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FEBRUARY 17, 2008
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, 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.”
John 3:1–6
A king had two sons. They brought their father a question: “Is a gentleman born or made?” “What do you think?” he replied. “I think a gentleman is born a gentleman,” replied one son. “I disagree,” replied the other. “A man becomes a gentleman by training and discipline.” The king looked at his sons and issued a challenge. “Prove your case by presenting me an example. I give you each a week.”
And so the two sons departed in different directions. The son who believed a gentleman was made, not born, found his proof in a tavern. He’d ordered a cup of tea and was amazed when he saw that the waiter was a cat, i.e., a feline. This cat had been trained to stand on his hind legs and carry the tray in his forepaws. He wore a tiny uniform. “Aha, he thought, “this is proof that a creature could overcome his nature with training and discipline.” The first son had his example. If a cat can be changed, couldn’t a man? So the prince purchased the animal and took him back to the palace.
The other son was not so fortunate. He’d searched the kingdom but was unable to find any support for his theory. He returned home empty–handed. What’s worse, word had leaked about his brother’s discovery. News of the walking cat made him doubt his convictions. But then, just hours before the two were to appear before the king, he saw something in a store window that made him smile. He made the purchase but told no one.
The two sons entered the court of the king, each one carrying a box. The first son announced that he could prove that a man could overcome any obstacle and become a gentleman. The king watched as the son presented the cat. Dressed in miniature courtly apparel, the creature gave the king a tray of chocolates. The king was stunned! The son was proud; and the court broke into applause. What excellent proof. Who could deny the evidence of the walking cat? Everyone pitied the second son.
But he was not discouraged. With a bow to the king, he opened the box he had brought, releasing several mice into the court. Instantly the cat scampered after the mice.
The cat’s true nature had been revealed, and the point had been made. A walking cat is still a cat. You can change his clothes. You can teach him tricks. You can give him a hat and train him to walk and for a while he will appear to be changed. But present him with the one thing he can’t resist, and you’ll be faced with an undeniable truth: a walking cat is still a cat.1
The same is true with people. We can change our clothes. We can change our habits. We can change our vocabulary, our reading level, even our attitude. But according to the Bible, there is one thing we cannot change, our sinful state.
In our text for today, we find an influential Pharisee. He’s so important that he sits on the Jewish Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin. He’s all dressed up in his stately clothes. He’s a bigwig and a man who knows all the tricks, i.e., how to use his position to get his way, how to be highly cultured by speaking the Hebrew tongue impeccably, and how dazzle with flair. Yes, this “cat” knew all the tricks of his trade! If he was a sinner, he thought himself less so than most everybody else.
It would seem, however, that, in one way he was different from his Sanhedrinist colleagues: He had an interest in and a high regard for Jesus. Nicodemus knew that Jesus had something that he needed: Maybe an answer to a question; maybe a solution to his problems; or maybe even to verify his suspicion that Jesus was, in fact, the long–awaited Messiah.
At any rate, Nicodemus came to Jesus late one night. He came at night out of fear, lest he be seen with Christ and lose his credibility. But, to his credit, he had a conscience and an itch for the truth. So he says to Jesus, “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.”2 The thing that most impresses him is Jesus’ signs or miracles. To him this is proof that Jesus is from God.
But Christ sees Nicodemus’ real need: not the lack of information, but the depravity of sin. Yes, Nicodemus knew all the tricks to give the impression that he was a godly man—outwardly at least. The people were willing to accept him as such. But Jesus wasn’t, for he knew Nicodemus to be dead in his trespasses and sins—in need of him as the Savior.
So the Lord said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”3 Nicodemus was, no doubt, crushed. This Jesus says he is in need of a new birth, a spiritual rebirth. Nicodemus had never heard of such a thing, for he, like most of the Jews, thought that his good behavior would get him into the kingdom. Plus, he knew that the was a bloodline descendant of Abraham. So, to him, lineage plus “good works” adds up to salvation. But Jesus doesn’t agree. I mean, he really doesn’t agree!
Poor Nicodemus — he is suddenly stripped of all his supposed saintliness. Jesus tells him that he is a sinner in need of a Savior. But still he doesn’t get it. He says to Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”4 Here, we see that Nicodemus thinks being born again is a physical thing. But Jesus will not let that falsehood stand. So he speaks of spiritual rebirth, saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”5
Note, closely, what Jesus says about the new birth. He says that rebirth is to be “born of water and [the] Spirit.” Not just water alone, but “Spirit–water” as one entity. What is this “Spirit–water?” It is the Holy Spirit working in and through ordinary water. This can only refer to one thing, namely, Holy Baptism. Indeed, St. Paul calls baptism a “washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”6 And Ananias said to Paul at the time of his conversion, “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”7
To clarify what he has just said about spiritual rebirth, Jesus says to Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”8
What does this mean? Any birth from human flesh produces only flesh. This is self–evident, for a river never rises higher than its source. Now the word flesh, or sarx in the original, may mean either that which pertains to “our flesh and bones” or that which pertains to “our sinful nature.” Here, it must mean the sinful nature, for it is set in opposition to that which is born of the Spirit, that is the Holy Spirit. So we may say by way of explanation, “That which is born of the sinful nature is sinful and that which is born of the Spirit is spiritual.”
So, Nicodemus, go ahead and dance your to your flesh’s contentment. Go ahead and talk in your fleshly Hebrew legalisms. Go ahead and try to show off your fleshly piety. But I dare you to do it when Jesus is near, for he will reveal that you’re not a walking, talking cat, not a pious God–fearing man, but a Cat–e–gory five hurricane of sin. You shall be cut down and thrown into fire of eternal judgment.
But toward the end of this midnight theological discussion, Jesus gave Nicodemus a promise to cling to. Something easier to understand. He said to him (and us), “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”9
Like Nicodemus, we too are in need of spiritual rebirth. For many of you, this took place when you were an infant. St. Paul tells us of the divine transaction that took place in our baptisms. He reminds the Colossians (and us) of what took place in our baptisms. He writes, “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”10
What does this mean? When Paul says, “You were buried with [Christ] in baptism,” we should reason as follows: Christ is my Substitute. When, therefore, he died for my sins and was buried, God counts it as though I suffered the same death and burial. This connection to Christ’s death and burial, Paul says, took place at my baptism when the Holy Spirit created saving faith in my heart. That is, in baptism I died for my sins 2000 years ago. But there is more Good News, for Paul continues, saying, “in which [baptism] you were also raised with him.” That is, since Christ rose from the dead, in baptism, I also rose from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive. Indeed, the Holy Spirit worked in me a living faith such that I became born again. Moreover, since this is a promise from God, I can be certain that it is all true.
So then, as born–again Christians, we are 100% saints and 100% sinners. According to our fleshly selves, the old, sinful nature constantly wants to drag us into sin. St. Paul says that, according to our sinful nature, we are “slaves to sin.”11 But according to our new nature in Christ, we constantly want to do what is right. As such we are “slaves of righteousness.”12 Thus, the Christian life is a paradox.
Therefore, we need the repeated assurances of the Gospel to sustain our faith in the spiritual warfare between the sinner and saint in us. And so we say, “Oh, Father please tell us. . . .
And each time we open the Scriptures and read the Gospel he does!
By the way, Nicodemus became a Christian. He helped Joseph of Arimathea entomb the body of Jesus.13 It would seem that the midnight conversation with Jesus ultimately led him to embrace Jesus as his Savior and Lord. I am looking forward to meeting him in heaven. And I am pretty sure you are too. May God continue to keep us in the one, true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Endnotes
1 Adapted from an illustration provided by Rev. Jim Butler of St. Luke Evangelical Lutheran Church, Dedham, MA.
2 See John 3:2.
3 See John 3:3.
4 See John 3:4.
5 See John 3:5. There are no definite articles before either “water” or “Spirit.” To translate as “born of water and the Spirit” is grammatically problematic. But no harm is done as long as one understands that “water and [the] Spirit” is one act, not two. That is, the birth of “water and the Spirit” is not one birth of water and a second birth of [the] Spirit. It is one birth effected by one agency, “water and the Spirit.”
6 See Titus 3:5.
7 See Acts 22:16.
8 See John 3:6.
9 See John 3:16.
11 See Romans 7:14.
12 See Romans 6:18.
13 See John 19:38-40.
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