“Art thou a master in Israel,
and knowest not these things?”
Preached at St. Barnabas Church, Bellville, TX
Trinity Sunday, 2010
by The Rev.
Stephen E. Stults
John
3:3
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Life is full of distinctions. That is, we go through our earthly sojourn here constantly
weighing one experience against another, distinguishing one experience
by another, and often taking great lessons from that constant exercise. I say often but not always. There are times when all of us fail to glean the intended lesson
from one of life’s vignettes, either because we were not thinking about
it, or because we simply were not paying enough attention to the
situation at hand. Thus, we
sometimes fail to learn the lesson that God had prepared for us that
day.
An excellent example of this “missing the
mark” is shown very clearly in today’s Gospel selection from St. John, in the person of
Nicodemus. Here, we are told, “There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews” (John 3:1). Thus, we know that this was an important man, a substantial man. He was a member of the prestigious Sanhedrin and thus held a
position of some dignity in the Jewish community. As we will see in a moment, he also knew that he was.
St.
John goes on and tells us in John 3:2: This man came to Jesus by night and said
to Him, “Rabbi we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one
can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Two things are most interesting in this
statement from St. John. First, we note with interest that Nicodemus “came to Jesus by
night.” Personally, I have
always thought that Nicodemus did this because he was a secret disciple
of Jesus, or a “would-be” disciple of Jesus, but that he was afraid of
his contemporaries’ opinions. Thus, he sought Jesus under the cover of darkness. This may be true, for undoubtedly Jesus had some supporters, or
at least those who had a benign, or even favorable view of Him. Some, like Nicodemus, were very curious, perhaps even wondering
if this “prophet” was the Messiah. Yet, most of these men would not or could not declare for Jesus
openly, for fear of earning condemnation from the Sanhedrin. Thus, Nicodemus came by night to commune with Jesus.
Another, more positive view comes from
Matthew Henry, who wrote that Nicodemus came to Christ by night out of
respect for his time. Seeing
that Christ was usually thronged by a multitude, Nicodemus sought a time
where he could speak to Christ quietly and confidentially. Thus, he did not intrude upon Jesus’ ministry for his own
questions, nor did he seek Jesus during the day.
Perhaps; this may be true. One thing we do know is that Nicodemus saw something in Jesus
that piqued his righteous curiosity. He knew that Christ was truly someone special. Thus, he begins
his interview with Christ with a flattering statement, perhaps meant to
“butter up” Jesus, or increase his good opinion of Nicodemus: “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do
these signs that You do unless God is with him.” This tactic fails utterly, as Jesus ignores it and cuts right to
the quick of Nicodemus’ spiritual need by saying, “Most assuredly, I say
to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”
(NKJ). Commentators such as St. Augustine and St. John
Chrysostom wrote that Christ often did this when he conversed one-on-one
with a person. He usually
went right to the heart of the matter and ignored the surface
discussion.
For example, recall that in the story of
the rich young ruler of Matthew 19, who asked Christ how to inherit
eternal life, Christ perceived that the young man had righteous
tendencies, but that his wealth was a barrier to real spiritual growth. Thus, Christ gave him a shocking commandment, “Go, sell all that
you have, give it to the poor, and come, follow me.” Recall that the
rich young ruler went away sorrowfully, “for he had great possessions.”
Also, with the Samaritan woman at the well of John 4, Christ told her to
call her husband and then return to Him, whereupon she confesses that
she had no husband. Christ
gently but directly tells her that she has spoken truly, for she has
been a serial divorcee (5 times) and the man with whom she was currently
living was not her husband.
This prompts her to say that she now took Jesus for a prophet. In both these cases, Christ goes right to the heart of the
problem and exposes that to His light before proceeding.
In today’s Gospel, Christ perceives that
Nicodemus’ problem is that of pride. He was righteous, certainly, but he knew it. He was devout, following all the precepts of the Law, but he knew
it. He was even looking for
something greater in the current spiritual environment of Israel, but he didn’t know what that
was.
Nicodemus’ ignorance of true spiritual
matters is evident when he answers Jesus’ shocking statement, “You must
be born again.” He uses
bluster with a hint of mockery when he says, “How can a man be born when
he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be
born?” Nicodemus’ reply
shows that he is actually firmly rooted in the earthly and material,
without a sense of true spirituality. Thus, Christ patiently leads him by saying in John 3:5-8, “Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel
that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it
wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes
from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Still, Nicodemus does not “get it.” He says, “How can these things be?” Here, he displays his true spiritual ignorance, for it
is obvious
that he doesn’t have a clue.
This is precisely the point to which Christ wanted to bring him all
along, in order to teach him. Christ is very aware that Nicodemus is a “self-made” righteous
man. That is, he is a superb
example of works righteousness. He has striven all his life to follow the Law and thus, like all
the righteous Jews of his generation, to earn his salvation.
Judaism today, as well as Islam
and all other world religions, think the same. A man’s behavior and adherence to an external law is the key to
salvation.
We Christians think differently, knowing
that our salvation comes only from the bleeding hands, the bleeding feet,
and the bleeding side of Jesus; that is, only Christ’s Atonement on the
Cross procures our salvation. This is a great difference.
Along with Nicodemus’ righteousness is a
healthy dose of pride. He
was respected and he was proud, in the words of
St. Augustine, to be thought of as a teacher of
the barbarian and the child, and he clearly loved his position in
society. In short, to the
exterior eye, Nicodemus “had it all together.”
Yet, he lacked one thing, the ability to
see the world through spiritual eyes and not material ones. Thus, he
says, “How can these things be?” St. John Chrysostom lamented his attitude when he wrote, “O
Nicodemus, must you pull it down to earth?” In short, are you so rooted
in your earthly system of salvation, your self-made righteousness and
your salvation through works that you can’t see what Christ is saying to
you?
Obviously, yes. Thus, Christ cuts through his pride by saying, “Art thou a master
of Israel,
and knowest not these things?” This
was not said to hurt, but to heal. In his wonderfully direct and yet perceptive way, Christ exposes
his pride. We have already
seen that Nicodemus had a great deal of pride.
Now, let it not be said that Nicodemus
was a bad man, he surely was not. In fact, according to the standards of the day, he was a very
good man. Yet, he badly
needed instruction and new birth. Although he is unaware of it, Nicodemus is having an interview
with the Incarnate Truth.
Nicodemus is actually speaking to the Fulfillment of the Law, incarnate
in human flesh.
Thus, Jesus has already said to him in
John 3:5-6: ”Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” From his answers so far, Nicodemus has shown that he is a fleshly
man.
Nicodemus’ lesson is far from over. Christ has already alluded to the waters of baptism as he said,
“Except a man be born of water..” and its attendant benefit of re-birth
as a new creature in the Spirit. This, according to Christ, is a necessity. He then makes Nicodemus’ spiritual poverty abundantly clear when
he said, “We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you
do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do
not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
It is clear that, up to this point,
Nicodemus has been totally unable to hear the words of Christ, for all
the reasons listed above.
Now maybe he can hear what Christ tells him, as Jesus tells several
spiritual truths. First,
that no one has ascended to heaven but He that came from heaven, namely,
Jesus. Secondly, from
Numbers 21: 8-9, that as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the
wilderness, as God told him to do, the plague was lifted for those who
looked up. They were healed
as they had the faith to look up and live. Even so, Christ says, He must be lifted up from the earth, so
"that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Once again, I’m sure that Nicodemus didn’t realize it at the
time, but later on, after the Resurrection, he probably did realize what
Christ was talking about. In
the words of John 12:32: “And I, if I be lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men unto
me.”
Nicodemus had a great lesson that day. It may have been the seed that led to his eventual salvation in
Christ. I certainly pray so.
Let’s bring this back to us. Are we willing to hear the word of Christ in our spiritual ears?
That is, are we willing to let
Christ “peel away” our layers of separation from Him? Are we willing to hear that hurtful, yet healing Word that causes
us to cling to Christ? While
all of us experienced new birth in Holy Baptism, are we still pursuing
our spiritual progress, being willing to experience new and real levels
of spiritual rebirth? In
short, do we really believe that “ye must be born again?”
Let this Trinity Sunday be a day of
newness to you. Let is be
the occasion where you allow the Holy Spirit to truly speak to your
spirit and move you, bit by bit, into ever greener and more refreshing
pastures. Let the fullness
of the Holy Trinity fill you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and let them
make their abode with you this day. As you yield yourself to the Trinity, allow yourself to be bathed
in that perfect love, that perfect rest and that perfect knowledge that
God has prepared for you.
When you do that, you can say with satisfaction, “Today, I was born
again.”
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God.
Amen.
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