The text this morning is from the Gospel according to John, the third chapter:
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
The apostle John is a master of double entendres, using a word or phrase that means two, or sometimes, even three, things. This passage has, probably, the most famous of all of them. But, in typical John fashion, he starts it off with a surprise: a Pharisee, Nicodemus, is coming to see Jesus. He comes in private, in the night, where no one will see him. Perhaps he’s concerned about his reputation, perhaps he doesn’t want anyone else to know that he’s giving Jesus warning. Maybe it was just the first time he could get to where Jesus was staying in Jerusalem. We don’t know. But, it seems that Jesus has a disciple among the Pharisees.
Nicodemus comes at night, and spills the beans; he tells Jesus that the Pharisees really do know that Jesus comes from God–He’s not just some common blasphemer. But the Pharisees will work to reject that knowledge of God. They are able to see that Jesus really is of God because of the amazing signs that He’s giving to the fact that He’s the Messiah, yet they want no part of Him because Jesus takes away the prestige of the Pharisees they otherwise enjoy. They were always well though of in their communities and now comes along this perfect man who criticizes everything they do. They think they have faith, but Jesus points out there is no faith to believe in them, only the desire to fulfill their own righteousness. Nicodemus’ words are almost a confession of his faith in Jesus, but Jesus needs to do a little work first.
You see, Nicodemus was still holding on to the teachings of the Pharisees, he still believed he was able to accomplish salvation for himself. But Jesus needs to tell him otherwise, and so He does. Jesus starts of with a “Truly, truly,” literally, amen, amen. This is a way of telling someone that they better start paying attention because what is coming next is of utmost importance. So, when Jesus then says that one must be born again to see the kingdom of God, this is the crux of the preaching that Nicodemus needed to hear that night.
How does this destroy works righteousness, working to save yourself? Which of us could be born of our own will? Which of us called ourselves out of the ether and put ourselves into our mothers? Which of us decided that we would be conceived on a certain day, born on a certain day? We had no part in our being born; it only happened to us passively–someone else had to do all the work. And now Jesus says you have to be born again. It has to happen to you a second time.
I mean, you almost can’t blame Nicodemus for not getting this right away. It’s a strange turn of phrase. Now, we’re all used to hearing it, but this is the first time for Nicodemus. What is Jesus talking about? Is He really suggesting that you crawl back up into your mom and try to get out again? It might seem a ridiculous suggestion to us, and it is, but, remember, this is Jesus: He can make anything happen.
This is where John’s double entendre comes in. The words John records for us are gennethe anothen, translated born again. But, they also have another meaning, to be born from above. Most scholars believe that John is telling us Jesus means both of these things, to be born again and to be born from above, and that they are the same event, to be born again from above. It’s easy to pick only one definition, or, for Nicodemus, to hear it in only one way, but John wants us to hear both. And so does Jesus, because they he tells us that this birth is of water and the Spirit. What does this remind you of? Really, we should ask, to what is Jesus referring? Baptism, of course, when we receive the gift of faith through the work of the Holy Spirit by the water and the Word.
Nicodemus wants to earn his salvation, like all the Pharisees, but Jesus says that it is by faith that salvation is given. Through water and the Spirit, through Baptism, you see the kingdom of God, you are welcomed to it, you enter into it. You cannot just enter because you were born a human being; you must also have a second birth, a birth of faith, a birth of the Spirit. And more than that, Jesus then tells Nicodemus, essentially, don’t disbelieve but believe. It shouldn’t be any more surprising to Nicodemus that feeling the wind on his face and not knowing where it came from or where it will blow to. The Spirit will place Himself in that water and bring faith to all who are baptized.
I suppose it’s natural, though, to want to know how this works, or really, by what power all this is done. After all, though there are so many passages testifying to the coming institution of Baptism throughout the Old Testament, which Nicodemus should have been familiar with (though, again, you can’t blame him because they really can only be apprehended by faith), Baptism is a new work instituted by Jesus. It’s never been done as the way the Spirit brought faith before; but it is the way it will work from now on. But, how? How is this possible? Is it going to be contrary to what’s been taught before? Is it going to change everything the Jews knew of the Scriptures?
The simple answer is, yes, what was coming would change everything. It doesn’t negate anything, but it fulfills everything. This is what the whole world has been waiting for since Adam and Eve. They may not have known it, but the prophets prophesied to this, the psalmists sang of it, the Levites spilled the blood of the sacrifice looking forward to it. This would all be accomplished in the very same way the serpent healed all people.
Do you remember that story? The people grumbled against God and Moses so God sent poisonous serpents among the people to bite them. It’s a picture of the serpent leading our first parents into sin, giving them nothing but death instead of something beautiful. And when Moses prayed to take the serpents away, God said not yet, but make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. If anyone gets bitten in the camp, all they have to do is look to that serpent, the substitute, and they will be healed. So Moses did, and the people were healed, until they left that place behind and walked into the promised land.
Jesus is saying He is the bronze serpent. He is the substitute. He will be the one who sucks out the poison of sin from us, He is the one who will heal us, and He will do this as He is lifted up on a pole. When we then hurt in sin, when we are mired in the poison of death, if we look to Christ, if we believe that He can save us, then He will save us and give us eternal life. Jesus is the bronze serpent, undoing that which the serpent of old did to His creation.
This is the power by which the water and the Spirit, Baptism, works. Through the death of Jesus, faith comes to those who would receive it. Faith comes because Jesus died. Paul write that in Baptism, we are baptized into Christ’s death, and, with His resurrection, we also rise to newness of life. This is what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus. Jesus is telling him that this is life. He’s saying that the life of the Pharisee is death, but the death of Jesus is life. This is His whole purpose.
Now comes the most well-known verse in all of Scripture, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Of course, we all should know that the “so” in this doesn’t mean “so much.” For God loved the world so much…” That’s not it. The “so” means “in this way.” God, in this way, loved the world, giving up His only Son. God loved the world in this way, that He lifted up His Son on the cross. God loved the world in this way, that He would take His Son to be tortured that all may look upon Him and be saved, that they would have eternal life.
Jesus then tells Nicodemus, just in case he’s worrying at this point, that Jesus isn’t like the Pharisees, condemning the world and everything in it, right and left, but that He came to save it. Yes, Jesus is the judge over the living and the dead, but His primary goal is to save all humanity, to bring them into His kingdom, the kingdom He desires for Nicodemus, and the kingdom He desires for you.
We so often desire to work for our salvation. We may not say it out right, we might not even want to admit it, but we act like it. I can't tell you the number of people that I’ve talked to who have told me that all the takes to get to heaven is to be a good person. I can't tell you the number of people that I have talked to who act like their works of service to others are going to bring about some kind of karmic love for them from God. It's everywhere, and it's even in our hearts. But Jesus here tells us have a better way: the way of salvation, which is the cross. It is only through the cross of Christ that you truly will find life eternal. It is only through the cross of Christ that you find faith. It is only through the cross of Christ that you can find confidence in your baptisms, that you have died in a death like His and have been raised into a life like His. It's not enough for you just to be satisfied with your works; you need works, but you need the works of Jesus. This comes to you through your Baptism, where you receive all things from His hand.
When you want to discover the secret of belonging to God, you will not find it in yourselves, but you find it in what Jesus has done for you. You find it in what He has given to you. You find it in His life, death, and resurrection. You find it because He has promised it to you. Just as the serpent was lifted up and all who looked upon lived, if you look upon Jesus, so, too shall you live forever. Jesus is the true teacher from God, and He has taught you today how to apprehend faith, not by your works, but by the promise of the Spirit. You have the promise and you have that Spirit. You have been born again, my friends, because you have been born from above. The kingdom of God is laid out before you, even at this moment in this place, in this church, and it waiting only for you to enter it, the place where Jesus is, where you find faith, forgiveness, and life everlasting. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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