Now there was a Pharisee,
a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at
night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.
For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no
one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (John 3:1-15)
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (John 3:1-15)
Shortly after Jesus cleared the temple,
Nicodemus pays a visit…at night, and pays a compliment. Jesus responds with a non-sequitur. It’s
no wonder Nicodemus said, “Huh?” What does seeing (or not seeing) the kingdom
of God or being born again have to do with what Nicodemus said? I’m not sure it
was supposed to. It was cutting through the icebreaking cycle:
Compliment
Dissemblement with counter-compliment.
Counter-dissemblement
“Would you like one lump of sugar or two in your tea?”
Jesus gets to the heart of the matter. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. We like to hiss at the Pharisees, but the reality is that they were trying to be good people. They were trying to follow the Law and to get others to follow the Law for their own good. To me, they’re very like a lot of people today. If you live according to their standards (and those standards, whatever they may be) – if you are what they call “good” then you go to heaven. Give a million dollars to build houses in Haiti and you get into heaven. That’s what used to be called “indulgences.” Those same people seem to like to claim that everyone gets into heaven because God is loving and forgiving…well, except pedophiles, or those who abuse children or animals, or serial killers, or people like Adolph Hitler, or those who are so hateful as to say that everyone doesn’t go to heaven or that their favorite celebrities might not be there. At best, those sorts of folks get to go to Purgatory.
The reality is that all the “by the book” religions – whether the book is the Bible, the Torah, the Quran, the teachings of Buddha, the teachings of Shiva, or whatever, all of them have restrictions for who gets into heaven. Goodness, by whatever measure, is required. Goodness as the means to heaven makes gods out of men. “I have earned my place in Heaven, God, and You have no right to keep me out.”
Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus rejects all that. What was required was not goodness, but rebirth. To attain Heaven, Nicodemus needed to become a different sort of being. This takes me back to C. S. Lewis’ comment that humans are amphibians. I’m not sure we are, but we’re meant to be. Those who are born again, are like tadpoles who become frogs. They were never meant to spend their lives limited to the pond. Becoming a good swimmer – a good tadpole – is not what makes a tadpole become a frog. Becoming a frog is quite outside of the capabilities of a tadpole. It can’t wake up one morning and say, “I’m going to be a frog today.” It’s something that happens to it.
Likewise, we can’t become a heavenly being because we want to, or because we’ve worked hard at it. What we have suffered as spiritual tadpoles doesn’t turn us into frogs. Most tadpoles die before they can become frogs. Being good spiritual tadpoles benefits us and our community, but it doesn’t grow our legs or shrink our tails. Works do not make us ready for heaven.
Some say, “But God is a loving, forgiving god.” Yes, He is. But tadpoles would die on land. They need legs and they need their long, sticky tongue. They have to become frogs to live on land. Equally, no matter how loving and forgiving God is, if we are not equipped to live in heaven, we cannot survive there. We need new life. We need to be born again. We can’t do that to ourselves or by our works (no matter how great those works might be.) We can’t cause it to happen to the people we love any more than you can turn a tadpole into a frog.
Jesus said that seeing the kingdom of God requires that one be born again. I didn’t say it, Jesus did. Those who reject that notion aren’t rejecting me. They’re rejecting Jesus and trying to cross the land without legs or the means to breath air.
Compliment
Dissemblement with counter-compliment.
Counter-dissemblement
“Would you like one lump of sugar or two in your tea?”
Jesus gets to the heart of the matter. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. We like to hiss at the Pharisees, but the reality is that they were trying to be good people. They were trying to follow the Law and to get others to follow the Law for their own good. To me, they’re very like a lot of people today. If you live according to their standards (and those standards, whatever they may be) – if you are what they call “good” then you go to heaven. Give a million dollars to build houses in Haiti and you get into heaven. That’s what used to be called “indulgences.” Those same people seem to like to claim that everyone gets into heaven because God is loving and forgiving…well, except pedophiles, or those who abuse children or animals, or serial killers, or people like Adolph Hitler, or those who are so hateful as to say that everyone doesn’t go to heaven or that their favorite celebrities might not be there. At best, those sorts of folks get to go to Purgatory.
The reality is that all the “by the book” religions – whether the book is the Bible, the Torah, the Quran, the teachings of Buddha, the teachings of Shiva, or whatever, all of them have restrictions for who gets into heaven. Goodness, by whatever measure, is required. Goodness as the means to heaven makes gods out of men. “I have earned my place in Heaven, God, and You have no right to keep me out.”
Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus rejects all that. What was required was not goodness, but rebirth. To attain Heaven, Nicodemus needed to become a different sort of being. This takes me back to C. S. Lewis’ comment that humans are amphibians. I’m not sure we are, but we’re meant to be. Those who are born again, are like tadpoles who become frogs. They were never meant to spend their lives limited to the pond. Becoming a good swimmer – a good tadpole – is not what makes a tadpole become a frog. Becoming a frog is quite outside of the capabilities of a tadpole. It can’t wake up one morning and say, “I’m going to be a frog today.” It’s something that happens to it.
Likewise, we can’t become a heavenly being because we want to, or because we’ve worked hard at it. What we have suffered as spiritual tadpoles doesn’t turn us into frogs. Most tadpoles die before they can become frogs. Being good spiritual tadpoles benefits us and our community, but it doesn’t grow our legs or shrink our tails. Works do not make us ready for heaven.
Some say, “But God is a loving, forgiving god.” Yes, He is. But tadpoles would die on land. They need legs and they need their long, sticky tongue. They have to become frogs to live on land. Equally, no matter how loving and forgiving God is, if we are not equipped to live in heaven, we cannot survive there. We need new life. We need to be born again. We can’t do that to ourselves or by our works (no matter how great those works might be.) We can’t cause it to happen to the people we love any more than you can turn a tadpole into a frog.
Jesus said that seeing the kingdom of God requires that one be born again. I didn’t say it, Jesus did. Those who reject that notion aren’t rejecting me. They’re rejecting Jesus and trying to cross the land without legs or the means to breath air.
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