word to the Pharisees

Noel K. Anderson

First Presbyterian Church of Upland

Last week we looked at chapter 2 where Jesus changes the water into wine, noting that this reveals Jesus as God. He works total transformation in the power of God, turning water, not into KoolAid (which even I can do) but transforming it into wine. The latter part of chapter two is the account of Jesus clearing the temple of money-changers. Today, the theme of transformation is taken further as Jesus meets with Nicodemus. 

Text: John 3: 1-21  New Revised Standard

1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17 Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God. †

Nicodemus

The serious and righteous faith of Israel

Jesus meets with Nicodemus at night, in the dark, perhaps because so many of Nicodemus’ Pharisee colleagues would have disapproved of such a meeting. Jesus has recently cleared the temple of money-changers. Some of the Jews wanted his head for it; others, perhaps Nicodemus among them, would have been impressed and even approved of this purification of the temple. 

Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Pharisees were the religious fundamentalists of the day—the Puritans of Judaism. They were most concerned and most highly committed to the Jewish faith. Among Jews, they were called “the Righteous Ones” or, as we might say it today, “the most serious ones.” Nicodemus was highly regarded among the leadership of the Pharisees, so this meeting with Jesus is serious indeed. 

Nicodemus says: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 

Now I need to say a couple of things about Nicodemus and John’s meaning in writing about him. The name Nicodemus isn’t even a Hebrew name; it’s Greek. It means “Victory of the People.” Understand, Nicodemus isn’t just a guy named Nicodemus; he is the very best of Judaism. Nicodemus is the faith of Israel. Nicodemus is the personification of faithful Israel of the 2nd Temple period. He represents all that Judaism is and all that Israel has become. 

Jesus’ response is part of a formula used many times in John. He says, “Amen amen,” translated “truly” or “very truly,” followed by the emphatic, “I tell you.” It is a way of saying, “Listen very carefully because what I’m about to tell you is the absolute truth.” This is Jesus speaking from the highest authority. 

“Amen, Amen, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

The word for “from above” is sometimes translated “again,” as in “born again,” but it is more complicated than that, so I prefer “born from above all over again,” which seems to capture all of it. 

Like the Judaism of the day, Nicodemus takes Jesus’ words so literally that they don’t make sense. He says, “Really? Can an old man go back to his mother’s womb?” This literalism is a large part of Israel’s inability to discern what is spiritual. It is why Jesus is among them, and they cannot see him. 

Water & Spirit

Both point to Jesus and one baptism

Jesus responds again with “Amen, Amen, I tell you”:

“Amen, Amen, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”

He goes on from there to tell Nicodemus not to be such a literalist but to hold a spiritual view—flesh is flesh, spirit is spirit, and so forth—but what does it mean to be born of water and spirit? This takes us back to John’s chapter 1 and John the baptist. John baptized with water. Why? To what purpose? He tells us directly in 1: 31: 

“I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 

Now just as Nicodemus is more than just the man Nicodemus, John the baptist is more than just John the baptist. Nicodemus is faithful Israel, and John the baptist is Elijah, which means John personifies the spirit of the prophets. As John’s ministry points to Jesus, all prophecy—all the prophets—are rightly understood as pointing to Christ. The baptism of water by John the baptist proclaims to Israel the arrival of Christ. Christ himself is the one who can baptize with Holy Spirit. Baptism points to Christ, and only through Christ is the Holy Spirit given. 

In telling Nicodemus that no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit, Jesus confirms the ministry of John the Baptist and indicates that true faith will acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and Christ for Israel and the world. 

Start over

No one likes to be told they’re completely wrong

When Jesus tells Nicodemus, “You must be born all over again from above,” he is saying, in effect, “You must start all over again from the very beginning”—which is a hard thing for any old teacher to hear. 

Jesus is saying to Israel, “Your religion isn’t nearly good enough.” Nicodemus (and Israel) must unlearn all they think they know and begin again. To this, Nicodemus says, “How can these things be?” In other words, “How can we, the best of Israel, possibly be wrong?” 

But Jesus is clear: their religion is not good enough to save them. This is a word we need to hear clearly and heed today: religion cannot save. Religion can get in the way of salvation. So let’s discuss religion. 

RELIGION: no

When the manmade replaces the God-given

When I use the word religion, I’m not talking about the content of the Christian faith but of all the manmade stuff that makes up most religions. The critical question is this: What comes from God, and what has been made up by followers? I’m saying that what God gives and provides are sufficient and good enough. All the things we make up, elaborate upon, or embellish for our own reasons—all of that is expendable, dispensable, and more a hinder than help to authentic faith. 

In the sociology of religion, there is a fundamental claim. Of course, they don’t believe in God, faith, or miracles—so it is no surprise they would think this way, but the primary claim is this: 

Religion is a community in worship of itself. 

Again, they don’t know God or understand true faith, but that being said, I think they understand “religion” perfectly well. 

Consider the Pharisees. They had built up so many elaborations on what it means to obey the Torah that their elaborations became their code of righteousness. With that code came cherishing their own identity—not only as Jews but as Pharisees, the Righteous Ones, the Serious. In time, the practice of their code becomes the full content of their faith. Met by Christ, they ask, “How can this be that we must be reborn and start all over?” It is because they have such pride in their religion and religious identity that they will not receive him. They think their religion is pretty darn good. Jesus lets them know it’s not. 

Consider Christianity. It started in simplicity and under persecution: baptism and communion at the common supper tables, along with prayers, songs, service to the poor, and evangelism—that’s about all it was. 

A few hundred years pass, and it’s an entire priesthood, a veneration of saints and Mary, and the common table is turned into an Old Testament-style altar of sacrifice. Bigger buildings are constructed and lined with gold, and the archbishops start wearing long, flowing robes and gold-gilded, pointy hats. Soon enough, these things become their pride and joy—their precious Christian identity: “We are Roman Catholic!” “We are Eastern Rite Orthodox!” The unity becomes division.

We have only one priest who is Jesus Christ—there is no need for any other. 

In Matthew 23: 8-10, Jesus says: 

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. 9 And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.

Jesus’ words: ignored. 

On the level, 21st century Presbyterians are no different. We, too, build up our own way of doing things and then mistake these for important matters—things that build up our Presbyterian identity—churches with pews, hymnals, robes—or not robes—whatever—but they add up to a local identity in which we take pride. 

All that makes up “religion” is manmade stuff that no one needs, though we may love it and count it part of our identity. At heart, we are all fallen human beings who, given half a chance, will become a community that worships itself. 

When Jesus says, “You must be born from above all over again,” he tells us that we must put no faith or trust in ourselves, our identities—religious or otherwise—nor in the things we have made for ourselves in His name. 

We must abandon all, begin again, and be born from above. 

Religion can be the enemy of faith, as we see again and again in Scripture. 

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh,” says Jesus. The flesh is religion—all our religious trappings—the cultural artifacts of Christendom and cozy church-i-anity. “We have such a great church! Great fellowship, my best friends, great music, great teaching, and a fabulous location!” All that is true—but these are externals—the flesh. We must always beware not to confuse the flesh with the spirit. 

The biggest problem with religion—even ours—is that we can come to trust it and believe in it, as did the Pharisees. We must not make that mistake. Rather let us remain diligent in critiquing anything that worms its way into the place of faith in Christ alone. 

The spirit wind

A mind of its own; not under our control

What is more, Jesus tells us that faith is not ours to make. It mustn’t be manmade, and to any degree that it is manmade, it is of the flesh and not of the Spirit. So, finally, what does it mean to be born of the Spirit? Jesus says: 

The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

In other words, no one controls it. The Spirit moves as it wills. The Spirit is in control and must be in complete control. The Spirit is outside of all human control. The Spirit’s work is incalculable. The Spirit initiates the call to faith. The Holy Spirit works our faith and sanctification.

The New Birth is a sheer gift. 

God’s Word to the Pharisees is that true faith is infinitely better than religion. True faith is what God has done, is doing, and shall yet do; religion is all the stuff we do. Without the Spirit, all religion is vanity. With the Spirit, all things are possible, yet none are within our control. 

We trust and obey. We stand on the promises. We listen intently for the Spirit and go wherever it sends us. 

†

Questions

1. Why do you think Nicodemus came to see Jesus at night?
2. According to Nicodemus what gave Jesus validity?
3. What did Jesus mean in vs. 3 about the kingdom of God?
4. Why did Nicodemus have trouble understanding Jesus?
5. How do we gain an understanding of the kingdom of God?
6. How do our cultural values and beliefs sometimes keep us from understanding Jesus’ message, like Nicodemus?
7. What do we have to do to be saved?  [See also Ephesians 2:8-10]
8. Does light reveal truth or transparency? Why is this important in our relationship with God?