Have you ever noticed the headlines of the papers like National Enquirer, Weekly World News, and The Sun? I enjoy reading them standing in line at the check-out counter in the grocery stores. Nothing is sacred and from the hottest Hollywood stars to politicians, no one is immune. A few of years ago, even Newsweek ran a headline that sounded more like the National Enquirer. It read “Cheney’s Secret World.” More recently you might have read, "The Anatomy of Trump's Falsehoods." They will print anything that sounds sensational.
I wonder what would have been said if they had the equivalent in the day of Jesus – maybe a “Jewish Enquirer” or "The Jerusalem Rag." Wouldn’t they have had a field day with this meeting between Nicodemus and Jesus? It might have been billed as “Nicodemus’ Secret Meeting with the renegade preacher from Galilee.” .
The really hard thing is this day and age is that people want to make things sound as sensational as possible. They want to get the dirt on people - because dirt sells! But our lesson is about coming out of the darkness into the light. This conversation is something of a puzzle that has to be put together. We might actually need a guide, or translator to tell us what’s going on.
It is night – and that’s significant. We are in the gospel of John - so going back to the 5th verse of chapter 1, we hear “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” And do we ever get an example of that is this lesson. Nicodemus comes under the cover of darkness – he is in the dark, and Jesus is the light shining into that darkness. So this seems like a strange and disjointed conversation. And to make it even worse, some of the words Jesus uses have more than one meaning. And inevitably Nicodemus picks the wrong meaning to focus on.
So here we go, reading between the lines so to speak: what Nicodemus said was, “We know you are from God because of the signs you do. No one can do those kinds of things without God’s blessing.” Now this sounds like a nice compliment and - it was, but there is motive behind the statement. Nicodemus may very well want to know how he too can do the kinds of signs that Jesus is doing.
Jesus answers the unspoken question – “how can I do these things? How can I have God with me?” Jesus tells him, “unless you are born ‘anothen,’ you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Now the word anothen is slippery – it means different things – it means “again” but it also means “anew” or “from above.”
So what Jesus is really saying is “In order to do the things I do, you must be able to see the Kingdom of God. And to see the kingdom of God, you must be born “anothen” - “anew,” “from above.” But Nicodemus hears ‘born again,’ and he questions, “How can I climb back into Mom’s womb and be born again?\
So Jesus tries again, “You have to be born of water and the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God…” What Jesus meant was “Everyone who lives is born of flesh – but that’s not enough to enter the Kingdom of God. If you want to enter the kingdom of God, you have to be born of the Spirit also… the Spirit of God.” (Our soul has to find that spirit/soul connection with God.)
Nicodemus still seems to be clueless - and about that time, a wind blew through the dusty street and Jesus latched onto the image. The word he uses is “pneuma.” It can mean wind, or spirit, or breath. He says, “The wind blows where it will, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. It’s the same thing with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Now what Jesus is talking about in this comparison is the effect of the wind – you can’t see the wind itself, but you can see the effect of the wind. You can tell if it is a strong wind, or a gentle breeze and you can tell what direction it is blowing. You see the effects, but not the wind itself. It’s the same thing with the Spirit – you can see the effects of the Spirit, but not the Spirit itself. "If you are born of the Spirit, everyone around you will be able to tell it. You will do the things I do." Jesus tells him.
And Nicodemus is beginning to get a glimmer of the truth and he asks, “How can this be?” He wants to know how he can get this spirit, how he can be seen as one who walks with the spirit. And Jesus chides him, “Are you a teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?” Jesus is telling him that the way to this spirit is through the teachings of Israel. He’s telling Nicodemus to live into the word of God, into the meaning behind the words.
He’s telling Nicodemus to see God in the world around him and in the people he meets. He’s telling Nicodemus to allow God to lift him up and be in his heart – to believe as he’s never believed before. He tells Nicodemus that if he doesn’t believe earthly things, he will never be able to believe heavenly things.
We don’t know how Nicodemus reacted to this in the beginning. We don’t see Nicodemus again until the 7th chapter. At that time, he stands up for Jesus against the Sanhedrin – he doesn’t win, but at least he attempts to reason with them. He is coming out of the darkness and venturing into the light.
At the end of the Gospel of John, in the 19th chapter, Nicodemus comes fully into the light – along with Joseph of Arimathea to order to claim the body of Jesus to bury it. By that time, he has grown into the fullness of his relationship with Jesus and with God. For Nicodemus, like so many of us, growing into the fullness of God didn't happen overnight - it was a gradual growth. But in the end, he has discovered what it means to be born of Spirit as well as flesh.
Jesus invites us into relationship with himself and with God. He invites us to listen to what the Spirit is telling us and to come out of our own darkness and into his light. Those who see him lifted up on the cross know the great love of God for all people. They know that God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that if we believe in him, we will not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16. - probably the best known verse in the Bible. But I think the next verse is even more profound: God sent his only Son, not to judge the world, but to save it through his own actions.
Let us pray: Lord, open my eyes to see God's hand at work in the world around me. Open my ears to hear the Spirit moving all around me. Open my heart to see where God is calling me to be a light to someone in need of saving grace. Send us out to be a witness to your place in our life and in our church. Amen.
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