Pastor Scott
Jonas
I am Born
Again
John 3
12/17/17
As we
approach Christmas we continue through John’s Gospel. The light has entered the world and
penetrated the darkness. John calls all
to Baptism men, women, jew and gentile for the kingdom of heaven is near. The Baptist sees Jesus and announces “The
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John doesn’t fully understand Jesus but he
whole heartedly follows him. Jesus and
his followers crash a wedding in Cana.
Instead of a plus one, Jesus brought a whole crowd. They ran out of wine. But Jesus created all vegetation on the third
day. He has no problem creating wine out
of water. As Michael said last week, “Jesus
is the Master of the Feast, no one in his kingdom will go without.”
Today, we
eavesdrop on a conversation between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus. Before we get into their meeting, let’s look
at Nicodemus’ biography. What do we know
about him this mystery man who whispers in the night? We only learn about him from John’s
Gospel. The easiest way to label him is
that he is an “expert.” John says that
Nicodemus was a man of the Pharisees and a ruler of the Jews. Let me put that into perspective. At the time of Jesus there were 6,000 pharisees
who pledged their life to obey every detail of the Old Testament Law. There were millions of Jews in Palestine but
only 6,000 known as the brotherhood.
He was an
expert on the first five books of Moses.
Had them memorized. Some
Pharisees knew the Law so well, they could put a pin through a scroll and tell
you what word it stopped on. The
Pharisees believed that Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy had
everything a person needs to live a moral life.
One Pharisee said, “The Law is complete; it contains everything
necessary for living a good life therefore in the law must be a regulation for
every possible incident in every possible moment for every possible man.” Nicodemus was an expert on life as a
believing Jew.
He was also
an expert on Jewish politics. When John
says Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews, that means that he was a member of the
Sanhedrin. They were a 70 member council
that supervised the Jewish People. They
were the Jewish supreme court. They had
jurisdiction over not just Jews in Jerusalem but over all Jews wherever they
may be. Nicodemus had to be an expert on
heresy and false prophets.
So
Nicodemus, this expert, came to Jesus at night.
Makes sense. Maybe he was scared
of being seen talking one on one with a potential false prophet. The Pharisees grilled Jesus during the
day. That was supposed to be enough
evidence for Nicodemus. If he is caught
talking to Jesus it could mean he loses his position on the Sanhedrin. It could mean he violated his pledge as a Pharisee
and he would be kicked out of the brotherhood.
It could also mean that his distinguished Jewish family would be
disgraced. So he finds Jesus at night. But why does he look for Jesus with all of
this to lose?
There is
another stumbling block between he and Jesus.
His expertise. Experts have a
hard time trusting anyone. Those who
know less than you can’t be trusted because your knowledge outweighs
theirs. And you don’t want to admit that
another expert knows more than you because that undermines your
credibility. Experts do not like having
their knowledge undermined. So the
default position for an expert is to pretend you know everything. Sometimes experts pretend for so long that
they forget the limits of their expertise.
It’s an unfortunate contrast. One
becomes an expert by asking a lot of questions of those who know more than you
do but once you obtain their knowledge then you stop asking questions. You stop growing. Experts claim to see things
others can’t. You just have to trust them
on that.
But experts
who are honest with themselves realize that the more you know the more you know
experts can be wrong. I had this
conversation with a friend of mine about Global warming. He didn’t understand why I needed my
questions answered about climate change.
His philosophy was to trust the experts, the climate scientists even
though he didn’t understand the science behind it. I told him that as a protestant I look
skeptically at experts whether they be pope’s, scientists or pastors. As a pastor, I’m by all definitions an expert
on the Bible. I’ve studied it more than
99% of the population. But because of
that I know there are experts who twist the Bible to say whatever their heart
desires. I am wary of other
experts. It is amazing at all that
Nicodemus bravely overcomes his fears, overcomes his biases, and initiates a
conversation with Jesus.
He whispers
to Jesus saying, “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.” Nicodemus addresses Jesus as a fellow expert,
giving him due honor as a Rabbi. But
remember, there are a lot of Rabbis and Rabbis have less credibility than a
Pharisee on the Sanhedrin from a distinguished family. But he adds that Jesus has a connection to
God that goes beyond teaching, beyond scholastics. Jesus has real power that produces signs like
turning water into wine.
Jesus says,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom
of God.”
Imagine all
of the questions hitting Nicodemus at once.
Is he talking being born again literally or figuratively? Is he talking about me? Does he think I, an expert, can’t see the
kingdom of God? What does he think that
I lack? I know the Law forwards and
backwards. I was circumcised into the
faith on the 8th day. My
family goes back to David. I grew up in
the church. My family helped build the
synagogue. What better credentials do I
need. What more do I have to know?
Nicodemus
gives a reply, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb and be
born?” This doesn’t sound like an honest
question. It sounds like he is being
sarcastic, knowing that physical rebirth is impossible. Jesus “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is
born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit.[c] 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ 8
The wind[e] 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.”
Stunned, now Nicodemus replies with an honest
question, “How can these things be?
“Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do
not understand these things? That hit
him right where it hurts. Jesus
questions his expertise.
11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of
what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you[f] do not receive
our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how
can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into
heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.[g] 14 And 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.
Jesus is telling Nicodemus, “Through
me you can be born again.” You can be
made new. The old Nicodemus full of
academic pride and political arrogance will be washed away. All you have to do is believe that I am the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World. You don’t have to understand it, you just
have to trust me. Little children trust
me and they don’t know anything. You
have to set aside all of your credentials and cling to my credentials. I am who I am.
I bet you
have an expertise. Maybe it’s in the
field in which you work. Or maybe you
have an expertise in your family. No one
knows them like you do. My guess is that
you have an expertise in Lutheranism.
You have been to so many worship services. You know the liturgy. You know the doctrine.
Do you trust
Jesus more than your expertise? Today,
we baptized Peyton Toney. He is a baby
and knows shockingly little about the world, let alone God. But he trust his mom, Lauren and his father,
Bryan. Peyton doesn’t understand how
Baptism works. But neither do I. I’m an expert. I trust Jesus when he says, baptize in my
name and you will be born again. How
does it work? Water and the word. But there are things happening that we can’t
see. Just trust.
When someone asks you if you are born
again I hope you don’t say no I’m Lutheran.
Lutheran isn’t in the Bible but being born again is. You are born again. Try to understand it, but don’t let all of
you expertise become a barrier. You are
born of Spirit. You are part of the
Kingdom of God. You are not bound by the
Flesh. At your baptism Jesus blew you a
kiss and said, “You are mine.”