Theme:
Jesus and Nicodemus
Text:
“No-one can
see the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again” John 3.3 (NIV)
As
the 3rd. chapter of John’s gospel opens, we find Jesus in
But
here, when we meet him for the first time, Nicodemus has come to visit the
house where Jesus stays, steps out of the darkness outside, and into the light
of the room where Jesus is. Once in the
house, Nicodemus begins a conversation with Jesus by saying Teacher, we know that You
are one sent by God. No-one could do what You do,
unless God were with him. But Jesus
replies, directly,
No-one can see the
Nicodemus
is bewildered by this. How can a man be
born when he is old ? He asks. How can
this be ? He is obviously confused. And it’s easy
to see why. Here is a man who has taken some risk in coming at night, a man
with a high position in the Jewish ruling council, seeking Jesus, seeking
conversation with Jesus. Here is a man who sees, who is beginning to see,
something of the uniqueness of Jesus. No-one
could do what You do, unless God were with him, He says.
But Jesus brings things to a juddering halt directly, unexpectedly, by
saying:
No-one can see the
No wonder Nicodemus is confused – this is not all what he expected. He
expected a normal conversation like any other – he didn’t expect to be stopped
in his tracks in this way, by Jesus. He did not expect that Jesus would bring
things to a juddering halt like this. With these mystifying words:
No-one can see the
And for some, perhaps many,
these words are still mystifying.
On
one website, the notes for today’s Bible passage are full of questions:
What does it mean to be “born again”? What is our
salvation? Is Jesus speaking in a riddle?
And
then the notes continue:
Are there born again Christians and non-born again
Christians? How do we know if we are
born again?
And for some, perhaps many,
these words are still mystifying, raising lots of questions.
Some
have taken these words of Jesus about being born again, and have used them as a
way of separating out the real Christians. There are, some have thought, the
real Christians who are born again, and then all the rest. Small wonder that
serious faithful Christian people are relieved to turn the pages of the gospel
from these mystifying words in chapter 3, to chapter 4 and read there of Jesus’
patience, grace, and redeeming love for
a poor, sinful village woman who comes down to the village well in Samaria and
meets Jesus. Things are much clearer there.
Now,
if we are faithful Christian men and women ourselves, looking to understand
faith and life more deeply, it is quite possible that we too are brought to a
juddering halt, like Nicodemus, like others, by the words of Jesus here:
No-one can see the
it is quite possible that we too, like Nicodemus, are brought to a
juddering halt here,
by Jesus’ words:
No-one can see the
If so, then
good. We so often take for granted Church, worship, singing hymns,
readings, sermons…………. they all become well beaten paths for us……..
so
if, when Jesus says:
No-one can see the
this
makes us pause, this makes us think,
then good:
this
gives us a chance to recollect ourselves, to pause and reflect for a moment or
two….. about our faith, and where it comes from.
who we are, how we are, what we
are part of ……
Let
us, in this peaceful, quiet place and time of worship, consider the words of
Jesus, and try to understand what they mean.
But,
let us say this from the start - like Nicodemus we are earth bound. We measure
things by sight, we judge by appearances, and by human standards. We are those
who are from the earth, belong to the earth, and mostly speak and think as
those from the earth.
Yet,
Jesus is speaking of heavenly things, here, as we read in verse 12, Jesus says
to Nicodemus:
how will you ever believe me when I tell you about the
things of heaven?
We, like Nicodemus are
earthbound……..
Let
us wait, then, for God’s grace to guide us here,
knowing our own lack of sight, let us ask for His light here.
When Jesus says:
No-one can see the
What
does it mean to be “born again”? How do
we know if we are born again?
Perhaps the answer is much
simpler than we would ever have thought,
it is
this: to know Jesus, is to be born again………….
to
know Jesus Christ, is to be born again
There it is right at the very
beginning of John’s gospel, chapter 1, verse 12
to all who receive Jesus, who believe in Him
He gives the right to become children of God….born of God….
to know Jesus, is to be born
again.
And in his letters, John says
it over again in different ways,
but
it’s exactly the same thing:
1 John 3.1 How great is the love the Father has
lavished upon us that we should be called children of God ..
and that is what we are ! he
says:
How does this come about…….?
This comes about because the
gift of Jesus Christ, through
His death on the cross to take
away our sin, is new life.
This comes about because the
gift of Jesus Christ, through
His resurrection,
is new life.
This comes about because the
gift of Jesus Christ, through
His Spirit,
is new life.
This is why John can say:
1 John 5.11 God has given us eternal life and this
life is in His Son…
whoever has the Son has life…..
to
know Jesus, is to be born again
So,
to be born again, it turns out, is
one of the many ways the gospel speaks of all that is ours in Jesus Christ.
Paul, for example, calls it being in
Christ,
the writer to the Hebrews calls it,
full and perfect communion with God.
Whatever
the words are, two
things are always the same:
Being
born again, new life, communion, is God’s
gift to us.
And being born again, the new life,
communion with God,
come to us through
knowing Jesus.
These are not earthly things at all, but God’s free
gift to us.
to
know Jesus Christ, is to be born again
to
be born again is to know Jesus Christ
AMEN.