The Person of Jesus series
Jesus – the way of salvation
John 3:1-21
CHCC: March 14, 2010
INTRODUCTION:
Today we’re going to be talking about a very religious man. So I though we’d start by examining how very religious people tend to get things done. We’ll look at a study that was done on how many (of various religious brands) it takes to change a light bulb.
* First, how many Charismatics does it take to change a light bulb? Only one. And his hands already in the air.
* Pentecostals: Ten. One to change the bulb and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.
* Presbyterians: None. Lights will go off and on at predestined times.
* Roman Catholic: None. Candles only.
* Baptists: At least 15. One to change the light bulb and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad.
* Episcopalians: Three. One to call the electrician, one to mix the drinks and one to talk about how much better the old bulb was.
* Unitarians: We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, you are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions including incandescent, fluorescent, three-way, long-life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.
* Lutherans: None. Lutherans don’t believe in change.
* And for the Amish: ---What’s a light bulb?
The highly religious man we meet in chapter 3 of John is a Pharisee named Nicodemus. He’s not just your “garden-variety” Pharisee --- he’s a member of the elite Jewish ruling council.
I’m sure it made a big impression on Jesus’ disciples when Nicodemus showed up one night and asked to speak with Jesus. It would be like Billy Graham, or maybe Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, coming to see a "rooky" youth minister.
We have to stop and ask ourselves why Nicodemus came to see Jesus under cover of darkness. It would have been easy to make a day-time appointment with him. Nicodemus may have come secretly at night to avoid being seen by the other Pharisees. It’s also possible that he came at night because that’s when he could have a long, private conversation with Jesus.
I get the impression that Nicodemus had a genuine interest in this new young teacher. He addressed Jesus as “Rabbi,” and he told Jesus, “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." John 3:2
I’m sure Nicodemus felt like he was being extremely gracious to show Jesus such respect. But if he had known who he was really talking to, he could have come up with better titles than merely, “Rabbi.” Think about the other titles Jesus has already been given in the gospel of John. John first presented Jesus as the incarnate Word of God. John the .Baptist introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. God spoke at Jesus’ baptism and said, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.” Calling Jesus “rabbi” seems kind of lame in comparison!
There are plenty of people today who make the same mistake. Most people hold Jesus in a certain degree of respect. They picture him as a “great teacher,” or a “really, really, really nice guy.” But Jesus made it clear that He is so much more than that. Jesus didn’t waste time making small talk with Nicodemus. Verse 3 says, In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
Jesus bypassed the cordial niceties, and got to the heart of the matter. Jesus knew so much about Nicodemus that he addressed something boiling around in the learned Pharisee’s heart. He let him know in no uncertain terms, that his religious credentials amounted to nothing in the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus responded, "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!" John 3:4
Now, being “born again” wasn’t as foreign a concept as you might think. Jews of that day were in the habit of proselytizing gentiles into the faith with a form of baptism used as a ceremonial cleansing. The baptized convert was regarded by the Jews as being “reborn” as a child of Israel. In fact, the rabbis would say, “A proselyte who embraces Judaism is like a new-born child.” (Barclay, DSB series, John, Vol. 1, p. 126).
The problem for Nicodemus was that he could not imagine how he --- a true-born descendant of Abraham, and a premier leader among the Pharisees --- how could he possibly go through a proselytizing type of ceremony? Nic was way too far along in Judaism to go back to square one. He told Jesus, I might just as well try to crawl back into his mother’s womb as to start over and become new-be in the faith.
Jesus’ answer explained that the way to come into the Kingdom was the same for EVERYONE. 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." John 3:5-8
Jesus was promoting something spiritual, which Nic was too earthbound to embrace. What Jesus described might start out similar to someone who was going to be a proselyte to the Jewish faith --- this was being born of water. But the baptism Jesus described went much deeper. It involved the activity of God’s Holy Spirit --- being born of the Spirit.
When Jesus spoke about the Spirit he was using a word with two meanings. In both Greek and in Hebrew the word used for Spirit meant either the supernatural Spirit of God --- OR, it could also mean simply, wind. Jesus brought those two meanings together when he said the Spirit of God is LIKE the wind. Wind is beyond human control. God directs it where ever He pleases. In the same way, we can receive God’s Spirit, and we can feel the effects --- but we can never control it, or even fully understand it.
Now, Nicodemus may have been a learned teacher of the Law, but Jesus gave him a primer on spiritual life in the Kingdom of God. Jesus actually chided him for being inexcusably ignorant of spiritual matters. He said, I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? John 3:12
When you read the way Jesus talked to Nicodemus you get the idea that Jesus was frustrated that this great religious leader could be so completely blind to God’s truth.
Nicodemus was not ignorant of the scriptures. He could never have gotten where he was in the Sanhedrin without having memorized most of the Torah. He had surely studied and memorized passages like Ezekiel 18:31, “Cast away from you all the transgressions, which you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel” He knew God’s promise in Ezekiel 36:26, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you.”
Jesus was showing Nicodemus the fulfillment of those very scriptures --- but Nic just didn’t get it! And you know, he wasn’t all that different from us. We can get so comfortable with our way of doing things that we close our minds to anything new. I can imagine Nic saying that familiar phrase of folks (like me) who are over 50: “Can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
But Jesus didn’t stop there. He makes it clear that he is much more than a Rabbi when he says that he has come to earth from Heaven. He referred to an Old Testament event and said he was the fulfillment of that event. Then he told Nicodemus, “Everyone who believes in me will have eternal life.” John 3:15
Jesus was jumping into dangerous waters. He was confessing to a Jewish Judge that he was the One God sent had sent from Heaven to save the world. Potentially, this could cost him his life. Nicodemus could march right back to the Jewish council the next day and say, “This blasphemer called himself messiah.” But here, as in so many other places in John’s gospel, Jesus will speak God’s truth in clear language.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:16-18
John 3:16 is, perhaps, the most well known scripture in the Bible. It gives us the heart of the gospel in one sentence. From this simple verse we know of God’s love for the entire world, and His eternal plan to send his only Son to the wayward planet so that those who believe in Him can have eternal life. This is the way of salvation initiated by a loving God, in behalf of wayward sinners, and benefitting all who believe in him.
I want us to stop and give attention to the enormous meaning in this one verse:
VIDEO - The Greatest Promise
Compare this to the way of salvation offered in major religious system:
• Jews (like Nicodemus) were trying to behave themselves into righteousness through attempting to conform to the Law of Moses –
• Muslims submit themselves to an unbending system of rules and regulations with no guarantee of salvation, unless they are martyred –
• Hindus struggle to pay off karmic debt in hopes of finally escaping the merry-go-round of reincarnation
• Buddhists meditate their way into a state of denial of all things physical, with no promise of any kind of afterlife
In the end, all religions tell people to try and please God through human effort. All fall far short of the amazing gospel message of grace and His absolute promise of salvation for anyone who will believe.
Nicodemus had come to examine and pass judgment on this rookie rabbi named Jesus. Instead, Jesus ended up giving his own final verdict. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." John 3:19-21
I have to wonder how Nicodemus felt as he walked home in the dark that night. I can’t say for sure if Nicodemus ever placed his faith in Jesus, but I can tell what we know about his later actions in the gospels.
• In John 7:50-51, we find him speaking up in defense of Jesus before the Sanhedrin. The Jewish leaders admonished him for demanding that they should give Jesus a fair trial. We don’t have any indication that Nicodemus was a disciple at that point, but it is clear that he felt some affinity for Jesus.
• In John 19:39, it is Nicodemus who helps Joseph of Aramathea to bury the crucified body of the Lord. Nicodemus brought along about 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes (something only a rich man could afford) --- and the two of them wrapped up Jesus body for a hasty burial in a borrowed tomb.
We don’t know for sure if Nick was ever “born again.” I personally think he was --- and I think one day we’ll see him in Heaven --- but the last time we see Nicodemus in scripture, he is helping to bury Jesus.
CONCLUSION:
What was it that held Nicodemus back from putting faith in Jesus the night that he first heard the promise of John 3:16? I think the things that held him back are the same things that tend to hold us back when we hear the call of God.
• PRIDE held Nicodemus back. The same is true for us. It is a humbling experience to admit we can’t make it on our own. It takes a certain amount of humility to submit to water baptism and to admit our need for spirit baptism.
• Nicodemus was held back by his PAST which was filled with religious TRADITION. Some of us have been raised with traditions that can actually hold us back from a real relationship with Jesus. When we see the truth we have to be willing to put Jesus ahead of the family or even religious traditions of our past.
• Nicodemus was held back by a CLOSED HEART. He had an open mind --- enough that he was willing to hear what Jesus had to say. But his heart was closed against spiritual truth. Nicodemus didn’t want to have his way of life interrupted by the blinding light of God’s truth.
So let me ask you this morning, what is holding you back from an all-out commitment to Jesus?
Will you lay aside your PRIDE and your PAST?
Will you open your heart today?
