"A New Start" (a sermon on John 3:1-21)

We have a character here named Nicodemus. Despite being a Jewish religious leader, he did not yet understand where his Scriptures pointed. Nicodemus was still in the dark. We are led to this conclusion because we are specifically told he came to Jesus “by night”. People will often come out at night, when daytime hours would clearly expose them and their life choices (refer v.19-20). John’s Gospel has a continuing theme throughout of light and darkness. People who were living in the “darkness” would be confronted by Jesus who was the “light”.

Nicodemus did have some appreciation for Jesus. He saw Jesus as a teacher and a miracle-worker. Changing water into wine at a wedding feast, and throwing people out of the temple who were disrupting worship, were seen as signs that Jesus carried the presence of God. In this, Nicodemus would have been well ahead of the rest of the Pharisees who were lining themselves up against Jesus. Here was a seeker! But perhaps this was more of an intellectual quest … more of the head than of the heart. Therefore Jesus didn’t present Nicodemus with a complete theology of who he was, but rather cut to the chase – he went to the personal … Jesus turned to Nicodemus’ own (greatest) need.

Whoever Jesus was, and surely Nicodemus was on the right track, the question is … how this is going to affect Nicodemus personally? It’s how each of us handle this good news deep into our personhood that is most important. We can argue about this or that as our mind carries us through various points of teaching, however this is all secondary to the work God wants to do within us. It is possible for a person to believe in the existence of God, and also in the worthiness of God’s law, but still remain the dark! How is this so??? They lack a personal relationship with God!!!

This would be the type of personal relationship in which one gets to know God, and personally experience all of what God wants to give to a person. A proper spiritual pursuit leads to a personal relationship with one’s creator. The terminology Jesus uses (in verse 3), depending on how this is translated, is being “born from above”, or “born anew” or “born again”. [in verse 8 add “born of the Spirit”.] What does it really mean to be “born again”? Now Nicodemus really has something of worth to ponder! This all suggests a new start!

Why (the need for) a new start?! The human state is often such that a minor repair or a ‘band-aid’ will never do! The wound is too great. A temporary repair job is just that … temporary. Sometimes we might just layer more and more things on to ourselves, to try to make ourselves feel better – e.g. activities, “works”, material goods, food, relationships. Yet the problem goes way too deep to be helped by any of these. We don’t need a ‘band-aid’, but an operation! We really need to strip everything back.

Nicodemus himself queries all this. This was new territory. This was unique thinking. Could you re-enter your mother’s womb and start again as a baby? No! We cannot reverse what has come before … the facts and history of our physical lives remain. This is a spiritual re-birth! We remain human as we were born human. We remain the physical age we are. But something deep and spiritual happens, meaning that we nonetheless have a new start. And such is the power of the Spirit, that a rebirth like this can change so much. Being “born anew” is not a reversal, but rather a spiritual revolution.

This was radical, and Nicodemus couldn’t quite get his head around it. Nicodemus brings the question, “How can these things be” (v.9)? In response to this Jesus sort of tees off on those who should have known better (v.9-12) … the religious “teachers” of the day, that seem to be resistant or unwilling to respond. Change! Humility! Not easy, when one has become so set in their ways! Yet human need is so plain to see!! The question Nicodemus put (v.9), gave Jesus the opportunity to address all those who were unprepared to step into the light … in his time, and beyond his time.

The answer … to be “born anew”! Where does being “born anew” begin?? Well, of course, it’s not really a ‘where’, but a ‘who’! Being “born again” begins with the person who was “lifted up” (v.14). This “lifting up” refers first to the “Son of Man” Jesus being lifted up onto a cross by a sinful humanity who did not recognise their visitation from God. This “lifting up” also refers to the way in which God glorifies, honours and exalts Jesus for his willing sacrifice for all humanity … that we see in the resurrection.

What we need to do is identify ourselves with this act of love and grace on the cross, and admit that this was for me! Then, as we experience forgiveness and cleansing, we are also able to participate in Jesus’ resurrected life. We are given a human identity at our first birth, the second birth brings a new identity closely aligned to Jesus (along with new citizenship papers)! Our new papers are marked, ‘citizen of the Kingdom of God’ (refer v.3).

This whole process is so beautifully and famously expressed in John 3:16. What does it mean to “believe” in Jesus?? It does not mean just intellectual assent to certain facts. To “believe” means to accept and appreciate all of what Jesus brings to a life. To “believe” means to completely buy into something, and to stake your life on its credibility. To “believe” is to wholly commit your life over to Jesus. To “believe” is to say ‘YES’ to God’s grace! To “believe” is to receive the offer of forgiveness, and then pass on that forgiveness to others. To “believe” is to follow in the Jesus way, seeking to emulate how he lived (in compassion and liberation). This all takes enough humility to accept we need help. And this all originates out of God’s enormous heart of love.

Where does being “born anew” lead?? Eternal life!! “Eternal life” is often misunderstood as meaning ongoing life after earthly death. This is part of it, but not where it begins. “Eternal life”, which really means “life in all its fullness”, begins in the here and now when we experience this new birth. “Eternal life” is living NOW in the assured and unending presence of God. We have already said that what we can embrace is the resurrected life of Jesus in all its victory (over negativity and death). We participate in the process of becoming like Christ (recovering that image of God that we were born into), by following Jesus now. We anticipate life in heaven, by living as citizens of heaven now.

How can we really appreciate this “eternal life” in the present??? In (corporate) worship; through participation in Jesus-centred community (where all the gifts of the Spirit are shared in the common good); in mutual encouragement and care; in service of our neighbour; through alleviating injustice; by expressing joy and peace in knowing Jesus. Sure cracks will appear – we remain human … vulnerable and fallible. Rough edges will emerge under pressure. Our progress can stall from time to time under life’s testing. Ultimately though, a fresh birth experience in Jesus has the potential of overcoming all past failures and hurts – break the chains that bind – and cause us to dance.

If we reflect back to our study of Ruth, we will remember how Naomi was broken and empty through the losses that she experienced. Having first been encouraged by the loving-kindness of Ruth, Naomi was then given, through her “kinsman-redeemer” Boaz, all that would make her life new again – land and descendants. Jesus is our “kinsman-redeemer”, in that when our life was lost to other interests, or struggling in guilt and shame, Jesus offers us a new start, where he takes all our burdens upon himself, and gives us a whole new way of living.

We see in verses 18-19 that people bring negative judgment or condemnation upon themselves for ignoring the light or resisting believing in Jesus. This is judgment by one’s own decision! This is because their (“evil”) deeds or their life-style reveals that they prefer the darkness. Or it may just be because, for any number of reasons, they just cannot come to terms with believing in the person and character of Jesus. Such a shame!! Such statements, rather than leading us to any sort of feelings of vindication or superiority, should actually move us and motivate us. For, “God so loved the world” – this is our blueprint too! Verse 17 says it all! Jesus came that none might be lost!!

If Nicodemus was willing, Jesus would take him on the journey of being “born anew”, from darkness to light, from night-time to morning. What further do we hear about Nicodemus? In chapter 7, Nicodemus courageously raises concerns about the Pharisees' blanket rejection of Jesus, suggesting that Jesus should be given a better hearing (7:50-51). And in chapter 19, Nicodemus assisted with Jesus’ burial after his crucifixion. I think these are telling words (John 19:38-40):

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. 39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.

We see here a generous act of love beyond the norm. One imagines that the response of Nicodemus had moved from the head to the heart. What about us? Where are we on this journey?? Resisting? Or opening ourselves to something new?? Thinking about God and Jesus in an intellectual sense … just with the mind? Or opening all our lives to Jesus’ great gift of “eternal life – life in all its fullness”??