“Nicodemus”

John 3:1-21

(sermon note: 01-25 sermon note)

¹There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. ² After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

³ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

⁴ “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

⁵ Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. ⁷ So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

⁹ “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? ¹¹ I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. ¹² But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

¹⁸ “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. ²¹ But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about when Jesus was wandering the desert one day and he met an old man. “What brings you to the desert?” asked Jesus. “I’m looking for my son. I lost him many years ago,” replied the old man. “How did you lose him? What happened?” “I had one son-not by birth, by a heavenly miracle. He had tremendous struggles with temptation. At one point, he even died and came back to life!” Jesus couldn’t believe it. Could this really be his father? “One last question: Are you by any chance a carpenter?” “I am!” Jesus rushed forward and embraced the old man. “Father, it is I! I’ve missed you!” The old man smiled. “I’ve missed you too, Pinnochio!”

I bet you never thought of the eerie similarities between Pinocchio and Jesus! Both had unusual births and life journeys. Both had spiritual and bodily transformations. Both had weird relationships with their fathers! It’s no wonder there was some confusion in that interaction. There is great uncertainty in birthing.

I think that joke illustrates something that is relevant to our reading for this morning. In bodily birth, we just don’t know what we’re going to get until they come out. Sure, the guessing game has been greatly minimized with the help of technology and ultrasounds. But there are still mysteries with each and every birthing and they are all miracles. We think we know and can manipulate bodily birth, but God created the whole process to begin with. God knows the process much more intimately than we do because He created it. Only God knows how to truly create out of nothing, and we just have to rely on him in bodily birth.

Now then, a spiritual birth is much more…predictable. There is less mystery involved in a spiritual birth than a bodily birth. Somewhat ironic, eh? I mean, the very nature of the Spirit is unpredictable and mysterious. As John reminds us, “The wind blows wherever it wants.” No one can explain the nature of the Spirit, why and how it does what it does. That said, we can predict the work of the Spirit. We might not know where the Spirit goes but we can invariably know where it’s been by the work it produces. Paul helps us on this from his letter to the Galatians: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (5:22-23) When we see these fruits, we can know the Spirit is present. And these are unchangeable indicators! The Spirit is always present when these fruits are produced! So in a sense, the Spirit is quite predictable in how it works and behaves.

The Spirit produces predictable fruit within us but only by transforming us. This is also the work of the Spirit, to transform us. To get us to not dwell in our sinful, bodily nature but rather our godly, spiritual nature. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (12:2) When we dwell in our godly, spiritual nature, we become more aware of who we are and what God wants from us.

It’s no wonder that we receive arguably the greatest verse of scripture in this interaction between Nicodemus and Jesus. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (3:16) Nicodemus was beginning to dwell in the place of the Spirit for the first time. Naturally, he was becoming more aware of who God is. And who/what is God? Love, of course. God loves us! God gave us the key to eternal life: Jesus. Friends, this is no small gift! The Spirit helps us understand this gift of love. Perhaps it is love, God’s love, that actually transforms us. It sure has transformed a whole lotta lives!

So as we continue this season of revelation, let us welcome the unpredictable Spirit into our lives with its rather predictable work. This Spirit will transform and produce fruits within us! Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians, “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (4:32) Let us give thanks for the work of the Spirit. Thanks be to God!               In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.