John is one of simplest books of the Bible; I understand that the Billy Graham Association encourages new Christians who know little about our faith to read it first. On the other hand, John is one of the deepest books of the Bible and it challenges our best theological minds. For example, today’s lesson tells us about a man who asked Jesus a question one night. This simple fact, however, is also symbolic of the man’s spiritual life—in the darkness of his mind he couldn’t see the truth. What’s more, the night represents the need that of all humanity has for the light that Christ brings. Let the Holy Spirit guide us to hear both the obvious meaning and the deeper symbolic meaning in these verses.
Scripture: John 3:1-21 NKJV
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
This is the Word of God for the people of God.
[Topic: Original Sin; with reference to v. 18 (b) … he who does not believe is condemned already]
In v. 18 we read, “…he who does not believe is condemned already.” One Bible scholar has used a couple of “Charlie Brown” stories to help us understand our sinful nature.
Lucy once said to Charlie Brown, "Discouraged again, eh, Charlie Brown?" "You know what your whole trouble is? The whole trouble with you is that you’re you!"
Charlie asks, "Well, what in the world can I do about that?"
Lucy answers, "I don’t pretend to be able to give advice...I merely point out the trouble!"
Later, Lucy said, "You know what the whole trouble with you is, Charlie Brown?"
Charlie answers, "No, and I don’t want to know! Leave me alone!" He walks away.
Lucy shouts after him, "The whole trouble with you is you won’t listen to what the whole trouble with you is!"
The solution begins with listening. If "we" are the problem, "we" can’t be the solution. The solution has to come from outside us.
Often, rather than admitting, "I am the problem," we are more likely to confess that a few bad deeds are the problem: "I’ve lied, so I’d better stop lying." "I stole a comic book and I’d better stop doing that." "I was driving to fast and I’ll try to keep my speed down." Whenever the problem is defined as doing something bad, the solution is simply to stop doing that bad deed -- or start doing good deeds. Salvation becomes nothing more than doing good things and avoiding the bad. Such a solution doesn’t need Jesus -- or Jesus simply becomes a model of doing the right things. This watered-down, cheap salvation comes about when we don’t see that we are the problem. The problem is not the things we do; but that we are us -- sinful human beings. (i)
The snake told Eve, it’s OK to eat the fruit, that it doesn’t matter what God said. Satan deceived all of humanity in the Garden of Eden. This is called “original sin” and it means that sin is part of the “spiritual DNA” that all humans share.
O, Christian friends, we are born with a sinful nature and the only way we can be different is to be born again a different way. We can try to live right and follow the rules, but when we have tried our hardest, we will realize that the “god” we are following is the “god” of our own effort. If we are to be different from the way we are born here below on earth, we must have a spiritual birth from above so that we are children of God.
[Topic: Justification by faith; with reference to v. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.]
How does this work? How can we have a spiritual birth and become children of God? First, the guilt we are born with must be cleansed. Jesus gives us assurance that he has already taken our guilt away. It is because to the death of Jesus on the cross that we have been declared “not guilty” before God. This is the great doctrine of Justification by Faith that is so central to all Protestant churches. In the United Methodist Church we say that that, “in justification we are, through faith, forgiven of our sins and restored to God’s favor.”(ii)
In the Old Testament there was a time when snakes were biting and killing the Children of Israel in the wilderness. God told Moses to put a bronze snake on a pole and set is up so that the people could see it. When anyone was bitten all they had to do was look at the bronze snake and they would be healed. In vs. 14-15 Jesus refers to this when said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Many Christians know John 3:16 by heart. Today I would like for us to say it together in a slightly different way. In the KJV it is: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Today, let’s say that “since I believe in Him, I will not perish.” Repeat after me: For God so loved “me,” that he gave his only begotten Son, that “since I believe in Him, I will not perish,” but have everlasting life.
Christian friends, let us all keep this deep in hearts—God loves each of us. The God who made the sun come up, the God who created the daffodils knows you and loves you. Jesus loves you so much that he did give his life for you. All we have to do is look to his death on the cross. We don’t have to carry the old burden of sin, our lives can be different when we look up to Jesus who died on the cross for us.
[Topic: New birth; with reference to v.5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.]
Being forgiven of our sins is a wonderful thing, but it is just the beginning. When we experience the New Birth a wonderful life begins for us that is different from our old life. At the time John wrote this, society was organized so that a person’s birth position controlled almost everything about their life. If they were born to a family that baked bread, they would become bakers and they could only marry people from families of bakers or similar professions. The amount of education they could receive, the people they could talk with, the places they could travel to, were all determined by their birth position.
In one commentary about this part of the book of John we read, “It is critical to recognize that the topic here is birth. Birth status was the single, all-important factor in determining a person’s honor rating. Ascribed honor, the honor derived from one’s status at birth, was simply a given. It usually stayed with a person for life. ... To be born over again, born for a second time … however unthinkable that event might be, would alter one’s ascribed honor status in a very fundamental way. A new ascribed honor status would derive from a new birth. Thus, a second birth, especially if it differed substantially in honor level from the first birth, would be a life-changing event of staggering proportions…To be born "from above" -- that is, to be born of the sky, of the realm of God -- is to belong to that realm, to become a veritable child of God. This, of course, is to acquire an honor status of the very highest sort. ... Thus, whatever honor status a person might have in Israelite society, being born "from above" would re-create that person at a whole new level. In addition, since all children of the same father share that father’s honor status, differences in status among "the children of God" obviously disappear… (iii)
When we are born from above, from God, a new life, in a new world begins. We can start to live a different way, a way that was never possible before.
To bring us up to date, 1) we are born with a sinful nature and life is restricted by who we are. 2) Christ died on the cross to forgive us of our sins, all we have to do is look to him. 3) When we receive the new birth, we are children of God and can begin to live in a new and different way.
Remember, this is just the beginning—too many people stop Christian growth when they are the spiritual equivalent of an infant. Remember, the Bible doesn’t teach us to make converts—the Bible teaches us to make disciples. If an infant is not fed, it won’t survive, but an infant who lives grows to be different in the same way that an adult is stronger and more capable than an infant. John Wesley observed that for Christians this growth can be seen in both Inward and outward holiness. Inward holiness is the idea of having our hearts right, the idea of reading Scripture, praying, and being in right relation with God. Outward holiness has to do with the more visible part of our faith—treating other people well, sharing with others, living sober and meaning lives. Jesus said in v. 21 of today’s lesson “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
[Topic: Inward and outward holiness; with reference to v.21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”]
Rev. Roger L. Fredrikson , back in the mid-1980’s told a story the result of being truly born again that I think helps understand this. There was a group of people who helped our soldiers during the war in Viet Nam. They lived in the more mountainous regions that bordered Viet Nam and Laos. The North Vietnamese persecuted these people terribly, especially after our soldiers pulled out. Our nation has tried to help these people; I think we should do more for them because they saved so many of our soldiers. These people are called the Hmong, and many of them now live in Burke and Catawba counties.
Rev. Fredrikson’s church worked with many of these Hmong people soon after they came to the US from the refugee camps where they went to escape persecution from the communist government. He said that at one time well over one hundred came “to be a part of our church family, and what a joy they have brought into our congregational life. One in particular is Mr. Nou, a gifted many with many leadership qualities. [He shared a story about] his ‘old life.’ He had frequently beaten his wife and children, often neglected them while he was ‘partying with other women’ as he put it. His weekends were often drunken orgies. Coming to the Unites States as a refugee from Laos did not change his situation. In fact, it worsened it! He finally gave in to one of his persistent friends who almost angered him by constantly urging him to come with him to church. At first, it was all a joke tor Mr. Nou. But then, in God’s mysterious way, he met the One to whom Nicodemus came at night. It was a radical, life-changing encounter, and Mr. Nou was ‘born again.’ He emptied the whiskey bottles in his home and began to treat his wife and children with new love and respect. Then he discovered ne friends among the believers and began to eagerly study the Scriptures at 5:00 each morning…. His wife said, ‘I don’t have a different husband. I have a new one.”(iv)
Our Christian faith does matter! Inward and outward holiness means that we are born to be different from the world. When we are re-born from above, we live a different way. We are born to be sober. We are born to treat our family better. We are born to be free of guilt. We are born to celebrate the joy of daily Christian life. We are born to leave the darkness of this world and to live in the light of Christ.
Amen
(i) Brian P. Stoffregen Exegetical Notes on John 3.14-21 for 4th Sunday in Lent - Year B; accessed at http://www.crossmarks.com/
(ii) UMC, Book of Discipline.
(iii) Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh, in Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John, as reported by Brian P. Stoffregen Exegetical Notes on John 3.1-17for Holy Trinity - Year B 1st Sunday after Pentecost; accessed at http://www.crossmarks.com/
(iv) Roger L. Fredrikson, in The Communicator’s Commentary; Word Books. Waco. 1985. P. 82.
