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Nicodemus - John 3:1-15
Have you ever felt clueless?
In Atlanta we offered English as a Second language classes, and I have
learned first hand what it means to be clueless. One night Victor, a
student in the class from El Salvador, asked his teacher "What does
C-section mean?" Since his teacher was a nurse, she felt confident with
her explanation, but Victor’s face reflected total puzzlement. "Do you
understand what I’m saying?" she asked. "Yes," he replied, "but I am
still confused." Trying to go the extra mile she asked him the context
in which the word had been used, and he responded: "Yesterday, on my
break, I was reading the newspaper. A co-worker asked me for the
C-section, but I didn’t know what he meant."
You know, we sometimes get into situations that we just don’t understand
what is meant. Does that happen to you?
This morning, we are looking in John 3 and we start with a man that
doesn’t seem to understand Jesus. What is ironic about this is that he
is very religious. He really knows his stuff.
First he was a Pharisee. These were the great lawyers of Judaism. They
knew and followed all of the rules to the letter.
He was a member of the Sanhedrin – the Jewish Supreme Court. These were
the judges of religious orthodoxy. These were the ones who governed the
Temple.
And he was a Teacher. Many translations use the words, “a teacher of
Israel” but that misses the meaning. The correct translation is “You are
Israel’s teacher” or a word for word translation would say, “the teacher
of Israel.” The notion conveyed in the Greek is that Nicodemus is the
preeminent, the most knowledgeable and respected teacher in all of
Israel. If there was anybody who should have understood, who should have
gotten the message, it was Nicodemus. But he didn’t.
Can it be that there a lot of religious people that do not understand
the truth? “Certainly.”
There are an awful lot of people going through religious motions. They
seem to sign on the dotted line. They are involved and perhaps even
serious, but something is missing. You know, if we asked the typical
person on the street, we would receive a variety of answers on this
question of what does it mean to be a Christian. We might hear answers
like these…
“I’m a church member.”
“I’ve been baptized.”
“I go to Sunday School.”
“I go to mass every week.”
But what does it mean to be a Christian?
We probably have all been puzzled by those that confess to be
Christians, but don’t act like true Christians ought to act. Their
belief seems to be a Sunday only type. Man, by nature is religious.
Science has been unable to eradicate religion, because science can’t
meet the deepest needs of the heart. This is why people check their
horoscopes every day and call the psychic friends network. They long for
the spiritual.
In our passage today, Nicodemus comes looking for spiritual truth. And
he found a great source—Jesus—who would help him grow in his
understanding of what he needed to be.
Lets read John 3: 1-2
We know that the Pharisees had taken quick note of Jesus, but they are
hard-pressed to speak critically of Jesus because of His popular
teaching and His miracles. Specifically, there is one Pharisee that is
greatly impressed. He was a man at the top of his field, a member of the
ruling council and he hears from Jesus the answers to questions that
have bothered him for years. He finds that Jesus speaks in simple terms,
but His message has great power.
So Nicodemus, recognizes that Jesus is on a divine mission. He has
divine authority. God had put upon Him His seal of approval. But as he
comes to Jesus, he interestingly does not claim to come for himself, but
for his fellow Pharisees and colleagues. “We know that you are a teacher
who has come from God.”
What makes this interesting is that the Pharisees appointed themselves
as the proper accrediting agency for any and all religious movements
related to Judaism.
These Pharisees were a select group. There were never more than 6,000 of
them at a time. They took a public solemn vow to devote every moment of
life obeying the Ten Commandments. Because of this life-commitment to
obey the Ten Commandments, the Pharisees considered themselves as the
spiritually elite.
But Nicodemus sees that Jesus is worth coming to.
Even though Nicodemus says, “we,” I think that Nicodemus is acting
independently. He has already come to an important conclusion, though.
He recognizes that Jesus comes from God and that God is with Him. This
is a conclusion that most of the religious leadership had been slow to
agree with. But Nicodemus know that the visit is worth every moment.
Continuing in verse 3
Nicodemus has given Jesus a great opener. And as a result, Jesus does
what He does best. He gets to the hear of the matter.
“You must be born again.” These words absolutely stun Nicodemus. And
whether he realizes it or not, in one sentence Jesus has swept away
everything that Nicodemus stood for.
You know we cannot account for our action s we need God’s help.
“You must be born again.” If we are going to be a part of the kingdom of
God, we must be born again. If we are going to belong to God and be a
part of His rule and His reign, we must be born again. To many Jews,
this would be shocking news, for to be born the first time as a Jew was
to be born into the kingdom of God. That was the best way to be born.
But Jesus is clear…your natural birth will not save you. You must be
reborn. You need God’s efforts over your own.
Nicodemus is a bit CONFUSED (4-9).
Nicodemus leans to the absurd, because he is clueless about what Jesus
is saying. So since Jesus can’t be serious, he takes Jesus literally.
This way, he doesn’t have to take Him seriously. Nevertheless, Jesus
holds firm, He says we need to be born of water and spirit.
Baptism was a renouncement of Judaism. It was a renouncement of law
keeping. It was an admittance of the need to repent, an honest admission
of one’s sin. It was a public act that confessed the uselessness of
one’s own deeds and ways. And it was a public declaration that God was
working in their life. Salvation is hardly safe. After all, it requires
approaching the King of the Universe, face to face.
We cannot control what God needs to do in us. Jesus uses the wind to
demonstrate the sovereignty of God. He notes that the effects of the
wind can be seen, though the wind itself is not seen. Just as the wind
can’t be controlled, neither can anyone direct the Spirit. But just like
the wind, when the Spirit works, the effects are evident. Nevertheless,
Nicodemus is still not getting it.
Nicodemus is feeling a bit CHALLENGED (10-13).
Jesus challenges, “This is the teacher of Israel?” “If you can’t get
this, the earthly things, how are you going to get the heavenly things?”
This reveals what Nicodemus doesn’t get. It is about what he is.
Now the Pharisee should have been able to apply Old Testament Truths
from
Isaiah 44:3-4
Jeremiah 31:31-33
Ezekiel 36:24-27; 37:4-6
In these passages, God reveals that the problem has always been the
heart. It is God alone that solves the deepest need of man. It is He who
gives a new birth and a new beginning. It is God who makes us a new
creation and gives us new life. And it is done through Jesus because the
answer is in Jesus.
It is Jesus that has come from the heavenly realm—much more so than
Nicodemus has understood.
He is the answer, and this is what Nicodemus needed to know whether he
was ready for it or not.
Jesus ends this conversation by foreshadowing His death in verse 14-15
The story in Numbers 21 foreshadows the salvation God provides through
Jesus.
If you remember the Israelites had been complaining against God,
grumbling about the journey and their apparent lack of food and water.
They did not like the manna God gave them day after day. And so God had
enough, and He sent fiery serpents among them, and many of those who
were bitten died.
God provided a salvation for this disobedient people, so that they might
survive the divine judgment. He instructed Moses to make a bronze
serpent and to set it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten by one of
the serpents could merely look up at the serpent and be healed. And this
is precisely what happened. All who were bitten and looked up were
healed.
Jesus says that as the serpent is lifted up and becomes the “source” of
Israel’s salvation, how much more will Christ on the cross provide
salvation. Those who will look on Him with faith will be saved from
wrath. The solution was coming. Jesus would be lifted up on the cross,
but not only that. He would later be lifted up in His resurrection and
ascension, then exalted by God the Father, on His right hand.
Faith makes the difference. It determines our eternity. Whoever believes
in Him has eternal life. And the same is true of each one of us…
WE CAN HAVE NEW LIFE.
So many people have it wrong. They think if you just obey the Ten
Commandments, you will be okay.
Or if you just live life the best as you can, this will please God and
He will accept you. The truth is, though, good people need new birth.
Religious people need new birth. A lot of very decent, very moral, and
very hardworking are still lost and need new birth. No matter how good
we think we are, or how bad we believe we are, we all have the same need
we need to be born again. It is a truth that Nicodemus discovered. He
found new life.
If you’re born once, you die twice; if you’re born twice, you die once!
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