“A surprising initiative”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Monday, August 8, 2022

John 3:1-21 (Forward, p. 10) CEV p. 1102

Almost anyone might have been expected to want to see Jesus early in His career, but certainly not Nicodemus. After all, he was perhaps one of the people who had the most to lose. He was a Pharisee, a member of the group that would most often lock horns with Jesus. And furthermore, he was one of the select group of people, a member of the ruling Sanhedrin, one of the top rulers of Israel. After the episode with Jesus ‘cleansing’ the Temple, he would hardly been expected to be sympathetic towards the perpetrator of this action. Certainly, it would look bad for him should his visit to Jesus ‘get out’. No wonder then he came to see Jesus in the dead of night!

It is quite obvious that Nicodemus has had his eyes and ears open, for the miracles [signs] that Jesus has performed in Jerusalem over the last few days has come to his attention. And he knows that there is something about them that marks the one performing them as someone different, as someone who is uniquely empowered by God.

So, with this on his mind, he comes to Jesus to ask Him about it. Jesus, however, seems not to have heard him, and departs off on what seems to be a totally unrelated tangent with His discussion of the kingdom of God.

But then, maybe this isn’t totally unrelated, for mention of the kingdom of God or of heaven, seems to crop up repeatedly in the gospels. Indeed, when the rich young ruler (Luke 18: 18-30) shows up and asks how he might inherit eternal life, the ensuing discussion seems to just naturally shift to a discussion on the kingdom. Maybe, in his question, Nicodemus is really thinking about the kingdom and whether it has found its advent, its inauguration, in the ministry of Jesus. After all, the kingdom, that is, the rule of God over His people and the establishment of that rule, was the hope and dream of almost all of Israel.

Whether this is true or not, Jesus immediately shifts the conversation from any question about its advent or its origin, to a question of how Nicodemus might see, that is, enter or become part of that kingdom. He tells him that he must be ‘born again’ or ‘born from above.’

Here Nicodemus proves himself to be most obtuse—maybe purposefully so. The Jews already used that phrase to denote a pagan convert to Judaism entering into the faith. They considered it to be so radical as to change all the person’s relationships, so radical that the old ties of kinship, for instance, no longer applied. It was said, hypothetically of course, that a man could then, upon conversion, actually marry someone (like his mother or sister) that he never could have previously. It was like entering into his mother’s womb and being born again—starting all over, as it were.

Nicodemus seems to be unduly slow at picking up on this, but maybe he wants to be, for the already existing idea of being born again only applied to pagan converts—not to those who were already of the Jewish faith like himself. It was quite a comedown to think that faithful, stalwart believers such as himself might have to undergo this.

But it is the ‘other’ rendering of the phrase that seems to be most on Jesus’ mind, the idea of being ‘born from above.’ So, He is saying that, unlike Nicodemus’ original birth, this one doesn’t involve any human agency. This is one that has to be accomplished by God, and by God alone. And, doesn’t this make total sense? As Rees Howells explained, ‘a fish birth equips that creature for life under water, an earthly birth for a life where one breaths air, and a heavenly birth for life in a different setting altogether. No wonder the earthly birth simply ‘would not work’ when it came to the kingdom.

However, here is something that might well ‘stick in our craw’ as it were, especially if one is of the independent, self-reliant frame of mind. Here is something that we simply cannot do in and by ourselves. Here is something where we have to shed our pride and simply depend upon God to carry out. In today’s account, the story is left open-ended. Nicodemus is left to ‘stew in his own juice’, to ponder these questions in his own heart and mind and come to his eventual decision—just as God often does with each of us. He never (or at least, seldom) forces our hand. But, we do know that Nicodemus eventually did come to faith in Jesus Christ [John 19:39]. And, of course, that is exactly what God wants of each of us—even if it ‘happens’ to take a while. My prayer is that each of us might take that initiative, even as Nicodemus did so long ago. Amen.

Forward notes: “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, 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?’” (verses 8-9)

“’How can these things be?’ That is a question we might have asked in Bible study class. Our leader, a knowledgeable and understanding priest, welcomed questions, both foolish and wise. We were like Nicodemus, sitting in the presence of spirit and knowledge, daring to say what we felt.

“Eventually, we went our separate ways, but the class profoundly affected each of us. Nicodemus, who came to Jesus at night and asked important questions, learned firsthand about God’s presence. We came to class and, in learning to be honest and open in our questions, found a guide to enlightenment.

“Later in life, when Nicodemus faced hostile crowds, he dared to advocate listening to Jesus and, ultimately, to help Joseph of Arimathea with Christ’s burial after the crucifixion. I pray that the wind of the Spirit may blow upon us today as we follow in Nicodemus’s footsteps.”

Moving Forward: “Find a way to gather with others to study scripture–and ask questions.”