Conversations in John: Nicodemus
July 7, 2024 Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
John 3:1-10
“Conversations in John: Nicodemus”
Douglas T. King
The thing I miss most about my years at grad school are the late-night conversations, the kind of conversations that occur Jon campuses across the country after the library closes but before the bars have closed. You know that time when your brain is too tired to keep studying yet you are too wired to go to bed? Late night conversations can be deep and silly, absurd and thought-provoking all at the same time. But most of all, these conversations tend to be revealing. We are too weary to keep up all of our defenses and we reveal some of who we are whether we mean to or not. Late night conversations can lead to interesting places.
This morning we heard of a late night conversation, between Nicodemus and Jesus. This is the first in a series of sermons Melissa and I will be preaching on the intriguing conversations in the gospel of John.
When Nicodemus visits Jesus by night it is not an exact parallel to those late-night college conversations. Nicodemus, an important Jewish leader, uses night as a cover to visit Jesus. He does not want to be seen publicly talking to this rabble rouser who overturned the tables in the Temple. It is a risky proposition for Nicodemus to come to Jesus. This is no casual call. Nicodemus is hungry for something he thinks Jesus may be able to provide. Although Nicodemus is in a position of authority, he reveals himself to be a seeker as well.
The conversation begins with Nicodemus acknowledging that it is clear Jesus is indeed a teacher sent from God. Jesus wastes no time on small talk. “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus is immediately confused. Conversations in the Gospel of John are always occurring on multiple levels and always include misunderstandings. Nicodemus says, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”
At first blush this may suggest Nicodemus is incapable of grasping that Jesus is speaking metaphorically but I do not believe this is true. A learned Jewish authority would have much experience with metaphor and its use in scripture. Nicodemus is not dully asking about another trip down the birth canal. He is continuing the conversation in the metaphor to question whether it is actually possible for any of us to be transformed to such a great extent that it is akin to being born a second time. In other words, he is saying “Look Jesus, I am no spring chicken. I am a learned and well experienced man who is pretty set in his ways. If that is what it takes to see the kingdom of God I am afraid I am going to miss it.”
Jesus responds to Nicodemus’ objection by saying, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the spirit.” Jesus goes on to speak about how the ways in which the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives are beyond our understanding. Nicodemus does understand this because he is totally flummoxed by this notion of being born again.
I get it. It has never been a phrase with which I have been all that comfortable. Partly because it has been so strongly claimed as a title bestowed upon a specific group of our Christian brothers and sisters. But it is more than that as well. Births are dramatic events. When we talk about birth we often think of the tension and excitement of the delivery room.
We think of being born again as something with similar drama; cue the stage lights and the thundering voice of the divine, some bolt of lightning realization that changes all of who we are. Most of us staid Presbyterians do not have these experiences; do not necessarily believe in the likelihood of them happening to us; or are sure we are all that keen on having one anyway.
Many of us, while we may or may not be technically old, certainly are there with Nicodemus questioning exactly how much change is possible in us or how much we want to be changed. My thoughts on this text shifted one day as I was walking along a beach on Lake Erie. The beach near our house is a little cove that is surrounded by cliffs. As I walked along one spring day, trying to figure out how any of this being-born-again stuff was supposed to be relevant to someone like me, I passed by a small waterfall. I stopped and watched the steady stream of water tumble through and over the layers of rock. I could see how over many years the water had worn away and changed the rock.
Then it dawned on me. Jesus does not say anything about how quickly we need to be born from above. He talks of water and the blowing of the Spirit. Water and wind can bring dramatic sudden change. As we know all too well, a powerful flood or tornado can change so much in all too brief a period of time. But water and wind can also work slowly over time, in some cases much time. They say the Grand Canyon has been formed over millions of years.
When it comes to change in my spiritual life this makes more sense. I don’t get too many lightning bolts that instantaneously transform me. The Spirit works on me slowly, over time. Often in what feels like a two-steps forward and one-step back sort of way.
But what is abundantly clear is that God can indeed change us. Jesus says to Nicodemus, “You must be born from above.” I don’t believe Jesus brings us a must without promising God’s help. When Nicodemus sneaks through the night to seek out Jesus it is revealed that he is hungering for something. He knows there is something yet to be found in his life or perhaps in himself.
Many of us know that feeling. We know there is something missing. We sense that we are not quite yet the people we are supposed to be. Yet, we often bury that sense because we doubt that we are actually capable of being changed. I mean, after all, “How can anyone be born after having grown old?” How could we possibly find a place past the failures that weigh us down? How can we let go of the past hurts that haunt us? How can we stop repeating the same mistakes over and over again? This is who we are, some complicated combination of good and less than good. There are no magic wands to wave over us. We know ourselves all too well to believe we can be radically changed.
But Jesus knows who we can be when the Spirit blows through our lives. Jesus knows the same thing about Nicodemus. The last words we hear from Nicodemus in this conversation are, “How can these things be?” It is not clear that he completely rejects what Jesus has to say but he is certainly confused by it. But this is not the last time Nicodemus appears in the Gospel of John. In chapter seven, Nicodemus, the man who was afraid to be seen with Jesus, challenges the chief priests and the Pharisees who want Jesus arrested. He says, “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find what they are doing, does it?” And then Nicodemus appears after Jesus has been abandoned by so many and crucified. When Joseph of Arimathea claims Jesus’ body, Nicodemus arrives with “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.” Together they engage in the most intimate act of preparing Jesus’ body for burial.
Throughout the gospel of John we see God’s Spirit at work in Nicodemus. First drawing out his curiosity to visit this rabble rouser Jesus, but only under the cover of darkness. And then nudging him to speak out publicly, perhaps not exactly in defense of Jesus but surely in seeking due process for him. And then finally God’s Spirit leads Nicodemus to abandon his fears and directly care for the convicted and abandoned body of Jesus. Late night conversations can lead to interesting places.
Was Nicodemus born again? Perhaps not in the twinkling of an eye that night speaking with Jesus, but over time, one step at a time, the Spirit led Nicodemus to become a person he never envisioned himself being. Nicodemus was born again. God can change us. God will change us. God is leading us to become the people we were created to be.
We may not always be able to see that we are on this journey. It is hard to see subtle changes over time. But we are all on the journey, in one way or another. And when we wonder if someone as old and set in our ways as you and I can be changed, remember that no one knows who the Spirit can lead us to be better than our God in Jesus Christ. And the divine is telling us that we can, we must, and we will--be born from above. We will be shaped and transformed by the one who created us into who we are exactly created to be.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
John 3:1-10
“Conversations in John: Nicodemus”
Douglas T. King
The thing I miss most about my years at grad school are the late-night conversations, the kind of conversations that occur Jon campuses across the country after the library closes but before the bars have closed. You know that time when your brain is too tired to keep studying yet you are too wired to go to bed? Late night conversations can be deep and silly, absurd and thought-provoking all at the same time. But most of all, these conversations tend to be revealing. We are too weary to keep up all of our defenses and we reveal some of who we are whether we mean to or not. Late night conversations can lead to interesting places.
This morning we heard of a late night conversation, between Nicodemus and Jesus. This is the first in a series of sermons Melissa and I will be preaching on the intriguing conversations in the gospel of John.
When Nicodemus visits Jesus by night it is not an exact parallel to those late-night college conversations. Nicodemus, an important Jewish leader, uses night as a cover to visit Jesus. He does not want to be seen publicly talking to this rabble rouser who overturned the tables in the Temple. It is a risky proposition for Nicodemus to come to Jesus. This is no casual call. Nicodemus is hungry for something he thinks Jesus may be able to provide. Although Nicodemus is in a position of authority, he reveals himself to be a seeker as well.
The conversation begins with Nicodemus acknowledging that it is clear Jesus is indeed a teacher sent from God. Jesus wastes no time on small talk. “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus is immediately confused. Conversations in the Gospel of John are always occurring on multiple levels and always include misunderstandings. Nicodemus says, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”
At first blush this may suggest Nicodemus is incapable of grasping that Jesus is speaking metaphorically but I do not believe this is true. A learned Jewish authority would have much experience with metaphor and its use in scripture. Nicodemus is not dully asking about another trip down the birth canal. He is continuing the conversation in the metaphor to question whether it is actually possible for any of us to be transformed to such a great extent that it is akin to being born a second time. In other words, he is saying “Look Jesus, I am no spring chicken. I am a learned and well experienced man who is pretty set in his ways. If that is what it takes to see the kingdom of God I am afraid I am going to miss it.”
Jesus responds to Nicodemus’ objection by saying, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the spirit.” Jesus goes on to speak about how the ways in which the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives are beyond our understanding. Nicodemus does understand this because he is totally flummoxed by this notion of being born again.
I get it. It has never been a phrase with which I have been all that comfortable. Partly because it has been so strongly claimed as a title bestowed upon a specific group of our Christian brothers and sisters. But it is more than that as well. Births are dramatic events. When we talk about birth we often think of the tension and excitement of the delivery room.
We think of being born again as something with similar drama; cue the stage lights and the thundering voice of the divine, some bolt of lightning realization that changes all of who we are. Most of us staid Presbyterians do not have these experiences; do not necessarily believe in the likelihood of them happening to us; or are sure we are all that keen on having one anyway.
Many of us, while we may or may not be technically old, certainly are there with Nicodemus questioning exactly how much change is possible in us or how much we want to be changed. My thoughts on this text shifted one day as I was walking along a beach on Lake Erie. The beach near our house is a little cove that is surrounded by cliffs. As I walked along one spring day, trying to figure out how any of this being-born-again stuff was supposed to be relevant to someone like me, I passed by a small waterfall. I stopped and watched the steady stream of water tumble through and over the layers of rock. I could see how over many years the water had worn away and changed the rock.
Then it dawned on me. Jesus does not say anything about how quickly we need to be born from above. He talks of water and the blowing of the Spirit. Water and wind can bring dramatic sudden change. As we know all too well, a powerful flood or tornado can change so much in all too brief a period of time. But water and wind can also work slowly over time, in some cases much time. They say the Grand Canyon has been formed over millions of years.
When it comes to change in my spiritual life this makes more sense. I don’t get too many lightning bolts that instantaneously transform me. The Spirit works on me slowly, over time. Often in what feels like a two-steps forward and one-step back sort of way.
But what is abundantly clear is that God can indeed change us. Jesus says to Nicodemus, “You must be born from above.” I don’t believe Jesus brings us a must without promising God’s help. When Nicodemus sneaks through the night to seek out Jesus it is revealed that he is hungering for something. He knows there is something yet to be found in his life or perhaps in himself.
Many of us know that feeling. We know there is something missing. We sense that we are not quite yet the people we are supposed to be. Yet, we often bury that sense because we doubt that we are actually capable of being changed. I mean, after all, “How can anyone be born after having grown old?” How could we possibly find a place past the failures that weigh us down? How can we let go of the past hurts that haunt us? How can we stop repeating the same mistakes over and over again? This is who we are, some complicated combination of good and less than good. There are no magic wands to wave over us. We know ourselves all too well to believe we can be radically changed.
But Jesus knows who we can be when the Spirit blows through our lives. Jesus knows the same thing about Nicodemus. The last words we hear from Nicodemus in this conversation are, “How can these things be?” It is not clear that he completely rejects what Jesus has to say but he is certainly confused by it. But this is not the last time Nicodemus appears in the Gospel of John. In chapter seven, Nicodemus, the man who was afraid to be seen with Jesus, challenges the chief priests and the Pharisees who want Jesus arrested. He says, “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find what they are doing, does it?” And then Nicodemus appears after Jesus has been abandoned by so many and crucified. When Joseph of Arimathea claims Jesus’ body, Nicodemus arrives with “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.” Together they engage in the most intimate act of preparing Jesus’ body for burial.
Throughout the gospel of John we see God’s Spirit at work in Nicodemus. First drawing out his curiosity to visit this rabble rouser Jesus, but only under the cover of darkness. And then nudging him to speak out publicly, perhaps not exactly in defense of Jesus but surely in seeking due process for him. And then finally God’s Spirit leads Nicodemus to abandon his fears and directly care for the convicted and abandoned body of Jesus. Late night conversations can lead to interesting places.
Was Nicodemus born again? Perhaps not in the twinkling of an eye that night speaking with Jesus, but over time, one step at a time, the Spirit led Nicodemus to become a person he never envisioned himself being. Nicodemus was born again. God can change us. God will change us. God is leading us to become the people we were created to be.
We may not always be able to see that we are on this journey. It is hard to see subtle changes over time. But we are all on the journey, in one way or another. And when we wonder if someone as old and set in our ways as you and I can be changed, remember that no one knows who the Spirit can lead us to be better than our God in Jesus Christ. And the divine is telling us that we can, we must, and we will--be born from above. We will be shaped and transformed by the one who created us into who we are exactly created to be.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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