“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘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.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind 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.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And 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, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.’”

1. The New Beginning is Rebirth in the Spirit

Last week we looked at an exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders of the day. This marks the first of many interactions between Jesus and members of this group, where He corrects the wayward teachings so rampant among the Jews. We also saw that while in Jerusalem for the Passover, Jesus worked signs that led to many people believing in His name. He, however, having perfect, divine discernment and not requiring validation from anyone but the Father, does not entrust himself to the people. Coming off the heels of this, we see, presumably during the same stay in Jerusalem, Jesus approached by a member of the Pharisee party of the Sanhedrin. While there are times in the gospels that we see members of the Jewish ruling class, or those doing their bidding approach Jesus, feigning agreement while seeking to trip Him up or discredit Him, this does not seem to be the case with Nicodemus. Coming at night, weather to avoid being seen by the general public, or by members of his own party, he openly acknowledges the significance of Jesus’s position from the beginning. The first thing we see from the Pharisee is that he addresses Jesus as “Rabbi,” which coming from a religious ruler to someone who has no formal Rabbinic training signifies a large concession on Nicodemus’s part. His line of questioning also doesn’t seem to fit the snares that others try to lay before Jesus, giving credence to the weight of Christ’s message and that God is with His ministry. It seems that Nicodemus for his blindness actually wants to understand. As we’ve seen previously, particularly when Andrew and (probably), John first follow after Jesus, He doesn’t withhold the truth of His teaching, but immediately gives Nicodemus instruction toward a proper understanding of the law.

“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.”’”

Nicodemus, being a teacher of a law that had been stripped of nuance and had penned a relationship with God into a very literal, legalistic, harshly black and white set of rules, is confused. But what Jesus says here is affirmed again and again throughout Scripture.

Isaiah 6:9-10,

“And he said, ‘Go, and say to this people: “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.” Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.’”

Here we see, in God speaking to His prophet Isaiah the need for a transformation in heart and mind, new eyes and ears to understand the nature of sin and seek the healing of God. Paul writes in Romans 8:10-12,

“But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

And in Galatians 5:24-25,

“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

Both sections showing the need for rebirth, a death in the flesh, a crucifixion of sinful desires and a new life, awakened in the Spirit. In John 4:23-24 Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well,

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

This is an extraordinarily large, overarching theme. If we look at Jesus’s words by the well in conjunction with 1 Peter 1:14-16,

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

In which he quotes Leviticus 21:8,

“You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.”

We see the need to be reborn, to die to the flesh and live in the Spirit reaffirmed. As Jesus says, God is Spirit so the idea that the law, which executes in the flesh was ever going to fully mend the rift of sin was flawed from the start. It makes sense that to properly worship God, our aim, and the aim of those in Jesus’s time (taking the law into consideration), should be at the Spirit and not at a flesh interpretation. Instead of heaping laws upon laws and priding themselves on righteous appearances, the Pharisees (and Sadducees), should have looked to the nature and spirt of the laws they were given. This parallels to people today and the flawed practice of many thinking that their moral values or their “good works” are enough to counterbalance the sins of the flesh. Rebirth, a clean slate, a new heart and mind – there is a change in the Spirit that must take place in order to seek the kingdom of God and receive salvation. This seems to stump Nicodemus, which makes sense when you consider how literal the legal interpretation and execution of the law was. Instead of seeking to honor the spirit and intent of God’s instruction, their solution has been to come up with multiple, supplementary laws (which did not come from God), to reinforce and double down on what had been given to Moses.

“The wind 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.’”

There is a miraculous mystery that has to be accepted and appreciated here. I was sitting by my window watching a storm roll in one day, and I had the thought that every drop of rain has a number in the mind of God. He literally knows the count of every single drop of water that has fallen from the sky since the earth has existed. I was watching the wind moving the leaves on the trees, and before I was familiar with this quote from John’s gospel, I had a very similar thought to what Jesus says here. We, people in general very much like to think that we’re in control, or that we know what’s going to happen. Admittedly, God has given us seasons, He’s given us observable weather patterns, He’s fostered the human advancement of technology that allows us a deeper understanding of how the physical world works. Scientific observations have given us information that we didn’t have in generations prior, and while I’m deeply grateful for what God has provided here, it has also made mankind arrogant. The interesting thing is that, for all we “know,” if you ask the simple question “why?” enough times, eventually the learning of man can’t provide an answer. I can pull up on my phone a map of the world that shows massive, flowing air currents, swirling around the entire globe. Why are they doing what they’re doing? Why are some seasons so harsh, while other years are mild? Why are there sometimes severe storms or droughts? We can make educated guesses to explain any of these things, but the truth is, we don’t know anything. “The wind blows where it wishes” and we have literally no control over its coming or going, no true comprehension where it begins or ends, though many would tell you they know. The Pharisees thought they knew the law, that under their judgement it was perfected. But just as God is the force behind the winds, so too He is the mysterious force behind spiritual enlightenment and comprehension of the Truth.

“Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

This helps show the contrast again between where the Pharisees were and where they needed to be. Nicodemus, a teacher, one with authority to interpret and instruct in the ways of the law was completely stumped in matters of the Spirit. There is an idea of walking before you can run in the faith, which Paul supports in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3,

“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?”

You can’t advance in the Spirit to deeper understanding in Christ, to “solid food” if you’re bogged down in the flesh. And so Nicodemus, looking for answers but unable to receive Jesus’s testimony will gain no greater comprehension.

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

Here Jesus references His deity, quoting part of Proverbs 30:4, but if we look at verses 1-4, we see that Jesus has been making multiple allusions to Proverbs in what He’s been saying up to this point,

“The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out. Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. I have not learned wisdom, or have I knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know!”

He then makes direct reference to Numbers 21, which is a passage I feel a certain amount of attachment to, because it’s one that Dr. Jordan Peterson has spoken on at some length. Numbers 21:4-9,

“From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.’ Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”

Dr. Peterson takes this to be a story about the power of exposure therapy, about facing the thing that terrifies you most, the thing that destroys you and in gaining wisdom from looking upon the terror, being healed or made whole again. It fascinates me how, even if someone doesn’t take the Bible literally as it’s meant to be, the Word of God is so powerful, it dissects the human psyche with such precision that it can still grant wisdom and enrich the lives of sinners, even taken symbolically or as a metaphor. The other fascinating thing (and this just struck me), is that this section sums up the entire Biblical narrative in a paragraph. We see God’s people, set apart and given provision. We see them sin against God and collect the wage of sin, which is death. We see the people repent, acknowledging their wrong before God, and we see God form a path out of the punishment for them. Returning to Dr. Peterson’s perspective and looking upon the thing you’re most afraid of, the thing that man should fear above all else is the wrath of God, being separated from our creator by our sin. When we look at Jesus on the cross, the source of our salvation, we look at the worst possible fate. We see the wages of sin, the wrath of God poured out, and the fate that each of us deserved. We look upon the worst possible outcome and in acceptance of what God has done for us, in the power of the cross, we are freed from that fear.

• The New Beginning is an Act of Love

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Martin Luther is credited as calling John 3:16 “the gospel in miniature.” It is profound how much power and reassurance there is in this one verse. It’s amazing how boldly, yet succinctly God’s love can be proclaimed. While people can sometimes get bogged down in the wrath we see poured out in the Old Testament or in Revelation, it’s important to remember that His justice is never served without cause and His steadfast love is always present. This concept is expanded on in Romans 5:10-11,

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

This speaks to God’s desire for a relationship with us, for Him to be our God and for us to be His people. He has gone to the furthest length, made the greatest provision for us to know and draw close to Him, because He loves us.

• The New Beginning Carries the Judgement of Truth

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

We know from 1 John 4:8 that God is love. We know from John 14:6 that Jesus (who, to be clear, while being the Son is God and made co-equal with the Father), is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. We see from observing God’s nature in His Word, the fundamental, pure righteousness the is an element of His very being. Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn it, He is the light that exposes the Truth and shows things as the really are. Paul fleshes this out beautifully in Romans 1:18-32, but given that that’s a large section of text, I’ll home in on verses 28-32, which I believe still expresses the sentiment,

“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

The passage that stands out to me the most concerning God’s nature and the condemned state of the world is in Revelation 20:11,

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.”

 and 21:1,

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”

I remember reading this and getting to 21:1 and stopping to back up, trying to figure out where the first heaven and earth had gone, before realizing that the universe had been destroyed, the burning of the heavenly bodies that is written about in 2 Peter 3:10, had taken place in one verse, in 20:11. God doesn’t have to specifically condemn the world, it’s sin stained and He is perfect. The light of His very presence exposes what is hidden in the dark and in the Truth of the Light, the darkness is utterly destroyed. So the question concerning judgement becomes this: Have you embraced and anchored yourself to the new life in the Spirit, which is light and endures in the Father forever, or have you loved after what is in the flesh, worldly and dark and destined for destruction under the Light.

Pastor Chris’s sermon on this section: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edOBZPFtEJU