“Getting to the bottom of things”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Wednesday, March 1, 2023

John 2:23 – 3:15 (Forward, p. 31) CEV p. 1102

For years I have been puzzled by one particular thing in today’s reading. Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and immediately opens the chat with the following lead-up: “Sir, we know that God has sent you to teach us. You could not work these miracles, unless God were with you.” To me, this sounds quite natural as a conversation opener—even if it is somewhat flowery and ingratiating. My experience is that people often open conversations with something akin to flattery, especially if they are strangers or not entirely comfortable with the situation or its dynamics. And, as we see elsewhere (Mark 10:17, where the rich young ruler, addresses Jesus as ‘good teacher’, or Mark 12:14 where the Herodians and Pharisees gang up against Jesus to get Him into trouble, for instance), it doesn’t ‘work’, for Jesus is never ‘taken in’ by such glowing words.

That said, it is here that the conversation gets interesting, interesting because Jesus takes it in an entirely different direction: “I tell you for certain that you must be born from above [born again] before you can see God’s kingdom.” So, where in the world did that come from?

Maybe the clue comes a few verses earlier (chapter 2, verse 24) where it says that Jesus knew all the secrets of their hearts. So, maybe then, without even being told directly, Jesus knew what Nicodemus was really thinking, what he was really up to. In other words, Jesus could get to ‘the bottom of things’ without the usual fuss and bother, without the usual preliminaries.

So then, by this account, it would seem that what Nicodemus was really getting at, what he was really seeking, was an explanation of the seeming onset of the kingdom of God into their midst. God was evidently at work in Jesus’ life, so what did this mean? Did it mean that the kingdom of God was already here? And, if so, how did one enter into it or become part of it?

Now, he could well have been asking this on several levels, and for several reasons. As a Pharisee, someone who was zealous about the faith and anxious to keep it faithfully, he could have wanted to know this for academic or religious reasons. As a Sadducee, someone who held the reins of power and whose power and status rested upon keeping Judaea stable and undisturbed, he may have been asking this for purely political reasons. Or then, his visit and subsequent questioning may have been for purely personal reasons, namely that he wanted to know, ‘needed’ to know. By this reasoning, he was a seeker, pure and simple. And, given the later drift of the conversation and Nicodemus’ eventual conversion to the faith (see John 19;39), it was this personal ‘connection’ that won out, regardless of whether either of the other two motivations were present.

To me, this says a lot about how God in Jesus Christ interacts with each one of us. He already knows the secrets of our hearts and everything about us (see Psalm 139) and knows what we are truly seeking and desirous in our lives. And, if we are open to Him, and truly seeking, as I think that Nicodemus was, then He will speak to us and reveal Himself to us and direct us in the way we should go. To me, this is a wonderful possibility, and indeed, a wonderful gift. Amen.

Forward notes: “But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people” (chapter 2:24).

“Have you ever met a person and known intuitively what kind of person he or she was? Kind or menacing? Angry or happy? John tells us that Jesus was intuitive that way. He could sense the substance of a person. Every person.

“Nicodemus approaches Jesus at night. I have heard some people speak negatively of Nicodemus because he came to Jesus by night, fearful, but I find Nicodemus to be inspiring, very human. Few people approached Jesus— by day or night—except to criticize or challenge him. Jesus clearly senses something about Nicodemus, and he engages with him, answering his questions.

“’You must be born from above,’ Jesus tells him. Don’t we all long for this type of rebirth—for this profound sense of being known by God inside and out, intuitively, just like Jesus knew Nicodemus?

Jesus accepts Nicodemus but promises more. ‘You must be born from above,’ which of course means, ‘You can be born again!’ Jesus fulfills this promise to us every day.”

Moving Forward: “What does it mean to you to be ‘born from above?’