out of here with today.
I don’t know about you, but I want to see the Kingdom of God become a reality. I want to see lives changed. I want to see the poor cared for, the hungry fed. I want to see righteousness in my life. I want to do right AND think right. I want to be a man who lives the law of God…the law of LOVE in my life. But I can’t do it on my own.
Maybe you’ve spent your life trying to DO the right things. Maybe you’ve tried to be good enough and you’ve even…in your own way…tried to make others be good enough. But you make it on your own.
If you want to live the life God has for you. If you want to see and enter the kingdom of God then you need to know that you can’t be good enough. You can’t do enough good things. You can make enough other people do enough good things. YOU CAN’T MAKE IT ON YOUR OWN.
You need to be reborn…from above. You need to be remade by the Spirit. And you can’t do enough good things to make that happen. YOU CAN ONLY PLACE YOUR FAITH IN THE SON OF MAN – JESUS.
