This morning, I would like to start out with a little saying that I read this last week. It goes like this...‘Some people change their ways when they see the light, others only when they feel the heat.’ (Repeat).
Our scripture today from John includes one of the most well-known conversations in the New Testament. It was the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus. This moment recorded for us by John captures some very important insights into our Christian faith and beliefs. So important, that if not understood correctly by the believer, it could mean the difference between perishing or eternal life…literally, this is a conversation about life and death.
Bringing a soul…a person into the light and realization of eternal life…bringing them to believe in the spiritual…bringing them to the point of being ‘reborn’ is a miraculous moment in time. Stepping from this world into visualizing and believing in the next world is a time when it is said that ‘angels sing and the heavens rejoice’.
And yet, it’s like bringing a horse to water…you can’t make him drink. Bringing a soul to the edge of believing in the unseen is one thing, but convincing him to let go of pure reason and to step out in faith regarding unseen spiritual truths is another. This is exactly where we find Jesus and Nicodemus this morning…in a struggle to believe and understand.
As we approach our Easter celebration this year, this very question of believing in the passion of Christ and his death and resurrection and all that it means is again before us. It is a time for those who believe to reaffirm their faith and experience its amazing details again, and it is also an opportunity for others to accept Christ for what he said he was…the Messiah, the Savior of mankind, the very Son of God…and then to become believers themselves.
Believing is a process…seeing and believing is not usually a one-time event. It is more often a process that we go through. We all need time before we can see and understand spiritual truths.
What starts this process in our lives? You might remember when you first heard about Jesus. Maybe it was through your family, a Sunday School teacher, a crisis event or it could be numerous experiences that finally brought you to believe.
It is said that our search for God and His search for us meet at windows in our everyday experience, but we must learn to look with more than just our eyes and listen with more than just our ears.
I have been attending a men’s Bible study on Thursday nights and it has been very interesting as each of us share our understanding of the scriptures.
One of the men is this group, of whom I highly respect, shared an experience of attending the death of a close friend. This time of being present at the passing of his friend has brought him to a point of questioning …questioning and believing in the afterlife and the teachings of Jesus regarding eternity. I could tell he was in the midst of processing what he experienced in regard to the promises told in the scriptures.
I also attended a meeting this week with a man who is a professed Christian. He admitted to me during this meeting that he was not sure if he believed in life after death.
I only speak of these two men to illustrate that even though we might claim to the world that we are Christian, there are some that are still questioning and processing their faith and what they truly believe.
And Nicodemus is also questioning and trying to process what he has heard and seen of this man, Jesus.
We’ve all heard this scripture before about this high ranking Pharisee, Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night to ask him questions. And really, it is a remarkable moment as we realize the meaning of all that was said in the course of the meeting. This morning, I would like to examine the words of Jesus, so that we too can be instructed by the ‘Rabbi Jesus’ and understand more clearly as believers and followers of Christ in what he is saying to us.
We first must understand that in our scripture this morning, Jesus had just performed many miracles at the Passover in Jerusalem and many people professed to believe in Jesus, but Jesus knew that their faith was not genuine. But Nicodemus was an exception. The Lord recognized in him an earnest desire to know the truth.
Nicodemus was scholar. He was a Pharisee and he was trained and he lived by the principles of the Pharisees. He was a teacher. He was a ruler of the Jews, a member of the great Sanhedrim, a senator who was knowledgeable regarding the political life of Judea, a man of authority in Jerusalem and considered one of the wealthiest men in the city.
For such a man to come to Jesus…Jesus who had no formal training…who was only recognized by the public as a teacher and worker of miracles…for such a man as Nicodemus to come to Jesus is an unusual occurrence. For you see, the principles of the Pharisees and the peculiarities of their sect were directly contrary to the spirit of Christianity. And yet, there were some who were inclined to learn more about who Jesus was and what he was teaching.
The Bible tells us that Nicodemus came at night, but it doesn’t say why. In my reading, there are various speculations from…too busy during the day…to fearful of being discovered by others…to avoiding the crowds…to hoping for a private conversation alone with Jesus. The reason really doesn’t matter. What is evident is that Nicodemus is earnest in his efforts to know and understand more about Jesus and his teachings.
Nicodemus begins by saying to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.’
Nicodemus addresses Jesus with respect by calling him ‘Rabbi’. Even though Nicodemus is respectful and earnest in his efforts to learn more about Jesus, he did not recognize Jesus as God manifest in the flesh. He was like so many today who say that Jesus was a great man, a wonderful teacher, an outstanding example, but then fall short of recognizing the full truth about Jesus…that he was and is God incarnate.
What Nicodemus does recognize though, is that fact that the miracles that Jesus had performed during the Passover in Jerusalem were genuine and that such miracles could only be accomplished with the help of God, himself.
He says to Jesus, ‘For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.’
Here is a man who is highly intelligent, scholarly and knowledgeable. He has seen what Jesus has done and I’m sure has, in his own mind, tried to find any falsehood or trickery that he could in what he witnessed. And he could not. He has come to Jesus with genuine belief that God is with Jesus and asking Jesus to teach him more.
Jesus responds to Nicodemus by basically saying, ‘Nicodemus, you have come to Me for teaching, but what you really need is to be born again. That is where you must begin. You must be born from above. Otherwise, you can never see the kingdom of God.’
Here begins our teaching also. Through what Jesus says to Nicodemus, Jesus speaks to us, too…to all mankind. He says that we must all begin at the starting point of being ‘born again’ into the spiritual kingdom of God.
I know I can point to several times in my life where I was gently nudged toward that point of finally accepting and believing, in faith and trust. I’m sure most of you can too. As I said earlier, this is where we find Nicodemus …struggling to understand and believe.
But, of course, Nicodemus doesn’t understand. He takes the words of Jesus literally and says, ‘How can someone be born when they are old? Surely they cannot enter a second time into their Mother’s womb.’
I’m sure that we too might have taken the words of Jesus literally. Even today, we still question the workings of the Trinity…we still don’t understand the mysteries of God and His kingdom.
But Jesus continues to try to teach Nicodemus and us…he says, ‘very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are 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 Bible tells us that there are two worlds, the physical and the spiritual. Just as we must be born first into the physical world, so a second birth is necessary for divine life…a life lived in spirit.
It is understandable the difficulty that men have in understanding the words of the Lord Jesus. For unless you have been born again into the spirit, you cannot discern things of the spirit.
That’s what Jesus goes on to explain. He tries to explain further by using the wind as an illustration. He reminded Nicodemus that the wind blows where it wishes and a person can hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. Jesus says that new birth is very much like the wind.
First of all, it takes place according to the will of God. It is not a power which man holds in his own control. And secondly, the new birth is invisible. You cannot see it taking place, but you can see the results of it in a person’s life. When a person has been saved, a change comes over them. The evil things which they formerly loved, they now hate. The things of God which they formerly despised, these things are now the very things that they love.
Just as no one can fully understand the wind, so the new birth is a miraculous work of the Spirit of God which man is not able to comprehend fully. Moreover, the new birth, like the wind, is unpredictable. It is not possible to state just when and where it will take place…and yet when it does happen, it is a reality that is both felt and seen.
Any of us more than twenty-five years old can probably remember where we were when we first heard of President Kennedy's assassination in 1963.
British novelist David Lodge, in the introduction to one of his books, tells where he was—he was in a theater watching a live performance of a satirical revue he had helped write. In one sketch, a character demonstrated his nonchalance in an job interview by holding a transistor radio to his ear. The actor playing the part always tuned in to a real broadcast. Suddenly came the announcement that President Kennedy had been shot. The actor quickly switched it off, but it was too late. Reality had interrupted the staged comedy.
For many, the workings of the Spirit of God are a nonchalant charade. They don't expect anything significant to happen, but suddenly God's reality breaks through, and they're shocked.
Nicodemus, I believe was shocked…shocked to find out from Jesus that with all his learning…with all his knowledge…with all his status and authority among the Jewish people…he was shocked to find that he had to start over…begin anew…be born again into the kingdom of God.
This is the same realization that Paul had on the road to Damascus…the realization that all he had done to train himself in the ways of the Pharisees was useless to him now. Saul became Paul and he began anew in his understanding of God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
In verse 16, we find one of the best known verses in all the Bible, doubtless because it states the gospel so clearly and simply. It summarizes what the Lord Jesus had been teaching Nicodemus concerning the manner by which the new birth is received.
God, we read, so love the world…the whole world, which includes all of mankind. God doesn’t love man’s sin, but He loves people…He loves His creation and He is not willing to that any should perish.
The extent of His love is shown by the fact that He gave His only begotten Son. It was an expression of His infinite love that He would be willing to give His unique Son for a race of sinners.
This gift of God’s does not mean that everyone is saved. A person must receive what Christ has done for him before God will give him eternal life. Therefore, the words are added, ‘that whoever believes in Him should not perish…’ There is no need for anyone to perish. A way has been provided by which all might be saved, but a person must acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. When he does this, he is promised eternal life.
With this understanding, we now see that all of mankind is divided into two classes: either that of a believer…or that of a non-believer.
This morning, we have reviewed one of the most important passages in the Bible. And it confirms for us that we are made new through the devoted generosity of God’s love and grace. This premise is the foundation of our faith, but the limitations of our humanity make it hard to grasp the concept of this grace. Accepting grace requires the abandonment of old ways and then becoming more responsive to God’s touch. New life requires a new way of thinking.
Often we think of a pioneer as the person who goes forward without fear. But real pioneers, knowing what might lie ahead, have to muster the courage to take action. Nicodemus steps out in faith toward an undetermined future. He surely feels great trepidation about approaching Jesus. Yet Nicodemus, a religious leader of the Jewish community, takes a bold step.
We may find our steps into the unknown halted by timidity. Fearing the unknown, we withhold our trust. We suspect the possibility of persecution. Nicodemus experiences these fears, but his courage and faith in God enable him to travel into the unknown. He realizes what he needs to do; he accepts the risk and steps out in faith. God honors his courage by offering him the opportunity to be ‘born again’.
You may know the rest of the story regarding Nicodemus…and if you do, you know that he leaves Jesus a changed man. He may have desired to remain in his darkness, but his new birth contains the gift of courage; God empowers Nicodemus. Stepping into the light, he soon will assist in Jesus’ burial, offering a mixture of myrrh and aloes to anoint the body. The once timid man will have the courage to stay with Jesus through the hardest of times…even though his own life would now be in question.
God can empower a new nature in anyone who seeks it. Even with the availability of God’s grace, we may struggle to accept the gift. God sent the Son not to condemn us, but to save us. God’ so loves…us.
I began this sermon today with the saying that, ‘some change their ways when they see the light, others when they feel the heat.’
Our scripture this morning has shown us the light of His ways…and through His teaching has presented before us the way to be saved and given the gift of life eternal. Hopefully none of us will wait to feel a ‘perishing heat’.
Jesus is asking…’Don’t you believe me?’
It is up to us to then ‘Believe in Him!’
Let us pray…
Our gracious and loving God, we seek to understand more clearly your ways. We come to you as Nicodemus came to Jesus and ask you to give us your wisdom and mercy. We believe in Jesus as our Savior. Accept us into your holy kingdom that we may be assured of our hope of eternal life with you. Amen.
