Nick And Sam Meet Jesus
John 3:1-4:26
By Pastor Ralph Juthman
INTRODUCTION:
Who doesn’t love a story? The impact of the story is made more real when it is a true one. It is even more relevant when the story involves people like you and me.
This morning I want to tell you about two people who each have an incredible story to tell.
Nick was born into a family of honor and privilege. It was a god honoring home that was respected, by all who lived in the city. From an early age, Nick’s parents knew he was special. He excelled at everything he set his hands to. But Nicks passion was knowledge. HE graduated with highest honors from High school, and was the youngest to graduate from university on the Deans list.
Following graduation, Nick went on to graduate studies in order to pursue his passion for knowledge, philosophy and religion. During this time Nick married his high school sweetheart and proceeded to settle down. The Leaders of the local town council took notice of Nick, and invited him to join their group. They were the religious and educational fathers of the nation. Nick in turn became the youngest member of this elite group of scholars, educators and teachers. His life was now set for success.
Nick, as a well educated, popular man who was seeking for truth and meaning in life. He was a god fearing man who endeavored to live his life the way he believed God wanted him to live. Nick was kind, considerate of others, always told the truth, always looking out for others rather than his own desires.
Nick did all he could to help the poor. If there was a need in the city, Nick would be the first to lend a hand. IN fact he was known to organize food drives to assist the widows and orphans.
Nevertheless, popularity, education, a great career, good living did not fill the empty feeling in Nick’s life. He was looking for more. He was wanting to know love and acceptance by God and everything he tried to do seemed to allude him.
One day, news came to the council that a new teacher had arrived in the city. Rumor had it, that this stranger from Nazereth, was proclaiming a new doctrine. News of unbelievable healings were being circulated. No matter where you went, people were talking about Jesus, the healer from Galilee.
One day, Nick joined his colleagues to investigate this new ‘kid on the block” They had heard that he was teaching at a home in one of the suburbs of the city. When Nick and his friends arrived, they were overwhelmed by the crowd. So many people had come there was no more room in the house.
When people recognized Nick and his friends as two respected religious leaders, they made room for them to get close to Jesus.
To their utter shock, while Jesus was teaching, some mud fell onto Jesus head and the floor. Four men had climbed to the roof of the house, pulled back the grass and mud thatched tiles, and proceeded to lower their paralyzed friend down and landed him right in front of Jesus.
The crowd became silent, wondering what would Jesus do? Surely he would heal the man. However, what Jesus did first sent shockwaves through the crowd and incensed Nicks friends.
Jesus looked at the man, recognized his faith, and said, “Your sins are forgiven”
Wait, who but God could forgive sins. The other teachers left furious, but Nick remained, captivated. Who is this Jesus?!
The news continued of Jesus work and ministry. The lame were walking, the blind were seeing, the demon possessed were being set free. At one point Jesus fed over 15000 people with a single basket of fish and bread.
Nick’s curiosity got the better of him. HE had to know more. So one night, he secretly made his way to the place where Jesus and his disciples were camped out.
Secretly and quietly, Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, we know you are a teacher sent from God, because no one can do the miracles you do unless God is with him."
With a smile that was welcoming and comforting, Jesus answered,
"I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot be in God’s kingdom."
Nick had been taught all he thought was true about God, heaven, and eternal life. Now with one simple statement, his whole world was becoming unglued. Scratching his head, Nick responded,
"But if a person is already old, how can he be born again? He cannot enter his mother’s womb again. So how can a person be born a second time?"
Again Jesus smilled and motioned Nick to follow him along the path. He turned to Nick and answered,
"I tell you the truth, unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God’s kingdom. 6 Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.7 Don’t be surprised when I tell you, ’You must all be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit."
The hunger in his heart was beginning to burst like a volcano. He wanted to know more, he needed to know more
"How can this happen?" Nick asked
With a twinkle in his eye, Jesus knew that he had Nick exactly where Nick needed to be, hungry for more.
10 Jesus said, "You are an important teacher in Israel, and you don’t understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we talk about what we know, and we tell about what we have seen, but you don’t accept what we tell you.12 I have told you about things here on earth, and you do not believe me. So you will not believe me if I tell you about things of heaven. 13 The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man.[a]
14 "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert,[b] the Son of Man must also be lifted up. 15 So that everyone who believes can have eternal life in him.
16 "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him.18 People who believe in God’s Son are not judged guilty.
All of a sudden, a light went off in his spirit. Nick was overwhelmed by the silence and power of these simple words. Scholars, teachers, philosophers and generals had studied long, wrote books, lived and fought wars for find what had just ben revealed to Nick.
All of a sudden, Nick realized, it’s not about my studies, work or good life. In fact It’s NOT ABOUT ME at all!
Nick left Jesus with more questions than answers. Yet the number one question was answered, love, life and meaning is found not in rules, books, or religion. It’s found in relationship. It is in knowing Jesus!
The second person is a young woman whose lifestyle was the exact opposite of the first person. Samantha, or ‘Sam’ as she was known by her friends, lived in a northern, backwoods village. It was a place that few from the south would ever venture to let alone even mention it by name. Sam’s community was despised by many.
“Sam” did not have all the advantages for education that Nick had been privileged to. She grew up in a home that was poor but godly. Her parents had sent her to Sunday school as a child. However, as she grew older, the things of God became less and less important to her. O, she believed in God. She knew that He existed and that He would even judge ‘sinners’ one day. “Sinners’ like her.
The one thing she was longing for was to know love and to be loved. As a young woman she thought she had found love when she married a local boy from the village. Her happiness was sadly robbed when Sam’s newlywed husband caught a fever and died.
As the law would have it, “Sam” married her husbands brother, hoping that she would receive some form of affection, yet tragically he also fell ill and died.
Samantha sought earnestly for someone, anyone who would take her, and finally after a time an elder from the town took pity on her and married her. However that relationship was short lived as this one died as well.
Feeling overwhelming guilt, grief and loss Samantha fell into the arms of the first person to show her any kind of affection to her. Instead of compassion and love, Samantha received pain and abuse rather than the love she craved. A younger man from the community took interest in her, and Sam, not feeling the love from her husband left him to live with this other person. Her husband consequently divorced her and she was forever left with the branding of “Harlot, marriage wrecker, Adulterous, and other unkind words.
The whole village, including her own family turned their backs on Sam. Her family even wrote her obituary in the local paper.
She was left broken, alone, and searching for someone to love and accept her, but feeling more and more unloved.
Every morning the ladies of the village would gather at the town well. There they would catch up on the latest news and gossip. All the ladies would gather but Samantha. She would wait until all the ladies were gone, so that she would not have to listen to the whispers being spoken about her behind her back.
One day Samantha came to the well around noon time. The other village women had returned to their homes to be with their husbands. As she was approaching the well, she saw a stranger. From his clothes, she recoinzed right away that he was from the city in the south. “What is he doing here” she wondered.
With her back to the stranger, Samantha proceeded to tie a rope around her bucket, and lower it into the well below. She had done tis countless times. But when, she wondered, would the thirst in her soul ever be satisfied. She had all the water she cold drink at her finger tips, yet her soul was as parched as a desert.
Sam’s thoughts were broken by a voice, asking her,
"Please give me a drink
Unsure if she heard correctly, Sam, ignored the stranger, but he asked again, “Please would you get me a drink?”
At first Samantha was shocked that this traveler from Jerusalem would dare speak to her? What could he possibly want with her? Yet, the more she though, the more curious she was becoming. Samantha said to him,
"I am surprised that you ask me for a drink, since you are a religious man and a teacher and look at me. I’m a Samaritan. She was thinking of another word to say about herself. She heard the words daily. Adultrous. Cheap. Home wrecker
Jesus was unfazed by her response. Jesus said, "If you only knew the free gift of God and who it is that is asking you for water, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."
Now Samantha’s curiosity was turning from wonder to scorn. Who does this guy think he is, and what is he talking about? Free gift? Living water? Not wanting to appear startled by Jesus querey, Sam responed,
, where will you get this living water? The well is very deep, and you have nothing to get water with.
13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty. The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life."
Now Sam thought, “Great a religious nut. OK I can play your game, she thought,
give me this water so I will never be thirsty again and will not have to come back here to get more water."
The comment was meant as a way to get Jesus to go away, but she could not deny the ever growing thirst erupting in her soul. Just when she thought she might have found a compassionate ear,
16 Jesus told her, "Go get your husband and come back here."
Fear, remorse, guilt, anger, and loneliness flooded her mind all at once. “Why would he ask me that? Could Jesus know who she really is? With her head turned as to not show her pained face, Samantha answered coldly,
"I have no husband."
Jesus said to her, "You are right to say you have no husband. 18 Really you have had five husbands, and the man you live with now is not your husband. You told the truth."
OK, Sam thought, you got me. I don’t know who you think you are, but I am not going to allow you to get too close. In order to divert the discussion, Samantha thought she would change the topic to something spiritual.
I can see that you are a prophet.20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that Jerusalem is the place where people must worship."
But Jesus would not be deterred. He knew the hunger in her soul that was tearing her to pieces. Little did Sam know the love that Jesus would give her. A love he would die to give.
21 Jesus said, "Believe me, woman. The time is coming when neither in Jerusalem nor on this mountain will you actually worship the Father. 22 You worship something you don’t understand. … The time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, and that time is here already. You see, the Father too is actively seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
Feeling weak and vulnerable, Samantha was out of excuses. She could not get away from Jesus even if she tried. Then, she remembered something one of her Sunday School teachers taught her many years before. Sam remembered that one day God would send the Messiah to earth to set things right and do away with injustice and we would all live together in harmony and love.
"I know that the Messiah is coming." (Messiah is the One called Christ.) "When the Messiah comes, he will explain everything to us."
26 Then Jesus said, "I am he—I, the one talking to you."
All of a sudden, a light went off in her spirit. Sam was overwhelmed by the silence and power of these simple words. Scholars, teachers, philosophers and generals had studied long, wrote books, lived and fought wars for find what had just been revealed to Sam.
All of a sudden, she realized, it’s not about what people think about me, it’s not about how I live. It’s NOT ABOUT ME!
Samantha left Jesus with more questions than answers. Yet the number one question was answered, love, live and meaning is found not in rules, books, or religion. It’s found in relationship. It is in knowing Jesus!
Two people from different backgrounds, yet looking for the same thing; Love, forgiveness, peace.
Just like Nick and Sam, people are still searching for love, life, forgiveness, and truth. They will go to University, strive to be good, or live the high life. Nothing though can truly meet the need that is buried deep in the soul of every man woman and child.
Billy Graham once said, that there is a God shaped void in the heart of every person, that can only be filled by God Himself.
A lot of people think that by doing good stuff, getting an education, giving away lots of money to the poor will fill that hole.
Others think that in order to find meaning, they get an education, try to find love in someone elses bed, or live the high life. All this to find like King Solomon, it is all vanity and chasing after the wind.
There again are some people who feel that their lives do not warrant God’s love.
However, God’s word is clear,
1. Our Goodness Cannot Win God’s Love:
2. Our badness Cannot Lose God’s Love:
Listen to what God’s word says,
All of us were like sheep that had wandered off. We had each gone our own way, … All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory…. Sin pays off with death. But here is the good news, … God’s gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord!
That’s right it is a gift. Unearned, unmerited. free. But someone had to pay the price of the gift, you say. You are right,
Christ is the sacrifice that takes away our sins and the sins of all the world’s people… 16We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us… God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. 10Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.
So the question then becomes, what will you do with God’s gift? There are only two responses you can have.
You can RESIST God’s Love
You can RECEIVE God’s Love
The Bible says that, … to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
So have you believed? I am not asking do you understand everything about being a Christian. The Bible says that "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.
In Acts 16, Paul says to Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Today, we must believe that Christ’s sacrifice for was enough. His blood paid the price we should have paid. And now, through our belief in Him, we can have the abundant life that Christ wants to give!
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, I invite you to pray this prayer along with me…Understand words never saved anyone…It is by believeing and trusting in Jesus alone that makes you into a loved son and daughter of God.
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.If you have never received God’s gift of Life, you can right now pray and ask Jesus to forgive you and come into your life
This sermon was preached by Rev. Ralph Juthman at Havelock Pentecostal Church. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, New Century Version, Copyright © 1873, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
