“Engaging the Mind of Nicodemus”

John 3:1-17

March 8, 2020

 

One of the most significant questions for the gospel of John is:  Who is Jesus?

The second most significant question is:  What does the answer to that first question mean for my life?

In our text for today, we discover how alive was this question in the first century,

and we discover that the mind of one particular Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus,

was very much engaged in this question of the identity of Jesus of Nazareth.

Nicodemus had heard Jesus speak in the Temple courtyard.

He had noticed that there was something truly different about this rabbi from Galilee.

Nicodemus had reasoned that the very power of God must be at work in this engaging teacher

and healer, and so, with what seemed to be an open mind about what God might be up to,

Nicodemus decided to make a visit to Jesus.

Nicodemus was a well-educated man, but he was also prudent,  

so he chose to make his visit to Jesus under the cover of darkness.

His reputation and position among the Temple leaders was not something to be trifled with,

so Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, to “test the waters”, so to speak.

 

Hear the Word of God from John 3:1-17

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.

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.’

Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God

without being born from above.’

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?’

Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God

without being born of water and Spirit.

What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.”

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.’

Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’

Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

‘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.

If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe,

how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

And just 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,

so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

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 Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

 

I have a confession to make – I am a relatively typical Presbyterian.

Many of us who were born and bred Presbyterian typically do not anticipate

or even appreciate radical, fresh starts.

We don’t necessarily desire to start all over again in our life of faith. 

Many Presbyterians, like Pharisees, like tradition. We like stability.

We like things done “decently and in order.”

Phrases like “shocking change” do not often show up in our personal goals for the year.

Phrases like “radical new beginning” do not often appear in the minutes of our session meetings.

More often than not, our hope for the future entails a continuation of the way things have been

in the same general direction, perhaps with some incremental improvement of current circumstances.  

Like author Eugene Peterson, we aim for “a long obedience in the same direction”.  

We seldom seek to end completely what we have known so that some stark new beginning may occur.

 

Nicodemus probably would have been a wonderful Presbyterian elder or pastor.

As a respected Pharisee, he was an unusually dedicated man of God.

He was a faithful servant of the Temple and a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling party.

The Sanhedrin of the early first century in Jerusalem was like a combination of our U.S. Senate,

the Supreme Court and the Pope’s cabinet, all wrapped into one body of 70 men.

These men ran the Temple “decently and in order”,

Their goal was to govern their nation in a manner acceptable to God.

These Pharisees were not ordinary men.

They separated themselves from many aspects ordinary daily life

so that they would be free to keep every detail of the law.

They were truly dedicated to the pursuit of faithfulness. 

They gave their lives to lead their nation in proper worship and understanding of God.

Words like stability and tradition and carefulness were attributes of the Sanhedrin.

 

So when Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, under the cover of darkness,

our gospel writer wants the reader to know that something new was afoot.

This was not normal or careful for a member of the esteemed Sanhedrin

to visit an itinerant rabbi at night.

Nicodemus’ nighttime visit highlights the gospel writer’s primary interest: Who is this Jesus?

But when Nicodemus engages Jesus in conversation, he does not begin with a question,

but with an affirmation. “We know you are a teacher who has come from God!

No one could do what you’re doing if God were not with you.”

We recognize that God is with you, Jesus, so what are you up to?, Nicodemus implied.

What is God up to? Who are you?

 

Nicodemus had to be careful. He did not want this Jesus to lead his people astray.

He did not want this Galilean rabbi to undermine the careful inner workings of the Temple.  

He did not want this Jesus to cause upheaval in the tenuous relationship

between the Jewish leaders and their Roman occupiers.

But there was something different about this teacher from Galilee.

Perhaps God was up to something new in this Jesus of Nazareth.

 ‘Rabbi, Nicodemus said, no one can do what you do apart from the presence of God.’

Jesus replied, ‘Very truly, I tell you, Nicodemus, no one can see the kingdom of God

without being born again.’

If you want to enter the kingdom of God, you must be born again, you must start anew.

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?’

 

Though Nicodemus’ question seems ridiculous, even literalistic,

he was familiar with this conversation of “rebirth”.

Talk of “rebirth” was common among the Jewish leaders of the day.

Greek converts to Judaism were spoken of as “reborn”.

New believers were often called newborn infants in faith.

“Rebirth” was a key aspect of the Greek mystery religions of the day.

Scholars have claimed that the whole world was talking about rebirth and seeking renewal.

In the days leading up to this encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus,

the crowds had been going out to the wilderness to be baptized by John,

knowing full well that the dunking of a person into the waters of the Jordan River

signified death of the old life and rebirth into a new life.

So, when Nicodemus asked about entering the womb a second time and being born again,

he was ‘playing along’ with a well-known metaphor.

 

Nicodemus may have known for quite some time that he and his people

were in need of a fresh spiritual journey, a rebirth of their hearts and souls.

Nicodemus may have recognized that the time was ripe for something new,

that God had been preparing his people for some new revelation.

Nicodemus, being a faithful man, may have been praying for years for someone like Jesus to come along,

longing for a Messiah who would turn the hearts and minds and wills of his people.  

But Nicodemus also knew how set were his people in their ways,

how firm were their habits and disciplines and attitudes.

Any rebirth or renewal might have seemed just as impossible as entering the womb a second time.

 

Coming to Jesus at night, Nicodemus seems genuinely curious, perhaps even hesitantly hopeful.

Nicodemus, Jesus said,  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.’

Nicodemus replied, ‘How can these things be?’

Whoever believes in me may have eternal life, Jesus said.

Whoever turns to me will find healing and salvation.

Nicodemus, ‘For God so loved the world that he (sent me) his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in (me) may not perish but may have eternal life.

Indeed, God did not send (me) into the world to condemn the world,

but in order that the world might be saved (through me).’

 

Whatever happened with Nicodemus?

Did he receive the answers to the questions he was asking?

Did he come to know and experience rebirth?

We do not fully know. The Nicodemus story ends with many questions unanswered.

What we do know is that later, in chapter 7 of John’s gospel,

when Jesus was on trial before the powerful Sanhedrin, Nicodemus spoke up.

Nicodemus raised his voice among the powerful body of seventy members of the Sanhedrin.

He encouraged them to listen to Jesus, to hear his testimony.

Later, in chapter 19 of John’s gospel, we discover that it was Nicodemus, after Jesus had died,

who brought 100 pounds of spices to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.

This was at no small cost or risk on his part.

Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea risked their reputations and perhaps their lives

in order to give Jesus an honorable burial.

 

Though the fate of Nicodemus remains unresolved in the gospel,

his prominence in the text suggests that he may have been well known to the early church.

Nicodemus may well have become one of the leaders of the early church in Jerusalem.

It is possible that Nicodemus, upon seeing Jesus lifted up, believed,

and in believing, discovered eternal life.

 

In these lengthening days of the season of Lent, as we look forward to Holy Week and Easter,

to the lifting up of Jesus on the cross,

perhaps we, like Nicodemus, can engage our minds in that timeless question: 

Who is Jesus? And what does that mean to me?

Perhaps we can loosen our settled-ness and become curious and hopeful

about the possibility of our own rebirth.

Like Nicodemus, we cannot reason our way into God’s kingdom.

We cannot faithfully practice our way into God’s kingdom.

What we can do is turn to Jesus in trust and hope, to visit him on some quiet and dark night,

and acknowledge that we too may be ripe for a fresh start.

We too may have been preparing, though we did not know it,

for some “radical new beginning” even, in life and in faith.

 

Eternal life, life in God’s kingdom, life lived before God and with God,

life lived reconciled to God and at peace with God, with ourselves and with our neighbor,

is not something that we must wait for, not something that we must die a physical death to receive,

but a gift that can be ours, here and now, a gift that can be ours as we die to selfish interests

and self-serving schemes,  and come alive again to God.

By the grace of God, may it be so. Amen.

 

Rev. Dr. Todd Speed

Decatur Presbyterian Church

Decatur, Georgia