John 3:1-17 (NRSVue)
1 Now there was a
Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to
Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has
come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with
that person.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no
one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus
said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a
second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus
answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without
being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is
flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be
astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 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.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things
be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and
yet you do not understand these things?
11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and
testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If
I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you
believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has
ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of
Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that
whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to
condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Reflection
Nicodemus
sought Jesus out in the middle of the night.
Jesus welcomed Nicodemus in the darkness, taking time in the late night
to provide some understanding and some light.
Jesus loved Nicodemus enough to join him in the darkness. Jesus loves the whole world that much.
I think about this often, how Jesus chose to greet Nicodemus in the darkness. It seems obvious to me that Nicodemus chose to come to Jesus at night because he did not want to be noticed. He did not want to be seen associating with Jesus. Who knows what might have happened to Nicodemus had he been seen associating with such a man: loss of standing in the world; loss of notoriety; loss of privilege. Jesus knew this of course. Jesus knew of Nicodemus’ shame. Yet Jesus still chose to meet Nicodemus and reveal the mysteries of God’s heart to him.
The scene did not have to play out this way. Jesus could have chastised Nicodemus. He could have called him weak of faith. He could have refused to meet with him all together. He could have condemned Nicodemus, sent him away, and banished him for dwelling in the darkness.
After-all, Jesus is the light of God. Jesus did not need to dwell in the middle of the night with dark figures who prefer to hide. But, if Jesus never entered the darkness, never sought us out in our dark times, how would any of us in this dark world be saved? How would Nicodemus or any of us who dwell in the darkness come to know anything about the heart of God?
Jesus “did not come into the world in order to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).
Do we get that? Do we truly understand that Jesus does not look upon our neighbors with distain; “Tisk, tisk, tisk,” dripping from his lips? Do we truly understand that he does not look at the shady dealings of the house next door and use his cosmic powers to make the people dwelling within disappear? Do we truly understand that Jesus sat down with prostitutes, ate with tax collectors, healed sinful people, and had conversations with women with whom no one else was willing to speak?
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).
Do we truly understand that Jesus chose to sit with people in dark places so that they might be saved? I am not sure that I always do. If the thoughts of my mind had the ability to eliminate the people who I deem as “unworthy” daily, this area would have a pretty sparse population. Not only that, I wonder just how much time I have wasted, condemning people rather than talking with them and connecting them to the one who can lift them out of the darkness: Jesus Christ our Lord?
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).
That makes me think of the quote from the late David Huskins, “If God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn it, I doubt he sent you.”
That seems a little too true for comfort.
“If God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn it, I doubt he sent you.” What is striking about these words is that they came from the mouth of a minister who experienced constant criticism and condemnation himself. Darkness overtook his life as he soaked in everyone’s criticisms, taking them all to heart. In the end he took his own life. He struggled with the darkness of his life and hoped beyond hope that the words of scripture are true, that Jesus meets when us in dark places. He hoped beyond hope that we are not condemned, no matter how dark the place in which we find ourselves.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).
What the scriptures desperately want us to understand is that Jesus meets us in our dark places. Like Nicodemus, we are offered a glimmer of light. We are offered something new. Jesus offers us a different vision. He offers us a different life. He offers us the light of God. Jesus reveals that we will get to see the kingdom of God when we are born again, or as our bibles say, “born from above” (John 3:3).
Jesus wants us to experience a complete change in how we see the world. We are so used to the dark ways that things work down here in this world that our understanding of the world needs to die. Jesus clears out the ways of this world so that we can be born again with a clear mind; so that we can see things the way that God sees them.
In fact, Jesus says that to live in the kingdom of God you need to be born of “water and the Spirit.” Like in the days of Noah, the water drowns out the old, dark life and the Spirit of God blows new life into you once again. It is a second birth that allows you to see the kingdom of God. It is a second birth that allows you to enter in the kingdom of God. Only then will you see things the way that God sees them.
But, this is not just about you. God can and does renew any one of us at any time that God chooses. “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” (John 3:8).
God can renew even the most unlikely of us. Remember how Moses, the murderer of that slave driver, was transformed into one of the greatest prophets? Remember how Peter was transformed from a Jesus denier into a brave preacher? Remember how Saul was transformed from a persecutor of Christians into one of the most prolific evangelizers of the faith? The Spirit blew into them all, giving them vision from above, making them servants of God. Remember how the Spirit blew into you, transforming your weakest moments in life into one of your greatest strengths? God can renew even the most unlikely of us, and God does.
One of the best trauma therapists that I know was brutally traumatized herself. I will not get into the details; you can certainly imagine the worst. The dark world in which she lived as a child formed and molded her to be a destructive teenager. Her mind was consumed by the need to get back at the dark world.
“The world is cruel,” she thought. “The world is evil. The world needed to be destroyed.” And, work to destroy it she did. Out of pure madness the teen set fire to her neighbor’s garbage can one night, and flames quickly shot up the side of her neighbor’s back porch. The old woman saw the fire in the back of her house and quickly put it out with her garden hose.
In an inexplicable act of compassion, rather than pressing charges, the neighbor invited the girl to help her put new siding on her back porch. Each morning started out with milk and cookies, and then the work would begin. While they worked, the old woman asked the teen about her life. She listened to the teen’s pain. She hugged her when she revealed the worst over cookies and milk. She was there for the teen’s high school graduation. And the old woman was there when the newly educated trauma therapist graduated from college.
The old woman had been born from above and she understood a couple of holy truths: that God loves “the world,” even the dark parts of the world, and that Jesus has no intention of “condemning” the world. Rather Jesus desires to save the world.
The old woman herself had once been born again, rising from the cleansing waters of God and filled with the breath of the Holy Spirit. Because the woman had been born from above and understood God’s vision for the world, the teen was also given a chance to be born anew.
The therapist now lives a new life, so different than the dark one she had inhabited before as a youth. Now, she looks upon the world with love, not hate. Now, she sees the darkness within people as something that needs to be healed, not condemned. Now, she looks to Jesus to provide that healing and eternal life, just as the Israelites looked to the snake for healing and forgiveness in the wilderness. She trusts in Jesus, who refuses to condemn, because his life and death is all about salvation. She looks upon the world with love, because Jesus looked upon her with love and sent her neighbor at the right time. She refuses to condemn, because that is not what seeing with the eyes of Jesus and living in his kingdom is actually about. The Spirit continues to breathe new life into her through the words of scripture that she memorized soon after having her life turned around by Jesus.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16).
She also memorized this phrase, because she thought it was just as important as the first:
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).
Jesus spoke to her in the middle of the night, in the middle of her darkness, and she had been saved.
Jesus breathes new life into you also. Jesus is there in your darkness also. Allow your darkness to be drowned, and be ready for all that the Spirit has in store as Jesus fills you with new breath and new life.
