Reading from "The Message"
John 3:1-21
There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God pointing, God revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it."
Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to -- to God's kingdom."
"How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born from above' talk?"
Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation -- the 'wind hovering over the water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life -- it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a baby you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch -- the Spirit -- and becomes a living Spirit."
"So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be 'born from above' -- out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it is headed next. That is the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God."
Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?"
Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basic? Listen carefully. I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing second hand here, no hear say. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God?"
"No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see, and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up -- and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life."
"That is how much God loved the world: He gave His Son, His one and only Son. and this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending His Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trust in Him is acquitted, anyone who refuses to trust Him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in this one of a kind Son of God when introduced to Him."
"This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is."
The Great Discussion:
In dealing with this passage, I came upon the discovery that there are at least 6 separate sermons that could be developed from these 21 verses.
This passage is one that we know so well, and yet most individuals only concentrate on only one verse and sometimes two. The verses I am referring to of course is John 3:16 and 17.
In concentrating on only these two verses, we miss the whole dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus, thereby missing the very teaching of Jesus in what most likely was a debate that covered at least 2 if not 3 hours.
The discussion between Nicodemus and Jesus is important not just for Nicodemus but also for us today. How do we wee this discussion? What teachings are available for us in the present? How important is it for us in understanding of the gospel of Jesus, His teachings and to us where we are right now?
Like many of us, Nicodemus was a searcher.
He is an individual who belongs to a community of believers. We need to understand that not all Pharisees were against Jesus.
He is a member of a community that is well educated, well established, and has a strong faith in God.
He is a member of the Sanhedrin and therefore was a leader of Israel. He was a teacher, and therefore most likely a Rabbi.
One thing that is often overlooked and seldom thought about, Nicodemus was either the same age or at least a difference of one or two years of age as Jesus.
The Great Discussion then is, Jesus meeting Nicodemus where he was and challenged him to move beyond that spot.
Jesus was challenging Nicodemus to open the envelope of his faith, to un-wrap the box where he had placed God with all the 613 commandments and to move beyond that.
Jesus engaged Nicodemus with teachings from the Old Testament, teachings that he would have known and understand.
Nicodemus begins the discussion with the acknowledgement of Jesus. He says; "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it."
Jesus reply is straight forward; "You're right, but if you're not born from above you'll not see what I am pointing to -- to God's kingdom."
This is the crux of the whole discussion. It revolves around being born from above, and Nicodemus wants clarification.
Nicodemus is right to ask; "How can a grown man like myself be born from above. I'm already established in my belief in God. I know the commandments, I recite the Shema every day. So were are you coming from?"
Jesus replies; "Listen up! You should know this! Unless a person submits to this original creation -- the wind hovering over the water creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life, it's not possible to enter God's kingdom." The concept of being born of water and born of the Spirit is Old Testament teaching.
For example: Isaiah 44:3 "I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on our descendants."
Water and Spirit are joined as the life giving gifts of God.
Another quote would be from Ezekiel 36:25-27; "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse your from all your impurities and from all your idols, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
we would have further questions, but I believe Nicodemus knew what Jesus meant. He understood the teaching of the Spirit of God. So when Jesus said; "You must be born from above." Nicodemus wanted assurance that he was on the same page as Jesus.
Nicodemus was looking for a more material, a more physical, something that would be more tangible. Like us he was looking for God in a physical form that he could touch, that he could feel, and even smell.
The challenge that Jesus made to Nicodemus was that he could not achieve what he desired through legalism and conformity. It required an inner change that is only by a direct act of God.
The New Birth that Jesus was teaching, is conditioned on the repentance and confession of the individual in response to the appeal of God and by the transformation of life through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus directs Nicodemus to the understanding that we can see the body. We can touch the body. But the soul we cannot see, as it is spirit.
The soul responds to the Spirit of God and we can therefore see the direction and the results of the individual for the soul changes the person from the inside out.
The mystery of salvation and regeneration like the wind, give evidence of the presence of the Spirit of God with in the believer's life.
The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 8 that "God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are...children of God." And in chapter 10 the Apostle Paul confirms; "It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us."
The Spirit of God reaches down and takes our spirits by the hand if we let the Spirit move within us.
The evidence of our faith is a change from within as we are the lights that shine in the darkness, the God-light that dwells within us freely.
Amen.
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