We're gonna look at John chapter 3 if you like
to turn there in your scriptures John chapter
3 and Dalton one thing I forgot to ask after
the benediction do I slip to the back to greet
people or Perfect I'll plan on that All right,
very good. I'll go to the back so I can shake
your hand while you leave and greet you All right,
John chapter 3. Let me read verses 1 through
17 from Now there was a Pharisee, a man named
Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling
council. 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. Jesus
replied, very truly I tell you, no one can see
the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
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. Jesus answered,
very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom
of God unless they are born of water and the
spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the spirit
gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised
at my saying you must be born again. 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. How can this be? Nicodemus asked. You
are Israel's teacher, said Jesus. And do you
not understand these things? Very truly, I tell
you, we speak of what we know and we testify
to what we have seen, but still you do not accept
our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly
things and you do not believe. How then will
you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No
one has ever gone into heaven except the one
who came from heaven, the son of man. Just as
Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,
so the son of man must be lifted up so that everyone
who believes may have eternal life in him. 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. For God did
not send his son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him. And
amen for the reading of God's word. Well, as
we come to John chapter three this morning, I
want you to ask yourself this question. How often
do you look around and wish your world was different?
It could be your community. It could be your
home. It could be your church or the church as
a whole. It could be the direction of your life,
the nation in which you live or other places
around the world. How often do you see things
and things are not the way you would like them
to be or things seem that they are not the way
they ought to be and something in your heart
longs for something to change and for God to
be the one. to bring about that change. If you
ever feel those things, take heart. You are in
very good company. You are feeling things that
most Jews in Jesus' day felt. You see, they were
a nation with a great heritage where God had
done wonderful things to them, to bring them
out of Egypt, to enter into a covenant with them,
to bring them into their land and give them good
laws that would make them a shining light and
a holy people. And yet, because of their unfaithfulness,
they had gone into exile in Babylon. And people
had died. And homes had been lost. And crops
had been spoiled. And they had toiled in a foreign
land where they couldn't gather like they used
to do. And they couldn't worship like they once
did. But God, in grace, brought them home. They
returned home. They even rebuilt a temple. But
if you've ever read some of those Old Testament
stories, you know that when they saw the way
things were this time around, something didn't
seem quite right. It wasn't as good as it had
once been. And Israel continued to operate under
that sense of, it's like God did something, but
he didn't do it all the way the prophets promised
or we expected. It's as if you turned on your
water spigot and it's just trickling out. Yeah,
you've got water. But you're never going to be
able to water the garden or fill a bucket with
that. Something's just not quite right. And they
longed for God to come and to show up and to
do something, namely to bring in his kingdom,
to keep all the promises he made through the
prophets and to regather his people and to change
their hearts and to give them a new covenant
and all those kinds of throw out the Romans and
do all the things that the prophets promised.
And it's that longing that drives Nicodemus to
Jesus in this passage. You could see that even
in the opening language there where he's coming
to Jesus and saying nice things about him. He's
not just trying to butter him up. He's seeing
something in Jesus. Maybe through this one, God's
kingdom will come. But as we'll see throughout
the passage, he was kind of right and he was
kind of wrong. He needed to have some things
retooled and recalibrate. And so I want us to
go through that kind of process today as we work
our way through this passage. To try to put ourselves
in Nicodemus's shoes and hear what Jesus is saying
afresh and understand what it is he's calling
us to and make the kind of response that the
text puts in front of us. And we'll do that by
focusing especially on what Jesus says about
this new birth, about being born again and considering
then the kind of new life that Jesus will give
us through his spirit. So let's work through
the passage really just in two halves. First,
verses one through eight. We focus here on our
need for new life. from the Spirit. If we are
going to experience God's reign, God's world,
God's life, then we need new life from the Spirit.
Let's look at Nicodemus and how these opening
verses describe him. He is called a Pharisee,
a member of the Jewish ruling high council who
comes to Jesus As I've said a moment ago, if
Nicodemus feels and believes what most Jews in
his day did, then he is coming to Jesus because
he recognizes some potential in Jesus. That's
why he says to him, we know that you're a teacher
who's come from God because no one could perform
the signs you're doing if God were not with him.
You're teaching. You're working miracles. You're
demonstrating authority. Surely God is with you,
or this wouldn't work out. Now, what kind of
expectations might Nicodemus have? Well, as I
said, he's a Pharisee, and I know we're used
to reading the scriptures and somewhat seeing
the Pharisees as the bad guys, and we should.
They're presented negatively for a reason. Jesus
has some pretty strong words for them. But understand
also, in Jesus' day, the Pharisees were somewhat
generally well -liked. They were viewed by the
people of admiration. And they themselves, you
could probably argue, maybe thought they were
going about things the right way and trying to
do something good. You see, the Pharisees developed
during that time, as I've said, when Israel was
in exile or coming home and trying to get their
nation back on the right foot. So they were zealous.
They wanted to keep the law. They wanted to keep
the law rightly. I mean, we disagree at times,
right, over what the Bible's asking you to do.
So did people on that day. And the Pharisees
tried to study it out and figure it out and say,
OK, here's the right way to keep God's law. And
not only were they zealous to do it the right
way, they were zealous for the most people to
do it the right way. The Pharisees took the rules
given to priests and said, you know what? Israel
is a priestly nation. We're all priests, everybody.
should keep the purity rules given to the priests.
The Pharisees also recognized, you know what,
when Moses handed down the Ten Commandments or
received them from God and gave all these laws,
our land and our culture looked a little different.
It was more agrarian then. Now we have more cities.
All right, let's figure out how to update what
God requires and make sure we're practicing it
in every context of life. So here's a guy that
wants to get it right. And so he says, all right,
maybe Jesus is going to be the one who takes
our vision and gets this thing across the finish
line. Maybe he'll fulfill what we're all longing
for in the way that we Pharisees are trying to
go about it. And Jesus responds to him in a way
that somewhat catches him up shore. It's a somewhat
abrupt response. meant to get his attention and
refocus his thoughts. So let's look at what Jesus
says. He says in verse three, truly I tell you,
no one can see the kingdom of God unless they
are born again. Because the narrative, it reads
so abruptly, you know, Nicodemus is saying nice
things and Jesus, it's almost like as he cuts
them off, hey, look, unless you're born again.
You can't see the kingdom of God. That indicates,
Jesus says, we need to take this conversation
a different way. I know you want me to do what
you're intent on, but actually we need to retool
your expectations. Unless someone is born again,
they cannot see the kingdom of. Notice Jesus
there talking about the kingdom of God. This
is God's reign. This is when God finally shows
up. God's always God, right? Whether we can see
it or not. But there is a day when God shows
up and everybody knows it. There's no arguing
with his power and his authority and his reign.
This is what Nicodemus wants and this is what
Jesus is talking about. You want to see the reign
of God? You want to see God take his place as
king? Well, there's no way to do that without
being born again. Or as Jesus says in verse five,
without being born of the water and the spirit.
Now, if you've read John's gospel much, you've
probably noticed before John likes to do some
double meaning where he says two things with
one word and really means them both. So when
we read in English, you need to be born again.
That's one way to translate the words. You need
to be born a second time. And that's exactly
what Nicodemus hears. But you can also translate
the word again with from above. So Nicodemus,
you need to be born a second time. And this second
birth, it needs to be one from above. You need
God to give you new life. Jesus expands on this
in verse 5 you need to be born of water and the
spirit and Jesus is probably there reaching for
an Old Testament passage Ezekiel 36 where Ezekiel
looks at Israel and he says well they're a valley
of dry bones you probably read that passage before
there there's this death everywhere spiritual
death what's gonna bring these bones to life
God says in the previous chapter, when I wash
you with clean water and when I put my spirit
within you. Nicodemus, if you want God's rain
to come, there's no way you're going to participate
in it. You're not going to see it and you're
not going to enter it without God doing something
to you on the inside. you need the Spirit of
God to give you a new heart and to wash you from
your sins and make you clean and I think what
then Jesus is getting at here is he saying Nicodemus
if I'm giving you a new way to enter the kingdom
Then that implies you really just need to rethink
everything you think you know about the kingdom
And I get this from Nicodemus' response. Jesus
says, you need to be born again. And Nicodemus
says, how can someone be born when they are old?
Nicodemus asks. You can't go back into your mother's
womb a second time and be born. By the way, I
heard a dad having this very conversation with
his kid one time when I was at a restaurant.
Went to the bathroom and washed my hands. I could
hear a dad who would take his kid to the bathroom
having this conversation. where he's talking
about being born again, and the kid said, wait,
you mean like I have to be born a second time
from mom? It was so close to this text, I thought,
are they faking it, like hoping I'll hear this
and then they'll witness to me? So you can understand
how somebody might hear these words and misunderstand
it. That's why Jesus goes on in verse six to
say, flesh gives birth to flesh, but the spirit
gives birth to spirit. Nicodemus, there's something
about your vision that's fleshly. There's something
about your vision for the kingdom that's informed
by the principles of this world That's informed
by what's going on in your heart and Nicodemus
the rain I'm coming to offer is So different
it's so different that your strategy for bringing
about is not gonna work That way will not lead
to what God wants And again, you think about
what I said about Nicodemus' strategy. If we're
really zealous to keep the law, we'll get it
right. And in fact, let's not just stop with
the commandments. Let's make sure they get kept
the right way. Let's codify some tradition around
these commandments to make sure they get kept.
Let's have everybody from top to bottom keep
these commandments. And Jesus says there's something
about that that's fleshly. Maybe it just puts
too much stock in a human's ability to do the
right thing. Maybe it doesn't put enough stock
in how dark every human heart can be, that it
won't do those things and can't do those things.
And listen, Nicodemus's vision wasn't the only
one. You've got the vision of the Sadducees as
well, who maybe are reticent to embrace what
the prophets have to say, or other parts of what
we call the Old Testament, in enlarging their
vision of what God is doing. You've got the Sanhedrin,
which by the way is mentioned here, that Nicodemus
is also a member of the Sanhedrin. This is your
Jewish supreme core. A lot of people on this
are from the more aristocratic classes of Israelites.
They had rich people in Israel and a lot of them
are on the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin's kind of
modus operandi is let's just not get in trouble
with Rome. We don't want to have their heat on
us. We don't want to get in trouble with them.
So let's just kind of negotiate some kind of
relationship where they don't mess with us. and
we won't mess with them. We've carved out a little
space for ourselves where we've got some power
and authority, and we're just gonna keep things
that way. And so maybe they're a little too friendly
with Rome. Maybe they don't care enough about
what God says through the prophets it means to
belong to the people of God. Wrong understandings
of purity, too focused on earthly power, complicit
with evil. It could be any of those things. And
you can... Take a minute at some point just to
look into your own heart, later today reflecting
or during the week. Okay, what is it in me that
sometimes confuses what I want with what God
wants? Or what is it within me that sometimes
wants to reinterpret what God says in light of
what I want? That can just come from any kind
of motive, any kind of place, and it's good that
we reflect at times on what might be competing
in our heart. for how we understand what God
wants. And this is where Jesus challenges Nicodemus.
Nicodemus, your way of going about things is
off track, but good news, God offers you this
opportunity to be transformed from the inside
out by the cleansing of God's blood that will
be shed on the cross, by the gift of the Holy
Spirit and become a new creation that will participate
in what God is doing in the world. That is the
invitation Jesus gives Nicodemus. And it kind
of drives it home with these words in verses
seven and eight. Don't be surprised at me saying
you must be born again. The wind blows wherever
it pleases. You hear its sound, but you can't
tell where it comes from or where it's going.
So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
You see the wind in the mind of Jesus's original
audience. It has its origin in God. They didn't
know where the wind came from back in Jesus'
day. Now, by the way, don't take that the wrong
way as if, oh yeah, people who lived a thousand
years ago, 2000, they were so ignorant, they
don't know what we know. I was just talking to
somebody on my way in today where we got more
rain I think than was expected or you get snow
and ice predictions and they don't quite materialize.
Like we still really don't know, do we exactly
have this whole thing works nowadays with our
fancy tools? Well, just imagine an ancient mindset
that says, you know what? exactly how the wind
works, I don't know. I know where it comes from.
It comes from God. That's what Jesus wants Nicodemus
to realize. Wind blows, you don't know where
it comes from other than God does it and you
can see its effects. So Nicodemus, don't worry
about how this whole new birth thing works. Here's
how it works. It comes from God. God, by his
grace, by his spirit, by his cleansing blood
will make you into a new creation. And you will
then participate rightly in what God wants to
do in the world. That's the invitation for Nicodemus.
That's the invitation for all of us to become
these new creations by God's grace. And we'll
talk about how you become one in just a minute.
But that's the challenge front and center. What
kind of world do we want to live in? What kind
of church do we want to participate in? Does
it align with what God says or have we maybe
made it align more with what we want from fleshly
places? Jesus invites us to take a fresh look
at the Word and bring ourselves into alignment
with God's vision. That may mean just sitting
down afresh with, say, the Gospel of Matthew,
and reading the Sermon on the Mount, and asking
yourself, when I read this passage, what resistance
do I feel popping up in my heart that says, I
don't know if I want to do that, or I don't know
if that can be done, or where do you start negotiating
all these excuses for why something can't be
done? We all do this. My wife asked me today,
she goes, you might want to look in the attic
when you get home to make sure there's no problems
with the roof. and there's no water getting it.
Trust me, I had like three reasons at my disposal
why I did not need to do that anytime soon. We
do this when we're faced with things we don't
want. We invent ways to get out of it. But we
do that really to our harm because what Jesus
is inviting us to is a wonderful experience.
In fact, I'll say this and we'll go on to the
next point. This word, this discussion about
being born again, That word also pops up in Matthew
where Jesus uses it to refer to the rebirth of
the whole world. So you've ever heard people
talk about spiritual rebirth or regeneration?
Jesus says in Matthew, you know the day's coming
and the renewal of all things when you will sit
on 12 thrones and judge the 12 tribes of Israel.
Jesus is saying one day we're gonna make the
whole world new and that's gonna be a good thing.
It's gonna work the way it was supposed to. the
way Adam and Eve should have participated in
it. We've got badly off track, but Jesus says
one day the whole thing's gonna be new. So take
a fresh look at the scriptures and ask yourself,
what does God's kingdom look like? What does
Jesus bring when he encounters people? Are those
the things I want? Are those the things I'm working
for? And bring it into alignment with God's vision.
And of course, Let me be sure to say this anytime
looking at this passage where we think about
being born again and people getting saved and
those ideas. If God's gonna make a new world,
He's gonna start with you. You're gonna become
a new creation by God's grace when you call upon
Jesus to transform you in that way. So if you've
never experienced that, if you stiff -armed that
or never realized I need that, Well, that's the
invitation Jesus gives to become a new person
from the inside out, cleansed of sin, full of
the Spirit, connected to the Lord Jesus Christ,
a gift of grace. Now let's look at our second
idea today. The first part of this passage really
focuses our attention on our need for this new
life. The second half focuses us on how we get
this new life. And it all centers around the
Lord Jesus Christ. He invites us into and provides
this transformative new life. Let's look at verses
9 through 12 where we realize it's probably starting
to dawn on Nicodemus, what Jesus is asking for,
and he realizes how hard it may be to accept
this vision of the kingdom. Jesus or Nicodemus
asks how this be and Jesus says look you are
Israel's teacher and Do you not understand these
things for years? Nicodemus has been teaching
people how to live under God's covenant But now
he's facing a condition for covenant membership
faithfulness that he's never faced before And
Jesus says, but Nicodemus, you should have glimpsed
these truths from the Old Testament. You should
be able to connect God's vision there with what
you see in me. Because again, Nicodemus kind
of sees it. All right, you're doing great things.
You are sent by God. But Jesus wants him to get
even closer to the truth. And so he'll continue
to instruct him because that's how good and patient
Jesus is. He says in verse 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. Nicodemus, you're gonna
have to clear out some of your resistance if
you really want to grasp the nature of the kingdom.
And in some ways, Nicodemus here is functioning
as a representative of Israel. In other words,
Nicodemus, just look at how people are responding
to my ministry. Jesus shows up and he throws
a demon out of someone. It's dark satanic oppression.
They get delivered. In some instances, there's
even physical maladies connected with being demon
possessed. People get liberated and healed. And
what do people say? Well, he's just in league
with Satan himself, or else he couldn't do that.
Jesus goes into the synagogue. He heals someone
whose hand is withered, which probably means
that person also couldn't work the way they wanted
to. And you think of how dependent you are on
the well -being of your body and mind to work.
Imagine losing that, not only being able to make
money, but just the joy you might find from getting
something done. Jesus heals that man with the
withered hand, and they say, you've got six days
to heal. Come back on another day. And friends,
we go on. and on and on. He feeds people and
there's resistance. The disciples can pluck grain
on the Sabbath. That's not exactly Sunday supper.
They pluck grain on the Sabbath and the Pharisees
are like, well, you shouldn't do that. It's the
Sabbath day. Jesus shows up. He's doing great
things for people. And instead they resist by
saying, nope, that goes against the traditions.
Nope, that goes against what we think God wants.
They're not willing. to rethink their categories.
And that's why Jesus says in verse 12, look,
if I've spoken to you of earthly things and you
do not believe, how then will you believe if
I speak of heavenly things? In other words, if
I've given you the basics and you don't want
to hear it, how are you ever really going to
grasp the nature of participating in God's reign
and being a part of His people? So this is then
where Jesus drives home the whole conversation
with Nicodemus look if you want to participate
in this new life if you want to participate in
this kingdom, then you've got to reorient your
whole being your spiritual vision to me and focus
yourself on me and bend everything that you want
and hope for to Me and Jesus drives that point
home in these final verses, verses 13 to 16.
He says, no one's ever gone into heaven except
the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man.
I like the NLT here a little better, a little
clearer, which reads, no one has ever gone to
heaven and returned, but the Son of Man has come
down from heaven. Nicodemus, if you want to get
the source straight from the horse's mouth, I'm
the only one. that's actually come down from
heaven to reveal these things. So you can trust
me when I tell you that you need the new birth.
Who can give it to you? I can. Who can convince
you that you need it? I can. Only the one from
heaven, and that's me. So Nicodemus, stop thinking
about your traditions, stop thinking about how
you think you have it right, and focus on me.
Bring yourself really under my authority. Lordship.
And here's what I'll do for you. Just as Moses
lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the
Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone
who believes may have eternal life in him." Nicodemus,
you know that old story in the Old Testament
where people grumbled and fiery serpents appeared
and bit them? How did they get healed? They just
looked up at this servant. So Nicodemus, on that.
One to whom you need to look I'll be lifted up
soon right on a cross and if you look towards
me I know that can be vague language, but if
you will fix your gaze on me if you'll look at
me as the one who can cleanse you of that poison
of the one who can give you life, and if you'll
bring yourself under my authority and under my
Lordship, and if you'll trust me to cleanse you
and forgive you then I will give you eternal
life because God loves his world. God has sent
me not to condemn his world, but to save it.
God has this purpose for humanity that leads
to their transformation and their rescue and
their healing. But there's only one way for it
to happen. By you committing yourself to me,
trusting me, experiencing this new birth, and
living as a kingdom citizen in the way that I
define it. And so friends, that is both the challenge
and the good news that I would leave you with.
Yes, it's challenging to rethink what we know
about God's kingdom, but if we do it in this
Jesus -shaped gospel -based way, then friends,
you'll find yourself living with a better frame
of mind and a better world and working for the
good things that God's kingdom brings by being
a servant of the Lord Jesus, one who trusts in
him and one is shaped by him. That little growth
in you can spread out into a church and a community
and beyond. So let's ask God to do that for all
of us today, to change us wherever we need it
and to make that fruitful. Pray with me, friends.