Nicodemus, In The Shadows!

20th March 2011 - John 3:1-17
Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews, came to Jesus by night.
Why by night?
Probably so that no one would see him.
Mostly, his friends and colleagues were probably Pharisees
 leaders of the Jews
 members of the Sanhedrin,
 the ruling council of the Jews.
These friends and colleagues would have,
looked down their noses at Jesus.
• Jesus was young.
• He was upsetting the apple cart.
• He didn't follow the rules.

Jesus had just recently walked into the temple,
whip in hand,
turned over the tables of the money changers
scattered money everywhere
created an enormous disturbance (2:13-22).
He had gone to the stalls where people were selling cattle and sheep,
these animals were to be used as sacrifices on the temple altar.
Jesus had used a whip to drive the cattle and sheep out of the temple.
He had shouted, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" (2:16).

Worse still, Jesus had done that at Passover
and when the city was jam-packed with pilgrims.
What a embarrassing disaster!
Jesus had pretty well ruined Passover for lots of pilgrims.
As far as the Pharisees were concerned,
Jesus was, at best, bad-mannered
at worst, mad or dangerous.
It is no wonder that Nicodemus came to see Jesus under the cover of darkness.
The wonder was, that he had come at all.

But Nicodemus had heard of the things Jesus had done,
and he wanted to know more.
He had heard that Jesus had turned water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee (2:1-12).
The Gospel of John calls that "the first of (Jesus') signs" (2:11).

This Gospel will report other signs as well
 the feeding of the five thousand (6:1-14)
 the raising Lazarus from the dead (11:1-45)
 and several others (4:46-54; 5:1-9; 6:15-25; 9:1-12).
These were described as "signs"
They were miracles,
intended to point to something even more important,
than the miracles themselves.
They were intended to point to Jesus as the one who could save people
 save them from hunger
 save them from illness
 save them from death.

They were signs of what the Kingdom of God was going to be like.
A Kingdom, where there would be no pain, or death or hunger.
It was in response to these "signs" that Nicodemus decided to go to Jesus.
When he began to get a glimpse of the essence of the Kingdom of God.
When he found Jesus, he 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" (v. 2).

Spot on!
Nicodemus had gotten it exactly right!
These signs –– these miracles,
attested to the fact that Jesus had come from God,
that Jesus had the power to disrupt the very things
that had disrupted people's lives,
that God had given Jesus power to put the pieces back together
that God had given Jesus power to save people.
Nicodemus had heard the stories of the signs, and had understood what they meant.

So he came to see Jesus.
But he came under the cover of darkness,
because he didn't want anyone to see him visiting Jesus.
He didn't want anyone to think that he had become a Jesus-lover.
He just wanted to check it out,
to find out who Jesus really was,
to learn if Jesus was indeed just an out-of-control radical
or if he might be the Messiah who had come to save them.
The One who the whole Jewish nation was waiting for.

Some people criticize Nicodemus for going Jesus at night.
Nicodemus wasn’t perfect, but who is?
His heart was in the right place.
He wasn't a coward.
It took courage for a Pharisee to come to see Jesus,
even by night.
Just like it takes courage in these days to stand up for Jesus (pause)
Later in the story,
we will learn that Nicodemus tried to defend Jesus,
when his fellow Pharisees decided to arrest him (7:50-51).
Still later, after Jesus had been crucified,
Nicodemus brought spices to anoint Jesus' body (19:39).

When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, he addressed Jesus respectfully
"Rabbi," he said –– "Teacher."
He said that it was obvious that Jesus had come from God,
because "no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God" (v. 2).

Jesus' response is interesting.
Jesus knows what Nicodemus needs.
Jesus said, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above" (v. 3).
That is probably a shortened version of the conversation.

But listen again to what Jesus said.
"Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."
The New Testament was written in Greek, and the Greek word that is translated "above" is "anothen."
Anothen has two meanings.
It can be translated "again" or "from above."
Did Jesus mean that we must be "born again" or that we must be "born from above"?
It is pretty clear that he meant both.
If we are to see the kingdom of God,
If we are to have a fresh start at life,
we must be born again
born from above
begotten of God.

Jesus went on to explain:

"Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God
without being born of water and Spirit" (v. 6).

Jesus is talking to Nicodemus,
What would he have understood by what Jesus was saying?
Nicodemus would have been familiar with God’s promise in Ezekiel 36:25-26,
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Jesus was explaining the importance of a spiritual rebirth,
He is saying that people do not enter the Kingdom,
By living a better life – a more religious life,
But by being spiritually reborn.
This can only happen through the work of the Holy Spirit
the Spirit of God living in us,
leading us into all truth,
making us aware of God’s call on our lives.

The Holy Spirit dwells within us to act as the CEO of our lives.
If we would only let the Spirit direct our lives, how much simpler things would be.
If we would let God’s Spirit lead us in the right direction,
we could avoid much of the damage that we cause in our lives.
It is hard to let God’s Spirit lead us!
It's hard to "Let go –– and let God!" (as the saying goes)
But that is what we need to do.

I like what Corrie ten Boom had to say about the Holy Spirit.
Corrie was a Dutch Christian whose family sheltered Jews from Hitler's forces during World War II.
Her family ended up in one of Hitler's death camps
but Corrie managed to survive.
She later became famous as a Christian author and speaker,
She came to Australia many years ago,
She was so obviously filled with the Spirit of God.
She said on one occasion.
"I have a glove here in my hand.
The glove cannot do anything by itself,
but when my hand is in it, it can do many things.
True, it is not the glove, but my hand in the glove that acts.
We are gloves.
It is the Holy Spirit in us who is the hand, who does the job.
We have to make room for the hand
so that every finger is filled."

That is a great image and illustration.
What does it tell us?
That by ourselves we will not do anything significant for God.
Like that glove, I am only limp and lifeless as long as I am working by my own meager power.
I might be a cloth gardening glove
or a leather dress glove
but it makes no difference.
Without a hand in the glove, it can do nothing important.

But that imagery also tells me that I CAN BE someone who impacts on the lives of others,
that I CAN DO things that will have an effect on eternity,
that my life CAN BE more significance than the lives even of kings and princes and presidents.
All I have to do is to let God's Spirit fill my life as a hand fills a glove.
When I do that, my life becomes God-powered,
and there is no limit to what God can do as he works through me!
The same is true for you!

When God's Spirit is at work, great things happen.
I came across a story that illustrates what I mean.
A young woman living in London was concerned about her uncle
Henry Goodear (not Goodyear).
Henry didn't have much use for the church,
but his niece kept inviting him to go to church with her.

Finally, he consented.
They went to church together.
When the preacher read the scripture, the young woman's heart sank.
The scripture was from Genesis 5, which is a list of the descendents of Adam.
Let me give you just a little sample. It says:

"When Adam had lived one hundred thirty years,
he became the father of a son in his likeness, according to his image,
and named him Seth.
The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years;
and he had other sons and daughters.
Thus all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years;
and he died" (Genesis 5:3-5).

The fifth chapter of Genesis keeps repeating that pattern over and over and over and over.
“And he died….and he died….and he died….”
Henry's niece felt really betrayed that the preacher would have chosen a text like that for the Sunday that her uncle finally agreed to come to church.

But the next day, as Henry went about his business,
the phrase "and he died" kept repeating in his mind.
It was like one of those songs that gets stuck in your brain.
Henry kept hearing "and he died" –– "and he died" –– "and he died" –– "and he died."
Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer,
because he knew that someday people would say of him, "and he died."
He also knew that he was not ready to face eternity
so he got down on his knees and gave his life to Christ.

When things like that happen
and they do happen
they are the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit takes ordinary things
 like a glove
 like that genealogy from Genesis 5
 like your life and my life
and fills them with power.

I think that’s great – that WE can have a fresh start,
And we can be the vehicle of others having a fresh start at life.

Jesus says, "No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."

The Good News is that, by the grace of God, we can do that.
By the grace of God, we can become new people
ready to live rich and fulfilled lives.
All we have to do is to give ourselves to God
so that He might empower us
just as a live hand empowers a limp glove.
We have to decide if we are going to let God do that for us. Amen.