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In an effort to guard and maintain his pristine reputation,
he seeks out Jesus at night. We read
these passages in the Gospel of John chapter three, beginning in verse one, and
we are quick to think less of Nicodemus for being so concerned with his own
reputation to seek out Jesus at night.
Because had it been us, in his place, we would have boldly sought out
Christ in broad daylight, declared ourselves His most ardent disciple (move
over Peter), and made sure we were the ones who Jesus could depend on in any
situation, right? But, where is our
public declaration(s) at work, at school, at the mall? And perhaps more important than carrying a
sign that might identify us as Christians, where are our private declaration(s)
that God and those in need alone, can easily see that we follow the God of
love, and not of judgment? Sometimes
Christians are publicly Christians when the numbers and company favor being
one, and conveniently silent when they do not.
Sometimes Christians declare themselves to be Christians, with placards
that condemn the evil in others, instead of offering a love that might offer
one steeped in evil, a reason to think differently. Perhaps there are more night-movers in a
modern church than we might at first think.
Nicodemus begins his encounter with Jesus in this way, in secret, at
night, and to protect his reputation.
His opening remarks and question to Christ are couched in
respect, but also in flattery. In verse
2 Nicodemus says … “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for
no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” The term Rabbi is one used for respected
teachers, and from his perspective, He is elevating Jesus to be a peer, a
contemporary teacher, a person of respect, even though Jesus does not appear to
be wealthy, or formally educated, or a man of means and influence. Nicodemus, perhaps subconsciously, takes
Jesus down a peg, by calling him a “teacher” come from God, not the Son of
God. He also refers to this, as common
knowledge. Here is the essence of modern
Christianity, we come to Jesus and proceed to tell Him what we “know”. We flatter Him with our words, while at the
same time, place Him as nothing more than a contemporary of ours. His wisdom is worth no more than our own,
after all we have common sense, and an absolute certainty about what the
scriptures teach us is the truth. So we
proceed to tell Jesus, what the truth is, and what is common knowledge to us.
Having been greeted in this manner, at this time of day, and
knowing the reasons behind it; Jesus should have been insulted. Here He has the perfect opportunity to put
Nicodemus in his place, remind him who He is, as opposed to who Nicodemus is,
in relationship to God. Confront and
correct the errors in the thinking of Nicodemus, by telling him everything
about how mistaken Nicodemus is in his interpretations of scripture. He could have told him, Hey, come back in the
morning if you really care about truth, and next time, remember who My Dad
is. What’s more He could have told
people after this encounter how the “respected” Nicodemus came to seek wisdom
from Him, thus proving He was greater than the Sanhedrin. Of course all these human responses to
insults, and errors, do not seem to even enter the mind of Christ. Christ did not concern himself with the
implied insult of the time of day, or even with the errors in everything
Nicodemus has just said. Instead He
changes the subject completely and offers Nicodemus a truth of profound
spirituality, that summarizes the entire Gospel in one line. We might call it a sound-bite in modern
terminology, but it was way more than that.
In verse 3, Jesus says to him … “Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Here
is a one line summary of every scripture Nicodemus has ever learned. Here is a summation of every philosophical
concept about the nature of man ever pondered by deep thinkers. In effect, we must be re-created in order to
even perceive the kingdom of God. Jesus
must deal with the blindness of Nicodemus before he will be able to even “see”
the truth. For the truth is not found in
his long study of the word, it is summarized in the Person standing before
him. The voice who inspired the
scriptures is now trying to open the mind of Nicodemus to begin to think
differently, perceive differently, and find something that humanity on its own,
is incapable of finding. To be “born
again” is not some slogan Christians wore out in the 1970’s, pairing it with
“free love” and trying to associate it with “speaking in tongues”. Being born again is about being fully
re-created, the death of a carnal self-centered ideology, and the birth of a
self-less-service based ideology that mimics the definition of love that Christ
brought to the world. One does not
choose how to be born, this is done outside of our control. Begin created the first time, was a decision
of love made by others. Similarly, being
reborn is not something we can do for ourselves. It is a gift of love offered to us, done for
us, by the hands of the only Creator God who has ever existed. This is what we must have, in order for the
blindness of our own ideas about scripture to be fully and finally taken
away. It will take a power outside of
ourselves, to remake us, in order that we might begin to “see” truth.
But Nicodemus is still blind. So his response is a human one, based on the
current laws of physics. To Nicodemus,
this idea is simply nonsense. How could
a fully grown person be reborn from his mother once again? This is crazy talk. Again Jesus does not rebuke Nicodemus for
still being blind, or thinking He is crazy.
He does not ridicule Nicodemus, and He does not abandon what He has just
summarized, instead He elaborates a bit more, again attempting to get Nicodemus
to begin to “see” truth differently.
Nothing in the doctrine Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus is counter to
anything taught by all the scriptures of the Old Testament. Yet Jesus is employing none of the traditions
or symbolisms upon which the entire Jewish religion is based. Jesus did not throw the law at
Nicodemus. He did not cite the need to
keep the Sabbath, or sacrifice lambs on the alter at Passover, in order for
Nicodemus to finally see truth. Those
ideas Nicodemus already practiced, and despite this fact, they had not led him
to the truth he was still blind to.
Attempting obedience before a re-creation is attempting to find
salvation on our own, and through our own strength and ideas about truth, and
it is fruitless. Good ideas, and good
intentions, are not what our Lord wants.
He wants us to see truth as truth, and this can only be accomplished if
we first recognize our need for outside power to remake who we are.
In verses 4 and 5 Jesus answers Nicodemus again … “Except a
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God. [verse 6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit.” Here Christ
points out the sequence in how this rebirth is to take place. Being born of water, or through the symbolism
of baptism, Christ points us to the need we have of rebirth. We exist in a condition of pain. Most of our pain is self-inflicted from the
evil we embrace. While our evil hurts
others and causes ripples of pain that extend out in every direction, at the
center of this pain is still us. We hurt
ourselves by what we do, and how we think, and what we want. It is the core of us, that must be remade,
reborn, re-created. This is our so great
need, and the reason why John called for repentance. Not to simply be forgiven for what we do, but
the desire to be something else. The
desire in us, to escape our state of perpetual slavery to self and pain, to sin
no more; to repent, not just of what we have done, but of what we still want to
do; this was the call of John in the desert.
Who you are defines what you do.
The Spirit then, is the agent outside of ourselves, that
must be the mechanism, the gift of our re-creation. It is through the Holy Spirit that Christ
remakes us into the new creations He intended for us to be. This is an act we have no more control over
than we did at our first birth. We do
not get to tell the Holy Spirit how to remake us, what areas to leave alone,
and what areas we think we need help in.
This is an all or nothing deal.
This is about complete renovation, not minor alterations. This is not about our own ideas of truth. This is about beginning to see truth for the
first time clearly. The removal of our
self-inflicted blindness will only happen as we abandon our ideas, and be
willing to accept a complete overhaul of who we are, how we think and what we
want. This being born of the Spirit,
changes the rules of physics. We begin
to see that our perceived boundaries are really no longer true boundaries,
because we exist no more as humans taking care of ourselves, but as new creations
wholly reliant on God. It is no longer
our power used to defeat evil within us, it is the power of God who defeats
evil within us on our behalf. It is no
longer our meager attempts at obedience, but rather true obedience from a heart
that embraces the gifts God offers. The
Sabbath is no longer a chore, but a treasured time with Christ, we would not
abandon for the world. The chance to
praise God in church is no longer about pretense, and social ratings, but about
a treasured opportunity to say thank you to a God who has freed us from ourselves,
and our bondage to selfishness.
Perceptions of reality change post a true rebirth in Christ. What was once seen as impossible, is now
merely child’s play, as we now acknowledge where all things of power can truly
be found. It is no longer us. It is only Him.
Christ continues, by saying “Marvel not”. In other words, don’t be so surprised
Nicodemus. You have no idea where the
wind comes from or where it is going.
You do not control the wind. Why
did you think you could control “who” you are? Why do we?
Being born of the Spirit is something that happens outside of our
abilities. We must invite it. But we do not control it. It controls us. It replaces our slavery to self with the
freedom that comes from self-less-ness.
Here Christ keeps the conversation centralized on “how” a person is
saved from evil. It is not about lamb’s
blood at Passover. It is not about all
the traditions the religious leadership has instituted to help people “keep”
the law. It is not about how educated
you are, how smart you are, how rich you are, or how healthy you are. It is about recognizing it takes something
outside of yourself to be remade into something new. You DO NOT CONTROL it. You benefit from it. It is a gift.
It is the gift of salvation. No
earning it. No buying it. Just receiving it. It changes who you are.
Nicodemus still clings to his own ideas about truth; ideas
that are based on years of study, years of education, years of pondering the
meaning of scripture. These ideas and
education have earned him prominence in Israelite society. And in all his years, he has never even
considered, that salvation came from outside of himself. Still clinging to his ideology he again
mutters … “How can these things be?” To
this stubborn clinging to human wisdom, Jesus must chide Nicodemus a bit to
wake him up. In verse 10 Jesus responds
… “art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?” From the perspective of Christ, how could you
study the law, the prophets, and creation and NOT come to these
conclusions? How could all the education
have led you somewhere else? Did you not
read the stories of the Old Testament and see the repeated failures of
humanity, and find their success only when they trusted themselves to God? Only when they submitted to God were the
victories ever witnessed. How could you
have read so much, and missed the point entirely? How do we?
How is it we read the Old Testament and focus on the violence of human
actions, missing entirely the point of those stories. It is only when we submit to God that His
victory is wrought within us. And just
like Nicodemus that is not what we have seen.
We focus on the human actions and think that is the way we will be
saved. Here is Christ saying, you don’t
get it. That is not how it works.
Jesus continues in verse 12 … “If I have told you earthly
things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly
things? [verse 13] And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down
from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” Here Jesus corrects what Nicodemus first said
in addressing Him. Here Jesus says, you
called me a teacher come from God, but you are not accepting what I am telling
you about truth. How then can you accept
what I want to tell you about heaven, where only I have been? Jesus re-asserts his divinity. Jesus tells Nicodemus here, it is not your
ideas that define truth, it is me. It is
not your understanding that brings about salvation, it is literally your belief
in Me, and in my mission. You must
accept that salvation will come from outside of yourself, and I alone am that
vehicle. Then comes the most profound
and detailed verses in all of scripture about the nature and mission of Christ.
In verse 14 Jesus continues … “And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: [verse 15]
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Here is where the rubber meets the road. Your salvation did not come through the actions
of Moses, but through the belief that God could and would save you. Here Christ says to Nicodemus, I am the
sacrifice that the symbolism of the sacrificial system pointed forward to. It will be me lifted up on a cross, for your
salvation Nicodemus. And as it was in
the days of Israel of old, you will not be saved because of your actions, you
will be saved because you believe that I can and I will save you. Christ alone, being the Son of God, could do
this work, fulfill this mission, and enable salvation for all of mankind. Having done it, it would take a continued
belief that God would do what He said, and change who you are, give you the
rebirth, and recreation you must have in order to escape the bondage of sin.
In verse 16, Jesus articulates the reason why He, and His
Father God would do this work … “For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” The most quoted text
in the Bible, the most repeated verse in all of scriptures, are spoken by the
mouth of Christ, to the ears of Nicodemus, in the dark of night. Praise God, that John was there to record the
conversation, and preserve it for you and I.
The reason we are saved is because of the infinite love of God for
us. Our God loved us more than He loved
His own life. Our God loved us so much,
that as a Father, He would willing part with His own Son, to see Him tortured
and killed by the very creation He was there to redeem. Our God, both Father and Son and Spirit,
loved us this much. That despite our
lack of knowledge of truth, our intentional self-inflicted blindness, our own
sense of self-worth to dare to tell God what truth is, He would still love us
more than all of it, and save us from ourselves in spite of it. Love was THE reason, we exist, and we would
be saved. This motive alone moves the
actions, the mission, the words, and the deeds of Christ. This motive alone – not to boost His own ego
(He has none) – not to achieve some sort of wealth (He measures wealth in us) –
not to win some sort of contest with Satan (He won that before it began). It was love, plain and simple. Love alone is the only reason He would do it
all.
In verse 17, our very Savior continues … “For God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him
might be saved.” Here Christ lays out
the purpose of His mission, and directly addresses the misconceptions that have
arisen regarding the point of the Messiah.
He is not there to judge the world.
There will be no Roman overthrow.
There will be no wicked punished.
There will be no misdeeds made right, and inequalities addressed, and
justice instantiated throughout the planet.
These things will not be achieved by force, but by love. What must precede them, is the work of
enabling love within us. What must
precede a perfect world of justice, is the desire for others above our
own. This rebirth cannot be attained
until the mission of the Messiah has been fulfilled. There will be no righteous judgment of
condemnation upon the evil of others.
There will be instead redemption and salvation. Despite these direct words of Christ Himself
as to His own mission, modern Christians so often jump the gun, and believe the
work of judgment and righteous condemnation belongs to them. Not even Christ came to condemn. But somehow modern Christians feel the need
to compel their own ideas about truth on the lives of others, whether by law,
or by placard. What Christ alone would
not do, we somehow think we are qualified to do? The work of Christ was salvation. Those who bear His name, should embrace His
mission, not try to redefine it.
In verse 18, He continues … “He that believeth on him is not
condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Jesus tells Nicodemus, I am here to save you
and the world at large. I am the vehicle
of your salvation. If you believe this
you are not condemned to the life you were born to. If you do not believe in the only Creator God
is who is capable of changing who you are, you are simply embracing the person
you are today, with no hope to change, no hope to be someone else, and as such,
you are condemned already. You are who
you are Nicodemus. You are who you are
modern Christian. There is no denying
who you are. Lie as you will to
others. Fight as hard as you want to
deny it to yourself. But who you are,
must be remade new, reborn to Christ, if you are ever to really change and want
something else. This is the unmistakable
truth about the Messiah. Salvation comes
from outside of ourselves, not within us.
It must be accepted as a gift, no other way. To reject a belief that Christ can and will
save you, is to leave yourself as you are – born of the flesh, and condemned to
the slavery of serving self, and the pain that it brings. There is only one hope outside of
yourself. There is only one offer on the
table that is real, and offered by the Creator.
Then in verse 19 Christ redefines for Nicodemus and for us
what “condemnation” actually means … “And this is the condemnation, that light
is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their
deeds were evil. [verse 20] For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. [verse 21] But
he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God.”
Condemnation is NOT the fires of Hell, we like to think of. It is living a life that prefers to “love darkness”
rather than living free in the light and truth of God. Being a slave is its own version of
hell. Living like we do is living under
the weight of condemnation, and the pain we choose to embrace and inflict. Our lives are the problem. Our deeds are the cause of our pain. It is who we are that is the hell of
separation from God, because we choose it.
It is this Christ came to redeem us from. Not just from some far off fiery lake of
flames and torment, but from the here and now of the pain that comes from our
sins and our choices. This is what those
who refuse to believe that Christ will save them, are doomed to
experience. Whether Christian or not,
believing that salvation comes from within us, perpetuates the doom of this
life, this existence, and this pattern of sin and pain. It is only when accept the gift of Christ
that our condition can finally be remade.
Notice too, the end of verse 21 referring to the deeds of
truth Christ says … “they are wrought in God.”
Our actions are NOT our own, even after being remade. They are BECAUSE of the rebirth, not to
achieve it. We do deeds of truth because
of the effect of love that completely remakes us in His image. His love has a transformative effect on our
very thinking process. Deeds that can be
done in the presence of God, in the beauty of His light, that would cause us
and others no shame, are those deeds inspired by love for others, more than
love for self. The absence of ego is our
beginning. The absence of self, even
self-preservation, is the beginning of the love Christ offered on our
behalf. When this transformation is
enacted within us, our deeds become those which are wrought in God. Even past the act of transformation, even
past the act of surrender to Christ that brings re-creation, it is still not
us. It is still acts wrought in God, not
OUR acts that define our transformation.
Even past the initial re-creation is the ongoing renewal powered only by
Christ and the Holy Spirit.
This ends the encounter between the religious leader and
Christ for now. Nicodemus came to
Christ, thinking he did Christ a favor, when instead everything he thought he
knew, was blown away like so much dust.
How similar it is for those of us who are willing to encounter Christ
today. Everything we think we know about
scripture and doctrine and tradition are blown away in the presence of such
overwhelming love and redemptive power. For
it is not the interpretation of scripture where Nicodemus found truth, instead
he found it in the person of Jesus Christ.
It is not in the law that Christ told Nicodemus the secret to how he
would be saved. Salvation would only
come from outside of himself, and outside of us. There is only one Creator God, and only one
offer of true change, true reformation, true transformation away from the
condemnation of pain we live with every day.
Rebirth, re-creation, renewal is what our God came to bring us. He did it because He loves us, for no other
reason. His mission was not to judge or
condemn but to redeem and save us from pain.
His mission has not changed. His
motive has not changed. His love is as
alive now, as it was when He walked this earth.
He does not turn Nicodemus away for his ignorance. He welcomes the engagement and uses the
opportunity to give to the world perhaps the most precious words ever
spoken. His gift is to more than just
Nicodemus, or John, it is to you, it is to me.
And it has not stopped giving yet …
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