Sermon John 3:1-21 Born From Above

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon John 3:1-21 Born From Above

March 16, 2014

This is the second Sunday in the season of Lent. And we shift gears. We enter into the Gospel of John and we will be looking at four people who have personal interactions with Jesus. Next week we will meet a Samaritan woman, this will be followed by a blind man and finally a dead man brought back to life. Today we will look at a political and religious leader who came to talk with Jesus. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

“Loving God, you have given me the gift of this new day, and you send me out to live it fully and well. Help me to be attentive to your direction and leading. If you should call me to go in some direction, give me courage to try this new thing. If you present me with a mysterious truth or grace, help me to understand, or to seek understanding, with a sense of wonder and faith. Whatever this day may hold, I trust that you will keep me in all my comings and goings. In your Son’s name, I pray. Amen”.¹

John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Nicodemus was a member of the ruling Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, a very powerful man. He was a Pharisee, a member of a major conservative political party. And he was a scribe, a very knowledgeable man in the Hebrew law, prophets and psalms. He came to Jesus at night, probably to hide his meeting from others who might question why he was meeting Jesus. He was curious about Jesus, but he had not yet come to belief. Let's listen in to their conversation.

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?

As we know from our study of Matthew, Jesus has come to Earth to initiate the reign of God in the Kingdom of Heaven. Nicodemus wants to know what this is all about. And Jesus has told him that it is like a rebirth. People enter the kingdom of heaven by being reborn. This confused Nicodemus so he replied with an absurdity, wondering how someone could reenter their mother's womb. This is not at all what Jesus was talking about. For Jesus, entering the Kingdom of Heaven requires a transformation of life; you become a new person; you are born again.

This is work of the Holy Spirit. When you accept the Spirit into your lives he begins the lifelong work of changing you into an adopted child of God. God created us in his image. But this image of God in us was defaced by sin. As a result it is no longer visible. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, God's image is restored in us, and we grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Sadly, Nicodemus could not understand these things. He knew about God, but he never experienced God in his life. This experience of God in your life is the Holy Spirit. It is what Jesus means by baptism of the Holy Spirit. Our water baptism is symbolic of the reality that the Spirit is at work in our lives. But for Nicodemus this has never happened. He has settled for just knowing about God. He has never taken the next step from knowing about God to knowing God intimately through his Spirit.

How do you move from knowing about God to knowing God intimately? You do that through spiritual practices. Jesus told us to pray and meditate on scripture every day, fast, and give generously to the poor. Do these things and you will be filled with the Spirit of God, who will make you more and more like Jesus Christ.

Let's now listen to Jesus' teaching to Nicodemus.

11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

So according to Jesus, Nicodemus did not believe even though he has seen signs and miracles. Therefore he must not have been reborn to new life by spiritual baptism. Had he received this kind of baptism he would believe that Jesus had come from heaven and would return after being lifted up on a cross and resurrected from the dead. And this kind of belief is necessary for eternal life.

I urge you to examine your faith. Do you believe that Jesus came from God? Do you believe he died for our sins? Do you believe he was resurrected to new life? If you do then you have received baptism of the Holy Spirit and you are assured of eternal life. If not, then you must fast, give to poor, and pray that God will fill you with the Holy Spirit, transformation of life, and belief in Jesus Christ. Once this happens you too can be assured of eternal life. Let's listen to the promise that Jesus made for all who believe in him.

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John Buchanan was a Presbyterian pastor for nearly half a century. He recalls a baptism of a two-year-old boy in his congregation. After the child was baptized with water, Rev. Buchanan put his hand on the boy's forehead and said, “You are a child of God, sealed by the Spirit in your baptism, and you belong to Jesus Christ forever." Unexpectedly, the little boy looked up and responded, "Uh-oh." According to Rev. Buchanan this was the correct response. When the Holy Spirit comes into your life everything changes. You become a new person. You belong to God. Your life radically changes. You believe in Jesus Christ and are assured of eternal life. And now you are called to love your neighbor as much as God loves you. Uh-oh, your life will never be the same.²

I think Nicodemus did finally come to belief in Jesus Christ. At Jesus' trial he risked his own life intervening on Jesus' behalf. And after the crucifixion he helped Joseph of Arimathea take Jesus' body to the tomb. Church tradition tells us that Nicodemus was martyred for his faith. And so we can expect that he, being loved by God, now enjoys eternal life.

Let us pray. Father in Heaven we ask that the Holy Spirit come upon us this day baptizing us into new life in Christ. Help us to come to belief not just with out minds, but with Christ like behavior. And we thank you for the promise of eternal life. Amen.

1Kimberly Long, Feasting On the Word Worship Companion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013), 104.

2Adapted from Thomas G. Long, http://day1.org/3823-the_start_of_the_trail