Our Scripture Lesson is John 3: 1-17, Nicodemus coming to Jesus:
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 unless God is with that person.” 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 the 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.
The
question I have about this passage is ‘when did Nicodemus put it
together’? When did he ‘get it’? Because Jesus is very clear that he has all
the tools to comprehend. Jesus puts it
flatly, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these
things?” (vs. 10).
There is a level of frustration in our
Lord Jesus whenever he deals with the religious leadership, Pharisee, scribe,
Sadducee, priest, etc. Jesus, described
as Rabbi, is out of the Pharisaic tradition.
He ‘speaks their language’.
Then Jesus goes on, 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?”
The most well-known verse in the Bible
is a part of this dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus. It is so famous, the wrestler Steve Austin latched
on to it for his own name recognition.
There is no moment in the passage
where Nicodemus goes, “Aha! So that’s what you mean!!” So we have no way to tell if this Pharisee,
who came out under cover of darkness, hungry for the truth, was ever satisfied.
Or maybe we do. Because Nicodemus shows up again at the end
of the gospel, in John 19. Jesus had
died on the cross. It is well known that
Joseph of Arimathea, a leader and believer in secret (for fear of the Jews),
received Jesus’ body and buried it in his own tomb. But less well known, in verse 39, “Nicodemus,
who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came…THEY took the body of
Jesus…according to the burial custom of the Jews…”
Jesus’ usual mode of teaching is
storytelling, in the form of parables.
There are few places where he really ‘gets to the point’. He does with Nicodemus. Three times in our passage does Jesus use his
‘catchphrase’ that marks something as truly standout, “Very truly I tell
you…” Or as Shakespeare might say,
“Verily, Verily I say unto thee” in the King James.
Or, to quote Kevin Kline in
“Silverado”, ‘That’s the good stuff.’
Peace,
Pastor
pete
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