A Pharisee, a leader of the Jews, came to see Jesus by night. We’re not told why he came. His opening statement might indicate a curiosity about who Jesus really is. But then, it might also be simply the opening statement that precedes some sort of accusation or put down. "We know that you are a teacher who has come from God, but ..."
In any case, Jesus doesn’t let him get that far. He stops him in his tracks with the reply: "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." It’s a strange reply isn’t it? Nicodemus hasn’t mentioned the kingdom of God. So why does Jesus mention it?
Could it be that Jesus is picking up on the apparent desire of the Pharisees to be the arbiters of what’s from God and what isn’t. Listen again to how Nicodemus puts it: "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." In other words, "We’ve had our meeting and we’ve decided that you must be from God, even if we don’t understand why you do what you do." But Jesus says, "Hang on. Don’t jump in too soon. Are you sure you can tell what’s from God and what isn’t? Are you able to recognise the Kingdom of God when it appears in your midst? Well, let me tell you, the only way you’ll be able to discern the kingdom of God is if you’re first born from above."
There’s a certain logic to that isn’t there? The Kingdom of God comes from above, from where God is. So only those who also come from above, or are born from above, will be able to truly see it when it appears.
It’s fascinating isn’t it, that this is a leader of the Jews who’s speaking to Jesus. Of all people, you’d expect the religious experts to be able to recognise God’s kingdom when it appears. But no, Jesus says all the study in the world won’t help you. You must first be born again.
At our Alpha group last Monday someone pointed out how some people can be shown all the evidence and yet still not be convinced. Oh, yes, they know it’s probably all true, but so what? It doesn’t have any impact on them. Now why is that? Why is it that some people pay no attention even when the alarm bells start ringing in their life? The answer that Jesus gives here is that they first need to be reborn. You could ask the same question about some academics who spend all their life studying theology yet in the end can’t say definitively that Jesus Christ is the Son of God or that he physically rose from the dead.
We’ve been thinking about what it means to be human over the last couple of months. If you’ve been here you may remember that we’ve thought about the great honour God has given us as human beings of being made in his image. We’ve thought about the perfect world that God put us in at the beginning.
But then we’ve seen how humanity spoilt all that by wanting to be just like God, in fact by seeking to be equal with God, to share the rule of the universe with him. It wasn’t enough to be given the responsibility for ruling the rest of creation, we wanted to be on an equal par with God himself. And as a result humanity’s place in the creation was ruined. Along with the rest of creation we became an endangered species. We died spiritually and that led to us dying physically.
But last time, 3 weeks ago now, Tim showed us how God has sent Jesus to restore the true image of God to humanity. Jesus came as a second Adam to live a human life the way God meant it to be lived, in total obedience to God the Father, in loving care of his fellow human beings, ruling over the creation the way we were meant to.
What’s more, we saw last time that because Jesus has appeared on earth those who receive him as the one sent by the Father are enabled to become children of God. Not children by virtue of their birth, their racial origins, but children by virtue of their faith in Jesus Christ, in his virtue, in fact, as the true human being.
But how can that be? How is it possible for us fallen human beings to become children of God? How can we have our innate flaws taken away so we can be made acceptable to God?
Here’s where this encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus is so important. These strange sayings about being born from above, about the Spirit, about the wind, begin to make sense when we realise that Jesus is really talking about how we can come to be God’s children once more.
You know, John is the master of the double entendre. He seems to love the way words can be taken two ways. So when he quotes Jesus as saying "no-one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above" he’s thinking not just about the Pharisees recognising the kingdom of God. He’s also thinking about how we might come to see the Kingdom of God in our experience. How might it be possible for you to see and experience God’s kingdom first hand? That’s the question he wants us to be thinking about as we read this passage. How might we get to see this marvel? What do we need to do? Well, we’ll see something of our part of the answer to that later in the passage, but first let’s think about God’s part.
Nicodemus, you’ll notice is thoroughly confused. What’s all this stuff about being born from above? How can a grown man be born again? So Jesus expands it. He says if you want to enter the kingdom of God you have to be born of water and the Spirit. Again, this isn’t simple is it? What does he mean by water and the spirit?
He might mean both physical birth and spiritual birth. That would certainly fit what he says next.
By water he might mean John’s baptism: water represents repentance and Spirit represents God’s transforming power.
On the other hand water and Spirit may mean the same thing. Water is often used in John’s gospel as a metaphor for the Spirit. Think about what Jesus says to the woman at the well: "The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." That’s a picture of the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life. So when he says you must be born of water and spirit, perhaps he’s simply talking about spiritual rebirth.
In any case that’s the main thrust isn’t it? Look at v6: "What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit." The Kingdom of God is a spiritual entity, so if you want to see it and be part of it, you need to be reborn spiritually.
He takes the idea of a wind blowing past you as an illustration of how this happens. We don’t get the connection straight off, but in both Greek and Hebrew, the word for Spirit is the same as the word for wind. So it’s a great illustration of the way the Spirit works. You can’t tell where the movement comes from, you’re never sure where it’s going, but the effects are quite obvious. The clothes on the line flutter in the breeze. The sailing boat picks up speed. The leaves swirl round your feet. So too, when the Spirit begins to work in someone’s life we see the effects, in the way they respond to God’s word, in the things they begin to see as important, in the way they act towards others, perhaps in the sort of language they use. In this case here you see the Spirit at work in the way people respond to Jesus. Can you remember back to John 1, to the passage that Tim looked at last time. To John 1:11-12 (NRSV) "He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God." Some people rejected him. They just couldn’t see for looking. Despite the way he taught with authority, despite the miracles he did, the demons he cast out, still some people failed to recognise him for who he was. But others received him, believed in him. And to them God gave the power to become children of God.
How did he do it? Well, here we discover that he did it through the work of his Holy Spirit, bringing them to new birth, to spiritual birth.
Oh, and in case you thought this was something new, look at what Jesus says to Nicodemus. v10: ’Don’t you understand all this? Surely all your study of the Old Testament has prepared you for what I’m saying.’ The old testament, you see, repeatedly promises that God will send his Holy Spirit to renew the lives of his people, to bring them back to spiritual life. Let me quote just one of these passages, and as I read it notice how water and spirit come into this passage as well: (Ezekiel 36:25-27 NRSV) "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances."
Nicodemus would have known that passage well, but he hadn’t connected it with what Jesus was saying.
But there’s more Old Testament precedents to be aware of. Look at v14: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." You may remember an incident during the Exodus when the people had been travelling through the desert for some time and they were getting sick of it. So they started to whinge about their lot. It’s recorded in Numbers 21. There wasn’t enough bread, there wasn’t enough water and as for the manna that God had provided for them, well they hated that. It was boring. [That might sound a bit like your family mealtime!] Well their complaining against God and against Moses got so bad that God’s judgement fell on them. He sent venomous snakes that bit the people and many of them died. But then when the people repented of their sin and called on God for mercy, God told Moses to make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole so everyone who looked at the snake would live. They deserved to be punished for their complaining, for their lack of trust in God, but God in his mercy provided a way of escape so they could live.
But that was way back then. Now an even more significant way of escape is being presented. Now God has prepared a way of escape, not just from snake bites but from the eternal judgement that we all deserve for our rebellion against God. Jesus has come down from heaven to take our place, to bear the punishment for us, so that all we have to do is to look to him, to accept God’s word at face value, to believe that he’s our way of escape and we too can have eternal life. We too can be born from above, born of the Spirit. We too can see God’s kingdom.
And notice that there’s no limits, no provisos. Whoever believes in him will have eternal life. You may have someone you’ve been praying for, asking that they might come to faith in Christ. Well, here’s the assurance that it can happen. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ will have eternal life.
But how is it going to come about? How are you going to get them to that point of belief, of faith? Remember what we said at the beginning. It won’t be enough to convince them of the facts. As important as it is to present the evidence clearly, to argue for the truth of the gospel, in the end they’ll only come to faith in Christ if God first brings them to new birth. They need to be born from above. So what are you going to do about it? Well, prayer would be a good place to start wouldn’t it? We have a number of people coming to the Alpha course at the moment. Some are believers already but others may be hearing the gospel or at least elements of the gospel for the first time. So what should we be doing to help them? We should be praying that God would breathe his spirit into their hearts; that God would give them new birth from above. And then we should begin to expect things to change for them.
We should also be praying for the leaders of the course that they’d be led by the Holy Spirit in the way they answer questions so people can see clearly what it is God wants them to see, and so they can accept the testimony about Jesus easily.
But the same goes for that person you have on your mind. Pray that God would bring them to new life in Jesus Christ, that he’d work in their hearts by his Holy Spirit so they can hear and believe. Then when you speak to them about your faith you can do it with confidence rather than trepidation.
Finally, let’s take great encouragement for ourselves from these words of Jesus. If you’re someone who’s come to belief in Jesus Christ already it means that God has been working in your life, bringing you to new birth, filling you with his Spirit. You’re someone whom God has already started working on. Pray that he might continue to give you life; to help you grow in your knowledge and love of Christ. And pray that you might be able to recognise God’s kingdom as you see it growing around you.
For more sermons from this source go to http://home.vicnet.net.au/~sttheos/
