03.12.

17 Lent 2
For God so Loved the World

Let us Pray: O God, whose nature and property is

ever to have mercy and to forgive; Receive our
humble petitions; and though we be tied and
bound with the chain of our sin, let the pitifulness
of Your great mercy loose us; for the honor of our
Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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.

Martin Luther called John 3:16 the Gospel in a

nutshell. Without a doubt, this is the most
famous verse in the New Testament. And yet, as
most preachers know all too well, the more
popular a Biblical text is, the harder it is to
preach! Such is the case here.

The popularity of John 3:16 have, in a sense,

robbed it of its power.

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Far from the heart of the Gospel, it now seems
like nothing more than Christianitys catchphrase
the logo, if you will, of the Christian brand.

John 3:16 pops up on tee shirts bumper

stickers billboards football games and on
those little pamphlets that get wedged into the
screen door on Saturday mornings.. Its the
equivalent of the community choir singing
Handels Messiah at Christmas: much
appreciated, well-loved, but just a bit taxing to
hear recited over and over and over again in
exactly the same way time after time after time.

But theres another, more dangerous side to John

3:16 that cannot be overlooked: Regardless of
what we make of this texts familiar state, the
truth of the matter is that John 3:16 has been
used time and time again in Christian history to
hurt, divide, and demean people. For some, the
requirement that we be saved, born again is
code for you have to look, sound, and act just
like me.

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The Gospel then becomes a proof-text by which
we determine if other peoples salvation is as
certain as ours. From this vantage point, the text
loses its transformative power altogether and
becomes a weapon to reinforce a particular
worldview. As is the case with the whole of
Scripture - when we read John 3:16 apart from its
larger context - we run the risk of missing the
very point that Jesus was making. John 3:16
isnt a theological maxim in and of itself; rather, it
is part of a much richer conversation between
Jesus and a man named Nicodemus.

Nicodemus, says Johns Gospel, was a leader

among the Jews. In public, Nicodemuss loyalties
were clearly devoted to the Jewish establishment.
But in private, Nicodemus had his doubts. And
so, he visits Jesus under the cover of nightfall.

He did not talk with Christ about state affairs,

rather, about the concerns of his own soul and its
salvation. 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.
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Then, as Jesus so often does, he says something
that utterly astounds everyone: Very truly, I tell
you, no one can see the Kingdom of God without
being born from above. Our Savior spoke of the
necessity and nature of regeneration or the new
birth and at once directed Nicodemus to the
source of holiness of the heart.

In other words, glimpsing the Kingdom of God

isnt a matter of praying a certain way or believing
a certain way or following a certain set of liturgical
customs; its about a complete rebirth of our
entire existence! Its about whats in our soul. Its
about what Gods Holy Word means to us
personally at a particular time in our lives.
Earthly birth is the beginning of life Spiritual
birth is to begin to live anew.

To be born anew, we must have a new nature,

new principles, new affections, and new aims. To
be born anew means we have awaken ourselves to
the Holy Spirit that was breathed into our souls at
our earthly birth.

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By our first birth, we were corrupt, born and
shapen in sin - - therefore we must be made new
creatures. No stronger expression could have
been chosen to signify a great and most
remarkable change of state and character.

On hearing this, Nicodemus asks an honest albeit

nave question that sounds funny to our 21st
century ears: How can an old man like me go
back into my mothers womb and be born again?

Nicodemus makes what is perhaps the most

common mistake when it comes to reading and
interpreting Scripture: confusing something
meant as metaphor with something meant to be
literally true. Like all of us, Nicodemus had
already been born once into both a physical and a
spiritual being. But this second birth that Jesus
is talking about comes not from below with all
the physical and earthly mechanisms of childbirth
but from above.

This new birth is from Heaven, John 1:13:

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Jesus gave the right to become children of God,
not born of any human stock, or by the fleshly
desire of a human father, but the offspring of God
Himself. It is a great change made in the heart of
a sinner, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It
means that something is done in us, and for us,
which we cannot do for ourselves. It is not
wrought by any wisdom or power of our own but
by the power of the blessed Spirit the very love
of God Himself.

Being born from above is about a way of life. Its

about living so that those around you will see you
and know about Jesus. For Nicodemus being
born from above happened slowly. The Gospel of
John tells us that he came to Jesus under the
cover of nightfall he wasnt quite sure he
believed just yet. He didnt want anyone to
recognize him. He used the nightfall to hide from
his peers. But deep down and ever so slightly,
something begins to turn.

The rebirth of Nicodemus happens over the course

of a long journey
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which began under the cover of darkness when he
took a chance on Jesus. He was an uncertain,
fly-by-night, wanna-be disciple.

The Spirit of God sends His influences where, and

when, on whom, and in what measure and degree,
He pleases. Though the causes are hidden, the
effects are plain when the soul is brought to
mourn for sin, and to breathe after Christ.

The things of the Spirit of God are foolishness to

the natural man. Many think that the Spirits
actions cannot be proved because they cannot
believe. Christs discourse of gospel truths, as
found in John 3:11-13, shows the folly of those
who make things strange unto them. Jesus
Christ is every way able to reveal the will of God to
us for He came down from heaven, and yet is in
heaven.

Jesus Christ came to save us by healing us as

the children of Israel, stung with fiery serpents,
were cured and lived by looking up to the brazen
serpent, as found in Numbers 21:6-9.
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While reading this, observe the deadly and
destructive nature of sin. Ask damned sinners,
they will tell you, that how charming the
allurements of sin may be but at the last it bites
like a serpent.

Christ is plainly set forth to us in the Gospel as

the remedy against this fatal destruction. He
whom we offended is our Peace and the only way
of applying for a cure is by believing..

He has said, look and be saved from the serpent

look and live for eternality. Lift up the eyes of
your faith to Christ crucified and until we have
the grace to do this, we shall not be cured, but
still are wounded with the stings of Satan, and in
a dying state of being.

Jesus Christ came to save us by pardoning us

that we might not die by the sentence of the law.
Here is Gospel Good News indeed. Here is Gods
love in giving His Son for the world. God so loved
the world so really, so richly.

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Behold and wonder that the great God should love
such a worthless world!

Here also, is the great Gospel duty to believe in

Jesus Christ. God having given Him to be our
Prophet our great high Priest and our King
we must give up ourselves to be ruled, and
taught, and saved by Him. And here is the great
Gospel benefit: that whoever believes in Christ,
shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life.

God was in Christ reconciling the world to

Himself, and so saving it. It could not be saved,
but through Christ there is no salvation in any
other way. He that believeth in Christ is not
condemned though he has been a great sinner,
yet he is not dealt with according to what his sins
deserve. That is the grace and mercy of God.

But, lets get back to Nicodemus dont want to

leave him hanging out under the trees. With the
exception of one brief mention in John chapter 7,
we never hear from Nicodemus again

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that is until the end of Johns Gospel. And it is
here that Nicodemus birth from above is laid
bare.

John 19:39 reads: He (Joseph) was joined by

Nicodemus (the man who had first visited Jesus
by night), who brought with him a mixture of
myrrh and aloes, more than half a hundred-
weight.

As Jesus hangs crucified, after all of the other

disciples had fled for fear of persecution, there
stands Nicodemus at the foot of the Cross, armed
with myrrh and aloes and the other provisions for
Jewish burial, ready to bear the broken and
lifeless body of the crucified Lord to its grave.

Jesus said, 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.

We can never fully know what Nicodemus was

thinking as he departed Jesus company after
hearing these words
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but we can be sure that something within him
began to turn. And then, little by little, his heart
was broken open and he was born anew from
above finding his way through darkness and
doubt to the Cross.

In the midst of this Lenten journey, may we allow

our doubts and questions to dig into our
certainty. May we be broken open by a love that
evades imagining, until at last, we come to the
foot of the Cross! Amen

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