Jesus Talking with Nick.
Numbers 21: 4 – 9; John 3: 14 – 21
To see who Jesus is, is a work of Heaven.
The Gospel according to John has some unique features. The conversations Jesus has with people forms one of those features. The Gospel according to Matthew, Mark and Luke record no conversations. They merely retain a statement or questions directed to Jesus or a person. Some scholars might add that John’s conversations are a literary device. Whatever the case may be they are valuable. Jesus talks at length to the Samaritan woman, Mary and Martha, Pontius Pilate and Nicodemus.
Nicodemus comes at night. There is tension between Jesus and the religious leaders. Maybe Nicodemus wanted to keep his respect for Jesus a secret. Maybe Nicodemus just wanted a private conversation uninterrupted by his fellow cynical and prejudicial Pharisees. We don’t know, but the conversation is interesting and helpful to us. We learn much from it.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus acknowledging that Jesus must come from God. I will call Nicodemus, Nick. Nick’s attitude contrasts with those vocal Pharisees who see Jesus as a threat. Jesus responds to Nick saying, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” [John 3:3] Jesus is saying that we don’t recognise the Kingdom of God in our own strength. God the Holy Spirit helps us see the Kingdom. If this is so it suggests that Nick is close to God, but as in all conversations they can get side tracked. Nick gets side tracked by Jesus’ use of a new image that of ‘being born from above’. (In our lifetime we changed this expression to being born again.) It seems that Nick is caught up with the puzzle of being born anew. He is caught up in human logic like we so often do. He only sees birthing in terms of our natural birth. Jesus explains what he means by using the more common images of water and the Spirit. Then Jesus follows up with a reference to the wind blowing and we don’t understand where it comes from or where it goes – which is in a general sense true. Most of us understand that winds blow in different directions, but don’t know how they work. The science of meteorology was not known in those days. Even today people don’t really understand the science of the weather. Jesus’ illustration is helpful. We don’t have to know everything for something to happen. We don’t need to know the mechanics and dynamics of riding a bicycle to ride one. We learn to ride as small children by riding. That might be our first lesson – to simply trust our Lord’s instruction like we trusted that adult who taught us to ride a bicycle. Get on it and start peddling. Trust Jesus and start walking in faith.
Jesus explains the grounds of his authority to Nick. Jesus has descended from heaven. What is interesting are the words of Jesus is his statement that no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven [Jn 3: 13]. Jesus sees heaven as the place that directs the affairs of the world, not the place to which we go to when we die. Heaven is God’s “control tower” not our ‘destiny’ as I have shared with you elsewhere. Jesus’ claim is audacious. “I am from God!” he says. Nick could take this in a number of ways, but he most likely understood Jesus to be a true prophet of God. In fact Nick had already stated this when he came to Jesus and said, “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.” [3:2] Jesus’ affirmation of Nick suggests to me that he sees Nick as already born anew or at least in the process of being born from above.
The conversation deepens as serious conversations usually do. Jesus now likens his ministry to that of the uplifted image of a ‘serpent on the pole’ in the Exodus story. We read about that a few minutes ago. The freed slaves under Moses’ leadership had sinned: failed to trust God. The local snakes bit them and they took this as their punishment. God gives Moses an antidote, which is to make an image of the snakes and put it on a pole. When people are bitten they are to look at the image of the snake and they will be healed. Rev Dr John Miller writes in “Love to the World”; “The bites of the poisonous (literally ‘fiery’) serpents cause a burning sensation corresponding to the fiery anger of God. (Think of the burning shame we can experience if our sins are exposed). Why does God command Moses to make a bronze image of these fearful snakes? Perhaps in looking to the image of the instrument of their punishment the people were being made to face up to their sin and its consequences.” [Lent & Easter 2018]
Jesus claims to be like the serpent image – Jesus will save the people. It is important to distinguish between the image and the power behind the image. It is not the image that rescues and heals; it is the power the image represents. That is, it is not the cross of Jesus that saves, but God’s saving power and purposes as demonstrated in the cross of Jesus.
Jesus explains that the power and motivation behind the ‘lifting up of the Son of Man’ is the love of God. We come to that well-known and powerful statement; “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.” [3:16]
God’s love is the instigation for Christ Jesus’ coming. God loves the world God created. God’s world has life because God breathed life into it [Gen 2:7]. We only live because God so wills.
God gives us life. Our breath that feeds our brains with oxygen does so because God breathed life into us. Jesus is the co-creator with God. Indeed it is the Spirit of God that brings order out of chaos [Gen 1:2]. God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, bring about Creation [Gen 1:26 cf. John 1:1].
What is so important here is the principle that we have life because God has given us life. God – the Father Son, and Holy Spirit – breathed life into all living creatures [Gen 1:30]. Because of humanity’ sinfulness the gift of life ends with our death. God’s life giving breath has no beginning or ending. That is what eternal means: no beginning or ending. While we live in this world life has a temporal quality – life ends in our death. However when we return to God and accept God as our Lord and Saviour we have eternal life. That is, to turn back to God and enter God’s life we enter God’s eternal life.
We may understand this better by looking at God’s gift of life to us on earth from the opposite perspective. If we live in this world and refuse to accept God we also refuse the gift of eternal life. Our lives will only continue while on this earth, for life on earth has a beginning and end – our natural birth and death bookends our life. To be born from above we receive life that has no beginning or end – eternal life. Jesus says; 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. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, … . [3:17,18]. We might so easily overlook this last phrase in the sentence – those who do not believe are condemned already. What is understood by already is that our lives are already condemned because of our sin. Not to take seriously Christ Jesus means we remain in that state. We are called to choose the light of Christ, or the darkness of our world.
We know how life denying our darkness is. Listen again to the media and you will see the exploitation, the greed, the fear driven hatred, and the death. We see it in how we treat women and all who are powerless. The darkness of our social and political life is self-evident in the world.
Those against Christianity will trumpet the terrible deeds of the Church. Yes, but have you noticed that the worst crimes of humanity have been conducted by atheists and non-religious people. Communist Russia’ s Gulag slaughtered 100,000s; Nazi Germany’s Death camp, millions and Pol Pot’s killing fields 100,000s. The darkness of rejecting or merely ignoring God is devastating. We think we can control and manage life better without God. Just take a look at the agnostic and atheistic run world. Note that where religion appears to be involved it is often a pale reflection of the truth of that religion.
It is our trust placed in Christ Jesus that allows us to enter eternal life. It is our lack of faith and our self-will that excludes us from eternal life and condemns us to nothingness.
I would hope that as you have heard this sermon you might be moved to re-confirm your love for God, or confirm it for the first time. Remember that Jesus comes to us to give us life eternal. Remember that God sends Jesus, not to condemn us, but to breathe afresh the eternal breathe of God into our nostrils. May this song help you draw closer to God.
I want to walk as a child of the light,
I want to follow Jesus.
God set the stars to give light to the world:
the star of my life is Jesus.
In him there is no darkness at all;
The night and the day are both alike.
The Lamb is the light of the city of God;
Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.
(Tis 643)
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Peter C Whitaker, Leighmoor UC: 11/03/2018
/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org
