Nicodemus visiting Jesus by Henry Ossawa Tanner
1 Now there was a Pharisee
named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and
said to him, "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."
3 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the
kingdom of God without being born from above." 4 Nicodemus said to
him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a
second time into the mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered,
"Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being
born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what
is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to
you, "You must be born from above.' 8 The wind blows where it
chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from
or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." 9
Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus
answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand
these things? 11 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know
and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12
If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you
believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into
heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And
just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man
be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17
"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but
in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:1-17 (NRSV)
When
I was a little girl, I loved going on car rides after dark. Early in the evening,
before the shades were drawn, you could drive by houses and see the families
inside going about their evening. I could see how the house was decorated and
what the family looked like. I would sometimes wonder – do they have a better
life than me? How would my life be different if I lived there? As I looked from
the darkness into their lighted rooms I would wonder, “What might I be missing
out on in not knowing this family?”
I
wonder if Nicodemus stood outside the house of Jesus and peaked through the
window wondering the same thing? Did he watch as Jesus sat and ate his dinner?
Did he wait outside and look for some answers to who this man was and wonder,
how would my life be different if I were in there with him? What might I be missing
out on in not knowing this man?
Nicodemus
was a man who had a lot going for him, but the problem when you have a lot
going for you is you also have a lot to lose. He was a member of the Sanhedrin,
which means he was a highly educated teacher and theologian of the Jewish
faith. He was a leader at the Synagogue. Yet, here he stands in the darkness,
waiting to make sure that no one is looking before he goes to knock on the door
of the man that many of his colleagues call a fake. Nicodemus has a lot going
for him but in the dark he knows, he also has a lot to lose.
The
darkness of doubt can be a powerful thing. Sometimes we have to wonder which is
more difficult: dealing with our own doubts or facing others who doubt us because
of our choices or beliefs. Nicodemus has doubt about Jesus and yet seems to earnestly
want to believe in him, but the fact that he comes under cover of darkness also
tells us he fears the doubts of his peers. He comes seeking some assurance that
Jesus is indeed sent from God, but we can’t help but notice he leaves still in
the darkness of doubt.
“We
know you are of God because of the signs you do,” Nicodemus says. But Jesus
replies, the proof that I am of God isn’t in what I do, it is in who I am and
you can’t understand that unless you are born anothen. Depending upon the translation of the bible you are
reading, it may say born again/anew, or born from above. Seemingly two
different things and yet the Greek word, anothen
means both “again” and “above” at the same time. Nicodemus, however, focuses
only on the born again meaning. He gets caught up in the literal or earthly meaning
and thus takes off on a ridiculous discussion on how we can’t possibly reenter
he womb as grown adults.
Jesus
tries to explain the power of the Holy Spirit to give birth to a new life
within us, yet Nicodemus struggles to grasp the idea. “How can these things be?”
he asks. It is the last word he will have in this conversation and then he
steps out into the darkness again. Nicodemus has hit a stumbling block that
keeps many folks from knowing Jesus still today. The question “how can these
things be” always seem to be on the lips of those who seek Jesus.
John
Wesley, the father of The United Methodist Church, was ordained as an Anglican
priest in 1728. For the next ten years he taught, preached, led small groups,
was active in ministries to the poor and imprisoned, traveled to the new land
of America and served as a priest in Savanna under General Oglethorpe, and made
a large impression upon those who met him. His influence in those ten years was
great. What very few people knew, however, was that John Wesley almost always
had that same questions burning his lips as did Nicodemus – “How can these
things be?” For ten years, he proclaimed
Christ as one who brought light into the dark places of life, the one who
forgave our sins, who loved us with a grace than we could little fathom. He
proclaimed all of these beliefs and yet in his heart he feared none of them
were true for him. Wesley struggled with feeling unworthy of God’s love. He
struggled to believe that he alone was good enough and so he worked harder
trying to prove his worth. He would prove himself useful for great things for
God’s kingdom, but his heart was tortured with the same dark doubt of
Nicodemus. How can these things be?
It
is easy for any of us to trip on this stumbling block of doubt. For some of us,
the worry is we aren’t worthy enough, we haven’t been good enough, served
enough, or perfected enough. For others, the worry is we don’t understand
enough, reason enough, or have witnessed enough to have all the needed answers
to overcome our doubts. Jesus shows us a few things in his discussion with
Nicodemus that I think are most helpful in the midst of such doubts.
1. Don’t rely only on your own understanding (vs.
2, 11)
Nicodemus
and his colleagues mainly relied upon their own understanding of God. It was an
understanding with a great foundation built upon centuries of teachings,
traditions, laws, and prophets. When he stated, “We know that you are from God,”
he was implying, “We” should know because “we” know the things of God.
Jesus
says, “Do you?” Because if you know I’m from God, why have you ignored my
witness? Why are you only looking at the miracles but not listening to what I’m
saying? Why are you not listening to my followers who know something of God as
well based upon their experience with me?
Wesley
was the son of a priest and a devout mother educated in the scriptures. He was
trained at Oxford in a religious education. Wesley “knew” the things of God,
but he did not know God in his heart. On his way to Georgia, his ship was
caught in a severe storm and he realized he was terrified of dying. It created
quite a crisis for him because he knew it meant he had no assurance in his own
salvation.
There
was no way for Wesley to understand his way out of this hole of doubt on his
own. So he sought the help of others who he witnessed as having the assurance
of salvation that he so desperately yearned for. He found his way to the
Moravians and spent years learning from them about a faith that seemed quite
different from the head knowledge of his Anglican roots. With the Moravians, he
began to learn about a religion of the heart.
If
you want to move from doubt to wisdom we have to be willing to seek
understanding from outside of your own knowledge. Of course we choose carefully
and with critical discernment, but we must be open to hearing the witness
others proclaim of God to see if we can deepen what we know and experience of
God.
2. Keep your eye on heavenly things (vs. 5-8)
Lest
we get too caught up in the search for head knowledge of God, we must balance
it with Jesus’ reminder to keep our eye on the things from above. Like a wind
that blows yet we can’t see it, the Spirit is blowing in our lives. Just
because we can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. If we keep our eyes
focused for spiritual cues, we will see what the Spirit moves and nudges with a
fresh breath of life and wisdom. If we remain watchful of the Holy Spirit
around us, we will gain in the wisdom of faith as we see evidence all around us
of God’s guiding hand.
Jesus
goes on to tell Nicodemus that the Son of Man is the only one who has descended
to earth so as to bring God closer to humanity in order to allow us to see God
and know God better in this world.
Why
would God do such an amazing thing? "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17
"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but
in order that the world might be saved through him.
There
lies the third thing we must do to be transformed from doubt to wisdom:
3. Allow yourself to be loved by God.
Without
the need to prove yourself first, without having all the answers, without
reaching perfection – just allow yourself to be loved because God so loved you
he sent his son to save you.
John Wesley was a priest
for ten years doing some great things for God’s kingdom, but he was a man
tortured with the feeling that no matter what he did, he wasn’t enough to be
worthy of God’s love. He went through pits of darkness feeling inadequate and
full of doubt. On May 24, 1738, everything changed for John Wesley. He
describes that night in his journal: “In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in
Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the
Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which
God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely
warmed. I felt I
did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me
that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and
death."
Folks, there probably isn’t a
person alive that doesn’t doubt at times. Whether we doubt the legitimacy of
God’s existence or the possibility of our own lovability, we all have doubts
somewhere on that spectrum. What saddens me about Nicodemus’ story is that he
never truly seems to come out of the darkness of his doubts. We will encounter
him two more times in John’s Gospel. In Chapter 7, he speaks to the council and
advocates for a fair trial for Jesus but stops short of defending his
innocence. In his final appearance, he doesn’t speak at all, but he shows up to
help Joseph of Arimathea bury the body of Jesus in a tomb. How sad it is that
he never found the assurance of faith to step out into the light until headed
to the cemetery.
Seek
understanding
Keep
your eyes focused on spiritual things
Know
that you are loved
When
we do this, we can have the blessed assurance of a faith that brings light into
the darkness of doubt and illuminates the wisdom of truth: the Son of God was sent
to love you – even you.
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