A MAN BESET
#062 A MAN BESET
Scripture John 3:1-21 NIV Orig. 4-25-71 (9-83)
Rewr. 2-23-88
Passage: Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 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.” 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]” 4 “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!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 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.”[d] 9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 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. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[e] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[f] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”[g] 16 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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Purpose: To share with my people a measure of the life of a man, Nicodemus, that we might all be more honest with the spiritual values that touch our lives.
Keywords: Biographical New Birth Revival Christ, Redeemer
Timeline/Series: Greek Texts
Introduction
Picture, please, the coming of Nicodemus to counsel with Jesus. He is a man, deeply perplexed. He sees as we often do, people living differently from their stated religious values. He sees long-held doctrine no longer constraining the lives of his people. He hears of this man Jesus who is adding a new assessment to moral/ethical standards. Jesus defines spiritual values as those held constructively in the heart, and therefore influencing the way people live.
So Nicodemus, the Pharisee, a religious pace-setter, and Nicodemus, “a ruler of the Jews” (Sanhedrin), wants to discuss with this itinerant preacher these waning, changing values of his people.
We need to come to grips ourselves with changing standards. We need to be sure we understand what is at the heart of our ethical/moral values.
Bruce Larson, in his book, No Longer Strangers (N34p12), shares the admission for South Hadley Seminary (now Mt. Holyoke College). It was one of the first finishing schools for girls. These were the requirements:
No young lady shall become a member of this school who cannot kindle a fire, wash potatoes, and repeat the multiplication table.
No cosmetics, perfumeries, or fancy soaps will be allowed on the premises.
Every member of this school shall walk at least a mile every day unless a freshet, earthquake, or some other calamity prevent.
No member of this school is expected to have any male acquaintances unless they are retired missionaries, or agents of some benevolent society.
No member of this institution shall tarry before the mirror more than three consecutive minutes.
No member of this school shall devote more than one hour each week to miscellaneous reading. The Atlantic Monthly, Shakespeare, Scott’s novels, Robinson Crusoe, and immoral works are strictly forbidden. The Boston Recorder, Missionary Herald, and “Washington’s Farewell Address” are earnestly recommended for light reading.
We are not interested in such strictness, not for ourselves, nor for our daughters. But clearly, standards are still in our best interest. So let’s keep this appointment with Nicodemus as he seeks out Jesus.
First of all, We Must Learn what We Can of Nicodemus. “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night.”
He was clearly a man of position. By today’s standards, he lived in the best neighborhood, served on the community council, was a favored donor at political clambakes. Had he lived in the old south, he would have been an aristocrat. In Victorian England, of the ruling class. In 14th Century Europe, a Lord.
He was recognized by his peers as a man of truth. Now, integrity and position do not always go together. Compromise is thought by some to be a virtue. Here, however, is a man respected at every level of social interaction. He was aware of needs about him. He knew what the injustices were, and spoke out of the underdog. Hear him in 7:48f as he withstands those who rebuke the soldiers sent to take Jesus: “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? 49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.” 50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) 51 “Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?” What bothered him as much as anything was the inconsistency in his religious peers. Here was a man who was still willing to learn from the insights of others.
Who better is there to go to than Jesus? John 1:18 “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” It is of total inconsequence that he came to Jesus by night. Some say he sought to hide his intent from others. More accurately, he simply wanted time to address Jesus on critical issues undisturbed. So ought we, to go to our Lord, with those issues that beset us, at times convenient for our full concentration.
II. Having Considered the Man, We Now Turn to His Question. V2 “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” It is not a question about “Are you a teacher sent from God?” He knew Jesus by word and deed. Perhaps he had been a quiet listener during the Galilean ministry. He had been impressed by what he had seen. Perhaps when Jesus drove the money-changers from the temple. He saw a consistency in Jesus’ life not found in others. Nicodemus did what has never been too-hastily done: He went to Jesus. In John 7:50 he verbally defended Jesus. “Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) 51 ‘Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?’” In John 19:38f he helped prepare his body for burial. “38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.”
We can fairly well assume that the question had little to do with the duplicity of birth. Now, he asks this question. V4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Not the only statement found with question mark. But this seems to be only some shock-reaction to Jesus’ insight to his problem.
To know what the real question was, we must delve into the answer given it by Jesus. Answer: “Nicodemus, flesh is flesh. That born of the flesh is flesh, nothing more. Spirit can only be born of spirit.” Wycliffe P289 reads, “The law of reproduction is “after its kind”. . . Sprit produces spirit, a life born, nurtured, and matured by the Spirit of God.”
Question: “If I am made a Hebrew by virtue of my birth, is it likewise my good fortune to claim the sanction of God because I am Hebrew? Note that the answer to that question is “Absolutely not!” You are flesh, and all that flesh can reproduce is more flesh. To be a man of the spirit requires reproduction beyond human understanding. He illustrates by using “wind.” “Wind,” “breath,” “spirit” are all the same. It produces observable effect, but where it comes from, and where it is going, we cannot control.
III. The Next Best Step for Us is to Apply this Answer to Ourselves. V14f “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son. . .”
The first application is to the new birth. V3 “Except a man be born again.” As always, the Scripture speaks generically. There are no exceptions, all are included.
We must be able to give priority where it belongs. I know all the rudiments of my birth. Born in LaGrange, GA, to James Ewell and Allene Thompson Skinner. I am proud to claim such genealogy. Don’t we all over-play the birth records? We have a daughter born in Texas. We were in Texas when Alaska was admitted to the Union. They took it offensively.
Do we as well know the specifics relative to our spiritual birth? It isn’t necessary to know the verse of the song being sung. Nor who was preaching. Nor what the month and day were. You should know, beyond human speculations, that it did, in fact, happen. You were there. Who else was is immaterial. You are the one who took the hand extended to you.
I regularly have people, out loud, invite Jesus, in response to Revelation 3:20—“Behold I stand at the door and knock”—into their hearts.
There needs to be a birth-like identification with the Kingdom of God. I had absolutely no emotional feeling when born. But the birth of two daughters brought great joy. I have shared that happiness with many others over many years as pastor. So, the new birth, or second birth, being born of God’s spirit, is consummate joy. And it happens through Jesus Christ only.
Conclusion
In James Agee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, A Death in the Family1, a boy of nine sits clutching a daily newspaper and his father’s pipe. The father is dead, auto accident. “My daddy’s dead. He can’t ever come home: not tomorrow, or the next day, or the next, or the next.” What terrible grief. But the new birth is the antithesis of such grief. It is joy.
1-Agee, J. (1957). A Death in the Family. McDowell, Obolensky.