-In our culture, saying that someone is acting like a child is not really a compliment
-We are always telling our children to grow up, to act their age
-In the immortal words of that great philosopher, the artist formerly known as Prince, “Act your age not your shoe size.” {PAUSE}
-There’s a new movie out in theaters called “17 Again” starring Matthew Perry of Friends fame
-The premise of the movie is that Mike O’Donnell (played by Perry) was a high school basketball phenom
-College scouts were swarming him but he turned down their offers to marry his expectant high school sweetheart
-However, 20 years later, he gets passed over for a promotion, his marriage is on the rocks and his teenagers hate his guts
-While he is living with a high school friend, he is transported back into his 17 year old body (sounds like fun) and gets a chance to relive his life but with the assistance of his late thirties wisdom {PAUSE}
-Sounds a little like our Gospel lesson for today
-Well at least in a way
-Sounds a little like the question that Nicodemus asks of Jesus
-Our text says, “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!’"
-Those are words that we’ve heard a lot over the years so they are familiar to us
-However, you can imagine the surprise that Nicodemus experienced when he heard those words for the first time
-My goal today is that you might hear those words afresh today and grasp the miracle of Jesus’ words {PAUSE}
-This story has much intrigue
-But we need to back up to get the full scoop
-If you’d like, you can turn back to the preceding chapter and set the stage
-Chapter 2 begins with Jesus going to a wedding with His mother Mary and His disciples
-They run out of wine and Jesus does His first miracle at the prompting of His mother and saves the wedding celebration
-The next story is Jesus going to Jerusalem to get ready for the Passover
-When He enters the temple, He sees people buying and selling animals and exchanging money
-He makes a whip out of some rope and drives everyone out, including the animals
-But that is a problem because the synoptic Gospels, as they are called, (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) tell that Jesus cleanses the temple the week of His passion
-So the question is, did Jesus cleanse the temple twice or does John place this story here not for chronological reasons but for effect
-So with the stage set now
-Imagine the scene if you will
-Here is Jesus, who has just come into Jerusalem, perhaps near the end of His earthly existence and He basically ticks off all the movers and shakers in the temple but upsetting their money making operation
-It’s kind of like when Elliott Ness begins to go after the Italian mafia and gets into their pockets a bit and Al Capone takes several shots at taking Ness out
-With that, we have Nicodemus
-He is a renowned, well respected member of the Jewish ruling council
-He was a Pharisee
-The Pharisees, as you recall, were some of the religious leaders that Jesus would go toe to toe with throughout His earthly ministry
-Here they are, at least potential mortal enemies, meeting together
-So Nicodemus comes to see Jesus at night
-Why?
-The Bible doesn’t exactly answer the question
-Maybe he was afraid of being seen with Jesus
-Maybe he just wanted to make sure that he had Jesus for an extended conversation
-Have you ever been told something really profound or really deep and you just didn’t get it at the time?
-However, maybe you thought about it some more or some explained it to you and then it dawned on you just how cool or deep that information was.
-I’m not usually that slow on things but one time in our college philosophy class, we were studying Immanuel Kant.
-We had to write papers on some of the philosophers we had studied, and then compare and contrast their views.
-I wrote that Kant had a very low view of humanity.
-I thought this paper was going to be so good.
-I was really making my points.
-I was sure that the instructor would love it.
-I felt like a little kid again, telling my parents about the good things that I had done or learned in school
-I couldn’t wait for to get my paper back and read all the praise from my instructor
-I had taken a lot of writing classes in high school to prepare me for the academics at West Point.
-I wrote that Kant believed in a “doggy dog” world. The instructor wrote, “dog-eat-dog?”
-I was a little slow on the up take {PAUSE}
-Nicodemus comes to Jesus and he says, “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."
-You gotta wonder what he’s getting at
-You know, I think he was expecting a big compliment from Jesus, a slap on the back and a one year’s free pass {PAUSE}
-We are kind of like Nicodemus sometimes aren’t we
-Have you ever expected Jesus to give you a pat on the back for your hard work?
-Have you ever expected the people around you to laud and magnify your glorious name?
-Jesus isn’t into glorifying you
-Jesus isn’t even into glorifying Himself for that matter
-Jesus is really into glorifying His Heavenly Father
-However, in our regard He is about humbling the proud and lifting up the oppressed
-In Matthew 18, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
-So instead of giving a compliment, Jesus gives Nicodemus some instruction
-The text says, “In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” {PAUSE}
-What the heck does He mean?
-Jesus is saying that we must be made new again
-Jesus is saying that we must “go back to the future” – we are to be made again like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
-We must be made like little children again {PAUSE}
-And that is our future because of what Jesus has done for us
-He was made to be like a little child
-He humbled himself before His accusers
-He allowed Himself to be falsely accused, whipped, beaten, tortured, crucified and then He died
-But He rose from the dead
-He was made new again
-He was born again
-And that will be our reality once Jesus comes back again
-Now turn to John 19
-Follow along with me beginning at verse 38
-It says, “Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.”
-Apparently, Nicodemus had been born again
-He started acting like a child, humbling himself in taking care of Jesus’ dead body
-Jesus calls you too to start acting like children, humbling yourselves in serving the people that God has placed in your lives
